Welcome Distractions Courtesy of Spain

I just want to throw it out there that I’m in total football denial over here.  As far as I know, there is no NFL, and hence no knee injuries or crushing home losses to the bottom feeders of the AFC East.  It’s just too painful.  In a concerted effort to distract myself from what is definitely not happening right now (New England redemption?), and in an attempt to stay current with my local surroundings, let’s talk basketball.

Specifically, I’d like to talk for a little bit about Rudy Fernandez, Portland’s newest rookie darling, who arrived with quite a bang in Portland earlier this week.  For those of you not in the know, Fernandez is widely regarded as one of the premiere (if not the flat out best) players in all of Spain, and made a HUGE splash in Spain’s dramatic loss to the United States in the 2008 Olympic Basketball gold medal game, raining down threes, making plays and putting Dwight Howard on a poster with a fierce slam dunk down the stretch.

People in Portland are excited about basketball again, and many expect big things from this team this year (grumblings of a playoff berth have become distinctly audible).  I’m not sure if I’m drinking that kool-aid just yet, however the prospect of the Blazers making the playoffs is not that far fetched.  The bottom of the Western Conference will be wide open this year, with many teams losing key pieces to contending squads (Denver, Golden State, the Clippers), and with other perennial contenders looking as though they’ve lost a step (San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas), it’s very reasonable to expect the Blazers, who posted a .500 record in the toughest conference ever last year, to be right there at the end.

Even though Simmons doesn’t believe it, some of us (this guy) actually did watch the gold medal final between Spain and the United States (still available through NBC’s website, mind you) live an may have noticed a thing or two about Rudy (by the way, can we start putting first names on jerseys in the NBA, it would certainly help differentiate between the many Williams and O’Neals of the Association.  Besides, they let Yao do it already!).

First off, Rudy has a tremendous basketball IQ, and he shows his knowledge and feel for the game very well on offense.  He can handle, he can pass, he can drive (just get out of the way, Dwight), and he can certainly hit from the perimeter, even with a hand in his face.  It’s true that he hoisted some contested shots during the gold medal final, however he shot with poise and confidence, rather than desperation, which says to me more than anything that he isn’t afraid of having the ball in crunch time and that he believes he can score on anyone from anywhere.  There’s definitely a fine line to walk with that feeling (lest we get sucked into Kobe’s mindset that lost an NBA Finals), but showing no fear in the face of the best that the NBA can throw at you is huge.  Because of the age we live in where every call, every pass, every shot and every dribble are heavily scrutinized by the media, it’s nice to see a young player take on the best with confidence.

Fernandez’s game is already so developed (he’s been playing professionally in Spain since he was a teenager), and his instincts are already so honed that he should contend for minutes immediately, and would be a great sixth man type of player who could provide instant offense off of the bench for the Blazers next year.  To me, his game and his ability are reminiscent of Manu Ginobili, and not because he’s white and foreign!  If you can stay awake through a Spurs game, inevitably there will be at least three moments where Manu scores and you end up saying to yourself: “how the HELL did he just get to the rim and score!?”  I said the same thing many times during the gold medal game about Rudy, in disbelief every time, even though he just kept on scoring big basket after big basket. 

Both players have that sneaky speed and quickness as well as underrated athleticism (I feel like that happens because both guys are white), and both have a nose for the ball and want to make the big basket at the critical moment.  Both Rudy and Manu have a slew of fundamental moves in their arsenal to get free for a big shot (Manu’s style is decidedly more unconventional and herky-jerky), which to me demonstrates a great understanding of the game and tremendous awareness.  Rudy has quite a ways to go before he even approaches Manu, but in Fernandez’s game I can see a lot of the best parts of Ginobili’s game.

As is the case with many NBA rookies, the biggest challenge for Rudy this year will be adjusting to the speed of the NBA, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.  Henry Abbott remarked early in the Olympic tournament that he made a fun game out of “find Rudy’s defensive assigment,” and to be sure his instincts and defensive skills do need to improve.  Coming over from Europe, where defenders are allowed to use their hands quite a bit more, it will be interesting to see whether or not Rudy can adopt the idea of having to play defense primarily with his feet and positioning on the court.  It will probably take a few whistles to drive this point home, but a player with Fernandez’s feel for the game should be more than capable of making the transition. 

There is no escaping the fact that Rudy will struggle to stay in front of the NBA’s uber quick guards, however he will have the added bonus of having either Greg Oden or Joel Przybilla to send back their fair share of shots and give opponents something else to think about as they blow by Rudy other than “don’t trip.”  Add into that the defensive tutoring Fernandez will receive from Nate McMillan, and in a very short amount of time, Rudy should be making contributions to the Blazers and getting quality minutes during the process.

As a fan of basketball, I love the fact that this kid is my age (23) and he already possesses a better feel for the game than most players that have five more years of basketball under their belts.  If you check out his many highlight reels on youtube (take them with a grain of salt for sure), you’ll see him consistently making the right play and executing his moves, passes, shots and flops deftly and with masterful skill.  He seems to have eyes in the back of his head, as well as a soft touch and the ability to weave through traffic and still see the whole floor.  NBA preseason starts in just over a week, and you’d better believe that I’ll be there to see in person what this kid can really do.