Pork-O-Meter

[MikkeMan]

My pork chop meter has also gone down lately despite his awful shooting. Main reason for having any pork chop earlier was that it looked like he can't get healthy after his ankle injury. But now during last couple of games he has finally looked completely healed.

Some other stats about Rubio from this year.

His PER is currently 18.92, which is clearly highest mark in his career and ranks 12th among point guards. It's better than what Rondo, Conley, Teague or Brandon Knight have and clearly 2nd highest PER among all Wolves players after Towns.

His RPM (real plus-minus) is 1.77, which is 11th among all point guards. He ranks above Parker, Rondo, Conley, Teague and Knight.

And it seems that his 15 assists and 4 steals game inflated his stats enough that now he ranks 2nd in assists per 48 minutes, 1st in assists TO rate, 1st in steals per 48 minutes and 4th in rebounds among all starting point guards.

[Porckchop]

1-9 outing and a continued struggle with pick n roll defense has my meter at about 85 right now . I like a lot of the things he did in that 3 game stretch but if u r going to be counted on you just can't consistently be at 3-10s 1-9s. I love that he's opportunist on defensive aND he has quick hands but he's no more than an average overall defender in my eyes becuz of the pick and roll issues this team has and pgs seemingly go by him at will these days. It seems he puts together a string full of games that get fans excited but he's always going to give you just as many that make you wish he could be something more. And in my eyes this team needs him to be something more to take the next step.
In his last 14 games (half the season ) he's hit 24/86 shots . I can read all these other numbers you guys put out there but I just can't get past this one sole stat.
It's not you its me.

[Monster]

These last 3 or so games have been really encouraging. Like Jim Pete has said during this stretchable is affecting the game without scoring. Can he do that against sole real teams? We will find out but he looks healthy and playing with the fight we are used to seeing from him and we are seeing some flair also. I need to see more but it's been fun the last few games.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

These last 3 or so games have been really encouraging. Like Jim Pete has said during this stretchable is affecting the game without scoring. Can he do that against sole real teams? We will find out but he looks healthy and playing with the fight we are used to seeing from him and we are seeing some flair also. I need to see more but it's been fun the last few games.

It has been fun, but while the rest of his game has thrived, his shooting has actually gotten worse. I can live with a Ricky that hits 38% of his shots and gets to the free throw line at a decent rate (in fact, his free throw rate has been pretty good this year), but it really is disappointing to see his shot regress even further. In that regard, I share Pork's concern.

I wonder if Ricky just got fed up with all sorts of people trying to fix his shot and he's just said eff it - I'm going to live or die doing it my way. You can see he's regressed to all his old habits, especially releasing at the top of his jump as opposed to on the way up.

[Coolbreeze44]

These last 3 or so games have been really encouraging. Like Jim Pete has said during this stretchable is affecting the game without scoring. Can he do that against sole real teams? We will find out but he looks healthy and playing with the fight we are used to seeing from him and we are seeing some flair also. I need to see more but it's been fun the last few games.

It has been fun, but while the rest of his game has thrived, his shooting has actually gotten worse. I can live with a Ricky that hits 38% of his shots and gets to the free throw line at a decent rate (in fact, his free throw rate has been pretty good this year), but it really is disappointing to see his shot regress even further. In that regard, I share Pork's concern.

I wonder if Ricky just got fed up with all sorts of people trying to fix his shot and he's just said eff it - I'm going to live or die doing it my way. You can see he's regressed to all his old habits, especially releasing at the top of his jump as opposed to on the way up.

Releasing at the zenith of your jump is actually a good habit. His worst habit is his poor balance, usually caused by his feet being too close together.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

These last 3 or so games have been really encouraging. Like Jim Pete has said during this stretchable is affecting the game without scoring. Can he do that against sole real teams? We will find out but he looks healthy and playing with the fight we are used to seeing from him and we are seeing some flair also. I need to see more but it's been fun the last few games.

It has been fun, but while the rest of his game has thrived, his shooting has actually gotten worse. I can live with a Ricky that hits 38% of his shots and gets to the free throw line at a decent rate (in fact, his free throw rate has been pretty good this year), but it really is disappointing to see his shot regress even further. In that regard, I share Pork's concern.

I wonder if Ricky just got fed up with all sorts of people trying to fix his shot and he's just said eff it - I'm going to live or die doing it my way. You can see he's regressed to all his old habits, especially releasing at the top of his jump as opposed to on the way up.

Releasing at the zenith of your jump is actually a good habit. His worst habit is his poor balance, usually caused by his feet being too close together.

You know more than I on the exact release point of a good jumper, but my eyes tell me he's releasing it too late and doesn't get enough legs into his shot. May be he's past his zenith then.

[Coolbreeze44]

These last 3 or so games have been really encouraging. Like Jim Pete has said during this stretchable is affecting the game without scoring. Can he do that against sole real teams? We will find out but he looks healthy and playing with the fight we are used to seeing from him and we are seeing some flair also. I need to see more but it's been fun the last few games.

It has been fun, but while the rest of his game has thrived, his shooting has actually gotten worse. I can live with a Ricky that hits 38% of his shots and gets to the free throw line at a decent rate (in fact, his free throw rate has been pretty good this year), but it really is disappointing to see his shot regress even further. In that regard, I share Pork's concern.

I wonder if Ricky just got fed up with all sorts of people trying to fix his shot and he's just said eff it - I'm going to live or die doing it my way. You can see he's regressed to all his old habits, especially releasing at the top of his jump as opposed to on the way up.

Releasing at the zenith of your jump is actually a good habit. His worst habit is his poor balance, usually caused by his feet being too close together.

You know more than I on the exact release point of a good jumper, but my eyes tell me he's releasing it too late and doesn't get enough legs into his shot. May be he's past his zenith then.

Yeah, you could be right there. He might be beginning his stroke too late and ends up releasing the shot after he begins the descent. That would be worse than releasing before the zenith.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

My old TV was a Zenith, lasted 10 years, I wish they still made them.

[Monster]

These last 3 or so games have been really encouraging. Like Jim Pete has said during this stretchable is affecting the game without scoring. Can he do that against sole real teams? We will find out but he looks healthy and playing with the fight we are used to seeing from him and we are seeing some flair also. I need to see more but it's been fun the last few games.

It has been fun, but while the rest of his game has thrived, his shooting has actually gotten worse. I can live with a Ricky that hits 38% of his shots and gets to the free throw line at a decent rate (in fact, his free throw rate has been pretty good this year), but it really is disappointing to see his shot regress even further. In that regard, I share Pork's concern.

I wonder if Ricky just got fed up with all sorts of people trying to fix his shot and he's just said eff it - I'm going to live or die doing it my way. You can see he's regressed to all his old habits, especially releasing at the top of his jump as opposed to on the way up.

Releasing at the zenith of your jump is actually a good habit. His worst habit is his poor balance, usually caused by his feet being too close together.

You know more than I on the exact release point of a good jumper, but my eyes tell me he's releasing it too late and doesn't get enough legs into his shot. May be he's past his zenith then.

Yeah, you could be right there. He might be beginning his stroke too late and ends up releasing the shot after he begins the descent. That would be worse than releasing before the zenith.

Good discussion on the mechanics I will be watching for some of these things closer when it comes to his lower body. What I have watched about Rubio is his shooting motion and his release. It's still kind of awkward because it's sorta out in front of him but it's still pretty consistently smoother than it has been before and he has always been solid at the FT line but that stroke is there when he shoots FTs. Early in the year when he was taking set 3 pointers it felt like he completely regressed back to his old set shot and he was really uncomfortable in general but the last few games he was using that more smooth fluid motion. Will he ever be a good shooter? Probably not but I think that shooting motion can make him more consistant than that awkward and jerky motion he has shown before. What he is showing now has some rhythm to it and it's a more fluid motion that could help him with being a little more fluid when finishing around the basket.

I'm always tinkering with my shot and the last couple years really watched different guys shoot it's just interesting. Sometimes Ibthink Rubio stays too square straight up and down I think he needs to turn his body a little more which from what I can gather is much more natural.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

I don't think Rubio's mechanics actually look ALL that bad. He's a little flat-footed, but he doesn't seem to get blocked that much and some flat-footed shooters have had great success. He looks like he's trying to push the ball in too much, which is probably why his shots are consistently flat (and that IS a big thing for him to work on, getting more arc on the ball).

But at the end of the day, everybody has slightly different mechanics. And while some are definitely better than others, even guys with bad mechanics (Martin) can become good shooters. Rubio's inability to hit shots comes down to one seemingly impossible conclusion--he just doesn't have any "touch" on his shot.

This seems impossible because he's such a deft passer. Why can he hit guys on target (most of the time) with passes but not hit the basket?

At the end of the day, Rubio seems to highlight the fact that shooting and passing are different skills. It's what makes Rubio's shooting all the more tragic. He can throw the ball in the right place horizontally, but he just can't do it while shooting. It's a real shame.