Q: What the heck do I make of Angel Rodriguez this year? -- Talor Meyer
A: I try not to say things unless I have something positive to say first. So let's start there. He was the Hurricane most responsible for beating Duke last season. He killed them in pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll, and had an extremely hot night leading them to victory.
That's the good part. Because for my money, there was not a more harmful player in all of college basketball to his team last season than Angel Rodriguez. Which is a shame, because he actually has a fair amount of talent when he plays within himself.
Since the 2009-10 season, there have been 549 college basketball players to play at least 500 minutes in a season and put up a usage rate of at least 29. Of those 549 player seasons over the last six years, only six players had a worse field goal percentage than Rodriguez's 33.7 percent. But even more than his inefficiency, it's the effect he has on Miami's offense. He's a ball-stopper, always probing to try to create something but often never ceding control of the ball to his teammates. When he goes, Miami goes. When he doesn't, it's impossible for them to have any sort of efficiency.
That's matched by Miami's game-by-game efficiency. Against Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament, the Hurricanes stuck with the much stronger Irish for the contest as Rodriguez shot 4-7 from the field and got to the line nine times. Good! Against Virginia, he did shoot 7-22 from the field, but he got to the line 12 times and dished out seven assists versus one turnover as the Hurricanes nearly pulled off the upset against the previously unbeaten Cavaliers. Good! Then of course, there's the Duke game, where he dominated by going 8-15 from the field, getting to the line six times, and dishing out five assists. Great! All too often though, Rodriguez was the factor that killed the Hurricanes. 0-8 against Georgia Tech with four turnovers in a 20-point loss. 3-11 against Florida State in a late loss. 0-6 against Eastern Kentucky in a near-30-point loss. 2-15 against Green Bay. 1-12 against Louisville. Simply put, he's too inconsistent a player to garner the sort of ball usage he commands when he's on the floor, and it hurts the Hurricanes far more than it helps.
This year, I'll be interested to see how the Canes use him. They started bringing him off the bench late in the season, and he played a grand total of nine mintues in their run to the NIT final after injuring his wrist in the first game. Maybe that's where he's used best: in short spurts where his energy on defense and potential to get hot can act as a spark plug. That's probably how I'd go about it, barring locker room turmoil.
A: I try not to say things unless I have something positive to say first. So let's start there. He was the Hurricane most responsible for beating Duke last season. He killed them in pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll, and had an extremely hot night leading them to victory.
That's the good part. Because for my money, there was not a more harmful player in all of college basketball to his team last season than Angel Rodriguez. Which is a shame, because he actually has a fair amount of talent when he plays within himself.
Since the 2009-10 season, there have been 549 college basketball players to play at least 500 minutes in a season and put up a usage rate of at least 29. Of those 549 player seasons over the last six years, only six players had a worse field goal percentage than Rodriguez's 33.7 percent. But even more than his inefficiency, it's the effect he has on Miami's offense. He's a ball-stopper, always probing to try to create something but often never ceding control of the ball to his teammates. When he goes, Miami goes. When he doesn't, it's impossible for them to have any sort of efficiency.
That's matched by Miami's game-by-game efficiency. Against Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament, the Hurricanes stuck with the much stronger Irish for the contest as Rodriguez shot 4-7 from the field and got to the line nine times. Good! Against Virginia, he did shoot 7-22 from the field, but he got to the line 12 times and dished out seven assists versus one turnover as the Hurricanes nearly pulled off the upset against the previously unbeaten Cavaliers. Good! Then of course, there's the Duke game, where he dominated by going 8-15 from the field, getting to the line six times, and dishing out five assists. Great! All too often though, Rodriguez was the factor that killed the Hurricanes. 0-8 against Georgia Tech with four turnovers in a 20-point loss. 3-11 against Florida State in a late loss. 0-6 against Eastern Kentucky in a near-30-point loss. 2-15 against Green Bay. 1-12 against Louisville. Simply put, he's too inconsistent a player to garner the sort of ball usage he commands when he's on the floor, and it hurts the Hurricanes far more than it helps.
This year, I'll be interested to see how the Canes use him. They started bringing him off the bench late in the season, and he played a grand total of nine mintues in their run to the NIT final after injuring his wrist in the first game. Maybe that's where he's used best: in short spurts where his energy on defense and potential to get hot can act as a spark plug. That's probably how I'd go about it, barring locker room turmoil.
