Minnesota Sports Forum

http://bigstory.ap.org/a053927e0690488ebbb170b0d59d075a

While I'm not a big believer that one's personal life has a huge impact on one's production, it sounds like his Mom's health weighed on him all year.

The common belief with Rubio is that he hasn't really improved at all since his rookie year, yet if you squint a little bit at his numbers through the years, it won't take long to notice that he has indeed improved and had a career year last season.

Now that he is 18 months removed from his last injury and has had the chance to grieve his Mom's death, I think he is poised for a very strong year.

Just PLEASE don't get hurt playing Team USA today!

But..but..but he can't shoot.

You're both right.

BizarroJerry wrote:But..but..but he can't shoot.

Yup, his critics will always hang their hat on that....and it will always be an issue to some degree with Rubio. While players can improve their catch-and-shoot 3-ball well into their career, he's never going to be a great finisher or shooter off the dribble.

I think the interesting question will be what happens when Towns/Wiggins/LaVine become so potent that teams start daring Rubio to shoot even more than they have in the past. Can Thibs design sets that mitigate this issue (e.g. make him an off-ball screener at times)? Can Rubio knock down open stand-still 3's? We'll find out....

Jon K and Souhan made an interesting point that Rubio hasn't really improved significantly but the things he does well, assists, steals rebounds, general play, effort etc are always there for Rubio. You can count on him giving you those positive things when healthy. He is not up and down in his positives and that's worth noting.

I also think Rubio's defense has improved significantly the last couple years despite not playing for good defensive minded coaches. I think what he does as a defender is much more predictable and he is more calculated in when he gambles and he has still collected a high amount of steals. It's also probably helped that he has physically matured and therefore is stronger than he was when he first came into the league.

Jon has said a number of times it's should be to his credit that Rubio had a career year while playing knowing his Mother was dying. I think there is at least something to be said for that. Rubio as a person seems so easy to hope the best for. He seems like a legit good guy and isn't caught up in all the stuff. He is about loving life and playing ball and he wants to do that here. It's a bit unique.