Whomever said he looks like Web's last year is spot on. And I was thinking the same thing last night... It makes me think that the leash on these guys is too tight....too structured....
Nate Robinson went off for 20 pts (7-13 shooting), 4 boards, 4 asissts, 4 steals off the bench against the Suns last night off the bench. Yea, very ridiculous. I still wouldn't trade Rudy for Nate right now though. Rudy has crazy upside, but he's a work in progress.
I think part of it is, and Rudy's admitted it, that he's getting a little fatigued by all the games already. He played one to two games a week in Europe, and now he's playing basically every other day. Rudy doesn't look like he has as much energy as he did before the year as he's been content to stay at the 3-point line -- even on fast breaks. He just runs to the 3-point line when he could get an easy layup. And another part is he's not being put in a playmaker role. He's not involved in any pick and rolls, or allowed to really do anything with the ball until there's 5 or so seconds left in the shot clock. We need to let him showcase his skills, like he did earlier in the year with the between the legs passes and his all-around passing skills.
Better late than never on this. My thoughts: 1. I've very pleased with Rudy and how he's playing now. He's primarily shooting threes, but he's hitting a good percentage and it's helping spread the floor. Defensively he's doing a good job, as well. Maybe it's because I never had insane expectations for him that I'm content for now. 2. I think that Rudy's got a lot of room to improve, but I see that as a positive, not as a negative. I really think that as he physically matures he'll get to the hole and the line a lot more and he seems like the kind of guy who will really be able to milk "veteran moves". 3. Nate v. Rudy is an interesting conversation. Nate's about 11 months older than Rudy, but he's much more explosive offensively... and that's saying something given that Rudy can score in bunches. I would probably still prefer Rudy, but I can see how an argument could be made either way. Ed O.
This is exactly the problem occuring with Rudy right now....They don't run many plays for him, and they oput him out there on the 3pt line and the team is not running as much as they should.....
How is Rudy being coached? What have you heard at your visits to Blazer practice or inside the timeout that you disagree with?
careful you're going down kingspeed roads tossing out one games worth of stats there. yes he's putting up decent numbers in a D'Antoni system but 5'9" SG's are awesome in a normal system.
i'm guessing here that this is a case of what does martell do? what did James Jones do last season? what have we seen Rudy do for a good chunk of this season? at some point it stops being a coincidence and you have to say it's the coaching.
Rudy is not the primary, secondary or even tertiary scoring option on this team, so I don't understand why some people think the only way to judge his game and his value is on how many ways he is scoring the ball? His value to the team goes beyond how many points he scores, IMO. His court vision and passing is clearly the best on the team next to Sergio. That same court vision and BBIQ helps him make key plays on defense, key rebounds or tip-outs, key assists, and spread the floor and set up his teammates. I agree Nate is using him much as he used Martell -- as a spot up shooter. When Nate let's him run, exciting things happen (usually good ones). As for his shooting, it appears to me that a lot of his threes are taken against the shot clock with a guy in his grill. He seems to be playing with pain. It also appears he's hit a bit of a rookie wall. But he's still a very savvy player; he continues to hit big threes to keep us in games; and I consider him the kind of team player who is more valuable to his team's success than his offensive stats.
What are we saying is the coaching? Nate is running more plays to LMA and Roy? Are we saying that Nate is telling Rudy to not step inside the 3pt line? My best guess is that teams have taken away Rudy's strengths, and Rudy (not the coaches), isn't at a point where he is comfortable going off the dribble, or finishing in traffic, to take advantage of what teams are willing to give him. My guess is that at some point, Rudy and the coaches will work together to help him develop in those areas, but I don't have the insider knowledge, nor any reason to assume, that Nate and the coaches only want him to stand and shoot threes. Nate would probably love for Greg to have 5 amazing post moves, but since he doesn't have any, it seems silly for us to run more plays through him. The same hold true for Rudy, in my opinion.
Well to be fair, San Antonio's made a living off that with Bowen in the corner and they haven't done too bad. You can always find James Posey in the corner for 3 balls. The corners always get wide-open 3s when teams double the post, and you move the ball around the perimeter. But yeah.. with a guy like Rudy's skills, you'd probably want him doing a little more than waiting at the 3-point line.
Live by the 3, die by the 3, and most of the time, you will lose that battle if trying to live by it. It's a lower percentage shot, and the bad things that happen when you miss far out weigh the gain of the points if you make it.
i've got no problem with rudy waiting at the 3 point line when the idea is for him to be spacing the floor and either occupy his defender or get an open 3. my biggest problem with rudy's game is that when he has the ball in his hands to create, he always just ends up fading away either at the 3 point line or just inside.
Yeah, I agree with the fadeaways but I assume he didn't face too many quality defenders in Europe and he got his shot off easily with the fadeaway with no resistance. That was just part of his game. And many times, Rudy is given the ball with 5 seconds left on the shot clock or less, and he has to fire up something horrible. I think he's still adjusting to the NBA game as teams have now scouted him heavily. When he gets used to the number of games and gets his foot healthy, we'll see Rudy be the player we thought he could be.
i agree with that but please tell me who our low post scorer is that comands doubles? LA could be but he loves shooting the 19 footer too much and greg has been too inconsistant to force feed him the ball in the post. i can't wait for the day that greg develops a little more and gets those doubles because he's shown a willingness to pass out and find the open man.
Rudy is playing exactly like he was in Europe. No different. Just against tougher comp and better defenders.
