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But that means someone will be helping on defense. Who will be left open? Oden on the weak-side? Will Roy or Bayless have an extra three feet of a lane to drive to the hoop?

His ability to convert that play will put extra pressure on the defense.

makes me think of how Sabonis was able to make the bowling ball pass down low until defenders started to put their hands down in the way. It was great when it worked, but once the defense gets accustomed to it, its over.

Thing is, Rudy is a skilled passer, and he will always be able to find Trout Web and Brandon for open looks.

Was that you could see him standing near the corner outside the line a few times, waiting for a pass. Then, he missed a few open shots, but he has enough length for the NBA 3 and moves great without the ball. He was able to stay in front of Kobe a few times (who plays some SF when LA plays with three guards), but I doubt he could guard physical threes like Melo or LeBron (well, nobody can, but he would see him just two times per year anyway).

To me, he is still a classic SG, with good passing ability which could help him switch to other spots. Nate said he intends to play him a lot at the two in pre-season, probably with Blake, Bayless and Sergio a lot at the one while Roy still rests.

You have to remember the NBA 3 pointer is longer. I forsee Rudy being an above average shooter from deep, and certainly not afraid to take the shot, but he will slash as much as he shots (keeps his defenders guessing) just like Ginobli. I don’t see him specializing in the long ball in the NBA.

Intimidated? You mean when he was taking charges and being a pest to a very cranky Lebron James? Or when he was swatting the ball out of Kobe’s hands and easily losing him a few times on offense?

Not everything Rudy does is going to show up in stats, he plays very well off the ball and is always moving and hustling. He had a bad land and had to sit out a large portion of the game anyway. There is nothing about Rudy’s defense suggests he will not be able to play D in the NBA. The only thing I saw in his defense was lack of good coaching, he does a pretty good job many times but lets the occasional one slip by completely.

When you judge him by how well he did against Kobe, Lebron, and Wade you aren’t going to be too happy. It’s one thing facing ONE of those guys every couple weeks or so, it’s another going against all 3 in the span of 20 minutes playing time. Most times Rudy will be playing against 2nd string, average players, not the most elite in the world.

I wouldn’t say Rudy played badly, but I also wouldn’t say he played outstanding. Agree about the following: Rudy had sub-par shot selection, we won’t want Rudy playing over B-Roy, and that D-Wade has been a huge part of the team’s success.

I disagree with the main point of your thread on a couple in a couple areas. For one, I don’t think Rudy looked lazy. I thought he was active and played his role on the Spanish team. The players on the Spanish team have certain roles, and they know them. Maybe it looked lazy to you, but from my perspective, Rudy was doing his job. That was a positive sign for me because he will have a role with the Blazers too, and its important for him to do his job rather than trying to do too much, or playing outside himself.

I also didn’t think he looked intimidated at all. He slashed to the hoop, he put his body on the line, he dunked. Again, I saw it one way, you saw it another.

I thought Spain was over-powered, but not Rudy anymore than the team was. Can you give examples or is it just a sense?

… this is not the team from the last Olympics… If history had anything to do with the Olympics this year, world records would NOT be dropping like flies.

I liked Ricky’s 2-4 assist to turnover ratio yesterday too.

Oden will already be picking up enough fouls on his own guy without having to cover for our lackluster perimeter defenders. Certainly, in the early season this will be a problem. Oden will be rusty and his timing will be off. Opposing team’s offensive game plan will probably be about attacking the rim to draw fouls and put our guys on the bench.

That is what he (and Joel) are there for. Most teams are not loaded with lock down perimeter defenders. The good defensive schemes include directing the offensive player (when the wing gets overmatched) to the post defender. Oden will need to figure out how to not commit a ton of fouls in that scenario (Joel already know how) , regardless who the wing is. I believe that Oden will figure this out in short order

between what appears to be matador defense and funneling a guy into a bad position. Funneling, which often looks like matador defense, is greatly enhanced when you have some shot blockers and good help defenders, Portland had ok help defense last year but lacked shot blocking due to the fact that the bigs were not good shot blockers or needed to stay out of foul trouble. The addition of Greg will allow the perimeter defenders to do a more effective job of funneling guys to bad spots.

Also, saying that you are funneling a guy is a great way to pass the buck to your teammates in a rec league game. I am often funneling guys when I have my hands on my knees gasping for wind.

If you liked what you saw those two games, watch the China rewind. He was on a different level that game and I think it shows what type of capabilities he really does have. He obviously isn’t there yet, but the potential for him to be a game changer every night certainly is…

As much as I hate Kobe, that was a bad call and most certainly a block. But remember, international rules are a little different that those in the NBA. But it was still a blocking foul even by international rules.

When you have All-Star players who actually play with teamwork…. it’s hard to beat.

But Team USA would get out-muscled some of the time because of their lack of size.

Spain plays fast with 12 players and frequently starts to get advantage from the third quarter with a full court preasure. You are a fool if you play so against USA.