The concerning Rubio

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

I hate to bring down the mood after the win, but Rubio might actually be in a worse position shooting then he was even last year. Let me explain

Rubios increased shooting confidence led him to to keep shooting that 18 foot jumper off a screen almost everytime. He was making them when he first came back, partly due to the reason that teams were leaving him wide open on those shots. Once he starting hitting a couple, teams starting guarding it, and Rubio started to miss. Same thing that happened with Bennett early in the season is that those long two's don't fall all the time, and it's an inefficient shot because it's not a 3, and your hardly ever giving yourself a chance to get to the line.

Rubio has seemed to fallen in love with this shot to the point that he barely even goes into the paint at all. He has 9 baskets all year in that less then 5 feet area in just 29 atttempts. He's taken over double the long 2 attempts by comparison. While the shooting has improved by a little, he hasn't at all improved around the basket.

I know it's easy to pile on Pek, but he use to be able to get a lot of easy buckets by Rubio getting to the rim and Pek getting an easy shot off a roll or layup. That's been pretty nonexistent this year, Pek has pretty much had to get his by backing down his guy.

I put part of the blame on Flip for the shot selection that Rubio has taken, and the fact it doesn't seem like he recognizes that Rubio around the rim has always been a worse problem then his shooting.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I hate to bring down the mood after the win, but Rubio might actually be in a worse position shooting then he was even last year. Let me explain

Rubios increased shooting confidence led him to to keep shooting that 18 foot jumper off a screen almost everytime. He was making them when he first came back, partly due to the reason that teams were leaving him wide open on those shots. Once he starting hitting a couple, teams starting guarding it, and Rubio started to miss. Same thing that happened with Bennett early in the season is that those long two's don't fall all the time, and it's an inefficient shot because it's not a 3, and your hardly ever giving yourself a chance to get to the line.

Rubio has seemed to fallen in love with this shot to the point that he barely even goes into the paint at all. He has 9 baskets all year in that less then 5 feet area in just 29 atttempts. He's taken over double the long 2 attempts by comparison. While the shooting has improved by a little, he hasn't at all improved around the basket.

I know it's easy to pile on Pek, but he use to be able to get a lot of easy buckets by Rubio getting to the rim and Pek getting an easy shot off a roll or layup. That's been pretty nonexistent this year, Pek has pretty much had to get his by backing down his guy.

I put part of the blame on Flip for the shot selection that Rubio has taken, and the fact it doesn't seem like he recognizes that Rubio around the rim has always been a worse problem then his shooting.

I blame Rubio's shooting on... Ricky Rubio.
We're almost 4 years in now... he is what he is.

He's not a good shooter. Not a good finisher. In fact, he's largely awful to terrible at both. But I've learned to embrace that along with the good to great stuff he does on the court. He might not be elite. He might not be able to be the best player on a good team. But he's still a difference-maker whether he can shoot or not.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I couldn't agree more, alex...Rubio's offensive focus and strategy is a big issue now that he/they have to figure out for the Wolves to be successful. He does so many things well, especially on defense, that he is still a valuable contributor to this team. But I have a nagging feeling that he can be so much more. Last year, he showed a great talent for beating his man, often with the left hand, and getting to the basket. While he didn't finish as well as many of us would have liked, his breaking down the defense did lead to easy baskets for Pek. Where is that part of Rubio's game recently? Part of me is happy that he is confident enough with his jumpshot that he is willing to take it at any time, and I'm still convinced that he is going to figure it out (with continued help from his coach). But his low shooting percentage is hurting the team, and favoring the jump shot over driving and dishing (or finishing) is not emphasizing his strengths, I think.

I think your observations are right on the money. Being a natural optimist, though, I see it more as an opportunity for this team (and Ricky) to take a huge leap forward.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I couldn't agree more, alex...Rubio's offensive focus and strategy is a big issue now that he/they have to figure out for the Wolves to be successful. He does so many things well, especially on defense, that he is still a valuable contributor to this team. But I have a nagging feeling that he can be so much more. Last year, he showed a great talent for beating his man, often with the left hand, and getting to the basket. While he didn't finish as well as many of us would have liked, his breaking down the defense did lead to easy baskets for Pek. Where is that part of Rubio's game recently? Part of me is happy that he is confident enough with his jumpshot that he is willing to take it at any time, and I'm still convinced that he is going to figure it out (with continued help from his coach). But his low shooting percentage is hurting the team, and favoring the jump shot over driving and dishing (or finishing) is not emphasizing his strengths, I think.

I think your observations are right on the money. Being a natural optimist, though, I see it more as an opportunity for this team (and Ricky) to take a huge leap forward.

Part of the stopping to shoot instead of continuing to drive... could also be remnants from the nasty ankle injury.

[Yosimar]

Agreed with Abe, at this point all of this should be known by now. He's not a good shooter and never will be.

What he needs to do is get to the free throw line around 5 times a game like he did a couple of years back.

There's guys out there that people view as extremely talented that aren't good shooters, (MCW, Kemba Walker avg under 40% shooting). Hell by most people's standards Lowry's had an amazing year and he's still only shot 41% from the field this year.

Get to the FT line 5 times a game, and if he can do everything else he can do on the basketball court we'll be a better team for it, as it's been seen since he came back this team is totally different with him on the court. So basically just hoping he can stay healthy.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I couldn't agree more, alex...Rubio's offensive focus and strategy is a big issue now that he/they have to figure out for the Wolves to be successful. He does so many things well, especially on defense, that he is still a valuable contributor to this team. But I have a nagging feeling that he can be so much more. Last year, he showed a great talent for beating his man, often with the left hand, and getting to the basket. While he didn't finish as well as many of us would have liked, his breaking down the defense did lead to easy baskets for Pek. Where is that part of Rubio's game recently? Part of me is happy that he is confident enough with his jumpshot that he is willing to take it at any time, and I'm still convinced that he is going to figure it out (with continued help from his coach). But his low shooting percentage is hurting the team, and favoring the jump shot over driving and dishing (or finishing) is not emphasizing his strengths, I think.

I think your observations are right on the money. Being a natural optimist, though, I see it more as an opportunity for this team (and Ricky) to take a huge leap forward.

Part of the stopping to shoot instead of continuing to drive... could also be remnants from the nasty ankle injury.

Good point, abe...let's hope that's what it is and that it will get better, because it's noticeable and limits his effectiveness. To me, the ankle seems fine when he is on defense, but maybe driving to the basket affects the ankle differently

[Porckchop]

He's just not the savior everyone wants him to be. I think he serves this team well with the things hes really good at. But If a better option comes available either via the draft or trade I don't think u immediately dismiss it anymore. His play can be improved upon by someone else.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I couldn't agree more, alex...Rubio's offensive focus and strategy is a big issue now that he/they have to figure out for the Wolves to be successful. He does so many things well, especially on defense, that he is still a valuable contributor to this team. But I have a nagging feeling that he can be so much more. Last year, he showed a great talent for beating his man, often with the left hand, and getting to the basket. While he didn't finish as well as many of us would have liked, his breaking down the defense did lead to easy baskets for Pek. Where is that part of Rubio's game recently? Part of me is happy that he is confident enough with his jumpshot that he is willing to take it at any time, and I'm still convinced that he is going to figure it out (with continued help from his coach). But his low shooting percentage is hurting the team, and favoring the jump shot over driving and dishing (or finishing) is not emphasizing his strengths, I think.

I think your observations are right on the money. Being a natural optimist, though, I see it more as an opportunity for this team (and Ricky) to take a huge leap forward.

Part of the stopping to shoot instead of continuing to drive... could also be remnants from the nasty ankle injury.

Good point, abe...let's hope that's what it is and that it will get better, because it's noticeable and limits his effectiveness. To me, the ankle seems fine when he is on defense, but maybe driving to the basket effects the ankle differently

I was implying that it's more of a mental thing. He's not entirely sure about it yet. On defense, he's more reactive, so it's less noticeable?

[TheGrey08]

He's still only 24 and most of his games this year his shot has looked better. I think Abe is onto something regarding the ankle injury and his lack of attacking the basket too. He's still mentally recovering from that. Given everything this year I'm not going to be critical of his new shot just yet. He drastically improved his shooting motion and now it's time to give him time to actually get used it. Lets see what he does the rest of the way this year.

Worst case he doesn't improve it and he continues being a subpar shooter/scorer, but a difference maker in every other way. I'll take that b/c PGs don't NEED to be good shooters/scorers.

[GymRat [enjin:6592663]]

Some of you might find this interesting. While the topic is about Blake and written from his point of view, I think some perspective can be gained in regard to Rubio. To piggyback on what Abe said, Rubio's shooting can be blamed on Rubio only. The reason for that I believe is he, up to this point, has not been healthy or committed enough to improving his shot. We are seeing changes, but as Blake alludes to in this article, fixing a broken shot takes more than a few weeks here and there. It takes months, and years, to rebuild something so ingrained in a person's body mechanics and mentality.

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/why-aint-he-dunkin/