As Ricky goes. . .

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I'll never understand the perception that Ricky was somehow stifled by Adelman's offense and was just a bystandard as everything was run through the Kevins. That is simply not true. By any measure of assists - Assists per game, assists per 100 possessions, assists per 36 minutes - Ricky had his best season as a pro.

Did we start many halfcourt sets with Love or Pek getting the first pass at the elbow? Yes. But how many times did the ball end up back in Ricky's hands after the first one or two options out of the corner offense weren't available? Pretty much every time. And from there the team would resort to pick and roll, with Ricky being the primary ball handler and playmaker. That's why he easily led the team in assists and had a career year.

I think many of us wax nostalgic over Ricky's rookie year because he was so young, fresh, and "innocent". He was such a breath of fresh air. But in reality, he's gradually become a better player every year since then.

[Phenom]

Bystander certainly wasnt an accurate term for Rickys role here, Q. He was a little too secondary for my tastes, however. I also agree he has improved even while still believing that Adelman could have done more to play to Rickys game. If both if these things are true than we should still have high expectations for Ricky. I hope he ends up in a leading role on the floor as I have wanted to see that for awhile now.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Phenom, I agree that Flip's increased reliance on Ricky is appropriate given the current makeup of our roster. But Adelman's system was very appropriate for his roster and managed to maximize its best player's talent (Kevin Love) while also giving Ricky plenty of opportunities to be a playmaker.

My issue with Adelman, as well as others, was how he deployed player rotations - who, what, where, and when. And I do think there was an element of burnout too. But I had zero issue with his offense and thought he did a brilliant job balancing the strengths of Love and Rubio. Both had career years.

[Porckchop]

Are we confident that Flips system will be any better for Ricky? Seems his system has always worked best with a good shooting pg.

[Phenom]

I can see the reasons why Rick ran the team the way that he did. Featuring Ricky more would have just been my own personal preference.

And pork chop, no there is no way to be sure that Flip will be good for Ricky until games have been played. I eagerly await an answer. My initial concerns with Flip coaching were tied to Ricky but Flip has won me over with many things since being back so I'm hoping this will be another thing he impresses with.

[Monster]

Q you make some great points. Love had a FANTASTIC year especially passing the ball in Adelman's offense. One thing I was sorta adding with my comments on Adelman goes along with your thoughts on rotations substitutions like having JJ playing in 4th quarters etc when I said scoring PGs were in Ademan's offense previously. And someone mentioned wasn't it just Ricky? Yeah absolutely he can't shoot and wasn't a threat to score I'm not blind to that. Really not having a vet leader and no real bench were such huge problems not Rubio or his role. Those problems and JJ would have been not been magnified if there was some reasonable depth maybe even just a healthy Bud would have been enough.