Keep Ricky in Minnesota
Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 4:27 pm
http://www.howlintwolf.com/news_article/show/577600?referrer_id=2188719
Per NBA Stats, Rubio is statistically the best defensive point guard in the NBA this season, and I'll prove it.
Percentage Points Different is a stat that measures a defender's individual ability to affect a player's shooting percentage. It's compared to the shooter's season shooting averages against what those averages are when defended by a specific player. Negative numbers are good, positive numbers are bad because that means a shooter actually shoots better than his season averages when said player is defending them. Rubio boasts a -12.6 difference. The only point guards, who play substantial minutes, with better numbers than that are Ty Lawson, Aaron Brooks and Goran Dragic.
It doesn't stop there either. Rubio has allowed opponents to shoot just 18.2 percent on him, lowest of all starting point guards in the NBA to date. Rubio also boasts the Timberwolves' best individual defensive rating at 86.7, again the lowest of any starting point guard.
Rubio has a way to his game that's always been special to watch. The flash, the swag, the energy, but what's always been important to him is his defensive awareness. When Rubio first came into the NBA, he was nowhere near big, strong or fast enough to let his physical attributes play defense for him, essentially. It's always been about positioning, footwork and what I like to call peskiness. Rubio does such a fantastic job of moving his feet to stay with the ball-handler, forcing them to go to another option other than shooting it. That's only gotten better, as I've said a ton now, since the Timberwolves' bigs have gotten infinitely better than last year at hedging the ball-handler off any pick and roll situation. That kind of communication and help defense helps pump Rubio's stats but boosts the team's morale that they can defend anyone in this league behind their captain's lead.
Now that Rubio has filled out in his frame, he's only gotten better. Only the elite of the elite athletes can blow past Rubio's exceptional footwork and positioning. And only the best passers with extraordinary court vision can squeeze passes through lanes where Rubio makes frequent residence (That's that peskiness I mentioned).
It's been so incredibly apparent over the past two games that Rubio's defensive prowess is what makes this defense tick, and we've now seen that when they're ticking, they're one of the best in the league. It's been so bad the last three game that, in fact, when you replace Rubio with LaVine in the starting lineup (Andrew Wiggins, Tayshaun Prince, Kevin Garnett and Karl-Anthony Towns), the Timberwolves' defensive rating drastically rises up the chart from 77.1 to 123.5.
So you mean that if you simply switch out Rubio -- just one player -- for LaVine, the Timberwolves allow 46.4 more points per 100 possessions? That's staggering.
Per NBA Stats, Rubio is statistically the best defensive point guard in the NBA this season, and I'll prove it.
Percentage Points Different is a stat that measures a defender's individual ability to affect a player's shooting percentage. It's compared to the shooter's season shooting averages against what those averages are when defended by a specific player. Negative numbers are good, positive numbers are bad because that means a shooter actually shoots better than his season averages when said player is defending them. Rubio boasts a -12.6 difference. The only point guards, who play substantial minutes, with better numbers than that are Ty Lawson, Aaron Brooks and Goran Dragic.
It doesn't stop there either. Rubio has allowed opponents to shoot just 18.2 percent on him, lowest of all starting point guards in the NBA to date. Rubio also boasts the Timberwolves' best individual defensive rating at 86.7, again the lowest of any starting point guard.
Rubio has a way to his game that's always been special to watch. The flash, the swag, the energy, but what's always been important to him is his defensive awareness. When Rubio first came into the NBA, he was nowhere near big, strong or fast enough to let his physical attributes play defense for him, essentially. It's always been about positioning, footwork and what I like to call peskiness. Rubio does such a fantastic job of moving his feet to stay with the ball-handler, forcing them to go to another option other than shooting it. That's only gotten better, as I've said a ton now, since the Timberwolves' bigs have gotten infinitely better than last year at hedging the ball-handler off any pick and roll situation. That kind of communication and help defense helps pump Rubio's stats but boosts the team's morale that they can defend anyone in this league behind their captain's lead.
Now that Rubio has filled out in his frame, he's only gotten better. Only the elite of the elite athletes can blow past Rubio's exceptional footwork and positioning. And only the best passers with extraordinary court vision can squeeze passes through lanes where Rubio makes frequent residence (That's that peskiness I mentioned).
It's been so incredibly apparent over the past two games that Rubio's defensive prowess is what makes this defense tick, and we've now seen that when they're ticking, they're one of the best in the league. It's been so bad the last three game that, in fact, when you replace Rubio with LaVine in the starting lineup (Andrew Wiggins, Tayshaun Prince, Kevin Garnett and Karl-Anthony Towns), the Timberwolves' defensive rating drastically rises up the chart from 77.1 to 123.5.
So you mean that if you simply switch out Rubio -- just one player -- for LaVine, the Timberwolves allow 46.4 more points per 100 possessions? That's staggering.