Coincidentally, Rudy was surrounded by other good players in 2011, including Mike Conley, ZBO, and Marc Gasol.In 2011 he shot 47% on 16.1 attempts on his way to 19.8 points per game - Rudy sinks open shots when he gets them. All this notwithstanding, however, Rudy’s a career 45% shooter. That’s painfully inefficient, and as a rule of thumb I dislike painful inefficiency. And rightfully so - he’s jacking up an unbelievable 18.6 shots per game while only sinking 38% of them. Bitching about Rudy’s shot selection has been fashionable this week.I’ve elaborated on the value of comparative advantage elsewhere, so I won’t do it here. Furthermore, Rudy is one of four eligible small forwards averaging better than 1 block per game. Other players in the 1/1 defense club include: Brow, Drummond, Boogie, Smoove, and Millsap - even guys Lebron and KD don’t make the cut.
Very few players are this productive in both defensive categories, and this fact alone makes him a worthy fantasy asset. Rudy is an elite defender - top 25 in both steals and blocks per game.Here are Rudy’s averages so far this season, followed by some observations: 38%fg, 77%ft, 1.2 3ptm, 19.4pts, 7.4rbds, 2.2asts, 1.6stls, 1.3blks, 3.3to. Modesty (noun): the quality or state of being unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one’s abilities.”
