I’d like to issue an apology

[Duke13]

I'd like to apologize for my repeated rants about how bad Rubio was and how we needed to trade him to take the next step. He is proving me wrong over the the last month or so. I wasn't willing to accept a lot of people's stance that Tibs was using him wrong last year. I'm definitely rooting for the Jazz to make a run. Fun team to watch. Rubio is showing those two months last year weren't a fluke.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Ricky hasn't changed and turned the corner in Utah all of a sudded. His season stats are right on par with his career stats. He has 1, maybe 2 months of really good basketball every year and the rest the same. Tell me which season below is his current Utah.

12.9/5.4/4.6 41/34.5/85.7 2.8 turnovers 1.6 Steals

11.1/9.1/4.1 40.2/30.6/89.1 2.6 turnovers 1.7 steals

10.1/8.6/4.2 37.4/32.6/84.7 2.5 turnovers 2.1 steals

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Ricky hasn't changed and turned the corner in Utah all of a sudded. His season stats are right on par with his career stats. He has 1, maybe 2 months of really good basketball every year and the rest the same. Tell me which season below is his current Utah.

12.9/5.4/4.6 41/34.5/85.7 2.8 turnovers 1.6 Steals

11.1/9.1/4.1 40.2/30.6/89.1 2.6 turnovers 1.7 steals

10.1/8.6/4.2 37.4/32.6/84.7 2.5 turnovers 2.1 steals

Khans, You told us Utah would not be able to score the basketball this year, especially with Rubio as their PG. Yet they have a league average offense (that has only gotten better of late) to go along with their elite defense. They have won 26 out of their last 31 games.....with the dreaded Ricky Rubio as their starting PG! Imagine that!

The Wolves problems were never about Ricky Rubio. He's no superstar, but with the right talent and guys that play with as much heart and hustle as he does, he has demonstrated that he can be a winner.

[BloopOracle]

He did the same thing last year for us, then early this season he was so bad against us Snyder ended up benching him the rest of the game because his confidence was gone.This is par for the course for Rubio, he'll be back to not being able to make a shot for 2+ months again soon enough.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Two thoughts here as Rubio has now had two really good scoring games this week...

- Are we putting too much weight into two games when the season is 82 games?
- Should we? After all... this is when teams NEED somebody to elevate their game. This is the moment to be "clutch."

My answer to both is YES.

But I don't think it means keeping Rubio was the obvious right choice. I really don't know. I think Snyder and Thibs are VERY different coaches. And the systems are different. The teammates are different. The freshness of the situation might be different. I think it's dangerous to assume Rubio would score 31 points vs. Denver tomorrow night if he were here.

All that being said... good for Rubio. I like the player. Always did. Glad he's gonna make the playoffs after all these years.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

He did the same thing last year for us, then early this season he was so bad against us Snyder ended up benching him the rest of the game because his confidence was gone.This is par for the course for Rubio, he'll be back to not being able to make a shot for 2+ months again soon enough.

True, everyone has ups and downs with their shooting. But his trend line on outside shots, including long 2's, has been gradually going up the last couple of years overall. The bottom-line is he is the starting PG for a playoff bound team that just whooped our asses and has won a ton of games over the last half of the season.

[Monster]

He did the same thing last year for us, then early this season he was so bad against us Snyder ended up benching him the rest of the game because his confidence was gone.This is par for the course for Rubio, he'll be back to not being able to make a shot for 2+ months again soon enough.

True, everyone has ups and downs with their shooting. But his trend line on outside shots, including long 2's, has been gradually going up the last couple of years overall. The bottom-line is he is the starting PG for a playoff bound team that just whooped our asses and has won a ton of games over the last half of the season.

They whooped our butts and we were missing 2 starters including our best player while Utah had everyone available except Neto but Exum has been whooping up on people since coming back from injury.

Rubio is shooting well enough from the spots he needs to to be not the problem. He is finishing at the rim well over 50% which Jim Peterson mentioned over and over was a problem for him in his career. He is shotting well over 40% on the mid-range/long twos. He is now shooting an acceptable percentage on 3's but he is streaky. So last year wasn't a complete fluke. Good for Rubio. If this franchise can actually draft a worthwhile player this summer with that pick it will look very smart to have dealt him. If they botch it and the guy ends up being pretty much a waste of a roster spot for a couple years then it's less of a no-brainer.

Meanwhile Teague is having a solid year doing pretty much exactly what he does every year being in the range of a league average starter. Again Teague and Rubio are the same level player who bring different strengths.

If anyone would have known the Jazz were going to draft a 20ppg starter they would have said sure the Jazz might have an average-ish offense. Since December Mitchell is averaging what like 22ppg?!?!? Insane.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Ricky hasn't changed and turned the corner in Utah all of a sudded. His season stats are right on par with his career stats. He has 1, maybe 2 months of really good basketball every year and the rest the same. Tell me which season below is his current Utah.

12.9/5.4/4.6 41/34.5/85.7 2.8 turnovers 1.6 Steals

11.1/9.1/4.1 40.2/30.6/89.1 2.6 turnovers 1.7 steals

10.1/8.6/4.2 37.4/32.6/84.7 2.5 turnovers 2.1 steals

Khans, You told us Utah would not be able to score the basketball this year, especially with Rubio as their PG. Yet they have a league average offense (that has only gotten better of late) to go along with their elite defense. They have won 26 out of their last 31 games.....with the dreaded Ricky Rubio as their starting PG! Imagine that!

The Wolves problems were never about Ricky Rubio. He's no superstar, but with the right talent and guys that play with as much heart and hustle as he does, he has demonstrated that he can be a winner.

They're 20th in PPG. 16th in offensive rating. He's averaging 13 PPG. They have the best defensive player in basketball and are 3rd in defensive rating. They aren't winning because of offense. They're winning because they give up less than 100 almost every single game. But sure. Have your fun now. We'll just wait for the playoffs to roll around and see how they do in a 7 game series. We never got playoff Ricky and that was what I was most scared of if we ever made the playoffs with him.