Rudy should start?

[1 Eye Jack]

I'm not sure how you fit him in the lineup without moving Roy to either SF or PG but IMO this guy is to damn good to be coming off the bench. At the very least he needs to be in during the 4th quarter crunch time. His passing skills might be the 2nd best in the NBA only behind Nash. We now have insurance behind Roy. To be honest I thought the key to this season was keeping Roy healthy. If Oden went down for 10-15 games we'd still be ok with Pryz but if Roy went down I for 10-15 games I thought we'd lose 80% of those games. Not now, Rudy can do things even Roy can't do. This is a ton of praise for a guy who hasn't played much NBA ball but in all my years of watching basketball (30years, yeah I'm old his court vision ranks up there with some of the best.

 

[ehizzy3]

i don't think he should start...i think he is a little reckless imo to start right now. plus he is gonna be great off the bench. we need a playmaker like him off the bench(bayless is almost a playmaker imo)

 

[Piltzer]

Watching what I could cemented Rudy as a sixth man for me. I like how he gives us a jolt of energy. It just changes the pace so much and would force teams to be constantly adjusting to what we have on the floor. But the fact that we are able to have this conversation about a guy who is going to be the back-up for an All Star has me going

 

[mook]

Not now, Rudy can do things even Roy can't do. This is a ton of praise for a guy who hasn't played much NBA ball but in all my years of watching basketball (30years, yeah I'm old his court vision ranks up there with some of the best.

Make no mistake. Sacramento is a scrub team that may win 20 games this year. So I don't want to get too excited about the win (especially in pre-season).

But you are right on the money about his vision. He had so many jaw-dropping passes in this game, it was like a Steve Nash highlight reel.

The most impressive one to me was his first. He gets jammed on a pick out at the three-point line and gets caught in the air. He looks like he's going to take a bad shot, but then delivers a pinpoint pass to the spot where Outlaw was cutting to under the basket at the last second. I was stunned. To see where he needed to deliver the ball over two defenders in mid-air to an area that Outlaw was running to, and then to get it there perfectly was just an amazing, amazing play.

Those passes were great passes regardless of who the opponent was.

Bench, start, whatever. He's just too good to use less than 30 minutes a game.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

No, blake should still start at the point.

 

[SodaPopinski]

Rudy is perfect coming off the bench. He is going to be a spark plug and will dominate most second-team defenders who can't match his pace.

Our second unit is going to be responsible for a bunch of wins this year. Good teams are able to make runs with their bench players to force the hand of the opposing coach. Rudy is going to give opponents fits when he comes off the bench.

I think you temper that usefulness a bit if you start him.

-Pop

 

[Foulzilla]

His passing skills might be the 2nd best in the NBA only behind Nash. We now have insurance behind Roy.

Woah there. I know we're all excited about him, and he definitely made some great passes. But it's one preseason game. Let's not go off the deep end already.

I do think he's likely to be the best of the bench this year. I think he's got a pretty good chance of stealing Travis' 6th man role. I hope he stays on the second unit personally, as I think him and Rodriguez have some pretty obvious chemistry and would like to see them play together a lot. Of course, much like Brandon, I think Rudy is versatile enough to play with anyone on this team and thus will get a lot of minutes.

 

[andalusian]

Bench, start, whatever. He's just too good to use less than 30 minutes a game.

Exactly the point. If he starts or not does not matter - but I suspect that you will see him on the court at the end of the games... if they are close...

 

[1 Eye Jack]

To me it's really not whether he starts but he's one of our top 5 players and no way should he not be in during crunch time. Unbelievable vision and what might have been my favorite play that he made was the drive and dish to Webster for the dunk. What made it special for me is he created it on purpose. What I mean is he read the play, he knew if he attacked Webster's defender he'd have to help on D and he'd be able to pass to Webster. He has the special "it" factor, going to be a special player in the NBA.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

Woah there. I know we're all excited about him, and he definitely made some great passes. But it's one preseason game. Let's not go off the deep end already.

I do think he's likely to be the best of the bench this year. I think he's got a pretty good chance of stealing Travis' 6th man role. I hope he stays on the second unit personally, as I think him and Rodriguez have some pretty obvious chemistry and would like to see them play together a lot. Of course, much like Brandon, I think Rudy is versatile enough to play with anyone on this team and thus will get a lot of minutes.

Lol, not trying to go off on the deep end and I'm not the type to overhype someone. This kid has "it". I don't care who he's playing against those passes were some great passes. He has extrodinary court vision.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Lol, not trying to go off on the deep end and I'm not the type to overhype someone. This kid has "it". I don't care who he's playing against those passes were some great passes. He has extrodinary court vision.

He's defintely got "it", now imagine how his "it" is going to utterly dominate against another team's second unit "that."

I do agree that Rudy needs big minutes (25-30 probably), but the fact that we have both he and Roy who can be consummate playmakers (able to score or dish) is going to be immensely valuable for both units ... Hell even Joel may end up looking like a dominant scoring center with the sweet passes Rudy can send his way on the pick n' roll.

My vote is for first man off the bench ala Manu.

 

[Ed O]

Make no mistake. Sacramento is a scrub team that may win 20 games this year. So I don't want to get too excited about the win (especially in pre-season).

I couldn't have hoped for more from our guys, but if Sacramento doesn't have Martin or Miller all year, and had to go with the team last night? They might be lucky to win TEN games.

Ed O.

 

[Jurassic]

I feel like this year the team should do whatever Nate tells them. I remember a couple years back when Seattle got the third seed in the west, nate knows how to get production from bench players who are qualified to start. A lot of guys, Radmanovich in particular, really benefited from Nate's system.

Then Nate left and everyone was excited that they could wear sweats on the bus and use their cell phones and stupid crap. They sucked that season. Basically if the players will do exactly as Nate says and we don't have any Danny Fortsons on the team, we will be great.

 

[ABM]

Roy's out and Rudy's starting tonight, correct?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Roy's out and Rudy's starting tonight, correct?

The initial thought was to rest Roy, but I heard Nate say in his press conference last night that they were going to let him play if the trainers and doctors gave the green light.

 

[alex42083]

Roy's out and Rudy's starting tonight, correct?

I think Roy said he wanted to play to get the back-to-back feeling, and get used to the grind again.
Probably play 20 mins again and in the Warriors' style of play, that means more Rudy and Sergio! At least I hope..

I don't think Rudy should start either. You want your bench to have an identity and be able to change the flow of the game, and Rudy can certainly do that. With Roy, Oden and Aldridge already in the starting lineup, they can more than hold their own.
When Rudy comes in, they shouldn't miss a beat as the starters sit.
It's just going to be hard to figure out who sits in crunch time when you know Rudy deserves to be out there, and with Travis being dubbed Mr. Fourth Quarter last season, and Roy doing his thing. With Aldridge and Oden certainly in there, that leaves one more spot. Could be an array of guys.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Rudy off the bench for now seems like a good idea to me. I don't think we will be able to keep him there for long though (2nd season) unless its a Ginobili type role off the bench where he gets starters minutes.

 

[mook]

I don't think Rudy should start either. You want your bench to have an identity and be able to change the flow of the game, and Rudy can certainly do that. With Roy, Oden and Aldridge already in the starting lineup, they can more than hold their own.

So why not bench Roy or Aldridge or Oden, if having a stud on the bench is such a great idea?

Obviously, that isn't going to happen. But there's an inherent assumption in your post that Rudy just isn't as good as those other guys (or at least Roy).

I'm not entirely convinced of the fact that by midseason Roy is better than Fernandez. It's even possible he's better than Roy right now (although perhaps not likely).

Everybody likes to cite the Ginobili example of a superstar coming off the bench. Why do they always cite him and only him, though?

Answer: Because nobody else does it.

In the NBA, there's a certain caliber of player you just don't bring off the bench. They are just too good to play 25 mpg.

It was only one pre-season game, but Fernandez sure looked like he was in that category last night.

He may come off the bench, but like Ginobili he's going to be getting so many minutes that it really doesn't matter.

 

[tlongII]

B-Roy probably doesn't want to let Rudy get his minutes. LOL! Wally Pip syndrome...

 

[STOMP]

I'll continue to predict that Rudy will be starting with Roy in the backcourt by midseason... just my best guess. Even if this doesn't happen, I think it's a near lock that as a 90% FT shooter he'll be closing out games. Being the club's best FT shooter is why Jack finished games for Nate last year.

STOMP

 

[Nikolokolus]

So why not bench Roy or Aldridge or Oden, if having a stud on the bench is such a great idea?

Obviously, that isn't going to happen. But there's an inherent assumption in your post that Rudy just isn't as good as those other guys (or at least Roy).

I'm not entirely convinced of the fact that by midseason Roy is better than Fernandez. It's even possible he's better than Roy right now (although perhaps not likely).

Everybody likes to cite the Ginobili example of a superstar coming off the bench. Why do they always cite him and only him, though?

Answer: Because nobody else does it.

In the NBA, there's a certain caliber of player you just don't bring off the bench. They are just too good to play 25 mpg.

It was only one pre-season game, but Fernandez sure looked like he was in that category last night.

He may come off the bench, but like Ginobili he's going to be getting so many minutes that it really doesn't matter.

I don't know how you can say that after one pre-season game. Don't get me wrong, I thought Rudy looked absolutely amazing out there with his Sabas-like passing ability, and he'll almost certainly deserve big minutes, but isn't it more likely that he'll eat into minutes at a position besides the 2? If anything I think we'll see the team go a little small at the 3, and play either Brandon or Rudy there, or we go gigantic and have Roy at the 1, Rudy at the 2 and then go with either Martell or Travis at small forward in the end of games.

More important in my mind, is who is closing out the game.

 

[ehizzy3]

rudy is not close to as good as roy

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

rudy is not close to as good as roy

I wouldn't make that statement. Roy is better right now because we have seen him play a lot, for all we know Rudy could be just as good. It's just too small of a sample size (1 game) for us to make a legitimate decision.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I wouldn't make that statement. Roy is better right now because we have seen him play a lot, for all we know Rudy could be just as good. It's just too small of a sample size (1 game) for us to make a legitimate decision.

I'm just glad both players are such stellar passers and able to set other people up, it means either player should be able to pretty easily coexist with each other, and we (hopefully) won't have to have really counterproductive conversations about should Rudy start over Roy or vice versa.

 

[Cake]

I'll continue to predict that Rudy will be starting with Roy in the backcourt by midseason... just my best guess. Even if this doesn't happen, I think it's a near lock that as a 90% FT shooter he'll be closing out games. Being the club's best FT shooter is why Jack finished games for Nate last year.

STOMP

I still like the idea of having Fernandez come off the bench 8 minutes into the game. Rudy on fresh legs against a tired group of starters, transitioning into the 2nd unit defense...the opponents are going to be hard pressed to stop him.

Then again, if you make Bayless that 2nd unit go-to guy, he can score a lot of points too. So either way is fine with me.

But I agree, Fernandez is too smart and too good to not be in at the end of games, which is what really matters I guess.

Whatever happens, it's a nice problem to have.

 

[Cake]

I wouldn't make that statement. Roy is better right now because we have seen him play a lot, for all we know Rudy could be just as good. It's just too small of a sample size (1 game) for us to make a legitimate decision.

It's not 1 game as a sample size. We've seen him play in the Olympics and seen what he's done in the Euroleague and ACB. He's clearly a stud.

(And if you want to discount that stuff, one preseason game against Sacramento without Kevin Martin and Brad Miller isn't really a sample I'd read a lot into anyway.)

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

It's not 1 game as a sample size. We've seen him play in the Olympics and seen what he's done in the Euroleague and ACB. He's clearly a stud.

(And if you want to discount that stuff, one preseason game against Sacramento without Kevin Martin and Brad Miller isn't really a sample I'd read a lot into anyway.)

Playing in the Olympics and the NBA is completely different. Look at Jaskievicius. Look at Scola, he dominated the games 2 years ago or whatever and was a good but not great player in the NBA.

The Euroleague and ACB isn't the NBA either. He had a great game last night, but lets see him do it over a season before we say Roy or Rudy are better.

 

[mook]

I don't know how you can say that after one pre-season game.

Maybe because I'm not basing it on one single preseason game. Truth is that he didn't just pop out of thin air and start playing here. Maybe I've also seen tons of youtube highlights and every game he played in the Olympics (including the Gold medal game), and I've followed his success in European play.

When you think about it, you could argue he's actually had more success as a basketball player than Roy has so far. Maybe not personal glory, but more team success.

I'm keeping an open mind about Fernandez. He's shown me enough already to make me really question if Roy is destined to have the better career. I can't help but wonder how many Spurs fans thought Robinson was the better player initially after they drafted Duncan.

Fans (and coaches and GM's) naturally tend to believe the veteran star is always better than the rookie star. It's often true, but not always. I've seen Ferandez do some things that really make me question whether he isn't the superior player to Roy. I'm not saying I'm convinced he is, but I am wondering.

 

[Nhawz]

I'd like to see Rudy get a shot with the first team at the 3 spot. I'd like to see how he fits with the big 3.

 

[maxiep]

With Webs gone for a while, Nate may move to a three guard lineup.