I keep hearing about Miller getting traded, and it suddenly occurs to me that Rudy could be the reason why. He handles the ball well, and is a very capable passer, including making perfect lobs to Aldridge. Why couldn't he run the team??? This would give him the playing time he wants, keep Aldridge happy, and allow us to trade Miller for a younger player. I'm not saying I want this to happen--I actually love Andre Miller--but it may be the thinking of the coaches and management. Am I crazy, or could this happen?
Rudy has a hard time creating his own shot. I like him running point for a little but each game to confuse the defense but definatly not all the time.
Rudy handles the ball OK in space, but he is absolutely NOT a good ball-handler when people press him ... and if he was our "point" this is going to happen 90% of the time he tries to bring the ball up the court.
Lets put the qualifying terms up here for your statement, which should have been added. Rudy can shoot when he gets hot. He is super streaky. I think though he can improve. Now here is why I think Rudy at PG makes sense. He has pretty much been playing backup point a lot lately with Mills being limited. Rudy is a decent playmaker who can see over the top of defenses, and IMO, could be a "Shaun Livingston" type of PG. He isn't going to kill you with speed. But he can see over the top of his defender and can shoot over most of them as well. He actually defends PG much better than he does SG, and would only probably have big problems against guys like Miller who are physical, or super speed demons like Rose. But who doesn't Rose kill each night?
I can see using Rudy at point with the second unit once Brandon is back, but if we're depending on him to be our starter at the point, we're dead.
Yes, but if this was the case - the Celtics would have run Ray Allen as their PG instead of Rondo. You need passing ability (Rudy has that) and the ability to handle the ball under pressure in traffic (Rudy is really lacking there) to even consider it - so, if you replace Miller for Rudy, imho, we will be in real problem.
As opposed to Andre Miller, who is never "streaky." If you're talking about pure shooting ability, Rudy definitely comes out on top. Is Rudy a good enough ball-handler to deal with pressure defenses? I don't know. I suspect he is, though he may never be as good at that as Andre Miller. We know he can't post like Miller, since he doesn't have the strength. I honestly don't know if we'd be weaker or stronger with Rudy at the point. I do think it's probably a possibility that the coaches have considered.
Cool, so there is a chance we could really improve ourselves instead of competing for mediocrity every year.
I wasn't comparing him to Miller. The facts are Rudy's shooting percentage for the last 2 years isn't even NBA worthy. .386 and .378 shooting percentages in the last few years = Out of the NBA in my book, unless you are making up for those stats somewhere else in a big way.
Rudy is not a point guard. Batum would be a better point guard than Rudy and he's no point guard either.
I love Rudy, but he'd be a disaster as a PG. Perhaps he and Brandon could play together in a no PG lineup, but that would only be for limited minutes.
You lost me at the bolded part. Rudy does NOT handle the ball well. Teams would eat him alive with constant pressure, and we wouldn't get into our offense. Having good vision and making exciting passes does not equal good ball handling.
Rudy is fatally flawed, as I've noted before. He has every skill necessary...except the ability to handle the ball in traffic. That ability, though, is necessary to set up everything else he does. He's a good finisher? Not so useful if he can't break a defense down and get to the hoop. He's a good passer? Not that useful if he can't beat his man off the dribble, create passing space and collapse defenses. He's a good shooter? Not so useful when you don't have the ability to either create space to get a shot off or make the defender worry about a drive so he plays off a bit. Everything Rudy does needs to be set up by others. A point guard is a guy who needs to be able to set others up. Rudy is a talented player but, unfortunately, he doesn't have the thing that glues all those talents together.
Rudy is the second best ball handler on the team, far better than either Patty or Brandon, and with PT will could eventually be better than Miller. Those who disagree need to offer evidence (good luck with that) to back their weak attacks. But he'll be our starting SG by next year so the arguement is moot.
