Lots of 'leftovers' from McMillan

I got a ton of stuff out of Monday's Rudy Fernandez introduction, and I'm only now getting a chance to put up some of the "scraps," which I'd hardly term that way to fans. The issue of Rudy's strength? Brandon Roy's pre-season availability? Nate's rotation expectations? It's all here.

First, one of the questions I asked Rudy on Monday was in regards to his strength. At 185 pounds, a lot has been made about his need to get stronger in order to compete in the NBA. Rudy acknowledged that he needs to improve in that area, but it didn't sound like he was too concerned about it.

Neither was Nate McMillan. The Blazers coach stressed that you can't confuse "strength" with size, saying one of the worst things the Blazers could do with Rudy is have him grow bigger in the process of becoming stronger -- much like the approach the Blazers took with Greg Oden.

"Quickness may be to his advantage, which I think it will be," McMillan said. "Plus, his frame, he's not going to get much stronger anyway. He'll be a little bit stronger, but he just doesn't have the frame to be a big guy. He looks like a Michael Cooper. And so we've got to let him and Greg play."

Now, one reason strength is such an issue is not necessarily to be able to out-muscle opponents, but for endurance. A slight frame takes a beating during an 82-game season, so part of the need to improve strength is to help Rudy's body hold up against the season's stresses. McMillan agreed with that point, but stressed that Rudy doesn't know what he needs to do right now because he is a rookie.

"He doesn't know what he needs to do until he plays an 82-game schedule," McMillan said. "If we put weight on him right now, that will probably hurt him more than anything, because I think lighter is better when you're playing this type of schedule. He's not going to be banging into anybody. He's gonna have to adjust. And the one thing about his style of basketball, he goes to the basket. Getting a little bigger, a little stronger to take that hit is what he will have to learn to do, or what he needs for his body."

Initially, McMillan said he expects Rudy to back up Brandon Roy at shooting guard -- which has been widely expected. But Nate also said he expects to seen Brandon and Rudy playing together, perhaps when Brandon slides over to point guard. But he stressed that he is still feeling out the situation.

"It all depends on the rest of these guys," McMillan said. "What does Sergio (Rodriguez) and (Jerryd) Bayless and those guys bring to the table. How is (Steve) Blake playing? Do we need to go with Brandon at the point guard and move Rudy to the two? And can Rudy handle the ball a little bit in this league? It's really a wait-and-see. I think the one thing is we want to take advantage of his ability to get out (on the break). So, see what he can do, and then you kind of plug that into your system."

One interesting note that goes along with this: One Blazer official told me on Monday that Steve Blake was the player that most impressed him during the pre-camp workouts players have organized this month. Blake has been working out at the practice facility every day this summer, and in the words of this official, "He's definitely taken it to another level." That will be very interesting to watch when camp opens next week.

Brandon may miss most of preseason
This preseason may feel similar to last year's preseason for Brandon Roy. After having arthroscopic knee surgery on the meniscus is his left knee, McMillan said he is planning to use Brandon lightly during the preseason, perhaps using him in only a couple games.

When asked straight up if Brandon would be ready to go right off the bat, McMillan was doubtful.

"No, I doubt it," he said. "My thing is, I'm not planning on him doing that right now. ... With Brandon and Greg and (Channing) Frye, those guys coming off surgeries, basically I'll be listening to the doctors and Jay, how much they can practice and when they will be ready. The main thing is to get them ready for regular season."

But where there's bad news there is also good news: McMillan said having Brandon out will open more minutes for Rudy. And McMillan said he plans to use Rudy frequently during the preseason to help speed his transition to the NBA.

"Even if he was healthy, my plan was to, when I found out Rudy was coming over, play Rudy as much as possible," McMillan said. "Because I think the more he plays, the quicker he's going to be able to adjust and, for us, see what he can do."

When I asked Nate how tight he would like to see the rotation this year, his first response was to say eight or nine players. Then he laughed a bit and admitted that he never gets his rotations that tight.

"I think you get to those teams and when they're down to the stretch they get to eight, nine guys," McMillan said. "But I've always played nine, 10 guys, or 9 1/2. I think it's difficult to play 10 guys. When you've got starters like Brandon, and I'm expecting probably Greg and LaMarcus, to play around 35 minutes. If they're playing 35 minutes, you can't play 10 guys. Somebody is going to get minutes like Sergio last year -- eight, five, maybe 10 minutes. I'll see. If we can get away with playing 10, we'll run two units in there. And if not we'll play nine."

But McMillan also admitted that the competition for minutes this year may be the fiercest he's had on any team -- including his playoff teams in Seattle. And it's easy to see why when you start piecing together the projected rotation. If you cut it to an eight-man rotation, for instance, you could be looking at starters of Blake, Roy, Outlaw, Aldridge and Oden, a three-man bench of Przybilla, Fernandez and Bayless, and have no room for Frye, Webster, Rodriguez or Diogu. And don't forget, three of those guys left out of that hypothetical rotation will be free agents next summer, and may not be too happy about the lack of showcase time.

But McMillan said it's a reality he'll have to work with.

"i understand, somebody will not play, and that's just part of it," McMillan said. "They will determine that by what they do out on the floor. ... You've got a lot of guys that can play, and the thing is, all of them can't play. And they know that. And there's going to be guys really fighting for minutes, and everybody can't get minutes. Practice, I expect to be competitive, where guys are trying to get on the floor."