tlongII
11-13-2008, 09:31 AM
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/11/post_1.html
MIAMI -- Yeah, it was the night of the rookie, all right. Just not the rookie many outside of Portland were expecting.
On a night when national attention centered on rookie Greg Oden's return from injury, the Trail Blazers' other rookie, Rudy Fernandez, stole the show Wednesday with a late-game performance that die-hard Blazers fans have seen before.
Fernandez scored a team-high 25 points -- 14 coming in a fourth-quarter blur of spin moves, soaring alley-oops, rainbow three-pointers and thread-the-needle passes -- to lead the upstart Blazers to their fourth win in a row -- 104-96 over the Miami Heat.
"Rudy," a smiling Oden said after finishing with three points and two rebounds in 16 minutes. "Shoot, you never know what he's really going to do. And the good thing is, he gets it done. And he actually makes it look good."
It was the second consecutive game -- both on the road -- that Fernandez led the Blazers back from a narrow deficit at the start of the fourth quarter. On Monday in Orlando, Fernandez led the Blazers back from a one-point deficit by making three steals, drawing a charge and scoring eight of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.
This time the Blazers trailed 75-73 entering the fourth, but he quickly erased that by swishing a three-pointer on the Blazers' first possession. It was a sign of things to come as Fernandez hit all five of his shots in the fourth, none more pressure-packed than a stop-on-a-dime, spinning jump shot that just beat the shot clock to put the Blazers up 98-92 with 44.9 seconds left.
It was the dagger to an undersized Miami team that was trying to start 4-0 at home for the first time in franchise history. They nearly did, thanks to 36 points from Dwyane Wade, but in the end, there was too much Fernandez, who deflected the credit for the win as quickly as he deposited a pretty fourth-quarter alley-oop pass from Sergio Rodriguez.
"No. It's the team," Fernandez said. "The team has played great. Today me, last game Brandon, last game (LaMarcus Aldridge). Sergio played great today. You know, it's everybody."
Fernandez wasn't the only one holding back on compliments for himself. Coach Nate McMillan was rather blase in his postgame address to the media in describing Fernandez's play, saying he still needs to learn the NBA game while bringing up his two turnovers.
But later, as he strolled through the locker room, McMillan was chided for being so stingy in praising Fernandez.
"Yeah," McMillan said smiling. "He's aiiiight."
It was a strange game for the Blazers (5-3), who played some of their best basketball of the season in the first quarter, only to become disheveled and confused for long stretches by a smaller Miami (4-4) team that focused on swarming on defense and clearing out for Wade on offense.
It didn't help that LaMarcus Aldridge had one of his worst games in recent memory, missing three dunks, three of his five free throws and just generally appearing out of it. Although he finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals, Aldridge shot 6-for-17 and admitted "it was just one of those nights."
In fact, in a lot of areas, it was "one of those nights" for the Blazers. They weren't especially sharp, and it always seemed they should be leading by more than they actually were. McMillan, for one, felt that way entering halftime up only 50-47 after they played their best first quarter of the season.
Yet, they still won. On the road. After giving up a huge lead (12 points). It is the type of game good teams win.
"We are starting to be the same team every night," said Brandon Roy, who had 22 points, five rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes. "I think our identity is starting to come out, and that is playing together, never quitting and when adversity hits we are always huddling up, saying, 'We're good, we're good. We're down two? Hey, we're goooood.' And we're not just saying it. We believe it. It's a confidence. A confidence that we believe we can win every game."
Oden, meanwhile, played his second NBA game, this time emerging without an injury. His best play was in his first two minutes. He entered the game with 2:45 left in the first quarter and on his third defensive possession he blocked point guard Chris Quinn's shot into the stands. After a Daequan Cook miss, Oden chased down the rebound.
On the ensuing offensive possession, Oden rebounded a Fernandez three-point miss (one of 12 offensive boards for the Blazers), took one step toward the basket and dunked ferociously with 49.4 seconds left in the quarter to give the Blazers a 27-19 lead.
"It was good we won," Oden said. "But I was glad to finally get some points."
After the first quarter flurry, Oden was never much of a factor, except for a fourth-quarter free throw off a zip pass from Fernandez. McMillan said he thought Oden was "OK" and many of his teammates said they were just glad to see him on the court.
But really, the talk wasn't much of Oden afterward. It was of the skinny Spaniard who shows no fear and fluid imagination.
"I don't know how to describe it, but he was great tonight," Roy said. "I mean, sometimes I catch myself watching him. He's spinning, hitting floaters, and they are all net. I just love watching him play. And if I was a fan I would love to watch Rudy Fernandez play."
Notes: Rodriguez played a season-high 19 minutes and was a bright spot, finishing with five points, five assists and one turnover. He played all but the final 44.9 seconds of the fourth quarter. "I try to bring energy and have fun, and I did," Rodriguez said. "Had fun a lot.". ... Travis Outlaw entered the game as the NBA's leading three-point shooter (13 of 20, .650), but he made 1 of 4 on Wednesday. He did finish with 10 points and eight rebounds. ... Joel Przybilla grabbed 10 rebounds. ... Wade scored at least 30 for the fourth consecutive game, a career-high. ... Heat forward Shawn Marion did not play because of a groin strain.
MIAMI -- Yeah, it was the night of the rookie, all right. Just not the rookie many outside of Portland were expecting.
On a night when national attention centered on rookie Greg Oden's return from injury, the Trail Blazers' other rookie, Rudy Fernandez, stole the show Wednesday with a late-game performance that die-hard Blazers fans have seen before.
Fernandez scored a team-high 25 points -- 14 coming in a fourth-quarter blur of spin moves, soaring alley-oops, rainbow three-pointers and thread-the-needle passes -- to lead the upstart Blazers to their fourth win in a row -- 104-96 over the Miami Heat.
"Rudy," a smiling Oden said after finishing with three points and two rebounds in 16 minutes. "Shoot, you never know what he's really going to do. And the good thing is, he gets it done. And he actually makes it look good."
It was the second consecutive game -- both on the road -- that Fernandez led the Blazers back from a narrow deficit at the start of the fourth quarter. On Monday in Orlando, Fernandez led the Blazers back from a one-point deficit by making three steals, drawing a charge and scoring eight of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.
This time the Blazers trailed 75-73 entering the fourth, but he quickly erased that by swishing a three-pointer on the Blazers' first possession. It was a sign of things to come as Fernandez hit all five of his shots in the fourth, none more pressure-packed than a stop-on-a-dime, spinning jump shot that just beat the shot clock to put the Blazers up 98-92 with 44.9 seconds left.
It was the dagger to an undersized Miami team that was trying to start 4-0 at home for the first time in franchise history. They nearly did, thanks to 36 points from Dwyane Wade, but in the end, there was too much Fernandez, who deflected the credit for the win as quickly as he deposited a pretty fourth-quarter alley-oop pass from Sergio Rodriguez.
"No. It's the team," Fernandez said. "The team has played great. Today me, last game Brandon, last game (LaMarcus Aldridge). Sergio played great today. You know, it's everybody."
Fernandez wasn't the only one holding back on compliments for himself. Coach Nate McMillan was rather blase in his postgame address to the media in describing Fernandez's play, saying he still needs to learn the NBA game while bringing up his two turnovers.
But later, as he strolled through the locker room, McMillan was chided for being so stingy in praising Fernandez.
"Yeah," McMillan said smiling. "He's aiiiight."
It was a strange game for the Blazers (5-3), who played some of their best basketball of the season in the first quarter, only to become disheveled and confused for long stretches by a smaller Miami (4-4) team that focused on swarming on defense and clearing out for Wade on offense.
It didn't help that LaMarcus Aldridge had one of his worst games in recent memory, missing three dunks, three of his five free throws and just generally appearing out of it. Although he finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals, Aldridge shot 6-for-17 and admitted "it was just one of those nights."
In fact, in a lot of areas, it was "one of those nights" for the Blazers. They weren't especially sharp, and it always seemed they should be leading by more than they actually were. McMillan, for one, felt that way entering halftime up only 50-47 after they played their best first quarter of the season.
Yet, they still won. On the road. After giving up a huge lead (12 points). It is the type of game good teams win.
"We are starting to be the same team every night," said Brandon Roy, who had 22 points, five rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes. "I think our identity is starting to come out, and that is playing together, never quitting and when adversity hits we are always huddling up, saying, 'We're good, we're good. We're down two? Hey, we're goooood.' And we're not just saying it. We believe it. It's a confidence. A confidence that we believe we can win every game."
Oden, meanwhile, played his second NBA game, this time emerging without an injury. His best play was in his first two minutes. He entered the game with 2:45 left in the first quarter and on his third defensive possession he blocked point guard Chris Quinn's shot into the stands. After a Daequan Cook miss, Oden chased down the rebound.
On the ensuing offensive possession, Oden rebounded a Fernandez three-point miss (one of 12 offensive boards for the Blazers), took one step toward the basket and dunked ferociously with 49.4 seconds left in the quarter to give the Blazers a 27-19 lead.
"It was good we won," Oden said. "But I was glad to finally get some points."
After the first quarter flurry, Oden was never much of a factor, except for a fourth-quarter free throw off a zip pass from Fernandez. McMillan said he thought Oden was "OK" and many of his teammates said they were just glad to see him on the court.
But really, the talk wasn't much of Oden afterward. It was of the skinny Spaniard who shows no fear and fluid imagination.
"I don't know how to describe it, but he was great tonight," Roy said. "I mean, sometimes I catch myself watching him. He's spinning, hitting floaters, and they are all net. I just love watching him play. And if I was a fan I would love to watch Rudy Fernandez play."
Notes: Rodriguez played a season-high 19 minutes and was a bright spot, finishing with five points, five assists and one turnover. He played all but the final 44.9 seconds of the fourth quarter. "I try to bring energy and have fun, and I did," Rodriguez said. "Had fun a lot.". ... Travis Outlaw entered the game as the NBA's leading three-point shooter (13 of 20, .650), but he made 1 of 4 on Wednesday. He did finish with 10 points and eight rebounds. ... Joel Przybilla grabbed 10 rebounds. ... Wade scored at least 30 for the fourth consecutive game, a career-high. ... Heat forward Shawn Marion did not play because of a groin strain.