Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Everything you need to know about Rudy Fernandez in four pictures

We don't get too many pictures from the the festivities in Beijing, but there are a couple of images of Rudy Fernandez from the last two games that say a lot about the kind of player he is. Observe.

Rudy taking the ball to the hole against 6-10, 250 lbs. Greek center Yiannis Bourousis (5) while Antonis Fotsis (9) gets the heck out of the way. Rudy initiates contact, keeps the ball to the his left side, allowing for an And1 opportunity.

Rudy celebrating with his teammates and countrymen. Everybody knows the international language of the high five.

Rudy taking the ball to the hole, this time with his right hand, straight at 7-0, 238 lbs. Chinese forward Yi Jianlian. Again drawing contact while keeping the ball away from the defender and in a position for a relatively easy score.

Rudy driving the lane against 7-6, 310 lbs. Chinese center Yao Ming. Again drawing contact. Again keeping the ball away from the defender, who also happens to be a preeminent shot blocker. Rudy's in position to get up an attempt, but this one looks a little more difficult than the first two.

So what can we derive from these four pictures? A few things.

First, he loves to get in the lane. And what's more, he likes to initiate contact when he gets in the lane.

He's fearless. He can finish with either hand.

By the way, any of this sound like someone you know?

It could be the zone defense, but in none of these pictures do you see Rudy's man defender. Which means opposing teams are trying to corral him into the lane (which would seem like a mistake) or that he's shaking his man on the way to the rim.

Oh, and he likes to slap hands.

1 comment:

Nom DePlume said...

I hope he's as tough as Alan Iverson, because he's going to get the stuffing beaten out of him every night with that physique and playing style- a plate of tapas says he's going to lose a few teeth from Utah games alone.