Oct 08 2009
Player Preview: Rudy Fernandez
Wow, can you guys believe we’ve been at this for a year? Mind-boggling, to be honest. Just last year, I wrote about Brandon Roy to start Trail Post’s very first set of player previews. I chose him not from any sense of drama or ability to run a blog, but just due to the simple fact that I had something to say about him at that moment. A few thousand hits later, this blog may have a direction. As the long-time followers know, last year we assigned the Blazers Halloween costumes in honor of their game Halloween night. This year, we’re getting topical.
My favorite pop culture moment of the year was probably the most expected unexpected event ever. I’m speaking of Kanye West’s VMA meltdown. Here’s a dude who’s probably the most important musician not named Thom Yorke of the new century, yet he is almost entirely oblivious to what consequences to his actions could be. That’s something to respect. If only more people said what they felt…actually, let’s be thankful there’s only one Kanye.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I was going through Pitchfork’s top 200 albums of the decade list and I noticed his name coming up repeatedly, and with a little help from a friend/reader, the idea came up. This year, we’ll preview based on quotes from Kanye West. By quotes from Kanye, I mean quotes from interviews, blog posts, songs, and maybe even a couple in his direction. Yeezy’s the deal. Anyway, let’s get moving.
“Themes are important to me, but the beats are what catches someone’s ear and makes a record a hit, … The music is more important than anything. You can have instrumental tracks and people will listen to it. But if you put a really good theme to a bad beat, no one will care about it.”
That’s called profundity, folks. Like music, basketball is all about a good tempo, good rhythm. Look at the teams we remember most fondly from the last decade: the Suns, the Warriors. Did these teams ever win anything? Of course not. Did they have a great beat? Hell yes. Who needs great themes when you’re dropping 110 a night?
Like this quote, Rudy Fernandez knows something about a great beat. He has a style that makes even the most weathered of Blazer haters crack a smile. That time last year when he put up five points in two seconds. When he broke the rookie three point mark. When he valiantly defied the NBA’s rigging of the dunk contest with actual creativity. He gets that it’s a show, and he knows that we enjoy what he’s putting on.
He’s also the most easily forgiven Blazer. Honestly, it seemed as if Rudy and Travis Outlaw screwed up a comparable amount of times per game, but Rudy just had more style while doing it. Travis would miss a rotation or just step on the line a clank a long two-pointer, while Rudy would do two laps around the defense off the ball, catch a pass on the run, drive into three defenders, do a five-forty, wink to a girl in the second row, and then attempt to knee the ball in and see it rim off. Crowd’s reaction: Awwww. That’s our Rudy. It’s not that he even hates playing defense, he seems to put work into it, but once again, it’s for the flashiness. He’s not a lockdown guy; he plays the lanes so he can turn the momentum of the game with one floated pass.
Let’s just get down to it: Rudy excites everyone. He’s the pick-up player we all wish we could be. He hits big threes and throws down ridiculous dunks, all while attracting more female attention than Zac Efron. Does he pay attention to the deep themes of grinding basketball and defense? Yeah, but that’s not his deal. He plays solidly good basketball in a style that makes it look great and entirely new. Will he continue to do this in the new rotations? Of course. Unless Nate McMillan feels like an army of angry tweens in I ♥ Rudy t-shirts blasting Zenttric through his window at 3 AM.
This year, let’s hope Rudy’s role will not change at all. Rudy Fernandez’ controlled madness is the perfect counterpoint to Brandon Roy’s maddened control.
