Blazer Mania: Rudy Fernandez

From Blazers play-by-play announer Mike Barrett’s blog:

“I saw Nate for the first time since the Olympics on Saturday, and the first thing he said to me (before even saying hello) was “you’re going to like Rudy.” Then he went on to give his thoughts on Fernandez, and again became obvious what an advantage it was for him to see him in person, in big-time action, before training camp.

“The thing I loved most about his game is the fact that he plays completely all out, all the time,” said McMillan. “He’s got great energy on defense, and you had better find him and get a body on him on the offensive end, because he’s got a nose for the ball. He’s got a way of getting to offensive rebounds and loose balls, and can save possessions for his team. That will be very valuable.”

McMillan hasn’t made many comparisons, but did tell me the fans are going to love him in Portland, and thinks he’s got a bit of Jerome Kersey in him, in the way he shows complete hustle and scrap when he’s on the floor.”

This is the second time in the past week that McMillan has gushed over Fernandez:

““I’m sitting there (in the gold medal game) with a straight face, trying not to smile,” McMillan said. ” (Spain) are the guys we have to beat, but I’m caught. That’s my player and I want to (he claps his hands twice) but I gotta (he makes a serious face) because we are going up against him.”

McMillan said that early in the Olympics, after watching Spain’s second game, he had a fitful night of sleep.

“I was so impressed with him that it was to the point where after the second time I saw him, I didn’t sleep that night because I was moving my rotations around,” McMillan said. “I swear I did not sleep. I could not sleep thinking about him. Because I’m saying, ‘We can put him here, do this with him, do that with him and Brandon (Roy), and do this… So he’s playing for us. Oh yeah. I see that right now.””

I watched Fernandez in the Olympics.  And I was impressed with his fearlessness in the gold medal game against the United States.  But that was one game.

It’s one thing to play out of your mind for forty minutes in a one-and-done game, it’s another to put together a solid 82-game season.  I’m not saying the Blazers haven’t done their homework, or have no reason to believe Fernandez will be successful.  Fernandez is very talented.  But McMillan is setting awfully high expectations for Fernandez and Blazers fans by all but guaranteeing Rudy minutes in an already crowded Blazers backcourt.  Not to mention how that might rub players who will be competing for playing time with Fernandez the wrong way.

Fernandez is good, but he’s at least thirty pounds lighter than Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw, and Martell Webster. And those players will fight him tooth and nail for minutes at the guard and forward positions.

I can’t help but question McMillan’s decision to build Fernandez’s hype before he’s even step foot on an NBA court.  Fernandez played great against top-notch NBA players on the world’s biggest stage, but the NBA game is different than the international game.  For instance, those five three-pointers that Fernandez knocked down against the US, yeah, they’re twos in the NBA.  Fernandez was one of the Spanish League’s top scorers last year by making the same amount of threes per game (2.7) as he did twos (2.7).  There will be an adjustment period as Fernandez acclimates himself with the NBA three-point line.

I understand McMillan’s optimism.  And I think he’s one of the NBA’s brightest young coaches.  But I think he would be better served to emphasize that Fernandez is a work in progress and will have to work for everything he gets, rather than sing his praises before he’s proven himself.