David Thorpe has some nice things to say

[Nikolokolus]

It's an insiders article at ESPN.com so the link may or may not be all that useful to you, but here's what he had to say about GO and Rudy (ranked 5 and 9 out of the top 20 sophomores)
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=thorpe_david&page=Sophs-091120

5. Greg Oden, Trail Blazers
This big guy's confidence is coming on strong. He's averaging 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks a game in November, while hitting almost 62 percent of his shots. All in just 24 minutes a game. (It's not his fault the Blazers have the best rebounding center in the league playing behind him.)

He's often been dominant on the defensive end and on the backboards. If he begins to assert himself more on offense, we'll be talking about All-Star Game appearances soon.

9. Rudy Fernandez, Trail Blazers
Some guys take major and obvious steps forward in their second season. Others, such as Fernandez, take incremental but pivotal steps that significantly impact their team. Fernandez is still shooting and making a lot of 3s this season (19-for-47 -- 40 percent), but it's his defense that has people taking notice. Fernandez may well be the Blazers' best perimeter team defender. In other words, their defense may be at its best when he's in the game compared to any other guard or wing.

I take it all with a grain of salt because I remember him calling Oden a bust in one of his chats last year, but take it for what it's worth.

 

[hasoos]

I am really surprised that a lot of people haven't taken notice of how many steals Rudy is getting. He is averaging almost 2 per game, at 14th in the league. Folks bash on his defense because he isn't a great man to man defender. But he gets into the passing lanes and makes plays. The type of plays that get you easy buckets.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I am really surprised that a lot of people haven't taken notice of how many steals Rudy is getting. He is averaging almost 2 per game, at 14th in the league. Folks bash on his defense because he isn't a great man to man defender. But he gets into the passing lanes and makes plays. The type of plays that get you easy buckets.

I actually have been much more impressed with Rudy's D the past couple of games than I was in the first couple of weeks of the season, he seems a little more disciplined in team defensive schemes and even though he's getting quite a few picked pockets, I don't see him gambling to the point where it breaks the D if the guy gets through.

I hope he keeps it up, it makes it a lot easier for this team to get some Ws if he can contribute at both ends of the court off the bench.

 

[hasoos]

I actually have been much more impressed with Rudy's D the past couple of games than I was in the first couple of weeks of the season, he seems a little more disciplined in team defensive schemes and even though he's getting quite a few picked pockets, I don't see him gambling to the point where it breaks the D if the guy gets through.

I hope he keeps it up, it makes it a lot easier for this team to get some Ws if he can contribute at both ends of the court off the bench.

Definitly. That is also why I am a proponent of big lineups, and wish one day to see a Rudy/Roy back court. The more length you have on the court, the more problems you cause for teams. If you are switching everything anyhow (like we do now), a little guy isn't going to have an advantage. Plus, the little guy still has to stop you, on their end. Could you imagine most PG in the league trying to deal with Roy in th post? That would be "All Day, All Night".

 

[ABM]

I love it when Rudy comes flying out of nowhere - onto the screen - to acrobatically snag a big rebound!

 

[hasoos]

I hadn't had a chance to look at Rudy's stats for this year, but he is definitly heading the direction we want him to head. His shooting is up over 40% from 3 point land, and while his shooting percentage is .449 overall (really good for a SG), his 2 point percentage is actually .512 That is insanely good.

 

[Nikolokolus]

The one thing I think Rudy does need to do however is cut the turnovers, he's nearly doubled his rate from last year. Part of that is handling the ball more and the fact that his handle isn't exactly strong (he can pretty much only go right) but some of the passes he tries are him trying to do too much. In any case I'm happy that he's rebounding from his slow start, we definitely need a productive and active Rudy to be successful, especially with the scoring void that Travis's injury creates.