http://www.marca.com/2010/09/21/baloncesto/nba/1285071858.html Rudy Fernandez: "I think if Portland keeps my rights, that means they believe in me. I'm excited to begin the season with them and prove that I have my place on the team and play minutes. The most important thing is to grow as a player and as a person. I'm an NBA player and there's not many people who can say that." Marca.com
Lies! It means he's decided to destroy the organization from within. Not content with sandbagging himself, he will work tirelessly to sabotage everything we hold dear. In fact, I think you'll find that all of Oden's injuries can be traced to his nefarious actions.
I would assume that since everyone hated listening to marca before when he wanted out, that they will all say they don't believe this, either?
I think Rudy came to the realization that although Portland is not his first choice to play/live, that comparatively speaking if he stays in the NBA, there are worse options. And right now the places he desires most are not going to happen. Say all the right things, Portland fans will welcome you back (as long as you perform and stop whining) and by the trade deadline if you are buried on the bench, they may move you if the right offer comes up. Ths is a PR move just in case no trade happens.
The Blazers had all the leverage, he had nothing. This was also Cho's first test as a GM to see if he would cave to pressure from a player and be pushed around. Most organizations have challenges to their leadership at some point. Cho by not caving in, is showing him who is in charge. Rudy will be moved on Cho's schedule/intinterary. Not Rudy's. That is important because it lays a foundation for the future of the franchise.
Great Post This is very important and I hope that all the forum readers take note of your post. repped
I think rudys agent miller is an idiot and gave him bad advice. He obviously has had ethical issues in the past and has been sued for these a few times. Rudy tucking his tail and admitting fault, is the only way he could salvage his career in the NBA. Sit out for two seasons!? Is that really an option
LOL. Cho's name is on the door, but he has yet to show up and do a day's work. If you give him credit for doing absolutely nothing, he hasn't even met Rudy nor has he spoken with him, then I say we instead give all the credit to Jonathan Winters since he did the same thing and had the same result while not even getting paid by the Blazers.
As I said in the past why all the urgency? We have all the power and yes, sometimes doing nothing is the best course and I'll give Cho credit for that because if it had been someone else, like say Jonathan Winters, he might have caved and release him or traded him for a meaningless draft pick.
Cho passed the tough guy test. This is a great day to be a Blazer. Don't get overconfident when you celebrate, but think of what we have gained. We didn't let our 4th SG escape. What if Roy, Wesley Matthews, and Bayless all get injured? Where would we be with only Andre Miller, Patrick Mills, Elliot Williams, and Armon Johnson left to play guard? We need an 8th guard for insurance. Sure, most teams would get rid of an 8th guard who won't be getting any minutes, wants a different coaching system because McMillan's hides all his positives, openly talks to his teammates and media about wanting to be traded, and will be staying only 1 more year in the NBA because of his bad experience here, so no team will give much for him. But most teams would be stupid. We have salvaged our 8th guard and Cho has passed the test of toughness. This is a day to feel proud.
True, if Rudy stays. We currently have 16 players--3 centers, 5 forwards, and 8 guards. Even when 1 guard leaves (Mills or Rudy), the roster will still be out of balance (5 forwards and 7 guards). (That's why some people post that 6 foot 5 Matthews will play a lot of forward. They are trying to get our money's worth out of his high salary, fighting our ridiculous imbalance.) So letting Rudy save his NBA career wouldn't leave us high and dry with an open guard spot to fill. We already have a decent 7th guard who has already learned McMillan's system (Mills, and you only need 6 on a balanced roster anyway). Rudy will get only garbage time minutes here unless Roy, Matthews, and Bayless all go down. Even then, we would still have 4 guards left to play the games. We have absolutely no reason, other than to make us look tough, to prevent Rudy from getting a Sergio-like extra chance in the NBA before he leaves the league in disgust. By earning this reputation, we ensure that Europeans will avoid us like the Plague.
