.................................................. thinks that WE’RE extreme?

Not that he can’t to it (he has the lateral quickness and strength), but that he doesn’t really like to. Greece is known for a good pick and roll game, yet it’s something the Blazers have to work on with him during training camp. If he can consistently hustle through picks set by our bigs, he is ready. That and not dribbling into the defense without a real plan what to do next. That he came late a few times might have to do with Spain playing a lot of zone defense.

Overall I really liked his game on the big stage and the effort he put in (like Mortimer said, “one thing is sure, he’s always trying to do something. Steal the ball, rebound, make a play, shoot, whatever—you know he’s out there. He won’t drift through his rookie year.”).

rudy a little better defencive grade then that, I also thin if the game is not a blow out, hes trying harder, although he looked all hustle anyways. I could be wrong, but I also think that having greg lamarcus, and joel on the floor instead of the gasol brothers will help rudy out a little.(fingers crossed) awsome game.

ps.. Dave, you should have a little talk with the IT guys there a SBNation, maybee give your site some kinda server priority, I dont know much about computers, except that mine has never run slower, except that time I had 4 seperat windows open, with5 to 15 tabs apeice(two or three days without closing anything) watching southpark, and dounloading 4 or 5 torrentz while seeding a couple. all while on the BEdge. actually, it was still faster. talk to them! please!!

I must demand that our TV, radio and game announcers have to learn to scream the following after Rudy hits a three:

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuddddy (with a really long rolling R and a soft DY) TRIPLE! TRIPLE! TRIPLE!

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/08/the_olympics_and_rudy_roy_will.html

“I will watch (the Olympics) more now,’’ Roy said last month. “Before, I would just watch and see if Sergio (Rodriguez) got in a game. Now, I’m very curious about it because our management is extremely high on (Rudy). I hear he is a good player.’‘

“I’m definitely going to watch,’’ Roy said. “How much does he play for his team?’’ When told he plays a significant role, Roy nodded. “He is supposed to be a key for us next season,’’ Roy said. “I definitely want to see what he can do. I might have seen one highlight on him … he could walk past me and I wouldn’t know who he was. But I want to watch him and get familiar, just to see what he does, what his weaknesses are, and where he can help our team.’‘

Rudy is just quick.He thinks, passes, plays quickly.I always think that he is one step further than others,so the fact that they couldn’t catch his passes maybe doesn’t mean Rudy is not a good playmaker.

The US is winning by double digits, but I’m not very impressed. Lots of bad 3s, no real semblance of a half-court game. China isn’t exactly that good either, a lot of 3s in the 1st half, a couple of highlights from Yao and Sun Yue (Chinese Magic Johnson).

Doesn’t look to be serious, but still guy has terrible luck.

The US appears to have worn China down—China isn’t getting back on D anymore and the rout is on.

moderate upset there. Spain is definitely looking looking like the best bet to beat the US.

I missed the game and was good to see something other than “Rudy is the next Ginobilli”. Flaws? Of course he has flaws! He IS going to be a rookie. Even so, it can’t temper my excitement; Oden, Bayless, and this guy? No. Way.

The US wasn’t great and China played right with them most of the first half. In the 2nd half, the Americans superior depth and conditioning were too much.

.......................... the sound the crowd makes whenever Yao touches the ball is funny and cute. He’s as big as The Beatles there, pretty clearly.

Whoops. Hit enter a little too quickly. Sorry about that.

Anyhow, he is definitely lightning fast, but is thin as a rail. That worries me since a lot of 2 guards like to post-up. I don’t see Rudy being able to guard someone like Rip Hamilton either, but most 2 guards aren’t quite that adept at using screens.

Rudy was definitely active out there, but the game was too ragged for me to get a sense of his defense. The whole game seemed like an impromptu pick up game. The Gasol brothers looked like Kwame Brown out there, but some of that can be attributed to first game jitters.

I didn’t see anything from either team that leads me to believe they will beat the US. LeBron would be the strongest dude on either team by a long shot and I don’t think he’s the strongest dude on our squad.

Here are some choice bits from the cutest mancrush I’ve seen in a while:

If you’re like me all you knew of Fernandez before Sunday was hype, legend, rumor
and some grainy youtube.com footage . . . Now, though, we have proof of something more promising.
—
He showed special offensive creativity, and exceptional shooting range, and good leadership,
and if the guy ever learns to play defense, what the Blazers will have
is the perfect complement to All-Star Brandon Roy.
-
[I]t was a relief to see Fernandez consistently beat his defender off the dribble with a great first step.
And it was delightful to learn that he’s a far, far, far more explosive leaper than you expect him to be.
And it was wonderful to see how active he is during games, and how diverse and delightful
his offensive game is, and to see how hard he plays, and how sharp his basketball instincts are.
-
He can get to the basket. He can shoot. On one possession, Fernandez exploded past his man,
drove toward the basket, jumped, and in the same motion
switched the ball from his right hand to his left for a layup.
More remarkable was that he did all of the above after encountering a second defender helping on the play.
Fernandez dipped his right shoulder into the helping Greek, used his own body as a shield
and drew a foul while getting off a clean shot.
-
At the end of the game, in the hallway outside Spain’s locker room,
the NBA writer for a national publication nudged me as Fernandez went past
and said, “Well, you gonna anoint him already?”
Of course, someone get me some perfumed oil, or milk, or water, or maybe a vat of melted butter
because I’m certain that Fernandez and the NBA game were made for each other.
Consider him anointed.
He doesn’t need to gain much more weight, as some think.
He doesn’t need to get a lot stronger, as some claim. He’s quick, and wiry,
and playing with the kind of rare flair that makes him a walking mismatch
in a league that is all about creating them.
—
Fernandez has an opportunity to give the Blazers a different gear.
And if Greg Oden develops healthy, and Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge grow, look out.
We’re talking Big Four, not three, and after seeing Fernandez up close, I’m a believer.
You may now rub melted butter all over this column and make it official.

who plays for the Rockets?

That’s a lot of conclusions from one game! That goes for Canzano too, even acknowledging that he was there in person. I say let’s acquire a little more data before we get too carried away one way or the other. Rudy fever indeed!

Incidentally: Canzano is shocked to learn that Rudy can get off the floor. Has this guy ever heard of YouTube??

The drives to the basket for no reason then an impossible shot that was…impossible. Matador defense and clanking free throws. If I had to watch Spain play basketball I would go back to football.

people often see what the want to see, and then pick out the good or bad of it based on their own feelings of the player.

True I did see Rudy take some risks that would not fly as well in the NBA, but other times I saw him play lockdown D on his man, cutting him off on every outlet and while I agree that he did not fight through the screens as well as some may of liked, I feel that has more to do with the overall defensive philosophy of the Spanish team as a whole.

At times it was great to watch them play D as a team, almost flawlessly sometimes, leaving Greece with only a fadeaway 3 with a second on the shot clock. The fact that Spain plays team D, as hopefully we will, shows that ou can have an over agressive player on the wing if you have enough trust in your teammates to back you up.

Also Rudy was playing against Spanoulis who was the leading scorer and assist man in the Greek league, so not that he would compare to a starting NBA SG, he is no scrub who just happened to be playing against a bad defender in Rudy.

Lastly, I have long made the case that Rudy plays very similarly to Ray Allen, with his lighting quick release, as many have noted here, and accuracy, his ability to slash and get into the lane and pull-up for a 10 ft jumper and his questionable D. What is promising is that even though Allen is a questionable D’er, if you surround him with good D playersas in Bos, he is smart enough to know where his help is coming from to be effective.

Hopefully Rudy will be given enough of a leash defensively to allow LMA, Webster, TO, and Oden to figure out how to play help D as in the NBA game nobody can defend players like K*be, LeBron, Paul, or Parker 1 on 1, but rather the trick is for the beaten player, learning how to rotate down to the open post player that your C leaves so he has no outlet pass and is forced to go 1 on 1 against Oden in the paint.

I think you can tally up 12-15 points every game, and he will get those points in a variety of ways. Hopefully, we will get a nice explosion or two when he goes off for 25, but he really doesn’t look to score nearly as much as he did at DKV. He didn’t show much of the passing ability that I know he has, but there is still more B-ball to watch. All in all, I think he showed he knows how to play solid team ball, he only forced up 1 or 2 questionable shots and played unselfish, team ball the entire game.

I also agree with most in here that Dave was a bit overcritical of Rudy’s defense, I thought it was pretty good when he wasn’t gambling in the passing lanes. I believe the Spain coach wants Rudy gambling for steals and going behind pick and rolls. I think they want their opponents to take quick long shots with hopes of getting a long rebound and pushing the tempo. In the second half he seemed to be more concentrated on playing man to man D and not sagging off his man lurking for steals, and I thought he showed promise defensively in that half. Is he going to be a lockdown defender? No, but I think he can be just as adequate as a Webster or Outlaw, and his offensive game trumps them in terms of versatility. All in all, I think Rudy is going to be a great fit in Portland, I am not going to go all Canzano on you guys, but he is the real deal if you ask me. Besides, I already anointed him last summer when I saw him play in the Eurobasket, he is a P, I, M, P….

I don’t think anyone has written on this topic yet, so I’ll be the first to tip my hat to NBC for hiring quality basketball announcers to travel to Bejing. Steve “Snapper” Jones did a nice job covering the Spain game and he may be my favorite NBA announcer. Doug Collins is no slouch either. I’m just glad that I haven’t had to listen to Costas or Gumble ramble on for hours. Throwing Bill “Braindead” Walton in to announce some of the Greek names maybe a solid comedic experiment. Maybe in London.

He may have had a few defensive slip ups but I don’t think I ever saw him take a possession off. You have to be delusional to think his defense is bad. So many stars in the NBA don’t even play defense, like Carmelo Anthony. He just needs better coaching and he’ll be fine.

Many people have commented already, but I’d like to join with the crowd who have expressed some relief about Rudy’s defensive capabilities. We’ve heard so much recently about how flawed it is that I was expecting to cringe whenever Rudy’s man touched the ball. He held his own I thought, and at times looked to truly bother his man.

Of the two concerns I had, Dave mentioned one. I do recall a couple plays where Rudy allowed his man to blaze an unimpeded trail to the hoop. That wasn’t pretty, but Spandulis did that to all the Spanish players, not just Rudy. The other concern I had is that Rudy’s defensive energy seemed to come from his offensive production. I think it was in the 3rd quarter when Rudy had a burst of points, and he was really pesky, poking at the ball and getting up on his man near midcourt. I guess when energy on one side of the court is contagious to the other side it can’t be that bad, but I would’ve liked to see that level of defensive energy more consistently. He did only play 22 minutes.

About the quick first step, I think he’s got one. I didn’t notice it in one primary situation, but instead here and there in various situations. He did break by his guy to the hoop several times (not all of which did he seem to have a plan when he got there), and he also had a quick step off the ball. I think that quickness will help him on defense in the NBA. Perhaps he’ll have to adjust to a different kind of defensive pressure, but I’m confident he’ll be able to do that.

Lastly, how about the way Spain approaches the opening tip? I’ve seen them do this before on Youtube, but it appears that Gasol tipped it the way the Greeks seemed to want to tip it, but the Spanish player was there and Rudy had already made a break to the hoop.

Not every body is cut out for the NBA. He might make it back to the league though.

I think the reason Calderon looked better is because he is a much more cocky than the other players. He loves to take the big shots as much as any body and he has a lot of NBA experience. I think Rudy looked better for a player that doesn’t have all the NBA experience that Calderon has. In 2006 Rudy didn’t stand out at all, now it looks like he is taking over the team.

Rudy sure made me proud watching him play with such tenacity. I sure can’t wait to watch him play with the Blazers.