The Love Pre-Game

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Yeah, I'm not real excited about making practice jumpers either, however we do need him back soon. We can't have Lorenzo Brown playing 48 minutes!!

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I don't get excited about an NBA player draining shot after shot in practice...that's to be expected. And I've seen Ricky do it before in practice. Even though his shot was ridiculously flat, he still would make it consistently. But Robson and Lip aren't talking about his pre-game shooting percentage here...they're talking about a very noticeable change in shooting style. As Robson said: "More sand wedge, less driver". And that's what has me excited.

[Porckchop]

I don't get excited about an NBA player draining shot after shot in practice...that's to be expected. And I've seen Ricky do it before in practice. Even though his shot was ridiculously flat, he still would make it consistently. But Robson and Lip aren't talking about his pre-game shooting percentage here...they're talking about a very noticeable change in shooting style. As Robson said: "More sand wedge, less driver". And that's what has me excited.

Again, it's easy to lose form when a players running at ya with his hands in the air . Theres a tendency to revert to old habits. I'm certainly excited to see the change tho.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

That's definitely encouraging to hear LST.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I don't get excited about an NBA player draining shot after shot in practice...that's to be expected. And I've seen Ricky do it before in practice. Even though his shot was ridiculously flat, he still would make it consistently. But Robson and Lip aren't talking about his pre-game shooting percentage here...they're talking about a very noticeable change in shooting style. As Robson said: "More sand wedge, less driver". And that's what has me excited.

Again, it's easy to lose form when a players running at ya with his hands in the air . Theres a tendency to revert to old habits. I'm certainly excited to see the change tho.

If you watched the first four games of the season, you've seen a hint of the change already. Ricky looked way more confident and his shot actually had arc, not to mention he was making his jumpers. I expect to see the same, if not better, from Ricky.

[Coolbreeze44]

He doesn't have to be Kyle Korver. All he needs is to be a threat from outside. That will improve his effectiveness dramatically.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

He doesn't have to be Kyle Korver. All he needs is to be a threat from outside. That will improve his effectiveness dramatically.

Keep the defense honest. Bingo.

Another thing we're not really talking about is his finishing, which to me is much more important. He was finishing better than I remember early in the year. I hope that hasn't changed. He was really starting to use his left hand instead of right hand - left side.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I just hope everyone stays moderately healthy, seems like NBA injuries happen so much more often each year. One twisted ankle to a top player and the season is over, or in our case 7 or 8 injuries.

I hope we've all seen the worst of the wolves these last 2 months and we can be a competitive playoff team starting next season.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Like a few of you said, he doesn't need to be great from outside, just "good enough". No one expects him to become Steve Nash or Steph Curry.

[Lipoli390]

I am not as optimistic as Lip from what I saw. I was watching JR Smith in pregame just drill everything so maybe that made me think what Rubio was doing was not that impressive.

I don't think we can take much away from shooting without defenders in warm-up drills. There are a lot of NBA players or college players that can do that with consistency. I don't think it's possible to remake your shot completely for the better so quickly without actually playing in games.

But I hope the mechanics are more sound. So, after some repetition in game situations Rubio makes those much-needed improvements that's needed... and we're all hoping for.


[Note: My favorite basketball moment at Target Center is watching Matt Bonner only shoot three pointers at halftime. And hit every one.]

No question that Ricky had transformed his shooting stroke - mechanics, arc, follow-through.... It's not as if Ricky used to shoot differently in practice than he did in games. The same old flat shot we used to see from him in games was what I saw from him consistently in pre-game shoot-arounds. Of course he'll need to maintain his new mechanics in games, but it's unlikely he won't.

As for accuracy, of course he won't hit over 50% of his threes in games the way he did in yesterday's pregame. Even Matt Bonner's accuracy falls off significantly from shoot-around to actual game minutes. :). Yet, is it reasonable to expect Ricky to hit around 37% of his threes in games with his revamped mechanics? Of course it is. That's not a predication, but it's a reasonable expectation. This isn't Shaq we're talking about. We're talking about a guy who already hits 80% of his free throws and makes pinpoint passes.

We've already seen significant improvement from Ricky finishing in the paint starting after the allstar break
last season. I expect his three point shooting to improve to around 37%, which would make him one of the better three-point shooters in the League. The biggest question mark in my mind will be Ricky's mid-range jumper. He worked on it a lot last night, practicing a little step back jumper after contact. He was nailing it, but that's a shot that will be especially impacted by actual game play. Shooting a mid-range jumper typically requires a quick release coming off a quick cut, making it more difficult to maintain your shooting mechanics. But the improved finishing we've already seen plus the improved three-point shooting we have good reason to expect will be enough to substantially elevate Ricky's already impressive game. An improved mid-range would be a bonus.

I guess we will soon see.