By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
With 10 minutes to go in the game between CSKA Moscow and Barcelona for Round 10 of the EuroLeague regular season, Sergio Rodriguez hadn’t shown even a semblance of the offensive quality his team needed him to bring on the floor.
He was scoreless with 0/6 shots, had merely two assists and his PIR was -5. It was pretty much the worst we’ve seen from him in the season.
While things were looking like this could be his first game with a negative PIR since the 2014 playoff series against Olympiacos, everything was bound to change in the fourth period. Dr. Sergio would go Mr. Chacho.
With the score 72 – 72 and 5:32 remaining, the Spanish guard made his first basket in the game, a 3-pointer shot. He then assisted Cory Higgins for a basket plus foul won and then chased down the seven inches taller (!) Pierre Oriola for a huge rejection that marked his sixth block ever in EuroLeague and kept the momentum for his team.
The CSKA floor general then dropped his fourth dime, this time to Kyle Hines for the 82 – 75, a play which was followed by him banging another downtown bucket that gave his team a 10-point lead with 2:31 left. CSKA has assumed total control.
Rodriguez ultimately finished the game with 6 points, 4 assists and just 2 PIR but his fourth-quarter transformation was a key element behind CSKA’s 13-0 eruption in the fourth period that resulted to the victory over Barcelona. If anything, it also showed that even on his sloppiest of nights, Chacho is able to bring some potent game-winning action down the stretch.