The Love Pre-Game

[Lipoli390]

Here at Target Center. Been here since 5:30. Saw Ricky go through a grueling working. He was cutting without any noticeable discomfort. His shot was incredible. More about that later after the game.

[TAFKASP]

Such a tease.

[TheGrey08]

He's apparently suiting up Monday

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

We'll have to wait for Lipoli's report, but he probably saw what Robson saw according to his tweet...that Rubio's jump shot looks much better and is going in consistently. Robson says it is much softer with more arc...more sand wedge, less driver.

https://twitter.com/brittrobson/status/561681121650286592

[Lipoli390]

Yes, I saw the same thing Robson saw. Ricky's current shot Bears no resemblance to his prior shot. It not has a beautiful arc on it. Oh, and now it goes in consistently. :). In one drill, Ricky was taking a series of 7 shots from each of 4 different spots behind the 3-point line. He 5 of 7 from three spots and 4 of 7 from the other two spots.

He continued with all shorts of mid-range jump shooting drills. All this after intense cutting drills and pick-and-roll drills with Anthony Bennett. Ricky was drenched in sweat and bent over with exhaustion. But without rest he went to the right corner and proceeded to put up twelve 3-point shots. Tired as he was, he made 9 of them! Not in a game I know. But really impressive. It will be great to see him back on the court Monday.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I admit I was a skeptic about how much benefit Rubio would get from working with a shooting coach. But last night's reports from Lipoli and Robson are really exciting. Ricky has demonstrated such great touch in the past at the free throw line, and even at times beyond the arc, it seemed logical that he should be able to become a good jump shooter too...but he never seemed to get there. Then, we all saw some improvement in pre-season and the first 5 games after working with his coach last summer, and apparently he has continued to make great strides while injured. It's a little scary to think how good Rubio can be if defenders have to respect his outside shooting.

Can't wait for Monday's game!

[Porckchop]

It'll be interesting to see if he can maintain form and confidence in his stroke with a defender in his face. Has his release gotten any quicker?

[bleedspeed]

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.

[AbeVigodaLive]

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.]

[bleedspeed]

Abe - I agree. I want him to be great, but am not getting excited until he is in a game.