I'm just curious what you guys have to say. I remember a thread a while back where people were claiming Rudy is All-Star material. You guys still think he's that good? I never thought he was anywhere close to All-Star talent but a solid role player that can have breakout games. If he is unhappy here. I have no problem moving him in the off season.
No, last year I thought his problem was that he was underutilized - to get him slowly adjusted to the NBA game. I now realize that he just does not have the handle, lateral quickness to take it to all-star level. He can be better than what we have seen from him, however.
I thought he'd either develop a better handle, and/or put on some muscle so he could withstand the punishment that comes with operating in the paint. He's done neither. I never thought he was a lock to be an All-Star before he came to Portland, but I thought he maybe had a chance. I really don't see it happening now.
No. All-stars have to have the ability to either A) Dominate the interior or B) score from a vast variety of ways. Rudy can do neither, and hasn't seemed to improve on his scoring diversity. I think he is better than what he is showing, but if players like Roy, Deron, etc are on the fringe of making the ASG, Rudy doesn't have a chance.
No. I've never thought so since about halfway through last season (prior to that, I had no opinion, having not yet seen enough of him). He's fatally flawed. He almost has the skillset to be at least a borderline star. He has excellent passing skills, good vision, a nice shot and is an athletic, creative finisher at the rim. He simply doesn't have the skill that would glue those together into dynamic play-making: the ability to handle the ball in traffic. No great passing play-maker does it consistently from a standstill at the perimeter. They all have to be able to drive into the defense, force the defense to react and move and then find a teammate with a pass who's in position to exploit that defense in motion. No great scorer does it as a standstill shooter. Being a standstill shooter forces teammates to create opportunities for you, and great scorers need to be able to create shots for themselves against set defenses. No great scorer gets their points at the rim purely off backdoor cuts to the hoop (alley-oops generally being one result of backdoor cuts). Since Rudy doesn't have the ability to slash from the wing to the hoop, through traffic, the only way he can use his fine finishing ability is from backdoor cuts that allow him to receive the ball at the hoop. Rudy has all the offensive tools...except, tragically, the one that would allow him to use all those tools. And he's not a good defender, to boot. It all adds up to a player who will make some exciting plays, perhaps even some big plays that will be remembered for a long time, but not one who will ever be a consistent impact-maker. It's a real shame, because his style and flair would be awesome from a star or near star.
I really need to look back and see who said he had the ability to be an All-Star. It's pretty obvious at this point nobody thinks that's realistic...funny how quick things change.
What sucks about Rudy is that we mostly only use him for three point shooting and he's not that good. Shoots under 36%. What's good about Rudy is that he's very quick and is good at getting a steal or a key loose ball. But Manu Ginobili he is not. And Manu's only made the All Star team once.
I still believe he will be an all star but obviously won't be for us unless BRoy gets hurt. Rudy's really lost his confidence and seems to be trying to play Nates way. Unfortunately that's not his strength. Rudy does extremely well when we are well ahead and he can just play relaxed and loose. I . It's really amazing how similar the scenarios are of Rudy and Drazen (both played behind all stars) and GO and Bowie (both were drafted ahead of players who turned out to be incredible players MJ and Durrant).
No fucking way. Caveat: unless Spain lands an NBA franchise, Rudy stars for it, and he gets in on the fan vote.
