http://www.bustabucket.com/20090226247/articles/february-2009/road-trips-can-be-hard-for-a-rookie-rudys-reaction.html I can't imagine how tiring that has to be.
I was just talking to a co-worker this morning about this. Both Rudy and Brandon looked completely exhausted last night. I mentioned that Rudy had looked really run down before the All Star Break and I was hoping a few days off would rejuvenate him but I don't think it was enough. Did anyone else notice Rudy starting to limp a little? If he's injured maybe it's time for him to sit out a game or two and rest. I think he's already played the equivalent of two Euro seasons already and we're only about 2/3rd of the way through the season (not counting play offs if we get in).
You know if a player is hitting the wall, there is a player waiting to play who has plenty of energy. His name is Bayless. If you have to, rest Rudy every other game until he gets his legs back underneath him, and get a guy who is itching to play some minutes. Its better than watching 8 3 pointers fall short and nobody ever attacking the rim.
At least now, Rudy is probably thinking a lot of respect for all the NBA players out there playing a 82 game season. Its finally taking a toll on him but this is a new challenge for him and hopefully mentally he will bounce back when hes home again in Portland. Yes, hes 3pters have been off lately and he hasn't been pulling the numbers that he did in previous games.
i think alot of people discount the fact that he played quite a bit in the olympics as well. this is kind of the perfect storm of playing all summer, coming to a new league/team/city, and doubling your # of games. sadly i don't think we'll see the REAL rudy until next season.
I still remember him being ranked #1 in ESPN's top 50 rookies early in the year. Now he barely cuts top 10. Meh, whatever. Manu didn't have a great rookie season either. Hell, seems like NO international ever has a good first season. Strange. I get the feeling Rudy won't be part of our team in the future. I think he's going to develop really well in a year or two and deserve to be a starter. Of course, with Brandon Roy on our team, that's not gonna happen any time soon and it's doubtful we'll have enough money to sign him to a big money deal after Roy, Aldridge, and Oden get their contracts. He should be good trade bait for easier to afford role players though, hopefully.
You have to remember this is a guy who finished the Euroleague last year and went straight to the Olympics, from the Olympics to training camp and he even participated in a couple of events during All-Star weekend. Of course he's going to be tired, regardless of his age.
And he is the slightest built player on the team. As he gets stronger with the weights he will weather the storm better.
I find it amazing that people would be at all disappointed with what Rudy has done this year. We all knew he could shoot, but he does so much more--moving without the ball, terrific passing and court vision, active hands on defense, etc. As bigbailes and zagsfan20 have both pointed out, Rudy hasn't had a break in over a year. Remember previous Olympic teams complaining about how tired they were? And as gatorpops noted, he's 6'5" and 172 lbs. He simply doesn't have an NBA body yet. Next year, he'll have rested over the summer, probably put on some weight and will know what to expect from the NBA. I expect to see a completely different level of play from him in 09-10, and I thank our lucky stars we have him as a Blazer.
There's also a certain fatigue that settles on you when you move to a new country. Not the first day or the first month. But some time 6 months or a year into it, you just want to hear your own god damn language a little, you want to eat food you're used to, you want to be able to conduct a conversation above a fourth grade reading level. I remember it hitting my wife when she moved here from England, and I've seen it in others. I was just starting to experience it after living 6 months in Mexico. Would it make him play basketball worse? I don't know. But when you are an "energy" player like he is, it's certainly possible that this kind of mental fatigue has an impact on him. It'd be interesting to see if foreign players are more susceptible to "the rookie wall" statistically.
the lineup i love seeing on the floor is both him and brandon in the backcourt. they both can handle the ball and rudy may be the best passer we have on the team. if they can d up the other PG i don't see why this tandem can't be used together more in the future.
I think we're overlooking something here . . . teams have had 50 + games to scout Rudy. His game is what it is right now. He can shoot the three, but he's streaky. And his shot seems to be either on or off in a given night. In other words, if he starts out 0-4, then he's off that night and you don't have to focus on him too much. But if he starts out 3-3, then you better get somebody out there to close on him quickly. Right now, he lacks the ability to go to the basket. Actually he lacks the ability to even pump fake, put the ball on the floor and then take a pull up jumper inside the 3 point line. He just can't do it. He's a spot up shooter, and he's fairly acrobabit/agile on alley-oops - that's it. So when you close out on him, you don't need to worry about him pump faking and blowing by you. He needs to develop that Jeff Hornacek runner in the lane type of shot. If he doesn't add another dimension to his offense, he's nothing more than a good role player because he can't create shots for himself right now. That's why he's struggling - teams have figured out how to defend him. Is he tired/dinged up? WHO ISN'T this time of year?
