tlongII
10-02-2009, 09:16 AM
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/10/mcmillan_wants_to_run_more_of.html
http://media.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/photo/rudyrossjpg-260f105a3d2bc947_medium.jpg
Rudy Fernandez has been getting more opportunities to run plays in the Blazers' early practices.
For those who thought Rudy Fernandez was an exciting player last season, wait until you see what Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan has in store this season for the Spanish guard.
In a move that somewhat resembles what McMillan did two seasons ago with star Brandon Roy, the Blazers this season plan to have Fernandez handle the ball more in order to initiate plays for himself and teammates.
The Blazers still plan to have the 6-foot-6 guard run all over the court, utilizing screens to get open for his specialty – the three-pointer – but this season they also want Fernandez to run pick-and-rolls to take advantage of his passing and driving ability.
McMillan calls it using Fernandez as a point guard, but in essence he will just be handling the ball more in half-court sets and be encouraged to push the ball in transition instead of giving it up to the point guard.
Fernandez said no one has told him there will be a change, but he can tell something is in the works by the types of plays that are being called by McMillan when he gets the ball in practice.
Always a showman with a flair for the dramatic, the change has made Fernandez smile.
"That's a good deal for me, huh?" he said grinning. "(McMillan) hasn't said anything to me, but the plays, I can see it. I receive the ball more than I did last year."
The move is designed to utilize all of Fernandez' talents. Everyone knows he is a great shooter, but his teammates and McMillan also rave about his passing, court vision, savvy and imagination.
Roy, for one, calls Fernandez the second best passer on the team, behind Andre Miller. McMillan doesn't disagree.
"I think he is more of a passer than a shooter," McMillan said. "His strength is to have him moving, and we will do the same thing as we did last year with him coming off screens. But instead of just letting him come off and fire up a shot, a couple times we will have him run a pick-and-roll and make some decisions. Pretty much like we do with Brandon."
In addition to pick and rolls, McMillan says he will encourage Fernandez to push the ball upcourt whenever he gets a rebound. Last season, he felt like Fernandez immediately looked for a point guard to pass to after he rebounded.
"I want him to get in there and rebound and bust out with it. Don't look for the point guard. You do it. You bust out and play," McMillan said.
While this new directive pleases Fernandez -- it is similar to his role on the Spanish national team -- he is quick to add that he is cautiously optimistic about the immediate results.
"I like to have the ball, to control the tempo of the game, but we have very good point guards right now," Fernandez said. "But I think this is good for me."
Last season, Fernandez was almost exclusively featured on the perimeter, coming off screens to shoot three pointers. When asked if he was under-utilized, he thought about it and agreed.
"Probably a little, but at the same time, I had to learn. It was my first year in the NBA," Fernandez said. "Not only that, I had to learn my teammates. So, yeah, I think I can do more than last year, but it's still about taking my time and learning the system. But I think we can do more. I think we can do it."
McMillan wanted to implement Fernandez as a point guard last season, but he never felt comfortable doing it because Fernandez usually played with Sergio Rodriguez. That meant if Fernandez handled the ball at the point, it would turn Rodriguez into a spot-up shooter, which wasn't his strength.
Rodriquez is now in Sacramento, and defenses have to respect the scoring ability of point guards Miller and Steve Blake, even though Miller isn't much of a spot-up shooter.
The concept of Fernandez at the point is not without precedent. Late last season, when defenses began to suffocate Roy, McMillan had Fernandez initiate the offense for stretches of a home game against the Lakers and a game at San Antonio. Then, in Game 4 of the playoffs at Houston, Fernandez again assumed some play-making opportunities.
The tactic was necessary because Roy was wearing down under the constant and intense defensive pressure. Teams were either pushing Roy far beyond the three-point line, or denying him the ball, which was making the offense stagnant.
Fernandez, by way of a ball fake or a pinpoint pass, allowed Roy to get the ball where he wanted without having to exert as much energy.
"I used to love it when coach would have Rudy do that," Roy said. "Because I would get the ball where I wanted it, because he threads those needles with passes that a lot of guys won't do."
Those types of daring, thread-the-needle passes still resonate in the mind of McMillan. On Thursday, the coach could still recall two passes Fernandez made last preseason, when he bounced a pass through the legs of a defender.
"That is why I want to get that in there," McMillan said, laughing at the memory of those passes. "He will make some turnovers, but he will also make that pass. He is a very, very unselfish player. So much so that he turns the ball over looking for his teammates. Plus, I think he wants this."
Indeed, Fernandez wants to do more, but he is also very careful not to sound like he is demanding more plays or more playing time. He said he was very happy with his playing time last season – 25.6 minutes a game – and he is not concerned about how much playing time he gets this season.
"I was surprised that I played that much last year, and that I played the last minutes in the fourth quarter. I think that was great," Fernandez said. "And this year, we play hard every practice for minutes, compete with other players. But we also win the games together. It's not about one player. Anyone who knows me knows that I care only about winning."
Note: Miller was unfazed that he was the only player with a guaranteed contract who didn't pass the team's conditioning test, which requires players to complete a series of sprints in an allotted time. "That don't mean nothing to me," Miller said. "That conditioning stuff don't mean nothing to me. It's a long season. It's something to see where guys are. My goal is to stay healthy, and my conditioning has never been a problem in this league. I mean, if you are going to put me out there with a whole bunch of young guys and (want me to) finish in 60 seconds, it's probably not going to happen at this point in my career. But when you step on the court, it's entirely different kind of conditioning. Running sprints is totally different than dribbling the ball up and down the court."
http://media.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/photo/rudyrossjpg-260f105a3d2bc947_medium.jpg
Rudy Fernandez has been getting more opportunities to run plays in the Blazers' early practices.
For those who thought Rudy Fernandez was an exciting player last season, wait until you see what Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan has in store this season for the Spanish guard.
In a move that somewhat resembles what McMillan did two seasons ago with star Brandon Roy, the Blazers this season plan to have Fernandez handle the ball more in order to initiate plays for himself and teammates.
The Blazers still plan to have the 6-foot-6 guard run all over the court, utilizing screens to get open for his specialty – the three-pointer – but this season they also want Fernandez to run pick-and-rolls to take advantage of his passing and driving ability.
McMillan calls it using Fernandez as a point guard, but in essence he will just be handling the ball more in half-court sets and be encouraged to push the ball in transition instead of giving it up to the point guard.
Fernandez said no one has told him there will be a change, but he can tell something is in the works by the types of plays that are being called by McMillan when he gets the ball in practice.
Always a showman with a flair for the dramatic, the change has made Fernandez smile.
"That's a good deal for me, huh?" he said grinning. "(McMillan) hasn't said anything to me, but the plays, I can see it. I receive the ball more than I did last year."
The move is designed to utilize all of Fernandez' talents. Everyone knows he is a great shooter, but his teammates and McMillan also rave about his passing, court vision, savvy and imagination.
Roy, for one, calls Fernandez the second best passer on the team, behind Andre Miller. McMillan doesn't disagree.
"I think he is more of a passer than a shooter," McMillan said. "His strength is to have him moving, and we will do the same thing as we did last year with him coming off screens. But instead of just letting him come off and fire up a shot, a couple times we will have him run a pick-and-roll and make some decisions. Pretty much like we do with Brandon."
In addition to pick and rolls, McMillan says he will encourage Fernandez to push the ball upcourt whenever he gets a rebound. Last season, he felt like Fernandez immediately looked for a point guard to pass to after he rebounded.
"I want him to get in there and rebound and bust out with it. Don't look for the point guard. You do it. You bust out and play," McMillan said.
While this new directive pleases Fernandez -- it is similar to his role on the Spanish national team -- he is quick to add that he is cautiously optimistic about the immediate results.
"I like to have the ball, to control the tempo of the game, but we have very good point guards right now," Fernandez said. "But I think this is good for me."
Last season, Fernandez was almost exclusively featured on the perimeter, coming off screens to shoot three pointers. When asked if he was under-utilized, he thought about it and agreed.
"Probably a little, but at the same time, I had to learn. It was my first year in the NBA," Fernandez said. "Not only that, I had to learn my teammates. So, yeah, I think I can do more than last year, but it's still about taking my time and learning the system. But I think we can do more. I think we can do it."
McMillan wanted to implement Fernandez as a point guard last season, but he never felt comfortable doing it because Fernandez usually played with Sergio Rodriguez. That meant if Fernandez handled the ball at the point, it would turn Rodriguez into a spot-up shooter, which wasn't his strength.
Rodriquez is now in Sacramento, and defenses have to respect the scoring ability of point guards Miller and Steve Blake, even though Miller isn't much of a spot-up shooter.
The concept of Fernandez at the point is not without precedent. Late last season, when defenses began to suffocate Roy, McMillan had Fernandez initiate the offense for stretches of a home game against the Lakers and a game at San Antonio. Then, in Game 4 of the playoffs at Houston, Fernandez again assumed some play-making opportunities.
The tactic was necessary because Roy was wearing down under the constant and intense defensive pressure. Teams were either pushing Roy far beyond the three-point line, or denying him the ball, which was making the offense stagnant.
Fernandez, by way of a ball fake or a pinpoint pass, allowed Roy to get the ball where he wanted without having to exert as much energy.
"I used to love it when coach would have Rudy do that," Roy said. "Because I would get the ball where I wanted it, because he threads those needles with passes that a lot of guys won't do."
Those types of daring, thread-the-needle passes still resonate in the mind of McMillan. On Thursday, the coach could still recall two passes Fernandez made last preseason, when he bounced a pass through the legs of a defender.
"That is why I want to get that in there," McMillan said, laughing at the memory of those passes. "He will make some turnovers, but he will also make that pass. He is a very, very unselfish player. So much so that he turns the ball over looking for his teammates. Plus, I think he wants this."
Indeed, Fernandez wants to do more, but he is also very careful not to sound like he is demanding more plays or more playing time. He said he was very happy with his playing time last season – 25.6 minutes a game – and he is not concerned about how much playing time he gets this season.
"I was surprised that I played that much last year, and that I played the last minutes in the fourth quarter. I think that was great," Fernandez said. "And this year, we play hard every practice for minutes, compete with other players. But we also win the games together. It's not about one player. Anyone who knows me knows that I care only about winning."
Note: Miller was unfazed that he was the only player with a guaranteed contract who didn't pass the team's conditioning test, which requires players to complete a series of sprints in an allotted time. "That don't mean nothing to me," Miller said. "That conditioning stuff don't mean nothing to me. It's a long season. It's something to see where guys are. My goal is to stay healthy, and my conditioning has never been a problem in this league. I mean, if you are going to put me out there with a whole bunch of young guys and (want me to) finish in 60 seconds, it's probably not going to happen at this point in my career. But when you step on the court, it's entirely different kind of conditioning. Running sprints is totally different than dribbling the ball up and down the court."