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Esta página no está disponible en español. The Washington PostRodriguez Is Pulling Out All The StopsAU Guard Makes His Point on DefenseBy Steve Argeris
January 2, 2003 On paper, Glenn Stokes and Steven Miles account for much of American's offense, with the senior guards averaging 28 of the Eagles' 65 points per game and drawing most of the opposing defense's attention. Somewhere down the list, averaging 5.4 points and 5.3 assists, Andres Rodriguez hums along, the drummer providing the steady beat for Miles and Stokes' solos. Much of what American does is predicated on its junior point guard. Rodriguez is adept at penetrating and excels at setting up three-point opportunities for Stokes and Miles, but Eagles Coach Jeff Jones repeatedly has asked him to shoot more. On defense, he guards the opponent's best perimeter player, considerably lightening the load for Stokes and Miles. "Ever since we played Florida State and put him in the starting lineup, he's been doing that," Stokes said, referring to the 77-72 victory over the Seminoles last season, Rodriguez's first game as a starter and second game in an American uniform after transferring from Louisville. "He makes it easier for the rest of us to do our jobs." Accordingly, the Eagles (4-6) would need a standout performance from Rodriguez if they are to succeed in their latest attempt to spring a galvanizing upset, hosting George Washington (6-4) tonight. Rodriguez "gets them going on both ends," said Elon Coach Mark Simons, who credited Rodriguez's modest zero-point, four-assist, one-steal performance as the key to American's 76-51 victory last Saturday. "He keeps them patient. We knew coming in he wasn't a big contributor on offense points-wise, but his defense makes it so difficult to do what you normally want to do." Rodriguez, a native of San Juan, received little recruiting notice at Colegio San Ignacio, despite averaging 28 points as a senior, winning four league titles and establishing himself in the Puerto Rican national team program. "In Puerto Rico, it's all point guards and shooting guards; we don't have the big guys like they do in Europe," Rodriguez said. "So why go there? You can go to New York and find 100 guys who are 6-foot, 6-3, can handle the ball and shoot the heck out of it." He ultimately settled on a tryout to walk on at Louisville, where his grandfather had gone to medical school and his high school coach had a distant connection to then-Cardinals coach Denny Crum. "I think he had met him once," Rodriguez said. "I could have gone to Florida International, where all the Puerto Ricans were playing then, but I would rather have walked on at Louisville than played at FIU." He played seven minutes in two games for the Cardinals and then looked for more playing time at a smaller school, taking the advice of countryman Orlando Melendez, a seldom-used forward for North Carolina. A half-dozen of his close friends were living in the Washington area, so he narrowed his target list to two: George Washington and American. "And luckily, American needed a point guard," Rodriguez said. He paid his own way until this season, averaging 3.8 points and 4.3 assists in 22 games last season. He quickly earned a reputation for his defense, making five steals in his first game, something that has carried over to this season. He excels at staying with his man through screens, crouching low and minimizing contact, a trick he learned from defending all the pick- and curl-oriented offenses run in Puerto Rico, and almost never gets into foul trouble. "I'm not going to say he's our defensive stopper, exactly," Jones said. "But we need a big game out of him defensively every night." Stokes disagreed. "I'll say it. He's our stopper."
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