Sergio Rodriguez : The Forgotten Blazer

The NBA preseason has finally commenced and there is plenty of excitement around the Portland Trail Blazer circles, as has been anticipated for some time now. For over a year, a great many people have been waiting for a behemoth named Greg Oden to take the court and give the Blazers that inside presence that only comes along once a decade.

As if that wasn't enough to get the crowd into a frenzy, there was the sparkling Olympic Silver Medal performance of Rudy Fernandez with the Spanish National Team to get tongues wagging, including the Spaniard swingman's stunning dunk over Team USA's own manchild Dwight Howard. There was also a Summer League MVP performance by fellow rookie Jerryd Bayless to continue the Kevin Pritchard worship by the Rose Garden faithful.

Last season saw the Blazers do much better than expected and the All-Star play of Brandon Roy got him not just Oregon-wide, but national recognition as a player to respect. LaMarcus Aldridge proved himself as a player on the verge of similar fame with many solid performances as the inside punch to Roy's outside kick. Along the way, we saw the hatching of Travis Outlaw as a solid go-to scorer and perhaps the best bench injection in the league down the stretch of games. Late on we were reminded with glimpses of what Channing Frye can do on the basketball court with a solid finish to the regular season, followed by the off-season news that he was developing a three point shot to prove himself worthy of playing time.

At this point we have not even mentioned starting point guard stalwart, Steve Blake, sharpshooter continually on-the-verge, Martell Webster nor the Vanilla Gorilla in the middle, Joel Przybilla.

All of this gives you an indication of how much talent Sergio Rodriguez has to battle with in order to get himself noticed on this Blazer team and entice coach Nate McMillan to grant him playing time. The Spanish point guard disappointingly was not part of the Spanish Olympic team that took on Team USA in the Gold Medal Match. No doubt this, along with his struggle for minutes last season behind Blake and Jarrett Jack, motivated him to find answers this off-season.

He returned to his home in the Canary Islands and did his best to clear his mind in order to improve his game. Often in the past, the biggest criticsm of Rodriguez's game has been his apparent inability to slow down and make the right decisions on the court. He has lured Blazer fans through two seasons with Steve Nash-like ability to handle and dish the rock, but the consistency has not been there to allow McMillan to give him solid playing time.

“After two years playing in the NBA, I have to think that the most important thing is you don’t have to worry about anything else. You have to worry about yourself,” Rodriguez said. “And that is what I tried to do during the summer.”

The other area lacking in the point guard's game, which is essential at the NBA level, was his shooting ability from the outside. On a team stacked with a big three of scorers, the only way to get your shots is to knock them down when the opportunity knocks.

He worked with Blazers shooting coach John Thompson to develop more arc on his shot — one of the biggest weaknesses of his game.

He improved his strength and played with other pro players each day. And when training camp opened last week, that offseason work showed through when Rodriguez posted the third-fastest time in McMillan’s infamous conditioning test.

These changes to his game, along with fortune smiling on him, might make Rodriguez the most unexpected surprise in a Blazer uniform early on this season. That fortune has arrived in the form of misfortune for incumbent starter Blake, who will miss time early on with a strained hamstring. Rodriguez has often felt mistrust from his tough-love coach and had communicated that to good friend Fernandez before he too joined the team. However, it appears that the Blazers brass want to make sure that rookie Bayless knows his place (MVP of Summer League or not) and hence, McMillan has made it known that Rodriguez holds the edge for playing time in Blake's absence.

This will be the Spaniard's chance to prove that his newly cleared mind, improved shot and added experience will be what it takes to get him over the hurdle and be a solid contributer for this exciting team.

Already in the Blazers' preseason opener versus the Sacramento Kings, Rodriguez was given the starting nod and did not disappoint, putting up 11 points (whilst shooting the ball well from deep), 7 assists and 2 turnovers in only 26 minutes of victorious action. Tonight versus the Golden State Warriors he again is seeing significant time, emphasised by the unfortunate news that Webster has sustained a stress fracture of his left foot, in the never-ending stream of Blazer injuries.

Rodriguez's strong connection with newly-crowned star Fernandez may indeed add to his playing time with the primary playing unit, giving him an added advantage over Bayless, who will be better suited to igniting the scoring in the second unit with Outlaw until further changes to the rotation are arrived at.

“I just had to get my confidence back,” Rodriguez said. “I feel I’m stronger now. I can shoot better. And my mind is clear. And I just want to play, I just want to have fun. I just want to win.”

Video Highlights of the Blazers' win over the Kings (courtesy of ESPN).

Coach McMillan's thoughts on the Blazers after their first win:

Nate McMillan's take after the exhibition opener

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No way José : the Spanish perspective

Well, well. There certainly has been some conjecture over our article yesterday on José Calderón's opinion that there were some inaccuracies in the way the Gold Medal match between USA and Spain was officiated.

A Spanish reader has commented that the main problem that Spanish fans had, was with perceived travelling violations on the Americans which were committed where steps were taken before putting the ball down on the floor. Our friend then provided some examples of where this was an issue.

The first example (below), shows LeBron James take a couple of steps in the backcourt before putting the ball down:

Next up, we have a Kobe breakway dunk. I have to admit, I have trouble seeing the point where Mamba actually received the ball on this one:



And finally, a Juan Carlos Navarro parody of the USA, with a "mock travel" in the game's dying seconds:

Now, I can certainly see that there may have been examples of this happening. It's also worth noting for our American readers, that many players from the USA who take on roles as imports in foreign leagues often have trouble in the early going getting used to the fact that they have to put the ball on the floor before taking off, as there is a difference in the way that rule is treated in the USA and in the rest of the world.

However, as many gracious Spanish fans have admitted, this difference didn't cost Spain the game. At least, it's unlikely that it did.

As some American fans have pointed out, there was also a questionable elbow that sent Chris Bosh to the floor late in the game, in a case of one Gasol brotha' hookin' anotha' brotha' up. If someone has youtubage of that hit, then by all means, link it in the comments.

For those that want to continue the debate on this, there has been plenty of talk between fans from all walks of life on HoopsHype, Slam, ClubLakers Forum and Ballhype amongst many others.

However, let's leave the last word on what some have described as one of the greatest international games of basketball ever, to José Calderón himself, "Thank you all for your support and your confidence."

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José Calderon : Spain would have won under FIBA rules

Spain pushed Team USA to their limits in the Men's Olympic Basketball Gold Medal Game. José Calderon, who was injured and could not take part in the game, in fact believes that Spain should have won the match.

On Calderon's personal blog, he was a little coy about the topic, going only so far as to say, "Now is not the time to discuss the referees, injuries, absences..." However, on news site El Mundo, he aired his opinion a little more clearly in the Olympic blog he maintained for the site.

(Please note that this translation is a combination of my rudimentary Spanish knowledge and that of google's translator service)

"This is not the time to speak of officiating, but I think with the FIBA rules we would have won. That is why we are a little annoyed, because we were right there at the finish line and we have just missed out."

He makes a point on both blogs of pointing out that Spain is a team and plays as such and that this is their strength. There is no doubt that this is what took the Spaniards to such a high level in the Games, despite missing out at the end.

Calderon's point regarding the rules does require some consideration though. Did the rule changes and different interpretation of those existing rules by FIBA (to come more in line with NBA rules) give an advantage to the Americans? If you were a conspiracy theorist, would you then take that one step further to ask the question as to whether the rules were changed/interpreted differently by FIBA in order to keep USA Basketball interested in international basketball and continue to send top players to compete?

So, to what rule changes exactly is Calderon referring? There have been no specific rule changes that came into effect prior to the Olympics per se, however there has been a perceived difference in the way the rules have been interpreted by referees, in the eyes of many observers. These differences mainly centre around travelling violations, charge/block calls, carrying violations and continuation on shooting fouls.

There have however been legislative changes made to the rules by FIBA, that will come into effect at later dates. At FIBA's 25-26 April, 2008 meeting the Board agreed on a series of rule changes which would come into play after the Olympics, ie from 1 October, 2008 and then a greater set of rule changes that would be effective after the 2010 World Championships (post 1 October, 2010).

The October 2008 rule changes are fairly insignificant and mainly involve backcourt violations and unsportsmanlike/technical fouls. The 2010 rule changes is where FIBA really sends their daughter into bed with David Stern.

As of 2010, the three point line will come out to 6.75m to move toward the NBA's line. The key will no longer be a trapezoid, but will become an NBA-styled rectangle. No-charge semi-circles will be marked under the basket. In short, FIBA basketball will become the NBA -- they just need to adjust the zone defence rules to marry up fully.

So why has FIBA made these rule changes? "The recommendations by the FIBA Technical Commission and the decisions taken by the Central Board were strived by the attempt to further unify all existing game rules and to have, in the future, only one set of rules for the game of basketball worldwide."

The emphasis above is mine. The obvious thing to be noted here however, is that most of the changes in the relationship have come from FIBA's side. The marriage counsellor surely isn't doing their job properly.

Howard Beck of the New York Times: "Winning Olympic gold in Beijing depended partly on Team USA’s ability to cope with the unfamiliar geometry of the international game: a trapezoidal lane, a shallow 3-point arc and a contorted array of driving lanes.
But in two years, the trapezoid will be dead, the arc will be a little deeper and the international game will be a bit closer in style to the N.B.A.’s."

The view from the outside is that of course the NBA has always been very resistant to rule changes that would affect the product they are promoting. David Stern wants to maintain a league which demostrates excitement, with one-on-one matchups, slashing to the basket and serious athletic dunking on display. So FIBA no doubt felt forced to comprimise in the NBA's direction if the two were ever to meet up. Are the changes good for the game worldwide? That's questionable and to a large extent a matter of taste. Is strawberry or chocolate ice cream tastier?

The angle coming from FIBA on this is that they like the NBA rules and saw a need for these changes:

Basketball officials in the United States welcomed the changes, although they did not specifically push for them.

“It’s also probably an endorsement of our game and our rules,” said Jerry Colangelo, the managing director of the senior national team for USA Basketball.

Although it appears that the international game is moving toward the American model, “that is not the way the FIBA board who made the decision actually felt about it,” said Patrick Baumann, the secretary general for FIBA. The goals of the association’s board, he said, were much broader than merely standardizing the game.

In FIBA’s view, the 3-point shot has become too common. In 1984, when the arc was added in international play, only 14 percent of all field-goal attempts were 3-pointers, Baumann said. Now, he added, that number is 40 percent and players routinely make 38 to 40 percent of them.

“The board felt that’s no longer now an exceptional shot,” Baumann said. “It felt something needed to be done.”

What do you think? Are the changes for the good of the game internationally? Does Calderon have a point in relation to these past Olympics and how they were officiated?

Update: with video analysis







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Spain 45 - 61 USA : at the half

If you haven't been keeping up with the Ball Don't Lie live blog of the match, or watching it on TV, well you should be... but regardless, here's how the first half has panned out so far.

1st Quarter

USA seemed to be going right against their strengths by using the tried and true "get the ball to the big guy" offence, aka the Bill Cartwright offence. They kept on pounding the ball into Dwight Howard with varying success.

On the other end, Rudy Fernandez was not shy in putting up a few outside shots, whilst the ball was not yet going into Pau Gasol very much.

Spain certainly are not shy in running with USA -- taking the ball in quickly off the inbounds on more than one occasion.

Plenty of physicality early, on both sides, but in particular LeBron and Melo are dishing a bit of a beat-down out to the Spanish bigs, apparently in an attempt to disguise their lack of height.

Tight early on, with USA up 9-7 with 6:29 to go.

Dwight Howard goal-tended a shot into the stands. A shot which was well and truly short of the mark, as more of an intimidatory move. Stupid if you ask me.

Kobe shows that there is no love between NBA teammates when it comes to the Olympics, as he levels Pau Gasol!

Much of the Spanish offence is going through Rudy Fernandez and Rayez.

Jose Calderon is handling the USA pressure well. A nice fading baseline jumper over Jason Kidd. When will he be subbed for CP3/Deron?

And here we go at the 4:30 mark, CP3 and Chris Bosh come into the game. Spain replies with Juan Carlos Navarro and Marc Gasol.

USA is double-teaming Calderon A LOT. It's not doing much so far.

17-year old Ricky Rubio gets a run with 3:41 to go in the 1st. And he certainly does not look flustered against his higher profile opponents. You go boy.

3:20 to go and Wade gets a signature steal at half-court for a dunk. He follows that up with another steal in traffic in the paint.

USA is pressuring Rubio. Twice he draws fouls at halfcourt, from CP3 and then Deron.

At quarter time, it's USA 31-22.

2nd Quarter

Rubio v Kidd -- young v old. Rubio still doesn't looked fazed.

Prince comes in and hits a trey straight away.

Juan Carlos Navarro makes a foray into the paint and hits the floater.

The physicality continues as Howard gets called for a charge.

LeBron is looking very pumped in this game -- he has that look in his eyes.

As the 2nd quarter goes on, USA starts to draw this game out a bit. They are leading in three point shooting and are still killing with their patented fast breaks.

Spain ends the quarter with some full-court defence of their own, which seems surprisingly successful and pressures USA out of some shots.

54-36 USA at the half.

Team USA v Spain : Olympic Pool Match

Today we have the Men's matchup in these Olympic Games that everyone has been waiting for. USA v Greece was merely a taster -- a chance for the Redeem Team to get some form of redemption. However, everyone knows that the real redemption will not come until Team USA silences all doubters and gets on that private jet back to the land of the free with Gold Medals around their necks.

Spain represents the strongest challenge to USA standing on that middle podium at the end of these Games. This game is not important in terms of getting to the next round -- both teams will do that regardless. However, these are the likely combatants come the Gold Medal game and a huge mental edge will be attained by which ever team can come away with the W.

What can be said about these teams that hasn't already been said? Both have been covered in so much detail, both on and off the court... from unflattering team photos to battles for point guard minutes. The blogosphere and mainstream media have been all over it like a horizontally challenged child on M&Ms.

One thing to note is that Spain is very adept at handling that daunted USA press. They have one of the lowest turnover guards in NBA history in Jose Calderon manning the point and teenage phenom Ricky Rubio backing him up, along with savvy play from Juan Carlos Navarro and Rudy Fernandez. Spain will use that pick-and-roll like crazy, with the Gasol brothers rolling to the basket and giving Dwight Howard fits -- trying to get him in foul trouble.

This Spanish team should handle Team USA's strengths better than anyone else has to date. Whether they can handle them to the extent that they are winners is another story.

No doubt Kobe and LeBron will be very fired up to prove a point here. Presumably we will also get a taste from Coach K and co as to what his rotations in crunch time will be. Will we see a reduction in talisman Jason Kidd's minutes in favour of the in-form CP3 and Deron combo? Will we continue to see DWade burn up the court with his unbelievable penetration?

We all wait in anticipation. If you want to get into the spirit of the game to its full extent, regardless of whether you have vision of the game or not, I highly recommend you surf over to Ball Don't Lie blog where Skeets, KD and the gang will be live-blogging, as they have to critical acclaim for previous matches. Matching comedy with basketball -- there's nothing better is there?

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy, Ruuudy (Fernandez)

Name: Rodolfo "Rudy" Fernandez
Position: Shooting Guard / Small Forward
Nationality: Espana
NBA Team: Portland Trail Blazers
Reputation: Unfairly hyped? Let's wait and see...

Rudy Fernandez is a man who has been on the radar of Blazers fans for some time now. The 6'6" swingman was brought into the Portland masterplan by Kevin Pritchard by way of a trade in the 2007 NBA Draft, where deep-pocketed owner Paul Allen gave up cash in order to secure his draft rights from the Phoenix Suns.

He continued to play last season with Spanish club, Joventut Badalona, and he's had a number of eyes in Oregon following him during this period. Thankfully for Fernandez, the pressure was lessened compared to other rookies-in-waiting, as he had another big expected rookie teammate who the Blazers faithful have been sort of expecting something out of...

After an unexpectedly solid season for Portland last season, every Blazer fan's discussion has been prefaced with, "when Oden, Rudy and Bayless come next season..." and thus, as alluded to above, there's been a heap of weight placed on these relatively young shoulders (even if most of it is apportioned on the rather strong shoulders of Mr Oden).

Even future teammate Brandon Roy has been keeping a close eye on Rudy's progress at the Olympics, hoping to catch a peek at things to come. And of course, the fanatics at the centre of all Blazerness, Blazersedge have been updating his situation daily (oh okay, hourly).

After Fernandez's solid first game in Olympic competition, against the powerful Greece, Dave at Blazersedge had these thoughts on his strengths:

"Rudy has good height and appears to use it. That quickness almost makes him seem rangy. As expected he moved well without the ball when the sets called for it. He also showed good speed up and down the court. His shot and release were quick as well, both in decision-making and execution. He doesn't let grass grow under his feet when there are points to be had. He's also fast getting up in the air. One of the problems plaguing the current Blazer leapers is that their rim finishes take a long time to develop. Rudy appeared to get in the sky in a hurry. I don't have many doubts about him being able to get shots up in the NBA. Everything that's good about him happens fast."

However, he also spied some weaknesses:

"The worst part of Rudy's game by far was his defense, which, aside for a couple noticeable moments, ranged from a high of semi-adequate to a low of wholly ineffective. He was reaching, leaning, and getting beat off of the dribble with regularity in the first quarter. He got a little more active in the second quarter but still ended up getting to the spot late, getting out of position, and/or playing with his arms instead of his feet."

For the sake of Fernandez, it's nice to see all of the "wait until Rudy gets here" hyperbole (fuelled by some spectacular youtube clips) tempered with some criticism of his game. The reality is, there is a good chance that Fernandez will be a nothing more than a solid rookie next season; a player who comes off the bench and adds some punch, but also makes his fair share of mistakes. It's worth remembering after all, that the player Rudy is most compared to, in Manu Ginobili, only averaged 7-2-2 in his first year with the Spurs.

It is hard not to get caught up in some of the mild-hysteria though, especially when you look at his Olympic performances so far in Beijing, on a loaded Spanish roster.

Game 1 (v Greece): 16 points (top scorer), 2 rebounds, 3/6FG, 2 treys, 4/4FT

Game 2 (v China): 21 points (behind Pau), 8 rebounds (tied for lead), 6 assists (top), 6/11FG, 2 treys, 3/5FT

Those are solid performances in two victories against quality international competition, with the second being especially exciting. There is no doubt that the NBA game is a different beast to FIBA ball, as evidenced by Team USA's struggles in the dark 2001-2007 period. However, this still bodes well for Fernandez's NBA career.

Some points again from Dave at Blazersedge, this time on Rudy's performance v China:

"The most impressive aspect of Rudy's game--and probably THE game overall--was the way he took over when the Spanish made their comeback in the fourth. Those two drives against Yao Ming were priceless. He picked that team up and carried them on his back. Others would come along and add to the win but Rudy did it first. Brilliant. You could tell how much the coach was relying on him as well by the minutes he got."

"I still drool over how well Rudy moves without the ball no matter how many cuts I see him make. If the other Blazers will recognize the potential there and take care to get him the ball...oh boy. This showcases his quickness more than any other aspect of the game."

Walt Szczerbiak, father of Wally is the US representative (whatever that means) of the ACB League and he has seen his fair share of the swingman in action at club level. He was interviewed by the Oregonian here and had some interesting things to say.

Later that summer, Fernandez traveled to Chicago and held a private workout for several teams at the NBA pre-draft camp. At the workout, Szczerbiak said questions were raised about whether Fernandez could get past players off the dribble.

"That workout maybe brought out a few flaws in his game, and I think it maybe scared him,'' Szczerbiak said. "So even though he was on everybody's radar, he decided not to go into the draft.''

Instead, Fernandez worked on his physique and his game.

"Now, he's an explosive athlete,'' Szczerbiak said. "He had to learn to put the ball on the floor a few years ago, and he has worked on that aspect of the game to the point where the team can give him the ball and ask him to create and make a shot in a game-winning situation.''

The impression I get from all of this (and you should read the rest of that article), is that he is a player who has matured and made the right choices, in not rushing to the NBA. He refined his game with sufficient high level professional experience and stayed two years longer in the ACB than he really had to. Many kids rush to the bright lights of the NBA sooner than they should (the examples are endless). Rudy has worked his game to a level which merits his entry to the league, based on skill, not those buzz words of tremendous upside potential.

There will be many eyes on Rudy Fernandez as these 2008 Beijing Olympics play out.

Here are some highlights of Rudy in action with Spain. He gets up.