The Prince of the 1st. Fun Stats with Ricky Rubio.

[kekgeek]

The best thing for Rubio and his overall ability to contribute in the NBA would have been for him to be slotted into a back up PG role a long time ago. He hasn't ever viewed himself that way. Fair enough, he has a marked competitive fire. He's currently paid like a starter, and because of injuries has been put back in that role. Based on his pressers as things quickly went south, he also didn't really seem content to fully embrace that role. I echo your sentiment Abe, I like him and want him to be successful. I just think it should have been as a back up a long time ago. 3 teams have moved on from him as a starter, but now because of Rosas we're retreading the conversation. This was easily the most predictable outcome when the deal was made and all too Wolvesy.

I just went a quick run through of the teams and I think Ricky is like the 22nd best starting PG in the league. I don't think Ricky is bad, he's a slightly below average starting NBA PG. I just don't think he really matters in the big picture.

If Ricky ever wants to win a title he is coming off the bench and I do think him being a starting PG on a playoff team won't happen again (there will always be specific circumstances where this is possible)

[thedoper]

The best thing for Rubio and his overall ability to contribute in the NBA would have been for him to be slotted into a back up PG role a long time ago. He hasn't ever viewed himself that way. Fair enough, he has a marked competitive fire. He's currently paid like a starter, and because of injuries has been put back in that role. Based on his pressers as things quickly went south, he also didn't really seem content to fully embrace that role. I echo your sentiment Abe, I like him and want him to be successful. I just think it should have been as a back up a long time ago. 3 teams have moved on from him as a starter, but now because of Rosas we're retreading the conversation. This was easily the most predictable outcome when the deal was made and all too Wolvesy.

I just went a quick run through of the teams and I think Ricky is like the 22nd best starting PG in the league. I don't think Ricky is bad, he's a slightly below average starting NBA PG. I just don't think he really matters in the big picture.

If Ricky ever wants to win a title he is coming off the bench and I do think him being a starting PG on a playoff team won't happen again (there will always be specific circumstances where this is possible)

Yeah he's on the cusp of starter quality, but being the 22nd best starting PG means your a losing PG. I'd love to see him in playoff basketball for a championship contender with real talent. I'm sure he could have lots of winning moments. I think it may not happen until he is even closer to the end of his career.

[AbeVigodaLive]

How about this stat....when I look at Basketball Reference, I see the following:

Russell has taken 326 shots this year and scored 385 points.
Rubio has taken 327 shots and scored 384 points.

It's an offensive push. And by offensive, I mean similar to leading the league in nose hair. (I miss you Bob Uecker)

Games played and free throws attempted are a thing. What are we doing here?

I thought we were playing fun stats with Rubio as the title implied?

In all fairness to Danger... it's most definitely a fun stat. Of course we know it's not without contextual oversights. But as far as being a unique stat... kudos.

If we wanted to open up the discussion that could be implied behind the stat (I don't think we can do that honestly until Russell returns to the court WITH Towns in earnest)... it actually shows that scoring efficiency is a weakness for both players in a vacuum.

Russell is averaging 1.18 points per shot attempt this season. Rubio is at 1.17.

For his career... Russell scores 1.14 points per shot attempt.
Rubio is at 1.21 points per shot attempt.

Both are near the bottom of the league among "starters" slightly ahead of Eric Bledsoe, Elfrid Payton and Kemba Walker.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Update?

The trend continues!

Rubio is shooting 19 - 36 (53%) in the 1st quarter over the past 11 games.
He's shooting 13 - 51 (25.4%) the rest of the quarters combined.

He was 2 - 4 in the 1st last night... 2 - 7 after that. The previous game... 1 - 3 in the 1st (made his first shot)... only took 2 shots the rest of the game and missed both.

[Carlos Danger]

Update?

The trend continues!

Rubio is shooting 19 - 36 (53%) in the 1st quarter over the past 11 games.
He's shooting 13 - 51 (25.4%) the rest of the quarters combined.

He was 2 - 4 in the 1st last night... 2 - 7 after that. The previous game... 1 - 3 in the 1st (made his first shot)... only took 2 shots the rest of the game and missed both.

It's pretty obvious teams are clamping down on Rubio with full force. You never let the best guy beat you. I don't really watch games anymore, but my assumption is Rubio has 4 or 5 guys guarding him as the game progresses. Clearly teams are aware that if he gets hot - it's game over.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Ricky Rubio's Scoring by Quarter

First: 3.3 PPG, 45.6 FG% (1.1 - 2.6 FGA), 33.3 3P% (0.4 - 1.1 3PA), 89.7 FT% (0.5 - 0.6 FTA), 1.7 APG, in 7.1 MPG

Second: 2.2 PPG, 42.0 FG% (0.8 - 1.8 FGA), 27.3 3P% (0.2 - 0.7 3PA), 75.6 FT% (0.5 - 0.6 FTA), 1.8 APG, in 6.5 MPG

Third: 1.7 PPG, 31.3 FG% (0.5 - 1.7 FGA), 27.6 3P% (0.2 - 0.6 3PA), 84.0 FT% (0.4 - 0.5 FTA), 1.8 APG, in 7.0 MPG

Fourth: 1.4 PPG, 25.0 FG% (0.3 - 1.0 FGA), 18.8 3P% (0.1 - 0.3 3PA), 87.8 FT% (0.8 - 0.9 FTA), 1.6 APG, in 6.1 MPG

What sticks out to me are those second half numbers, but especially the fourth quarter. Those are embarrassing. Minnesota is essentially playing four-on-five at best on offense after halftime.

[FNG]

Rubio stats are always going to be interesting! He's typically such a bad shooter (last night notwithstanding), I don't know that it's necessarily a bad thing that he doesn't score in the 4th quarter. But it's fair to question whether his lack of scoring is hurting our offense. The fact that the Wolves have the second most efficient 4th quarter offense since the break and Rubio has been on the court more than half of the 4th quarter minutes tells me his lack of scoring isn't a big negative on offense as long as he is getting the ball into the hands of our scorers without turnovers.

Here's another interesting Rubio stat:

ORtg based on minutes played:

30-39 minutes: 131
20-29: 110
under 20: 82

Most NBA players say they need steady minutes to play their best, but it seems to be a much bigger factor with Ricky. He was worthless coming off the bench at the start of the season. If I were Finch, I would continue to start him. But if DLO becomes the starting PG, I would be inclined to play J-Mac over Rubio as our backup PG...an 82 ORtg is not helping this team. As said before, it will be really interesting to see which direction Finch goes.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Camden

Rubio stats are always going to be interesting! He's typically such a bad shooter (last night notwithstanding), I don't know that it's necessarily a bad thing that he doesn't score in the 4th quarter. But it's fair to question whether his lack of scoring is hurting our offense. The fact that the Wolves have the second most efficient 4th quarter offense since the break and Rubio has been on the court more than half of the 4th quarter minutes tells me his lack of scoring isn't a big negative on offense as long as he is getting the ball into the hands of our scorers without turnovers.

Here's another interesting Rubio stat:

ORtg based on minutes played:

30-39 minutes: 131
20-29: 110
under 20: 82

Most NBA players say they need steady minutes to play their best, but it seems to be a much bigger factor with Ricky. He was worthless coming off the bench at the start of the season. If I were Finch, I would continue to start him. But if DLO becomes the starting PG, I would be inclined to play J-Mac over Rubio as our backup PG...an 82 ORtg is not helping this team. As said before, it will be really interesting to see which direction Finch goes.

Just for fun:

Wolves record when Rubio gets 30+ minutes... 0 - 8.

The beauty/annoyance of stats (especially with lousy Wolves teams) are that they can create so many different polarizing narratives depending on which ones we choose.

[Carlos Danger]

Just for fun:

Wolves record when Rubio gets 30+ minutes... 0 - 8.

The beauty/annoyance of stats (especially with lousy Wolves teams) are that they can create so many different polarizing narratives depending on which ones we choose.

That's a good one to dig out. To keep things fair and balanced:

Rubio has played at least 20 mins in all of the Wolves 14 wins. And the Wolves are 0-9 in games he played under 20 minutes or did not play at all.

I like what SameOldNudityDrew wrote in the game thread. We have a collection of flawed players. But they can be useful. Hopefully new coach figures out the right combination to squeeze the most juice out of these guys.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Just for fun:

Wolves record when Rubio gets 30+ minutes... 0 - 8.

The beauty/annoyance of stats (especially with lousy Wolves teams) are that they can create so many different polarizing narratives depending on which ones we choose.

That's a good one to dig out. To keep things fair and balanced:

Rubio has played at least 20 mins in all of the Wolves 14 wins. And the Wolves are 0-9 in games he played under 20 minutes or did not play at all.

I like what SameOldNudityDrew wrote in the game thread. We have a collection of flawed players. But they can be useful. Hopefully new coach figures out the right combination to squeeze the most juice out of these guys.

So if we can just figure out how to get Rubio between 20 - 29 mpg... the Wolves would go 31 - 51. That's like winning the lottery for a Wolves fan!!!