This guy needs a more prominent role on this team. He's a go-to-guy type of scorer already. Brandon Roy should be getting the most shots, but Rudy and LaMarcus should be getting about the same amount. Rudy can be a 20 ppg scorer this season if given the playing time and touches. I like Travis a lot, but this is a business and I think we have to thin out this roster, Travis included, to make room for Rudy. Our 2nd or 3rd best player on the roster.
Why can't we have Travis and Rudy together? They co-existed brilliantly tonight. And Rudy already has a prominent role. Don't see why anything has to change. He is huge off the bench and always plays down the stretch. Calm down. Don't deal Travis. Start Martell. Bring Batum in at SF and Travis in at PF with Rudy at SG. As Batum showed tonight, he's not quite ready for prime time and so Outlaw will still get some SF minutes as well. Don't trade Outlaw. Why would you want to deal him? Makes no sense. Rudy and he don't even play the same position.
Rudy is being used perfectly IMO. Not sure he deserves an increase in shot attempts until he can create his own shot (And make it) Right now he is money from the outside and alley oops, but struggling with taking his man off the dribble. Not worried about him, but he is certainly no BROY.
I have to agree with the King . . . I don't know why so many people are so eager to run Travis out of town. Yeah, he can be a bit of a chucker but when the going's bad for this team, it doesn't seem like anyone outside of Roy is willing to put the ball up. And that's where Travis is good because dude has no fear - he'll just keep shooting, which can be good and bad. But if he didn't who would've made all of those clutch game winning shots last year? Roy can't do it every single game.
I personally think Rudy is the best basketball player on the team. Although Roy is very close. Rudy is a better shooter, better passer, weaker on the ball defender, superior off-the-ball defender, more explosive. Roy is a better ball-handler though. Give Rudy a year and he'll be just as good in most fans' eyes.
I might get flamed, but Rudy is already shooting just enough. He's not all that great at creating his own shot. In fact, I can't remember him hitting one shot tonight after having to dribble more than a couple of times. Roy, Aldridge, and to a lesser extent Outlaw all can get what shot they want with the ball in their hands. Rudy relies on moving without the ball. He flourishes in our set offenses. He shoots plenty.
Travis is a special talent. He can get his shot on just about anyone. And he is cheap and he is ok coming off the bench. He is even putting more effort into rebounding now and his handle this year is much better than it was before The dude is a keeper. There is a contingent of Blazers fans that have a man-crush on a role-player and they go on rants to drop better players off the roster because they take minutes from their favorite man-crushie. Last year JJ got the brunt of complaints from all the Sergio fans and this year it is Travis from the Webster fans. The reality of the matter is that even without JJ around Sergio still is the 3rd PG on the depth chart - and with Batum's progress - moving Travis will not change his minutes allocation... Travis is great - we should celebrate him, not whine about him none-stop. As for Rudy. He will get more shots as the time goes on - but it will not be at the expense of Travis - it will be at the expense of Blake and probably Sergio - since he will eat into their minutes.
Rudy's already my favorite Blazer . . . but that doesn't mean we have to get rid of Travis just because Rudy's that good.
It was Travis' 4th quarter three that broke us out of our slump tonight. Travis is a very important part of our team.
I disagree. I like Travis, but he takes shots away from Rudy. Right now, Rudy brings a lot more to the table than Travis and opens a lot of opportunities for other players with his passing ability and point guard-like court vision. When Travis gets the ball, he's going to shoot 1st, shoot 2nd, pass 3rd. I like Travis a lot, but Rudy is just a better player and is somewhat being held back with Travis being a bit of a black hole in that second unit.
Fo sheezy great point. IIRC, the in-game graphic at the beginning of the quarter said that we hadn't gotten a FG in the last 7:03 minutes of the 3rd. And TO comes out at the beginning of the 4th and, in typical fearless fashion, nails a big 3!
Travis converts at a higher rate than Rudy (impressive, since Rudy is fantastic). So, the solution is to take shots away by trading Travis (who creates for himself better than Rudy) and allow the defense to concentrate on Rudy alone? Some of you guys really need to pay attention to the numbers and what is happening - I love Rudy's game as much as anyone else - but this suggestion makes no sense once you start looking at the numbers...
That's ridiculous. Did you watch the game? He passed WAY more than he shot. Almost to a fault. Secondly, he scored 20 tonight and Rudy scored 16. Would you prefer to lose Outlaw but get 36 out of Rudy, if he can do that? That makes sense.....pause.... Not. We're much better off with two of them being threats than just one.
Travis is also, as you must know, one of the top 5 three point shooters in the league. Why would you want him off the team? We're lucky to have him.
Not sure you watched the game. He played 41 minutes and took 12 shots. he is blending in very nicely with BOTH the 1st and 2nd team. He took maybe 1 bad shot tonight.
Travis has a significantly lower TS%, EFG%, and PPS ratio... so no he in fact does not convert his shots into points at a higher rate. He's having an astounding, if unsustainable, hot streak from behind the line but his 19/52- .365 on shot attempts inside the arc would be the worst in the rotation if not for Sergio.
How about we stop comparing two of our own players that seem to play well together on the court and just enjoy their success.
