...or more accurately, some half-baked thoughts generalizing from one game.  Rudy's DKV Joventut squad just ran roughshod over Pamesa Valencia 85-59 (I believe was the final score).  I watched the game -- more accurately, watched our boy -- and jotted down some observations on each of his offensive possessions and plays in which he was involved defensively.  They are as follows.

OFFENSE

Rudy is an exceptionally tough cover for ACB defenders.  His shot chart says it all: 3/3 on two-pointers, 5/5 from the line, 3/6 from deep totaling a game-high 20.  He has a very quick release on his jumper making it difficult to block; this is a good thing, as he gets little elevation before shooting.  I would expect some initial struggles with his jump shot as he acclimates himself to the greater speed, length, and hops of NBA defenses.  That being said, Fernandez has no trouble knocking down jumpers with a hand on his face: all three of his threes were contested.  He has NBA range on his jump shot.  

Rudy demanded the ball three times in the first half with the shot clock winding down and delivered all three times, twice sinking contested threes and once setting up a teammate with a nice drive-and-dish, though he didn't convert.  He should be an excellent bail-out option on the second unit after plays break down.  

Fernandez shows very good ability to hit jumpers off the dribble: one three-pointer came after a right-to-left crossover, and another after two hard dribbles right to beat his defender.  He sank the one mid-range jumper he attempted off the dribble, but seemed more comfortable either slashing or shooting threes.  Fernandez slashes to the basket well, attacking his defender with either left or right-hand dribbles, although he appears more comfortable going and finishing right.  Despite lacking upper-body strength, he exhibits superior body control, allowing him to finish after contact: he converted one three-point play and made another layup after getting bumped (no whistle) on a fast break. Twice Rudy pulled down rebounds, went coast-to-coast, and drew shooting fouls in transition.  He attacks the basket better during transition than in the half-court, where he's more content to settle for threes.

Rudy is not blindingly fast in vertical speed, nor is he exceptionally quick laterally, but his herky-jerky dribbling style combined with a surprising initial burst allow him to beat defenders off the bounce.  A caveat: never once did I see Fernandez penetrate in the half-court without the aid of a screener, and just based on my observations of this game, I would have strong doubts about his ability to break his NBA man down one-on-one like we see Brandon do in late-game situations -- at least initially.

Rudy is a very good passer on the fast break.  He twice hit teammates streaking for layups with half-court passes, including one sidearm baseball pass that split three defenders and would have made any SportsCenter clip.  He is also a good passer in the halfcourt, tallying three consecutive assists -- two alley-oops -- in the fourth quarter to push the game out of reach.  That being said, he's a poor passer off the dribble-drive: once he's driving, it's a very safe bet that a shot's going up, and he twice missed teammates flashing to the basket for an easy dump-off layin while driving.  

Rudy's movement off the ball is poor.  He doesn't look to utilize screens for curl-and-pops like Hamilton or Martell, nor does he attempt to cut backdoor or V-cut to receive passes.  This may be a reflection of the team's offensive philosophy or his teammates' inability to effectively find him in these situations, but even when he shared the court with Ricky Rubio, he still loitered on the wing until the ball was swung to him.  With his quick release and good balance on his jumper, this ought to be an easy element for him to incorporate next year if he doesn't already possess it.

He occasionally gets trigger-happy: all three of his misses from deep were bad shots.  One came just seconds into the shot clock after one pass, one was from two feet outside of an NBA three, and one was off a fast break with an easy lane to penetrate to the basket available.  He only turned the ball over twice -- one of the knocks against him in the NBAdraft.net profile is that he needs to take care of the ball better, but I didn't see that.

DEFENSE

Rudy will not do wonders for our defense next year -- though he looked significantly more comfortable playing zone than man-to-man, which is a good fit with our current defensive scheme.  Three times he was isolated on the wing and attacked off the dribble, and three times he was blown by.  While his defensive anticipation was good, his lateral quickness is not.  Between his lack of upper-body strength and average lateral footspeed, I'd expect most NBA 2's to eat his lunch next year, and forget any lineups that have Rudy defending ones.  

Playing the wing in a 2-3 zone, he shows very good awareness and activity in the passing lanes.  He deflected numerous passes and has long arms and good instincts.  Several times he read the move of the opposing center (matched up against the center of the zone), slid down from the wing, and forced turnovers with a travel or ripping the ball away.  After gambling into the passing lanes, Rudy recovers quickly, though he gave up several baskets gambling in this fashion.  

His defensive rotations are average to subpar, though when he commits to defense -- as he did at the start of the third quarter, when the opposing team had cut the lead to four -- he is capable of playing excellent team defense.  His lapses appear to be a combination of occasional loss of focus and desire, which is understandable as he's the number one offensive threat.  

REBOUNDING

Rudy's rebounding needs to improve.  He relies too much on his above-average athletic ability and length to grab rebounds, seldom boxing out.  He'll fit right in here next year -- every time a shot goes up, he turns his head to watch the flight of the ball rather than putting a body on his man.  His side of the floor gave up a disproportionate number of offensive rebounds.  Two of the three fouls for which he was whistled came on loose-ball fouls where he gave up inside position.  Save for one excellent tip-in on a missed free throw, he doesn't crash the offensive glass.  Rudy does have a good nose for the ball -- he reads the flight of the ball well and tracked down two long rebounds coming from the other side of the floor.  But when Shammond Williams is beating you on the offensive boards, you know you've got a problem.  More than Rudy's defensive deficiencies, his rebounding concerned me.  He showed that when focused, he was very capable of playing sound team defense, if not the ability to shut someone down one-on-one; never once did he show the same tenacity to rebound, nor an understanding of rebounding fundamentals.  Nate and Mo will have to pound the importance of this into him next year, I think.

All right, I've got some thoughts about how we might end up using Rudy and how his transition to the NBA will be at first, but this is plenty long enough already.  Keep in mind that I'm far from an NBA scout and this is only just what I've gleaned from watching one game and comparing it against a few draft profiles I've read about him, so don't shred me too bad.