Andrés Rodríguez (basketball)

Andrés Rodríguez

Rodríguez playing for Turów Zgorzelec during the 2008 PLK Finals.
Free agent
Position	Point guard
Personal information
Born	(1981-02-27) February 27, 1981 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Listed height	6 ft 0.5 in (1.84 m)
Listed weight	179 lb (81 kg)
Career information
College	Louisville (1999–2000) American (2001–2004)
Playing career	2004–present
Career history
2004–2005	Olimpija Ljubljana
2005–2006	Dynamo Moscow
2006–2008	Turów Zgorzelec
2008–2009	Donetsk
2009	Saski Baskonia
2009–2013	Obradoiro CAB
2010–2013	Capitanes de Arecibo
2014	Cangrejeros de Santurce
2014–2015	Baloncesto Fuenlabrada
2015	Vaqueros de Bayamón
Career highlights and awards
3x BSN Champion (2006, 2010–11) PLK Best Defender (2007)
Medals Men's Basketball Competitor for  Puerto Rico FIBA Americas Championship 2013 Venezuela Team Central American and Caribbean Games 2006 Cartagena de Indias Team Centrobasket 2012 San Juan Team

Andrés Guillermo Rodríguez Fernández (born February 27, 1981) is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player, who last played for Vaqueros de Bayamón of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. He was born in Puerto Rico, where he debuted as a professional basketball played for the Criollos de Caguas in 1999. Rodríguez attended University of Louisville and American University, completing his college education in 2004. Afterwards, he migrated to Europe, where he first played for Olimpija Ljubljana and had his best season by leading the Liga ACB in assists per game in 2013 with Obradoiro CAB. While concurrently playing in Puerto Rico, Rodríguez won three BSN championships for two different teams. Internationally, he is a member of the Puerto Rico national basketball team.

Early and college career

Rodríguez began his college career in 1999 after graduating from Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola, joining the University of Louisville after becoming a walk on member of the Cardinals squad as a freshman. He debuted on December 15 playing only four minutes, recovering a rebound and stealing a ball. In his next appearance, Rodríguez scored a free throw and stole two balls. In his final appearance for Louisville, he only played a minute and recorded a steal.^[1] That same year, he debuted as a professional in his native Puerto Rico for the Criollos de Caguas of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). In 2001 he transferred to American University. In seasons 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 played in the Patriot League Championship for the institution's team, the Eagles. Rodríguez completed a finance major, graduating with an average of 3.62 and forming part of the honor roll.^[2] Afterwards, he planned a move back to Puerto Rico in order to study law, but a basketball agent convinced him to pursue professional tryouts.^[3]

Playing in Europe and return to the BSN

Rodríguez has a playing style that is decidedly centered around teamwork, something that made him a better fit for European teams. He was able to make a quick and successful transition shortly after graduating from college, joining Olimpija Ljubljana of the Premier A Slovenian Basketball League. Rodríguez recognized that the stark contrast presented by his style in a fast paced league like the BSN was a hindrance that prevented him from melding for several years. However, he consistently returned to play in Puerto Rico during the international offseason. By his second postgrad year, Rodríguez had established a presence in the European market, signing with BC Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Basketball Super League. His first multi-year stint was with PGE Turów Zgorzelec of the Polish Basketball League. Back in the BSN during the offseason, Rodríguez formed part of the first Criollos team to win the league championship.

Rodríguez playing for Obradoiro in 2013.

Rodríguez began the 2008–09 season by completing his first stay in the Liga ACB by completing the pre-season with Caja Laboral. Afterwards, he signed with BC Donetsk of the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague.^[4] The following season, Rodríguez returned to the Liga ACB, this time joining Obradoiro CAB.^[5] After two seasons of absence, Rodríguez returned to the BSN in 2010, becoming the regular point guard of the Capitanes de Arecibo. Under his lead, the team won back to back championships. In his return to the Liga ACB with Blusens Monbus, Rodríguez lead the league in assists and the team unexpectedly advanced to the post season. This directly limited his participation with the Capitanes.^[6] In November 2013, the Capitanes traded him to the Cangrejeros de Santurce in exchange for Walter Hodge and Jonathan Han.^[7] Still nursing a knee injury, Rodríguez decided not to pursue an international contract in order to rehabilitate.

On November 19, 2014, he signed with Baloncesto Fuenlabrada.^[8] On February 16, 2015, he parted ways with Fuenlabrada.^[9]

International career

Rodríguez made his international debut by playing for the youth versions of the Puerto Rico national basketball team. He made his debut for the adult team at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games, where Puerto Rico won the gold medal. Rodríguez was included in the preliminary lists for several events held in 2010, but he was not selected by coach Manuel Cintrón. Due to the fact that his father, Luis Dominic Rodríguez, was born in the Dominican Republic he considered joining the Dominican Republic national basketball team if no interest was shown, but ultimately disregarded this idea by noting that playing for Puerto Rico had always been his preference. After Cintrón was fired from the team, Rodríguez was included in the team that participated in the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship by Flor Meléndez.

He was initially meant to serve as a third backup point guard, but the coach's strategy of using Carlos Arroyo and José Barea at once placed him in charge of a defensive backup squad. Puerto Rico was unable to classify with a narrow 2-point loss to Argentina, but classified to the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men. The following year, Rodríguez joined the B squad that won silver at the Centrobasket championship. He repeated his previous role at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. However, another narrow loss costed them the opportunity to classify to the Olympics and eventually lead to the termination of Meléndez. Under coach Paco Olmos, Rodriguez returned in his backup role and joined the team for the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship, which classified directly for the 2014 FIBA World Cup by winning the silver medal.

Career statistics

Correct as of 28.01.2009

References

Media related to Andrés Rodríguez at Wikimedia Commons