Ricky being Ricky

[ahughes53 [enjin:6639223]]

I noticed it last night, and it was pointed out in the game thread last night, that Ricky handled the ball almost every possession up the floor, he almost never automatically gave up to Love at the elbow as soon as he go into our own half. I don't remember us running that play at all last night but I was doing other stuff during the game so I could have missed it once I guess.

How much better of a team are we when we have Ricky making the plays, and not Love? Not to say that Love didn't do more than his fair share last night, I mean come on, he was phenomenal. But how much better of a team are we when we just let Ricky almost play a free flow game that isn't as structured, where he has the green light on any possession to attack the hoop from the start and create chaos. That's the best way I would describe that win last night, chaotic.

We were in the paint and on the fast break for a large portion of the game, every time a Pacer big got the ball in the paint we had a double and hands on the ball, and on dribble drives Ricky or Corey were in there getting their hands on the ball as well. Almost every time down the court, Ricky was taking a pick and going towards the basket, drawing in defenders and kicking the ball out, he had the whole shot clock basically to create, to orchestrate, and I really think that was the biggest reason we beat the team with the best record in the East, quite handedly.

[thedoper]

Hubie really seems to think Rubio is going to be fine. He was reiterating last night that Rubio is elite on many levels and that learning to finish within 15 feet is going to change everything for Ricky. I feel the same way. I do think Rubio's shot can improve, but I think his passion for just getting out and playing maybe be a bit of a hinderance to actually putting in the work to reap the benefits of that improvement. Either way this offseason will be huge for Ricky. He has to solely focus on himself and his personal success this offseason, which may be a bit out of character for him.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I think having the PF go for 42 points on 64% shooting with 5 three pointers and several really tough shots had the most to do with the offense looking good.

Love shoots his customary 45%... and the game looks a lot different.

[Coolbreeze44]

C'mon Abe, Ricky was outstanding last night. He's the only guy I know who can play a great game while shooting 2 for 10. And it's because he's elite on multiple other levels.

[ahughes53 [enjin:6639223]]

I think having the PF go for 42 points on 64% shooting with 5 three pointers and several really tough shots had the most to do with the offense looking good.

Love shoots his customary 45%... and the game looks a lot different.

This is true, Abe. A lot of Love's scoring came from Love doing what Love does. Putting up 3's that aren't completely wide open, coming off a few down screens, hitting some shots in the post and put backs. But Ricky did get him quite a few good looks, as he does most of the time, but with Ricky doing what he did last night, I felt it was a bit more than usual. Could Love's better % be an anomaly of just a great game or because of the style I outlined? I'm not saying either way cause 1 game is too small of a sample size. But if we get a couple more wins playing this style and Love has his % hover around, I don't know, 50%, I think it'll be obvious why.

We did get a few gifts, Turiaf hitting that mid range J, and quite a few tough layups/shots from Cunningham, so I am cautious in our performance because of the performance from Love being what it was. Still, it was a great win that gives us a little hope, for now.

[AbeVigodaLive]

C'mon Abe, Ricky was outstanding last night. He's the only guy I know who can play a great game while shooting 2 for 10. And it's because he's elite on multiple other levels.

And Love is the only guy I know who can go for 14 - 22 (42/16) and yet the PG who makes 2 baskets gets as much love.

Rubio passed the ball well and came out aggressively in the 1st quarter which helped set the tone against a disinterested (early) Pacers squad. He had a lot of assists. Set the tone. And it would have meant nothing if not for Love's evening.

[ahughes53 [enjin:6639223]]

C'mon Abe, Ricky was outstanding last night. He's the only guy I know who can play a great game while shooting 2 for 10. And it's because he's elite on multiple other levels.

And Love is the only guy I know who can go for 14 - 22 (42/16) and yet the PG who makes 2 baskets gets as much love.

Rubio passed the ball well and came out aggressively in the 1st quarter which helped set the tone against a disinterested (early) Pacers squad. He had a lot of assists. Set the tone. And it would have meant nothing if not for Love's evening.

I guess my question to you is do you attribute none of Love's success last night to what Ricky did during the course of the game and early on? I said earlier it's hard to say based off of one game, but Love's amazing game could have been a slight byproduct of the havoc Ricky was causing. Not to say Love doesn't do that on his own or that he can't do it without Ricky's game, not by any stretch of the imagination do I think that, but I think there's a chance that them both playing the way they did, helped each other an was the reason for the win.

Also, I'm not discrediting or downplaying what Love did in an effort to boost up Ricky or place all the credit on him, just a observation that the play style was different and we beat a very good team.

As you pointed out though, it looked like Indiana came out sluggish, probably expecting an easy game and Minnesota punched them in the mouth, you could see the frustration from Indiana as the game went on.

[AbeVigodaLive]

C'mon Abe, Ricky was outstanding last night. He's the only guy I know who can play a great game while shooting 2 for 10. And it's because he's elite on multiple other levels.

And Love is the only guy I know who can go for 14 - 22 (42/16) and yet the PG who makes 2 baskets gets as much love.

Rubio passed the ball well and came out aggressively in the 1st quarter which helped set the tone against a disinterested (early) Pacers squad. He had a lot of assists. Set the tone. And it would have meant nothing if not for Love's evening.

I guess my question to you is do you attribute none of Love's success last night to what Ricky did during the course of the game and early on? I said earlier it's hard to say based off of one game, but Love's amazing game could have been a slight byproduct of the havoc Ricky was causing. Not to say Love doesn't do that on his own or that he can't do it without Ricky's game, not by any stretch of the imagination do I think that, but I think there's a chance that them both playing the way they did, helped each other an was the reason for the win.

Also, I'm not discrediting or downplaying what Love did in an effort to boost up Ricky or place all the credit on him, just a observation that the play style was different and we beat a very good team.

As you pointed out though, it looked like Indiana came out sluggish, probably expecting an easy game and Minnesota punched them in the mouth, you could see the frustration from Indiana as the game went on.

Not trying to discredit Rubio. Of course, the two work in concert to some degree.

But Love was the catalyst yesterday. 4 three point plays in the first 6 minutes of the game tends to do that. We read "Rubio could have had so many more assists"... A LOT.

But we never read "The Wolves hot shooting and breakouts really padded Rubio's assist totals."

Not saying that's the case. Just pointing out some very distinct trends...

[Coolbreeze44]

C'mon Abe, Ricky was outstanding last night. He's the only guy I know who can play a great game while shooting 2 for 10. And it's because he's elite on multiple other levels.

And Love is the only guy I know who can go for 14 - 22 (42/16) and yet the PG who makes 2 baskets gets as much love.

Rubio passed the ball well and came out aggressively in the 1st quarter which helped set the tone against a disinterested (early) Pacers squad. He had a lot of assists. Set the tone. And it would have meant nothing if not for Love's evening.

I didn't say anything to discredit Love and his performance last night. They were both great, and had to be to beat one of the best teams in the league.

[BloopOracle]

maybe....JUST MAYBE


they both had a good game