http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzLA78Qb3fg

Rudy is an excellent ballhandler and passer, and he's very good in the open court.  Obviously, he's a great 3 point shooter and finisher at the rim off a lob pass.  I think his weakness is his half court game.  Aside from spotting up for three and freeing himself up for the occasional alley oop, there isn't much to it.  He doesn't have a good first step and is rarely able to get past his man off the dribble at the NBA level, though this could partially be the result of his injury.  When he needs to go one-on-one at the end of the shot clock, he usually jacks up a contested three or takes some circus shot (ie the 15 foot turn-around fade-away off the dribble).  Since Trevor Ariza undercut him, he's been shying away from contact more often.  And that runner is garbage.  Both of said shots are best reserved for a pickup game when the score is about 3 to 3.  They're the kind of looks one should consider apologizing to his teammates for taking when they brick, which will happen more often than not.  Why does he never seem to take a pull-up 15 footer or some other high percentage mid-range shot when he does get a little separation?

One of his strengths, and one that I think he should develop further, is his ability to move without the ball.  Players like Rip Hamilton can hurt you from a lot of spots on the floor and tire out their defenders.  While Rudy isn't as quick or well-conditioned as Hamilton was in his prime, he can certainly expend a comparable amount of energy in limited minutes. 

One can argue that he isn't able to do this enough because of Nate's system or that is an issue of personnel, but I haven't seen evidence that Rudy has the kind of mid-range game that pays Rip Hamilton's bills in his repertoire.  If he did, Rudy could make a legitimate case for being a starter on a decent NBA team when he is shipped out of Portland. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy as hell about this season and proud of our team.  I'm just saying this should be one of the main yardsticks to use when considering personnel changes: 

Last year, Ray Allen was in a shooting slump in the playoffs--a bad one.  One of the greatest shooters of all time couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat.  He had to keep shooting the ones the defense forced him to take but passed up the rest.  In spite of this, he didn't allow himself to be taken out of the game even though he couldn't fulfill his primary role. 

He manned up and did enough other things to make it not suck having him on the floor.  He played D, drew charges, layed out for loose balls, drove into the teeth of the defense, and found a way to get it done.  Without naming names, I didn't see that from a few of our players this year. 

When Blazer management considers making moves in the offseason, I hope they look at which players did and didn't do that when their game wasn't there.   No matter how much talent a team has, bad shooting nights will happen, but there is no excuse for allowing that to translate to lack of heart and desire to contribute in other ways.  That won't get it done.

Go Blazers!  

He stayed in school longer than most in the NBA, removes cancerous teammates, sews up wins, saves our playoff lives.

Patient, steady, poised, methodical, precise, will cut you up.

He's also precocious like Doogie Houser.

I don't care for The Natural.  He only got that because of the movie--Roy Hobbes was the main character--and he doesn't strike me as a natural really.

Sorry this isn't a fanshot.  I couldn't figure out how to upload a photo or find a good link.  (It's the "work" computer.)

How are the PTBs going to keep Yao out of the paint on either end of the floor.  On offense, you can't move him or foul him.  Don't think the pick and roll would work with GO or Pryz setting the pick.  Artest and Battier will fight through and Yao will sag off--probably no mismatches.  If Yao were forced to guard LMA though, he would have to come out.  Dunno.

Is there an answer, and if not, do we have a chance if Brooks, Artest, and Scola aren't lighting it up?

Why is it so many fans have a lame attitude toward players who get their careers derailed by injuries?  It's not like these guys worked hard all their lives to get to the NBA just to swindle fans and GMs.  I'm sure Sam Bowie would have loved to have the opportunity to live up to expectations.  His body just didn't let him.  Why talk about the guy like he's the *^%*&^%^% because a GM made a mistake drafting him over MJ? 

Besides sticking to a good training regimen that helps prevent injuries and rehabbing when they happen, what can a player do about the body he's been given?

Maybe some well-established players will milk an injury because they don't care anymore for whatever reason, but a young guy just wants to prove that he's a legit NBA player.  Just sayin'. 

Do teams take stats on this?  I haven't seen it anywhere, but it would be a great way of gauging a player's defensive proficiency.  I bet Pryz would lead the league in OFDs.  Sure, it's a judgement call as to whether the player's defense compelled the offensive player to commit a foul, but block shots are also a judgement call.  Seems like players are often not credited with a block that they deserved to get. 

What about shots altered?  Turnovers caused? 

So many qualitative indicators of good performance don't show up in the box score.  Case in point is Oden and Pryz' 2 point, 1 rebound outing against Phoenix when they shellacked them by 30 points.  The work they did made a big difference in the game.  Another one is the notion that Steve Blake is not a pure point guard because his assist numbers aren't that high.  One guy suggested that he is more of a shooting guard.  Made me wonder whether he'd ever seen a PTB game.

Anyway, are statistics are hopelessly inadequate or just inadequately compiled?

How many SGs are better than BROY?  I can think of 2.

Kobe:  hate to say it, but he's still the best basketball player in the world.  The Lakers are the #1 seed (who will be eliminated 1st round by the PTB) in the West and he has 3 rings that say he's still better than LeBron (yes, I know he's a 3).

DWade:  having a good year and has a ring that says he's better than BROY.

BRoy's made too many big shots in the 4th to be eclipsed by Joe Johnson, in my opinion.

Thoughts?