Why is Spain looking so bad?
by meru on Sep 12, 2009 4:27 PM PDT
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I know that Blazers Edge has many Spanish readers, so I'm curious to hear your comments. What are they saying in Spain about the National Basketball team? They just haven't looked good at all. It's looking very unlikely that they're going to break their jinx in Eurobasket. But why? Do they have a new coach? Who's getting the blame in the Spanish media? To me it looks as if their style of play has slowed down a lot, and consequently Rubio is looking very average, and they're leaning on Navarro and Pau Gasol too much. Wouldn't it be better to press more and try to run?
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...wait Rudy is no longer hurt
well there goes my theory…
Bring back J.R.
by In Walks Rudy on Sep 12, 2009 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions
ohhh just let rudy read thisssss.....
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
"New Man Law: If you don't show up for the draft you don't get to come later if you're picked. If you believe in yourself, show up and sit there. If nobody else believes in you, take it and cry like a man...in front of the cameras."
-Dave
It's because Euro ball
is an inferior product to the NBA. Good, but not the same depth and quality. The soccer’s great.
it happens.... play down to your competition and ..... find yourself in an uncomfortable postition...
I’d rather rudy learn it there than here…. so this is a good thing I supose.
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
"New Man Law: If you don't show up for the draft you don't get to come later if you're picked. If you believe in yourself, show up and sit there. If nobody else believes in you, take it and cry like a man...in front of the cameras."
-Dave
i was wondering the same thing
Spain clearly has the most talent and they are getting the least out of the most,is it a coaching issue?
by southern oregon on Sep 12, 2009 9:39 PM PDT reply actions
yeah, Rudy hates Pau cuz hes a L*ker
I’ve officially had too much...
by In Walks Rudy on Sep 13, 2009 8:29 AM PDT up reply actions
and he screwed up his dunking.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
No defense
They just can’t play defense and so when their shots aren’t falling, they suck.
"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely
I saw the end of their game vs Turkey
And this is just me guessing, but it didn’t look like they were playing with a lot of urgency for a game tied with ~3 minutes left. Coaching/morale might explain it…but that’s all I’ve seen so it probably means little to nothing.
You can measure skill and talent with your eyes, but productivity is shown through statistics.
new coach
Spanish NT awesomeness came from a fierce pressing defense. We could do that for like the whole game, as we had the best bench in Europe by far. Now we’re on full zone defense, plus no real activity, so the good shooters always find a way to be alone in the 3 point line with a couple of good passes, and the big guys can do the same easily.
In the old time spain would defend like tigers and half of their points would be on fastbreaks or in the first seconds of the possision, before the defense was set up. Now they try to elaborate every play.
They still win some matches because they are too damn good individually, but as a team they are playing like crap.
plus a few players missing
Yes, they just play as crap. It’s painful to see them playing.
The new coach is probably the main factor, I fully agree with Ristlin. But there two other factors that have been a surprise.
1- Nobody thought that this team was so dependent on Jose Calderon
2- Maybe the presence of the last captain of the NT (Carlos Jimenez) was more important than we believed. He was not an extremely skilled player but he was a super veteran and a kind of “silent warrior” (always fighting though apparently calm). The team lacks cohesion now, it never happened while Carlos Jimenez was the captain.
I think this may be it.
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
"New Man Law: If you don't show up for the draft you don't get to come later if you're picked. If you believe in yourself, show up and sit there. If nobody else believes in you, take it and cry like a man...in front of the cameras."
-Dave
Couple things ...
No Jose Calderon – they’re counting on a good, but very young point guard in his place. Rubio’s good, but Calderon is better at this time.
Injuries – Pau, Rudy, Alex Mumbro and Jorge Garbajosa have all been injuried. Pau before the Eurobasket and then, of course, Rudy got hurt. Mumbro also got hurt before the Eurobasket and Jorge missed the Great Britain and Slovenian games from hurting his knee. They all seem to be doing fine, although I noticed when Rudy got pulled at the end of the GB game he was limping a bit (grr!).
Coach – I read something on La Sexta right before the Eurobasket started that he wasn’t going to play Claver, Rudy or Felipe Reyes that much because they needed to develop more. OK, I get Claver because he’s new to the team (although he has done pretty good when he gets to play) but was shocked to hear about Rudy and Felipe. We here in Portland know how good Rudy can be but Reyes from what I’ve seen is pretty solid too and been on the team as long, if not longer than Rudy (I think longer). That made me question the coach a lot, but since Rudy played 21 minutes the first game back and the 36 the last 2, I think he figured that bit out. Felipe’s been playing also. The cohesion doesn’t seem as good though and that does make me wonder since most of these guys have played together for years.
if the coach actually said that
that tells me he’s an idiot he doesn’t know the make-up of his team that well nor it’s strengths and weaknesses.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
Two years ago the Spanish Basketball Federation fired (or let go, I don´t remember exactly) the national team coach who had won the World Championship for Spain.
He complained there were too many distractions for the team during the Eurobasketball that was played in Spain, because the Spanish Basketball Federation organized too many events (publicity, etc) and allowed media and fans too many things. We won the silver medal when we lost in the final against Rusia. Pau Gasol missed a winner shot in the last second.
Last year the Federation signed coach Aito Garcia Reneses. He hadn´t time to learn the team to play his book, so he built around the two players who knew it, Ricky and Rudy. Navarro was used to be a leader and had a bad time. Journalists say Navarro cried after we lost against USA in the final. He doesn´t cry when he lose a game or a title, you know, so that defeat seemed to be the last straw for Navarro. I think the Federation, and some player too, didn´t understand Aito´s decisions. They chose to let him go (he was signed only for the Olympics).
Then the Federation signed Sergio Scariolo. I´ve heard he´s a good coach who needs time to learn the players his systems. And he didn´t have players in the national team whom he had coached and could build around. He had only two months to prepare for the Eurochampionship and there were many injuries. And Calderon chose not to play this summer (Toronto will shoot next season its last bullet trying to keep Bosh in Toronto). And Sergio, the best Spanish PG after Calderon, is in his contract year and didn´t want to take risks playing for the national team.
Now there´re chemistry problems too. Yesterday “Big Mouth” Gasol (Marc) “expelled” his opinions after last defeat. He said failure happens when you let the newcomer kid to shoot the decisive ball instead of giving it to his brother. I don´t envy the Memphis Girlzzlies.
That´s my best “Ben story” ;)
by amlmart1 on Sep 13, 2009 1:39 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Interesting perspective
Clearly some thing is wrong
by southern oregon on Sep 13, 2009 2:49 AM PDT up reply actions
Is Sergio the best Spanish PG after Calderon???
DId you see Sergio playing the last Eurobasket? I think Ricky is far far superior, and I even think Llull is more useful for this team.
I think he had a bad tournament coming out of a bad season with the Blazers.
He totally lost his confidence and couldn´t get anything back until last season (maybe Rudy helped him), but he played really well the last 11 games of that season. He´s sitll raw, and only 23 years old, but he´s now physically stronger and a much better player, specially a better defender, than he ever was. And he didn´t look lost this season playing in the NBA:
Rudy & Sergio vs Thunder(13-4-2009)
Rudy & Sergio vs Nuggets(15-4-2009)
Rudy & Sergio vs Lakers(10-4-2009)
Rudy & Sergio vs Suns(26-3-2009)
Ricky will be a better player than Sergio but not yet, IMHO.
Sergio had demands for Scariolo
He asked for a role and told him that if he was joining the team again it was for a purpose, that he’d rather practice all summer than play a few minutes.
Nobody expects a Spanish Acquisition!
That´s true.
Although we were talking about who´s better player, not about who deserved the spot in the Spanish national team ;)
About the Spanish Blazers, ex-Blazers, willbe-Blazers
Rudy is playing very well. He’s one of the best in terms of attitude, but the team is not working so his numbers are bad.
Claver? Why is not he playing?? In my opinion, a big mistake of the coach.
I am sure Sergio Rodriguez is going to play the World championship with Spain in 2010, because the current PG (especially Cabezas and Lopez) didn’t show anything special, and probably they wont’ be selected again.
Actually Rudy's numbers have looked pretty impressive
Especially considering the low scoring games, short games, and bad play of his team. At least to me.
You can measure skill and talent with your eyes, but productivity is shown through statistics.
Rubio didn't impress me in the Olympics and hasn't impressed me now.
What’s the Spanish assessment of him?
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Sep 13, 2009 2:56 AM PDT reply actions
My guess is rampant drug use and partying by the entire team
Michael Jordan is overrated. The only thing he ever did in HD was underwear commercials and a hall of fame speech.
:)
man that was good… I was getting into the comments and stopped reading the name’s of who had posted… then I get that. lol…
I’ve officially had too much...
by In Walks Rudy on Sep 13, 2009 8:35 AM PDT up reply actions
I never understood why so many Blazer fans wanted Rubio.
IMO, the last thing we need, at this point, is some flashy-dashy, outta control, unproven and over hyped point guard who doesn’t defend coming on board. I think back then we already had a good, solid point guard in Blake. And now we have two.
I hope Batum and France Kills everybody!!!!!!!
Go Almighty Blazers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's not an accurate assessment of Rubio.
Unproven and a bit over hyped yes, but the rest would qualify as a lie on his e-harmony account. He can be flashy but he takes good care of the ball. His defense is great for someone his age.
Rubio is a very good defender for someone his age, but most of its effect is lost playing with Navarro at SG.
Navarro lets too much space to his man in defense.
"for someone his age"
………. I was great at peeing in the middle of the toilet when I was 2
does that count as “potential” to be all that I can be?
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
"New Man Law: If you don't show up for the draft you don't get to come later if you're picked. If you believe in yourself, show up and sit there. If nobody else believes in you, take it and cry like a man...in front of the cameras."
-Dave
no cuz you still pooped your pants
I’ve officially had too much...
by In Walks Rudy on Sep 13, 2009 8:36 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
rubios game is
not shooting the lights out, his game is built around defense and passing with some fast break fun mixed in
I still want him bad
I think it makes more sense now that we’d have to wait for a while…Give us some time with Roy, Aldridge, Oden, and the crew learning with a vet in Miller, while Rubio gets more playing time over there.
If there’s a way to get Rubio (at a low value now) I’d love to pull it off with some kind of Outlaw/Bayless/pick combo.
by darkhelmit54 on Sep 13, 2009 3:30 PM PDT up reply actions
Your mom wants him bad
The Kings have the best bench I’ve seen. There are easily 14 guys on this team good enough for every bench in the league. Now if we could only get some starters, I’d totally jizz in my pants.
Kings fan
by dyshooter182 on Sep 13, 2009 10:10 PM PDT up reply actions
right now France would play Spain in the quarterfinals
1st place group E (France) versus 4th place group F.
That would be a pisser for France, IMO. Although if they beat Spain I’d be happy about it (despite Rudy and Claver).
put a body on 'em
The best part would be Rudy getting rest before training camp.
I still want a title for Spain though.
understandable
I’m torn so I’m going to root for Batum and Rudy to play out of their minds and a triple overtime game with a “i don’t care who won because that was the best game i’ve ever seen” type ending.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
bad coaching
This is the first time i write here in blazersedge, nice and interesting site.
Well, it’s complicated, but i think that the main problem is the new coach.
Our national team is very talented, they need to run and flow with the game. Fast playing is perfect for them, a lot of pressure in defense, steals and fast break points, short posessions too, in a game of 80 or 90 points (a lot for a 40 minutes game) they are very good.
This new coach seems to want a very controled game, exhausting the posesions, and these players just don’t fit with that scheme. In a 60 or 70 points game anybody can beat them.
This last game seems to have changed it all, maybe the players have convinced or forced the coach to play a different way.
Injuries are important too, Pau has been without playing for 3 months, missing the preparation matches by an injurie in one finger, Navarro has back problems, Garbajosa has muscular problems. And we are missing Calderon. Rubio is a great defender but has to improve a lot his exterior shoot.
There are a lot of presure on them too, before begining the tournament a silver medal was looked as a failure.
Well i think these are the main keys.
PS: Look at Rudy doing more things than just made 3 pointers, i think the blazers are not using all his potential. Here at Badalona, before going to the NBA he was one of the best in Europe atacking the rim.
by moloko on Sep 14, 2009 1:42 PM PDT reply actions 2 recs
Thanks for the reply
in regards to Rudy, I’d agree that the team doesn’t use Rudy to the best of his abilities for whatever reason. As a fan of the team the question I ask is “is that in the best interest of the team?”
I don’t have an answer to that because the blazers won 54 games last season, which considering their age and lack of experience is beyond amazing.
I do hope that Rudy can find a place where he’s able to play to his full potential and I’d hope that’s with portland, but either way the kid is amazing and I’d like to see more of that.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
I would also like to see Rudy more involved in the offense, and more involved in playmaking.
But he had numerous opportunities last year to attack the rim, or to attack and pull up for midrange jump shots. He wasn’t very successful at either. He needs to learn to put the ball on the floor and make his own shot opportunities (jump shots and drives), which also creates opportunities to dish off to teammates.
If he can do that this year, I think he will eventually become an NBA star. But he may have to go to another team to get the minutes he would then deserve. If he can’t do that, he may end up as basically just a sharp-shooting role player in the NBA.
Another path to success in Portland would be to also play backup PG if he could learn to play defense against PG’s as well as Blake. He has quickness, so that may be possible (Blake isn’t that good of a defender). I think he would be a more creative playmaker and shoot as well as Blake from distance (he would get better 3-pt shots playing PG, as Blake does now). But I don’t know if Rudy wants to learn to play PG. He may consider himself a starting SG and just want to find another place to play. I don’t think he’s shown starting SG skills however, and he may find his opportunities are no better on most other teams.
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Sep 14, 2009 4:19 PM PDT up reply actions
I agree with you
My thoughts on Rudy and the Blazers
I think there is a divergence between Rudy and Blazers playing interests. Rudy is a pure SG, but Roy is the man there without a doubt. So he can play the SG only in the resting minutes of Roy. The SF spot is very disputed, Rudy is a great defender in transitions and fast plays, has very quick hands, but in static, defending a SF he has some problems, he is not tall enough, so NicBatum is the man there. Batum is doing a big Eurobasket, freeing himself of the roleplaying he has to do in the Blazers he is doing a lot of things, not only defending.
So, for Portland Interests, the best way to use Rudy is as a replacement for Roy in his resting minutes, or like a exterior threat when the offense goes blocked. My view is that in those resting minutes of Roy, Portland will improve if Rudy is encouraged to do other things, not only try 3pointers. Can Rudy be rebuilt as a PG? i don’t know, maybe not, he can do the job some minutes for sure, but he does not dominate that spot.
And for Rudy Interests, the future in Portland isn’t very brilliant, the SG spot is occupied by a very talented man, he is not a pure SF and can’t defend some guys biggers than him. Moreover, playing aside with Roy, theirs needs are opposed, Rudy is electric and works better in fast plays, and Roy is wonderfull in that special slow pace he masters. So Rudy expectations in the Blazers can only be to become a good role player.
We’ll see how this new season goes, maybe i’m wrong.
PS: I’ve seen some Blazers games this past season and i liked a lot the team, very young and very talented, They’re not tittle contenders (yet), but they can go far in the playoffs. Luck with Oden.
I would like to see Rudy play some point guard for the Blazers
I think he could have a lot of success as a PG who often plays off the ball, similar to the role that Steve Blake has now. Rudy can do most of the same things that Blake is able to do, except that is more athletic and has a higher ceiling.
I see the Blazer’s starting lineup in a few years being Rudy/Roy/Batum/Aldridge/Oden. In a lineup like that Rudy’s relatively weak ball-handling skills (for a PG) shouldn’t be a problem because Roy is a great ball-handler and Batum can handle the ball as well. Rudy’s relatively large size for a PG also means that this lineup would also have a lot of defensive versatility since you could have Batum guard a star PG (Chris Paul, Tony Parker, etc.) without creating a huge mismatch elsewhere.
I’m a fan of Unicaja Malaga. Sergio Escarilo was the coach for 3 years. he always starts the tournament badly but in the end his team is always good. I’m sure Spain will win the Championships. But I think they should change the coach after eurobasket.
by vivaunicaja2006 on Sep 15, 2009 7:28 AM PDT reply actions
Normally I'd have to back up my spanish homies as much as possible. . .
But with Batum rockin’ it for France, I could allow myself to cheer for the Frenchies a little
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