Uh huh. http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/09/07/team-usa-notebook-mcmillan-preparing-to-have-fernandez-in-train/
almost without exception coaches back the guys that are on the roster. Their job is to do the best they can with who they have to coach. They don't make trade demands of guys currently on the roster or speculate about potentially trading for so-n-so. Rudy is currently on the roster so Nate is doing his job of publicly backing him as "his guy"... it would be unusual if he didn't. If he's on the roster come the season and he's been showing up to practice, RF he might well earn a substantial role... it's possible. Really this is only newsworthy because it's the offseason STOMP
I get the feeling Nate is full of shit, but at least he's being full of shit and professional at the same time.
I thought today that a possible solution to the rudy situation could be moving him to the starting lineup instead of Andre Miller.
McMillan, a Team USA assistant, was asked by FanHouse if his hope is the disgruntled swingman will remain with the team. "He's a great player,'' McMillan said. "He's a good player. A talented player. Very talented. Well, somewhat talented. I mean he has talent. Not necessarily good talent. He's a decent player, let's put it that way. Ok, you got me. He sucks."
It would solve things from Rudy's perspective. Replacing a much better player in Miller with Rudy wouldn't really solve things from the Blazers' perspective. This is especially considering Rudy can't handle the ball at a high level, so can't play point guard.
Don't be surprised if this Rudy thing turns around. It's happened before. Player in the doghouse. Shit hits the fan. Sometimes though things turn around. Sometimes they don't.
Well we can only hope it turns out as well as make up sex does. But that is definitely a barometer to set for success!
I could see it if there was an obvious role for him, but with the Matthews signing, where is he going to get the minutes?
A team can always use more reserve shooters, IMO. Especially if this is the season Oden asserts himself as a consistent force and stays healthy. Oden, Roy, Miller and Bayless all can potentially thrive by working in the paint and kicking out to shooters. Batum and Matthews are the main shooters, but one more wouldn't hurt. It really depends on how well he's playing. The Rudy of last year has no role on a good team. The Rudy of two years ago can definitely add a lot, as a shooter off a kick-out or as a passer off a kick-out. Fernandez can't create anything on his own, but if a collapsing defense leaves Rudy alone, he can be as deadly as a passer as a shooter. At least, Rookie Rudy could.
I get what you're saying but unless we plan to run a lot more "six men" trick plays, like we did against the Celtics in that one game, if Rudy is in that means at least one of Batum, Roy, Miller or Matthews aren't -- There's an opportunity cost to playing Rudy that I don't see Nate being willing to 'pay.' Best case? I can see him coming back for training camp and getting an extended look during the pre-season then once teams are convinced that Rudy plans to stick it out in the NBA instead of pouting and staying at home in protest, Cho will be able to consummate a deal. More likely? He stays at home, collects a couple of million dollars under the table from some Euroleague team for two years and then signs with them once his NBA rookie scale deal runs out.
Well, if Rudy is "good Rudy," a deeper rotation during the regular season would be worthwhile to help keep people fresh. We know Roy has some injury issues. Assuming the team is good to very good, as we hope, if the team can build some large leads, that would provide the team opportunities to "ease off the gas pedal" a bit and not play their best players as many minutes as possible, in an effort to keep them fresh. I don't see that being much of an issue for Batum and Mathews, who are young and should be able to run forever, but Roy with his fragility and Miller with his whole getting-older thing could be good candidates for minutes management. A fresh Miller and Roy in the playoffs would be great. If Rudy is crap, then just stick with Matthews and Bayless as the only perimeter reserves.
Rudy is a better 3-point shooter than Miller and almost as good a passer. If the only problem with the 2 euros+Roy back-court is who gets it past the halfcourt line, we'll manage. Even Batum is a good ball-handler for his position and Roy could have trouble against pressure/traps but so does some Point-Guards. when we had Blake, he would make two dribbles and pass it to Roy, anyway. A Rudy/Roy/Batum/Lamarcus/Oden lineup would be less orthodox and there are obvious obstacles they'll meet but it also gives us a dynamic offensive team with many weapons. The 2nd lineup would be Miller/Bayless/Mathewss/Dante or Joel/Camby which is about as good as most starting lineups Miller played with. I don't think Miller is a better player than Rudy, I think Rudy is currently our 5th best player and should be in the lineup.
