Why can’t he just be happy being pigeonholed by the fans?

Very confusing.

What was your mindset coming into your first playoffs?

Indeed I didn´t have a good mindset. That´s why I failed. I played like I do in a regular season game, whereas the intensity increases 100%. It´s totally crazy. You get banged, it´s hyper-physical. But I learned a lot, especially about the toughness that I have to bring to my play. Even the referees make calls differently.

What was Portland missing that kept them from advancing from the first round?

We suffered a lot from our inexperience. We got off to a bad start in the playoffs, from the first game, letting Houston beat us by 20. That finally got us going. After that all games were close, except the sixth one.

Are you disappointed by the lack of confidence shown by your coach, who gave you less playing time during the playoffs?

No, it´s normal since I didn´t have good games. I didn´t play well, so I spent more time on the bench, simple enough. I didn´t talk with McMillan after our elimination. He said me it was no big deal, that I´m still young, that it was only my first playoffs. He told me I should typically start in spite of Webster´s return.

How do you evaluate your first NBA season?

It was good. I´m satisfied, regardless of any highs and lows. I´m happy about my playing time and starting 76 games. Best of all, I´m on a winning team. Collectively things are very good, too: 54 wins during the regular season, that was something unexpected at the start of the season for such a young team. After a full season I´m still amazed by this league. It’s still a dream. To play in the NBA is huge — terrific! I don´t regret having left France, I’m privileged.

How do you explain your quick success?

I work a lot — a ton. There´s no secret, you have to work.

What is the main difference between the basketball you played in France and the NBA?

The physicality. In France when a big guy eaves the court a smaller guy replaces him. In the NBA the big guy is replaced by another big one. Everything goes faster, the guards jump higher, it´s more intense and more physical.

What players have impressed you most?

Definitely Dwyane Wade. He´s very strong. After him, face to face, Lebron James. He´s fast, powerful, intelligent, unselfish. He´s a real basketball player — totally complete. On top of that, during the game I defended him he put 34 points on — normal for him. That game remains my worst memory of the season.

What´s your best memory?

My 20 points against New Jersey in March. I made the basket that sealed the win in the last seconds of the game when we were only up by one point. It gave me an adrenaline high — 20.000 people shouting, making noise, for you and only you.

What things do you need to work on?

I must work on my physique, improve my shot and my game as a whole, so I can be a complete player. The Blazers have sent me a workout program for this summer. I´ve had three weeks of vacation. I´ve done some strengthening work and really carried out that program. Since mid June I´ve been working on my shot at Dallas with Alexis Ajinça and Mickaël Gelabale. I had three shot sessions each day. Nate McMillan wanted me to work my shot and dribble but don’t want me to bulk up a lot. He told me: You are good like your are. If you bulk a lot you´ll be in danger of losing your agility, especially on defense. When a guy like him, a two time All-NBA defender (1994-1995 with Seattle), tells you something like that, you listen.

What are your goals for the next year?

On the personal level, I want to continue working on defense and to be more involved in the offense, specially taking more shots. As a group, the goal is to finish second in the West and to make the Conference Finals. That´s the objective we, the players, established before we went on vacation. We discussed before we parted ways. I know we can do it. Everybody on the team knows what we have to do. Our team is complete, there´s a good coach, a good staff, and good management. Our strengths are our youth and our crowd. On our court it´s always something crazy.

What do you daydream about?

I dream about a title. I dream about being an All-Star someday. I establish deadlines: to be a Champion within 5 years, All-Star in the next 3 or 4. It maybe seems crazy but you must be ambitious if you want to improve. I can´t work if I don´t have a certain goal I have to reach. That´s why I set high objectives. I don’t dream of playing on a marquee team. Of course i would like to play for Chicago, Lakers, Celtics or Spurs, but that´s not necessarily one of my goals. What i want now is to win the championship with Portland, help the Trail Blazers to be a great team again, instead of going away to one of those franchises.

After reading this post, and the one from ammart1’s translation of Rudy’s Marca interview, it seems to me like Nic has a much better attitude than Rudy does.

Check it: Not saying that Rudy has a bad attitude. Saying that Nic has a better attitude.

It’s no secret that Nic expected that the Spurs would draft him. He had to have been excited by this. A top-notch organization that bleeds championships, exemplifies great defense, and has Tony Parker as starting PG? You know he had to be quite shocked and probably a little dissapointed when he was drafted by the Blazers. Add in his poor showing in summer league and the big tease-and-pull he got on opening night vs. the Lakers, and there’s more than enough opportunity for some resentment to build up. Yet here we are a year later, and Nic has clearly changed his outlook. He’s talking more about building a dynasty than inheriting one. He’s clearly moved by the intensity of playing before the crowd in the RG. He tempers his feelings about his niche role playing “Portland style” small forward with honest respect for Coach McMillan, and he’s ambitious as hell.

Now take Rudy. He got a hero’s welcome the day he set foot in Portland. He clearly knew how to play the crowd and did so even in last year’s fan fest with his round-the-back pass to Outlaw and his between-the-legs pass during pre-season. He’s received serious honors internationally before setting foot in the NBA. In other words, Rudy was a much more established talent than Nic, and there’s no doubt that Rudy understood that always. He’s been very consistently on message about getting more PT. Always diplomatic, never pointing fingers at B-Roy or Coach, but the message is clear. He considers himself a star-level player and wants to be handled as such. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this… but clearly that’s where his priority is.

I think both players bring a lot to this team, but I think it’s clear that Nic has more of a future here than Rudy does. Rudy is probably okay with coming off the bench as long as he sees a substantial amount of PT, a la Hedo on the Magic or Ginobli with the Spurs. Problem is that to do so, Rudy would have to evolve into a true 1-3 type swingman. I think he absolutely has the potential to refine his natural game into that kind of positional flexibility, but I don’t hear any outward commitment to self-improvement in any of his comments. We know he’s a hard worker, but he’s not talking about self-improvement on any level, and certainly not tying his personal growth to PT growth. So what then? My take is that in his heart of hearts, Rudy wants to be a starter on a championship-caliber team in a large media market… and really, who can blame him? But clearly for him to “settle” for life as a Trail Blazer, we need two things: a championship trajectory (check) and substantial minutes for Rudy (um, not check).

Polling over the offseason showed that collectively, as much as we fans really love Rudy’s game, and would hate to see him play for somebody else… we’re more okay with letting him go than we are of Nic. I think for both Nic and Rudy, the feelings are mutual.

if the blazers pay him well, and he is in contention for an award like 6th man. the rookie pay scale for rudy is terrible compared to what he was recieving in europe, which i think ties into why he wants more PT, so he drive his value up.

nic on the other hand, i dont blame him for having high goals, if i was a young pro basketball player with excellent physical skills i would probably dream of the same thing.

And he has done it better than most others in the league. He should feel good about his prospects and I love the work ethic clearly stated as the essential ingredient.