Team USA's Kevin Durant blocks a three point attempt by Team Spain's Rudy Fernandez at the buzzer, preserving an 86-85 victory in their Sunday exhibition game in Madrid.
Fernandez started the game for Spain and finished with 5 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist according to one website's partial boxscore.
Portland Trail Blazers draft pick Victor Claver finished with 1 point and 2 rebounds in limited action.
Jason Quick runs down some of Fernandez's play, which was forgettable from start to finish.
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HahaHaha...
How far Rudy has fallen….
by asimms21 on Aug 22, 2010 2:22 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Whomp whomp whoommmmmp.
"One of the bright spots of the young season has been rookie point guard Jonny Flynn, whose name sounds like he should be the lead character in a Broadway Musical. "What are you doing here, Jonny Flynn?" "Why I'm here to court trouble, and woo a girl, and build the most fantastical contraption the world has ever seen!" -- Dave, Game 7 Blazers versus Timberwolves preview
"It was bad reffing...but not rip apart the fabric of time bad." -- The Arkitect, Game 79 Blazers versus Mavericks Post-Game Thread
He received a Flaming Bag pass with two seconds to go and had to throw it up
with the 6-9 Durant in his face. No shame there. Few players on any team have looked dominant in these tuneup games.
by MiledAnimal on Aug 22, 2010 2:34 PM PDT reply actions 2 recs
he's 6'9 without shoes
same as Dwight Howard:
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/kevin-durant-390/
but the commonly used height is the ‘with shoes’ so you still have some merit if that ditch is actually just a slight depression.
You can measure skill and talent with your eyes, but productivity is shown through statistics.
he was 18 years old
during pre-draft measurements. i’ve seen him standing next to guys listed as 6’11" or 7 foot and if those measurements are right, he is clearly taller than 6’ 9.
maybe everyone is inflated.
Fitting end
Watched two of the Spanish games so far…sad to say Rudy isn’t even one of their 5 best players right now, not even counting Pau Gasol. And I had such a man-crush on him for so long…
I like watching Rudy fail
James, Wade, and Bosh = the Nazgul. Once they were great kings, until their greed got the best of them in their lust for the ring.
this^
Blazer fans should root for Rudy this month, for all the “right” reasons
The better Fernandez plays, the sooner Cho’s phone will ring with an offer even Paul Allen can’t refuse
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Bad behind the back pass by Rubio, or Rudy would have been wide open
Also Coach K and Nate gave away that they want to play zone in crucial situations with that play ;)
"Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing" - Mark Cuban
maybe
or maybe just gave away that they’ll switch defensive schemes for last second players to mess with the offense
I mean theoretically they could play zone for the last two minutes and then switch to man off an opponent’s crucial inbounds.
Anyway it did give it away, but I thought it was pretty cool nonetheless.
You can measure skill and talent with your eyes, but productivity is shown through statistics.
NBA TV announcers called it before the play
If Steve Smith and that other guy knew it was a possibility, it probably wasn’t too big of a revelation.
PTB Liberation Day - 2/10/04
by tssbro on Aug 22, 2010 8:40 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
According to the NYT, they call that 2-3 zone play "orange" after Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. Funny.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/sports/basketball/23teamusa.html?_r=1
I agree it’s nothing earthshaking, but it was enough to throw off Spain a bit and that was all they needed.
"Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing" - Mark Cuban
Certainly...
and that was quite possibly the worst time to throw a behind the back pass. Nate can use that tape as a teaching tool for Sergio…oops wait… a teaching tool for Rudy…shoot, maybe for Claver if he tries anything fancy if he ever comes over here to play. Spaniards…
PTB Liberation Day - 2/10/04
More accurately...
I would pair that with a tape of the Rod Strickland pass to Sean Elliot in the 1990 playoffs and call them the two most inopportune moments to flick a ball over your head with no idea where you are passing the ball.
PTB Liberation Day - 2/10/04
That was an very entertaining game.
But I have to say the only player I like on the Spanish team is Rubio. He’s going to be very interesting to watch when he comes into the NBA.
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.
yeah, I like him too.
and Navarro impressed me also.
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.
nba missed out on navarro
sad but true. He’ll never play in the nba now you’ll just have to conform watching him on internationals
I was really looking forward to seeing Rondo and Rubio sqaure off
Too bad they decided to sit Rondo today. Hopefully, they’ll get another chance in the tournament.
Rudy was decent. Not horrible, but definitely not the playmaker he envisions himself. I felt bad for Rudy when he had to guard Durant…talk about a mismatch.
Big mismatch
But Rudy did better later in the game, lots of steals, drew some fouls (the last one should have been an offensive foul of Rose, Rudy was set but what are ya gonna do? I wonder if he got jittery actually having to face Nate but it wasn’t his best game but also far from his worst.
Did get to see Rubio square off with with Rose and that was interesting. Anyone know what exactly happened to Calderon? The feed was a bit fuzzy so I didn’t even really see what happened!
Hopefully, an NBA GM saw some of those more positive plays by Rudy
and decides to pony up something of value for him. But I don’t think he did the Blazers any favors today by his play.
Rubio was the best player on the floor for Spain along with Gasol. I did like the Rose and Rubio matchup. Rose is the superior athlete, but Rubio is a scrapper. I’d like to see Rondo and Rubio go at and see who the king of scrap is. I definitely think Rubio could play in the NBA.
I’m just back from the stadium, Rudy was awful all game. If Rudy had Juan Carlos Navarro mind he could be an incredible player, but too bad he doesn’t. He seriously needs Ron Artest to give him the number of his psychologist.
Game was entertaining at the end, but a terrible start of the spanish team made it boring at the begining. On the good side, Ricky showed today one more time that he is NBA ready, and Durant showed the player he is, he is really good.
Rudy minutes FTW
bingo
Greece looks even stronger than in the past, and Spain had some awful performances by some players today and almost won.
kinda pathetic.
in KP i trusted
they mentioned some other players not playing with USA as well
It’s so hard to say with thrown-together teams like this.
You can measure skill and talent with your eyes, but productivity is shown through statistics.
Spain down by 12 in the 4th...
…Calderon and Llull off, Ricky and Rudy on, and Spain managed to take the lead in short order.
One thing I’m sure of: Rubio isn’t going to come over to play the triangle in Minnesota.
i just don't get why so many blazer fans are rooting for rudy to fail
him performing badly during this tournament will reduce his value even further (if that is possible).
in KP i trusted
I don't think his performance really matters that much in this tournament one way or another.
He has 180-odd NBA games under his belt at this point — I feel like even if he plays lights out in these handful of games at the World Championships, any front office exec or scouting department is going to take it with a grain of salt. Sample size matters. I could be wrong, just my two cents.
"One of the bright spots of the young season has been rookie point guard Jonny Flynn, whose name sounds like he should be the lead character in a Broadway Musical. "What are you doing here, Jonny Flynn?" "Why I'm here to court trouble, and woo a girl, and build the most fantastical contraption the world has ever seen!" -- Dave, Game 7 Blazers versus Timberwolves preview
"It was bad reffing...but not rip apart the fabric of time bad." -- The Arkitect, Game 79 Blazers versus Mavericks Post-Game Thread
by BlazersOrBust on Aug 22, 2010 6:27 PM PDT up reply actions
being able to play good again after his surgery
sample size is important, but until he has a few games like he did in presurgery, they wont know if he can back to where he was. dont forget they alsi have stats and tape from 7 years at DKV Joventut. just like people who say he cant play in the palyoffs. look at the box score for game 6, he wasnt the one that was 4-16 or 5-17, he was the eurocup finals mvp one year too.
#88
rudy=lame
durant=lame
video=lame
Sometimes, I guess there just aren't enough rocks.
by Dirty Socks on Aug 22, 2010 4:08 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
rec for lameness
"its tough to play with one eye, unless you're a pirate." Delonte West
"una canasta a Pau en la cara" Rudy
by Honka Playboy on Aug 22, 2010 5:56 PM PDT up reply actions
Rudy's shot was off
but when he was in the game with Rubio Spain was better than the US. The last second block was hardly his fault.
Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
KP should've been fired on the Claver pick outright
Whatever other reasons were given for KP’s firing, the Claver pick justifies the firing by itself. What was he thinking? That guy will never play in the NBA. Sorry. Just not gonna happen.
maybe you know something no one else does?
Eurocup Rising Star for the 2009-10 season
Spanish All-Stars Slam Dunk Champion
Young player with lots of upside
Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
by blacknoiseNW on Aug 22, 2010 4:23 PM PDT up reply actions
Ok smarty
Name the players who won the Eurocup Rising Star award and Spanish All Star Slam Dunk champion in the past 5 years.
It's a new award ;-)
The only previous winner is Serbia’s Milan Macvan (there exist similar awards e.g. for the Spanish ACB league with that title). And the Eurocup is the second international league in Europe, after the Euroleague but ahead of the Eurochallenge. Confusing, I know.
Claver also wasn’t the best player on his own team which won the Eurocup, that were Nando De Colo (France) and Matt Nielsen (Australia, who won MVP and was elected to an All-Eurocup team) alongside a center that washed out in Golden State.
Claver definitely has potential and will develop with more playing time (he’s only 2 seasons away from a bad ankle injury), but also still quite some room to develop in Spain before he’ll see any minutes in the NBA.
"Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing" - Mark Cuban
It's a low first round pick
most of those guys don’t stick in the NBA. You’ve got to look at those guys as lotto tickets.
Of the eight guys picked between Claver and Pendergraph (Portland’s next pick), only Casspi, Gibson and Beaubois have much of a shot at being solid NBA players. Neither Gibson nor Casspi would have made much of a difference to the Blazers, and they’re older than Claver.
I’d love to have Beaubois, but if that’s your complaint, no GM will ever make you happy. Pritchard consistently drafted well, and Claver was a reasonable pick. Hindsight, and all that.
Watching NFL preseason football right now
which reminds me, choosing Victor #22 in the ’09 draft was a punt (Beaubois?)
Then letting Blair slide by in the second round and get picked up the Spurs?
Not KP’s finest hour. Word was the Blazers tried to trade up (their target was Hansbro?) but KP’s deals fell through and when #22 rolled around, there was Claver
Three strikes…time for a new baker
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
It was a punt
Problem was that (a) reportedly Dallas wouldn’t have made the swap if the Blazers had taken Beaubois, and (b) the next best option for a forward would have been Casspi. Yet Casspi is a similar player to Nic (while Claver is a 3-4 tweener), and had stated that he wanted to play immediately in the NBA. The Kings could accommodate that, the Blazers with at that time still Travis, Martell and Nico on the roster couldn’t. So they essentially deferred a pick until a later date, taking a player who if healthy could have gone in the lottery any other year with upside but also risk involved. That they passed on Blair 3 times is a different story, and shall be discussed another time.
"Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing" - Mark Cuban
the next best option for a forward would've been Blair
which will continue to be discussed until one of DeJuan’s knees fails to bend correctly
KP had deals he tried to make to move up, nothing worked out for him as it had in previous years (or this year, even) Claver may eventually be a better asset than Casspi, but right now it’s not looking that promising. The real question is, why did Portland need to draft two 3-4 players (Claver/Cunningham) in the same year if they were already logjammed at the wing? 2009 was “the year of the PG” and Portland settled for Mills, but Patty looks like he’s the title of an old Eagles hit song (Already Gone). I submit that drafting Bayless in the lottery the previous year caused KP to lay off of Collison, Lawson, Maynor (et al) in much the same way that PatterNash avoided drafting a franchise-changing PG with the 3rd pick in ’05, because of Telfair.
Not that I wanted any of these small PGs to “replace” Jerryd, but in hindsight they all seem to be more-valuable when compared to Claver as trade assets. Outside of Dante, the 2009 draft has to go down as a comedy of errors, with the fact that a team who had just won 54 games would actually select 4 rookies (and not look to consolidate the picks) being the chief head-scratcher
I hope Cho can do better, when the time comes. OKC made 5 trades this year on draft night, so it’s not like moving up/down the board is a foreign concept to him
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
If Portland had drafted Blair,
he’d have had 3 blown out knees by now.
blair was so great everyone passed him
is it kp’s fault every every other team passed on him too? you dont need to answer I dont really care your opinion but i would like to hear what others have to say
#88
The Spurs didn't pass
I can’t answer for all of the other teams, but when San Antonio selected Blair I smelled something was up. They’ve not been shy about spreading injury dis-information so a player will slide to them, in the past
You certainly can’t argue that Pendergraph and Blair are peers. Jeff has missed more NBA games, so far
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
oh im sorry
Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder (cho) Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Timberwolves again, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets, Charlotte Bobcats, Indiana Pacers, Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves a third time, Atlanta Hawks, Utah Jazz, New Orleans Hornets, Portland, Sacramento Kings again, Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder again (was origionally SA pick that they would have used to pass on blair in the 1st round) oh look Chicago Bulls pass again, Memphis Grizzlies again, Minnesota Timberwolves for a 4th time, Los Angeles L@kers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings in a pre planned trade to portland, Washington Wizards again, Portland Trail Blazers for a 3rd time, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons again, Memphis Grizzlies, and finally with the 37th pick after being passed on the previous 36 picks blair is drafted. but i get it KP is the worst gm ever because he didnt draft a guy that was a projected lottery pick all year and dropped hard and fast. Im sure your one of the fan boys that “knew portland traded up for blair” he has played one year, 92 games and his career is already set in stone with you, G.O.A.T. until he retires in 3 years when duncan is gone and they actually try to rely on him and his body gives out. or we could just go with your rudy bashing tactics and say he sucks in the playoffs, trade him for a bag of chips
#88
Blair made the all-rookie team this past year, as the 37th pick
So all of those GMs (including KP) were wrong. RC Buford caught a fallen angel, as the NBA execs say
the Spurs may have created the fallen angel by spreading reports about his knees and weight issues. It wouldn’t be the first time
Rudy is a different issue entirely. You’re certainly welcome to root for the next team he plays on.
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
thanks for your permision to root for another team
Im sorry I dont use Fox news logic or care about what he says outside of basketball. I like rudy as a basketball player and will root for him as long as hes on the blazers. I dont care if he says portland is the ugliest most disgusting city he has ever seen and he hopes everyone thats loves the city and all of its fans die. I dont really care what his opinion of anything is. as long as he is the 2nd best sg on the roster he should play the min of the 2nd best sg on the roster.
#88
Rudy still said he likes the Portland fans
but he won’t like us so much if he ever returns in another NBA uniform. Just ask Hedo
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
i dont know hedo
i guess i will have to take your word for it, we dont have a personal relationship
#88
Pwned.
"What people need to know is that those pictures were taken a year and a half ago, and I've grown since then." - Greg Oden
Schadenfreude indeed.
Schadenfreude is apt. Take pleasure in others misfortunes. So ist das Leben. Aufwiedersehen Rudy.
That's a good question
Team USA is playing a zone and covering Mark pretty well, so maybe the guards didn’t feel like they could drive again like Navarro did over and over.
"Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing" - Mark Cuban
weird enough
In Rudy’s first possession against LTA the other night he had a nifty drive and layin finish in traffic, something I haven’t seen much of from him (driving and finishing, as opposed to his occasional drive, panic, and flail). Didn’t see it again in that game, or in this one. Made me hopeful, but was possibly more of a fluke than a sign of things to come
Rudy defense, and Rudy using what was probably a moving pick. AFP PHOTO / DANI POZO.
"Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing" - Mark Cuban
So what's going to happen when Cho can't find a good value trade?
At this point, whatever’s being offered is likely garbage. So I don’t blame Cho for holding out. It’s not like he has anything to lose.
And what happens when Rudy decides that making 1.2 Million dollars sitting on a bench is better than not making 1.2 Million Dollars sitting at home? Despite his agent’s clear words, I think I’d be surprised to not see Rudy in training camp.
And one more what if. What if Rudy tries, and makes his place on this team? Now that might be a big if. But could you root for him again if he did?
"[S]ince men enjoyed very great leisure, they used it to pursue many kinds of commodities unknown to their fathers, and that was that first yoke they placed upon themselves without thinking about it, and the first source of evils the prepared for their descendants. For, besides continuing thus to soften body and mind, as these commodities had lost almost all their pleasantness through habit, and as they had at the same time degenerated into true needs, being deprived of them became much more cruel than possessing them was sweet; and people were unhappy to lose them without being happy to have them." -Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Yeah, personally, no problem.
I think his rookie year we saw the real Rudy, and this last year he was hampered by injuries and never getting any kind of a rhythm.
I don’t care if we trade him for a pick #20 or better,, and if he does play and play well then Wes Matthews will be a full time backup 3 I guess, so I don’t see a ton of place for him here. But if he’s suddenly rookie Rudy again, I won’t have any problem rooting for him.
I was happy that KD blocked his shot, but mostly cause I wanted Team USA to win.
You can measure skill and talent with your eyes, but productivity is shown through statistics.
What if Rudy tries, and makes his place on this team?
I agree that it’s a big if at this point, but yeah, absolutely, I’ll root for him again. If he can manage to come back and earn the respect of his teammates then he’s earned my respect too. When he’s confident, he’s really exciting to watch. But then, I have a soft spot for guys who have become stronger because they’ve tackled weaknesses and/or gone through tough times.
My worry is that he hasn’t had to deal with adversity much and hasn’t developed the armor needed to deal with life in the NBA. He’s created even more problems for himself with his recent kvetching. If he can overcome all of this, sweet. But I have my doubts.
Rudy is a good bench player - that is what he is.
I hope he figures that out and can help us next season as a role player off the bench. I would root for him to help the blazers, but I would probably boo him if he was traded.
He was, but in very limited action
He had one good chance at a dunk, but got fouled hard by Eric Gordon to prevent the basket. He made 1/2 free throws, and had 2 rebounds. He’s basically backing up Rudy, Mumbru, and Gabajosa at either forward spot.
"Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing" - Mark Cuban
ben, you can get a full box score by clicking the
“estadisticas” tab on the link you posted.
rudy had 5 steals and 2 turnovers in addition to the numbers you provided.
in KP i trusted
It's really sad how so many people are rooting against Rudy now
15 months ago, he was everybody’s new favorite. If anything we should hope Rudy will increase his value in the World Championships so the org can get a better deal for him.
"You can't give up hope just because it's hopeless! You gotta hope even more, and cover your ears and go 'bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla!'"
I thought he did well on D
and didn’t look for his shot.
by collectiveshane on Aug 23, 2010 1:59 PM PDT up reply actions
I felt bad watching Rudy.
The guy looked like he’d been on a month-long better. Maybe it is best for everyone if he heads back to Spain, gets himself mentally better, and then comes back as a more mature player?
The poster formerly known as Freethefro.
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