Have you ever rooted against your team? Not like Eagles fans root against the Cowboys - I mean, have you ever rooted against your squad just a little bit? Sitting on the Team USA bench, Nate McMillan wasn’t technically cheering against the Americans in the gold medal game versus Spain, but he does admit that when Rudy Fernandez was putting on a show, he did have to hold back a smile.
“I’m sitting there (in the gold medal game) with a straight face, trying not to smile,” McMillan said. ” (Spain) are the guys we have to beat, but I’m caught. That’s my player and I want to (he claps his hands twice) but I gotta (he makes a serious face) because we are going up against him.”
I don’t fault Nate for being conflicted. Fernandez was an absolute animal, throwing down the consensus best dunk of the tournament by a non-American player. I’m not saying that he wasn’t doing his job as a Team USA assistant. He was, but as Blazers fans already know, McMillan is crazy passionate about his job in Portland, and he couldn’t help but be stoked about their future.
“Every time Rudy did something, D’Antoni would look at me and say, ‘Your player, huh?’ ” McMillan said. “And I would be, ‘Yeah, he’s cool.’ Like no big deal.
“Then he does something else, and D’Antoni would be like ‘Dang! Pretty good, huh?’
“Yeah, he’s alright,” McMillan said he told him. “He’s okay. Still has to work on going to his left.”
“But then he kept doing stuff,” McMillan said, in an amazed tone. “Then all of a sudden he catches a lob, then he steals it and is swinging on the rim, and it’s like … dang. Over there, you talk about the U.S. basketball team, and Rudy is the next thing you talk about. It was Team USA. Rudy. And he played to earn that.”
Source: Oregon Live
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August 29th, 2008 at 9:13 am
sumthinfresh says:
1st - and rudy will be a servicable point at best… Ive yet to see a “great” international point gaurd in the NBA that can adjust to the physical play - didnt you just post a comment about him saying that spain woulda won if it were FIBA rules??? last i checked lebron was taking shots off the rim and im pretty sure thats FIBA rules …. im out like chris reeves in a game of twister
August 29th, 2008 at 9:16 am
M Intellect says:
When I first read the title, I was like, “What the fuck” but when you put yourself in Nate’s situation, you realise basketball is so much about the players as well as the teams.
I’m regretfully have to admit that everytime Lakers vs. Spurs is up, I find myself caught up between cheering Kobe, my favourite player and the Spurs, my favourite team
Now I’ve said that, I feel like a slut.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:17 am
sumthinfresh says:
and no i havent rooted against my home team - Cavs all the way baby … even back to the mark price-hotrod williams-brad daugherty days
Fuckin jordan had to go and be all “i own craig ehlo” and they never won …
August 29th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Sam I Am says:
No…NEVER…NO EXCEPTIONS….BLEED YOUR TEAM BLOOD OR Lose it while you die slowly, benedit arnold.
NEVER Go AGAINST THE FAMILIA AKA Your team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 29th, 2008 at 9:25 am
nerditry says:
I definitely did last year with the Heat. They had a horribly built team, didn’t seem to get along as a team, Riley was doing a crap job and many times they gave up before the tip.
So yeah, I rooted against them a few times hoping to see them get angry over a loss or poor play and bounce back. Didn’t happen too often.
Heat in 08/09!
August 29th, 2008 at 9:25 am
GEE...Chicken Noodle Soup says:
Hmmm I have never rooted against the Rockets. Still there have been players that have come and gone that I cheer for them to do well, but I could never just root for another team to beat them.
I think do to trades and such, as a fan you might root for a player who was once on your squad that you took a liking to who might be on another squad.
Like if Tracy was traded I will always root for him no matter what. Still if he is going against the Rockets, well I hope he scores 50 but loses lol.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:29 am
heartbreaker85 says:
dont new yorkers cheer for the opposing team all the time during the post-ewing/spree/h2o era?
August 29th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Prof. TX says:
I’m with Gee on this one, where I sometimes want another player I like to have a good game in his team’s loss to my Rockets.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:36 am
rodnets says:
Never rooted against my team. I switched from Bulls to Hornets in 93, cause every sucker was being Jordanized, and even back then I’ve been a Hornet no matter where they play and who they play.
Rudy is a fuzz, take him to a real NBA game, not a Fiba type with Americans not really adjusted and Spain team chemistry and he will be like Gasoft, Calderón, Navarro, etc, just an average guy.
Rubio maybe, Fernandez nope.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Kayfah says:
Wizards!!
August 29th, 2008 at 9:40 am
loganlight says:
Not on a basketball note, but I have found myself cursing the Redskins… Sometimes I just want them to pay for the pain they put me through.
Rudy is still a season or two away from being a headliner in the league. He’ll have some adjustments to make for sure… but dude can stroke from DEEP.
LL
August 29th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Me says:
rubio is the only one from Spain I could see being nice in the NBA. You could tell he was holding back, and more making observations about the us players. I thought pau gasol was killing it in stretches, and you can tell he has a very high bball iq. Which makes his NBA play all the more confusing, it’s like he’s playing at 40 percent of his potential. That gives me low expectations for rudy. But I’d like to see him succeed, huge brass balls in that gold medal game.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Blue says:
I bled purple and gold throughout most of my life. growing in LA during the showtime era, you had no choice. but when kobe came to the team, i couldn’t stand his ass!! and i would hate it when he would make the big shots or make the big plays…not that i would rather have the lakers lose, but still, couldn’t someone else take those shots?
now that i’m a heat fan, i feel no guilt rooting against kobe.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Tha Boddy says:
It was Jose who made the win with FIBA rules comment…GO WIZARDS!!!
August 29th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Yoooo says:
Rodriguez is gonna be iight. Rubio is good to be 17, but lets be honest theres MEGA 17 yr old basketball phenoms in the US who he can’t hang with. John Wall, Lance Stephenson, Abdul Gaddy… The list can go on with players who can be just as if not MORE effective than Rubio. He’s just used to playing with old heads. Theres so many rules that prohibit High School kids from playing ball professionally or with professionals that you have to wonder if he wasn’t overseas would he really be so hyped? Do we really think Rubio is better than lets say Stephen Curry? Or on a smaller scale do we not think Scottie Reynolds won’t give him drugs? Rubio is no kind of athlete and looked shaky when KIDD of all people put pressure on him.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Sam I Am says:
I live in DC too….BOOO WIZARDS!
NW BABY!!
August 29th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Jeronimo says:
@ sumthinfresh: Rudy Fernandez is a shooting guard, not a point guard.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:11 am
YOUNGFED says:
LIONS
August 29th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Scott says:
sumthinfresh - Rudy plays the 2, not the point. Be sure of your facts before you bash a player.
And for the Blazers, Rudy is a long-term investment. As with all European players, the potential to bottom out is there, but as Rudy showed in the gold medal game, that is increasingly not likely to happen.
In no way am I saying he’ll be an all-star, but at the bare minimum, a bargain for the Blazers drafting him late first round.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:24 am
sumthinfresh says:
My bad boys - all these 6 foot nothin spanish fools - except maybe rubio - are all the same to me
August 29th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Yoooo says:
O and there are 2 foreign PG’s who happen to be top 5 in the L. Nash & Mr Longoria. And I believe the latter adapted pretty well to the physicality of the NBA as he is the leading scorer in the paint in all the league…
O and FIBA basketball is waaaaaaaay more physical than NBA ball or USA ball period. I hate to say it but I coach AAU and HS ball and we raising spoiled pussy ass ball players. Top players in Euro Leagues play through contact, they don’t bitch nearly as much. Whenever Kobe is tapped on the elbow (and for the record he is my favorite player and I usually refer to him as big bruh) he literally stops playing to engage in a full out convo with a ref. That’s crazy when u think about it. But it trickles down so now even the young boys do it.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Jim says:
I was the same when Manu was ripping it up in 2002 in the Pan-Am games, I think it was. I wanted us to win, but I loved hearing about him killing and was excited for him to come over.
In HS Football we were blowing out my boy’s team. He didn’t play much, starters were out and at the end they were throwing to him in the end zone…I won’t lie, I wanted him to get it. Anything to break up the boredom of getting pulled in the 3rd quarter.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:37 am
steven says:
Never rooted against my teams but there have been players that I wanted to have good games, but at the final buzzer the result would be that my team destroyed their team. 2 cases in point: The first time AI played against his former team- the 76ers- no way I wanted the Sixers to lose, but I still wanted to see AI do his thing. 2nd time was the first game ‘Sheed played against the Blazers after becoming a Piston. I wanted ‘Sheed to have a good game, but definitely wanted the Blazers to win.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:39 am
luke says:
Rudy looks nice, but remember how Fabio Hermann was killing USA in crucial stretches, palming the ball, and looking pretty damn good for one game at the Athens Olympics, dunno if people remember that, and he never did anything in the NBA.
Is it a lucky fluke that guys have a game like that vs a collection of the best players in the world? Does the NBA not give European players proper opportunity?
I definately think this has been the case in some cases. I think Delfino, Arroyo, and even Hermann (And there are many more I can think of, Maciej Lampe is killing people in Russia and wants to come back the NBA and play big minutes in future for example), I think many American coaches probabloy have bias against European players despite the large amount of Euro players having good careers in the NBA currently.
Probably one reason why a few such as Delfino, Nachbar and JC Navarro are heading back to Europe because they can be the man (not always though, Jannero Pargo and Boki Nachbar are joining an already NBA stcoked roster of European talent at Dynamo Moscow, so they arent really increasing their playing time or roles that much) and get more money because the have the NBA, +Euroleague and FIBA credentials.
ps: Off-topic completely but has anyone else realized the positive impact J-Chill shipping out the Greece is? With any luck all the young ballers will try to be like JC, including that funky J. Shouldn’t have to worry about playing a zone vs the Greeks in 5-10years if hebecomes a big star
August 29th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Batman says:
I’m very torn sometimes. When I see the Detroit Lions play miserable year after year, I would want them to do bad and get a high draft pick that might actually help us….then I remember we have Matt Millen. Looks like we might have finally gotten something right with Calvin Johnson! I mean with so many high picks, you gotta be right SOMETIME right?
(Roy Williams has been nice but he doesn’t seem like a true stud WR that can carry your team)
August 29th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Balla says:
I must admit, when Dwight got banged on, I was cheering for Spain for about 2 minutes.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Ian says:
sumthinfresh
it wasnt rudy with the comment
and no great pg
do you know who t. parker is???
and whats up with this hatin on european players
i think rudy can be as good not manu good but nice
m intellect
u sir are no spurs fan
kobe your fav player gtfoh real spurs fans hate that motherfucker
on the cheering part well i can cheer for other players but for my team to get the win
its like a friend whos a nets fan told me in 03 he wants the nets to win 4-3 over the spurs but manu to win the mvp hehehe
August 29th, 2008 at 11:31 am
MoxWestCoastRep says:
Been a Laker fan through good times and bad- never rooted against them.
In football the worst team gets the best draft pick so it makes sense to root against them if they are not making the playoffs. In basketball it doesn’t make sense because of the lottery.
If you root against your team you’re not a real fan and if you change teams…just turn in your man card because no longer have testicles
August 29th, 2008 at 11:36 am
shake&bake says:
I’m a Raiders fan and I don’t root against them, but after game 3, when they are out of the playoff race, I don’t mind if they lose so they can get a better draft pick.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
the mamba says:
Me being a lakers fan in houston I usually root for the lake show when they play the rockets. But this yr my girl gave me lakers tickets 4 christmas. By the time kobe and co. Came to town the rockets had a 21 game win streak going so I had to root against my team cuz I didn’t want the home team losing a streak like that
August 29th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
imung lolo upaw says:
at post 24- Fabio was in the all rookie team in his 1st year in the L. Then we got benched by sam vincent for some unknown reason.. dude looks legit everytime i see him play though, don’t know why he gets no playing time..
August 29th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Ian says:
u ru right he had a monster last month of the 07 season (help me win my fantasy league) then all of the sudden no playin time
August 29th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
johnny says:
I think that Rudy will do MORE to bench-players than what Roy does to starters.
If it doesn’t pan out, they have Martell. Nate’s loving it.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
David Brandon says:
goin against your team is treason and punishable by being forced to being a milwaukee bucks fan forever. them or team angola. both suck.
i’m with GEE on this one…..i might wanna see another player that i like get busy out there, but then they gotta lose. lol i’m kings fan forever. even IF they did get hi jacked and move to seattle (then we get to share, austin lol) or vegas or freakin iowa…those are my guys. i’m no bigger a fan now then i was during our run in 01-03. am i a little pissed off that right now we’re not even a 10th seed?? HELL YEAH. but between my niners, the giants and the kings…i’m too loyal. and maybe too stubborn.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
QueSt??? says:
yea i have, but only when i get super frustrated, like when they lose to the hawks or the grizzlies when they are clearly better. i root for them to loose when they deserve to lose and im super pissed
August 29th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
QueSt??? says:
btw rudy is legit. no one in the olympic tournament(outside of team usa) was playing the style that rudy plays, although nocioni plays a lil bit like that and hes good in the league. if he did that agaisnt team usa, imagine what hell do to average defenders. and its not the same with international point guards because international point guards dont know some of the systems, they are not as confident as they are with their national team, and that affects a player. basketball is 40 percent physical and 60 percent mental.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Ansonious says:
Suns, Chargers, Padres, or bust.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
kevin k says:
why are they keep saying rudi is a PG. it’s obvious the way he plays that he is a SG. Rudi is legit. Foo has no concious when shooting, and he has all the range in the world(crossover on melo and that rainbow 3?). And don’t even talk about lack of athletiscm(poor dwight, blame it on kobe). I think people forget 2-3 years ago when Manu had hair(was younger and much healthier), how sick he was. Manu was dunking on everyone with his unorthdox crossover. Rudi’s game is very similar and Nate should be excieted.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
GEE...Chicken Noodle Soup says:
Speaking on rooting for teams too. I can’t stand bandwagon cats. Cats that like to switch up for lame reasons.
To me you root for the “team” and you have some cats that are strickly wherever a player goes. That is lame to me.
It’s also lame when dudes switch teams based on who is winning for some stupid reason like they have an uncle who lives in Boston, but they ain’t never been a Boston fan, till the cats started winning.
Get a team and stick with them plain and simple. Loyalty.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
heartbreaker85 says:
rudy is a scorer built like manu, though i haven’t seen rudy flopping as much (manu used to be tough, then he got older and said to himself ‘hey, flopping is really douchebag nice!’).
rubio has a very high basketball iq, the difference between him and american players like lance stephenson is that rubio is a pass first guard while lance and all ‘em young bucks want to play the michael jordan/kobe way- if not a lebron type who gets 30 and throws in extra gravy like 7 dimes and 7 boards.
he won’t be the star of the nba team that drafts him, but he’ll be a very savvy pg for a long time barring injuries.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
doc says:
I never root against the SIXERS Eagles Phillies and Flyers and if you like another team in Philly you might get your ass whipped.As far as Rudy and Rubio being legit I’ll believe it when I see it.That Olympic shit proves nothing.Dudes kill min that tourney every 4 years that turns out to stink.And Yooo,I play in Europe and the comment that they play through fouls and dont complain is bullshit.Some do some dont just like here.I dont think nobody hating on European players its just a proven fact some come over here and lose their balls on the court.Some dont but most of them do.And try to blame it on a coach or a style of play.Bullshit they just got a charmin heart.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
HugotheHornet says:
In the Olympics I wanted USA to win in the end but I rooted for the other countries to make the games close, so they woud be exciting
August 29th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
koyote says:
sumthinfresh-why do you think Rudy is a point guard? he might be able to play point, but the reason the Blazers like him is because he might be the best backup shooting guard in the nba next year.
rodnetz-put him in an nba game?? he just dropped 22 on the elite members of the nba. you don’t think he can’t do it against a regular nba team?
freaking clueless man.