[外電] McMillan wants to run more of the Blazers offense throug
McMillan wants to run more of the Blazers offense through Rudy Fernandez
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://tinyurl.com/yaq3arj
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McMillan 說他決定要多用 Rudy 來跑進攻戰術
Rudy 目前是隊中傳球能力第二好的,當純射手太可惜
可以用他多打P&R,就像 Roy 那樣,為隊友製造機會
是 Nate 想開了,還是之前 Rudy 的放話起效果了??
究竟 皮諾丘‧麥克米蘭 的鼻子會不會再次變長呢,大家等著瞧吧
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