Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden0916 wrote:

From Jace Frederick of the Pioneer Press:

...a reporter asked Booker this week if playing alongside Rubio made life for the elite scorer easier "at times."

"Easier at times?" Booker asked. "Easier at all times."

"I'll never forget what he's done for my career," Booker said.

I think we all understand what Devin Booker is getting at with these remarks. I thought it was cool to see him respond like that. He sounds very appreciative of his time playing with Ricky Rubio, which is just flat out cool to see. I feel like D'Angelo Russell is on the verge of a big year in Minnesota and Rubio will undoubtedly help him along the way.

Thanks for posting that's a pretty cool quote. Rubio is gonna help a few guys have better seasons.

I think what was a concern for some is that many see DLo as a PG. While he is a solid distributor, I think DLo is best suited as a secondary ball handler playing SG. To support many comments already made, he will certainly play a pivotal role for this team this season. Solid addition.

Hicks123 wrote:I think what was a concern for some is that many see DLo as a PG. While he is a solid distributor, I think DLo is best suited as a secondary ball handler playing SG. To support many comments already made, he will certainly play a pivotal role for this team this season. Solid addition.

I think Russell can be a good primary ball handler but I think he needs some help working on that. He has ability to be both a scorer and a guy that sets people up. Last year there were times he just came down and just looked to score and had some cringy possessions. It's not easy to balance those things and last year some of the time it wasn't like there was always a clear option on offense. Being able to play with and have a guy on the roster like Rubio will be good for him now and also likely for him developing both aspects of his game. What makes this work more now is that Rubio has now played with 2 high usage young guards already. He doesn't have to be the guy running the show to be effective. Meanwhile when he isn't playing with Russell he can do his thing with other young players in those minutes.

Hicks123 wrote:I think what was a concern for some is that many see DLo as a PG. While he is a solid distributor, I think DLo is best suited as a secondary ball handler playing SG. To support many comments already made, he will certainly play a pivotal role for this team this season. Solid addition.

This goes back to where do you get your advantages and limit your disadvantages as a team. D Lo as the primary ball handling PG runs the PnR with KAT and his volume scoring and playmaking on the ball is a plus. His defense is a minus but he has good size as a guy defending PG's which is needed because he's not a great athlete. His size also is an advantage offensively as a PG because he can get a shot off much more easily against smaller guards which again is important because he's not a high level athlete. He's a finesse player so having a size advantage helps him a lot. When you move him to SG off the ball he is no longer in the action with Towns. He's a spot up shooter and secondary initiator which is fine because he's a decent catch and shoot guy. His defense takes a bigger hit because he is guarding bigger/more athletic players and he's off the ball so he has to stay engaged and play more help defense. And when he is trying to create a shot with 8 seconds left on the shot clock as the secondary initiator he now has a Klay Thompson on him instead of a Steph Curry to try to create that shot. That's just going to be a tougher look to make a shot.

So while I think he can play both spots which is why I like him as a player, I think both his advantages and limiting his disadvantages comes at the PG spot so that's where he should be playing the most. He's not James Harden out here running the show from the 2 spot with a big body to guard that spot as well (I get Harden doesn't play defense but if he did his size has no problem defending 2's). He should primarily be a PG who can slide down to the 2 on occasion when the matchup allows to play off the ball and be an efficient catch and shoot guy.

Love the Booker quote...thx for sharing it. It summarizes why I'm so excited about adding Ricky to this team. He's going to do for KAT, D-Lo and Edwards what he did for Booker, and even give some easy looks to offensively challenged players such as Davis just as he did for Pek.

Khans, I hear your point about how effective D-Lo and KAT can be in the pick and roll, but I think we are going to see a lot of that regardless of what position Russell plays. I would really be upset with Ryan if he didn't have Ricky on the court at the start and end of games and for at least 30 minutes. I want D-Lo on for at least 35 minutes, so he will still get a few minutes at PG when Rubio is out. Defensively, I hope that Ryan puts Rubio on the more dangerous scorer of the opponent's PG and SG, because he is a far superior defender to D-Lo and almost identical in size.

I've listed my reasons to start Ricky before. He's never been a bench player, and he's coming off one of his best seasons- his win shares last year were better than anyone on our roster other than KAT. He's a steady veteran, and that's exactly what our young two stars and Edwards need to flourish. And while D-Lo can and has played PG, his stated preference is to play the 2. Why should Saunders not honor this preference when he has an ideal PG in Rubio on his roster?

I think we said these same things about Ricky the first time around. It helped getting guys more open looks but our team still sucked. We probably have a better team now but a slower Rubio. I still like the trade but not sure how he and DLO will work together.

khans2k5 wrote:

Hicks123 wrote:I think what was a concern for some is that many see DLo as a PG. While he is a solid distributor, I think DLo is best suited as a secondary ball handler playing SG. To support many comments already made, he will certainly play a pivotal role for this team this season. Solid addition.

This goes back to where do you get your advantages and limit your disadvantages as a team. D Lo as the primary ball handling PG runs the PnR with KAT and his volume scoring and playmaking on the ball is a plus. His defense is a minus but he has good size as a guy defending PG's which is needed because he's not a great athlete. His size also is an advantage offensively as a PG because he can get a shot off much more easily against smaller guards which again is important because he's not a high level athlete. He's a finesse player so having a size advantage helps him a lot. When you move him to SG off the ball he is no longer in the action with Towns. He's a spot up shooter and secondary initiator which is fine because he's a decent catch and shoot guy. His defense takes a bigger hit because he is guarding bigger/more athletic players and he's off the ball so he has to stay engaged and play more help defense. And when he is trying to create a shot with 8 seconds left on the shot clock as the secondary initiator he now has a Klay Thompson on him instead of a Steph Curry to try to create that shot. That's just going to be a tougher look to make a shot.

So while I think he can play both spots which is why I like him as a player, I think both his advantages and limiting his disadvantages comes at the PG spot so that's where he should be playing the most. He's not James Harden out here running the show from the 2 spot with a big body to guard that spot as well (I get Harden doesn't play defense but if he did his size has no problem defending 2's). He should primarily be a PG who can slide down to the 2 on occasion when the matchup allows to play off the ball and be an efficient catch and shoot guy.

It's worth considering many bigger SG would Russell be facing? There are a number of teams that play guys that are smaller than Russell. Then you have guys like LaVine who has more length but is considered a poor defender. In addition will some teams have to pick which bad defending guard plays against which of these guys? Rubio facing a bad guard means he gets to basically do whatever he wants those minutes and that's not a minor thing. I think Russell sliding over to SG giving him a disadvantage is a legit thing but I think that in a lot of matchups it's not going to matter a whole lot. I think having Rubio play those minutes assuming it's reasonably effective will offset some of the downsides.

BizarroJerry wrote:I think we said these same things about Ricky the first time around. It helped getting guys more open looks but our team still sucked. We probably have a better team now but a slower Rubio. I still like the trade but not sure how he and DLO will work together.

Yeah, I love Rubio and think he is a great addition, but there is a limit to what he can do, as there was a limit in his first stint. The reality is, I don't want him to be our 2nd best player. That's not a good sign for team success if he's the 2nd best player. We want him to be an elite role player that is the 3rd or 4th best player.

Q12543 wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:I think we said these same things about Ricky the first time around. It helped getting guys more open looks but our team still sucked. We probably have a better team now but a slower Rubio. I still like the trade but not sure how he and DLO will work together.

Yeah, I love Rubio and think he is a great addition, but there is a limit to what he can do, as there was a limit in his first stint. The reality is, I don't want him to be our 2nd best player. That's not a good sign for team success if he's the 2nd best player. We want him to be an elite role player that is the 3rd or 4th best player.

I agree, Q. But for me the key question is this: Can Ricky help make DLO and KAT the elite players they need to be for this team to be a contender? I think he can - by making them more productive on the offensive end with his high IQ playmaking and better defensively through his own tenacious defensive effort and leadership both on and off the court. So while I don't expect him to be our best or 2nd-best player, I can see where he might arguably be our more important player. And I'd be OK with that.

Let's go back to 2013/14. Our best team with Rubio that went 40-42. Love/Brewer/Pek/Martin/Rubio. Pek missed 25 games, Martin about 15.

Love and Rubio played almost every game. Are we better than that team?