What does everyone think of Ricky?

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

I will start by saying that I have never been a huge fan. Have always thought more flash than game-altering substance. Some of this is simply related to his inconsistency game-to-game. That being said, I have also always appreciated the necessity of his development in order for the Wolves to become a playoff type team. Well, we are now 3 years into his NBA career, and probably 9 years into his professional career, and he is literally the EXACT same player this season as he has been during his NBA tenure. It is actually quite odd how every metric is identical when evaluating current season to career averages. From points, to rebounds, to steals, to assists, to shooting percentages....."he is who we thought he was". Many on this board thought he was destined to be a 14-15 apg guy once he got better players around him. Well, while he is certainly a great passer, he hasn't gotten better in this particular area even though he now sports a much better offensive team than he did a couple years ago.

I know this will spark some heated thoughts, but I am actually trying to get a sense for what folks on this board feel is Ricky's destiny with this team....playoff team starter, bench role player, trade commodity? I just don't know. I don't feel like he is the guy that is going to lead a great team through the playoffs. Can we get to the playoffs with him? Probably, but I think his limitations will always create some major issues with better teams as the court shrinks in these series.

[60WinTim]

Well, I am not going to throw out some "heated thoughts", but I am firmly in Ricky's corner. We have seen growth in some of his numbers. Advanced stats say his FG% and assists are trending upward. Many measures already place him as an above-average PG. And I believe at age 23, he can be the starting PG on a playoff contender.

The real bugaboo is going to be his contract extension. What is he worth? I have my doubts they will reach an agreement this off-season, with both sides waiting to see how his game and the team improves next year, and hope to reach an agreement when he becomes a restricted FA.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I think a team has a very limited ceiling with Rubio as its 2nd most important/best player. I think he could possibly be a third wheel on a decent to pretty good NBA team. Maybe.

His shooting will always be a problem. And I don't think the other parts of his game offset it enough. Not in today's NBA. You have to have a PG who can be a threat for himself offensively. 9 ppg on a career high 38% shooting isn't enough. What's more alarming is how his 4th quarter stats are even worse than that.

But I like him a lot when he plays with energy and flair. He's fun to watch. Sadly, I don't think that's enough. He's too reliant on others playing well. Consider how many times we've read "imagine how many assists Ricky would have if..."

Can't the same thing be said about a lot of NBA point guards?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I love watching Ricky play and his competitive fire, but I have to admit that he has fallen short of my expectations. Despite his good assist total, I was really disappointed in him last night. He seemed to have a little Shved in him last night...getting up in the air without a plan. Frankly I thought he had more turnovers than the boxscore showed, because he had a sloppy game. And his outside shooting remains abominable. I have no problem with him shooting layups or his 3-point set shot, but any mid-range jumpers he shoots on the fly has less than a 20% chance of hitting. If he can't improve his mid-ranger this off-season, he needs to learn to keep it in the holster.

But all that said, I think he has a lot of additional upside, and is a guy we can build around. He's only 23 years old, and continues to improve. Most significant in his improvement this year has been his ability to beat his man on the dribble and get to the rim with his left hand...it's really fun to watch. I also like how his defense continues to improve. Even though Adelman was on him last night, I liked his active doubling down on DMC. Ricky just seems to have great defensive instincts and continues to improve. When I think about the 28 year old Rubio, I envision a guy with all the skills he shows today plus improvement. His biggest improvement will be an improved shot with lots of off-season work (or at least a better understanding of shots he should not be taking) and less sloppiness on offense. When I think about how much other elite point guards improved after their 23rd birthdays, I get quite excited about his upside. Ricky will be a top three point guard in five years, with still a lot of career left.

[thedoper]

I have maintained this year that I think he will be fine. Last year I wasn't as sure. I think playing professional ball for so long had him pretty set in his ways, which along with the injuries has made his transition to the NBA a bit longer. I love his game and am not worried about the progress of his shooting. He is a pro, and I think he is poised to have a great season next year.

[mjs34]

I am pretty confident that Ricky's shooting will improve considerably next season, so I am not worried in the least about his play. Ricky has clearly been trying to correct his shot in the second half of the season. That is something that usually results in lower numbers. If you watch his games, you can see his shooting teetering back and forth between the old form and the new. You only need to watch the arc. A few games back he came out in the first half and was hitting everything with a very nice trajectory, than coming out in the second half the linedrive type shot was back and he couldn't make a thing. The change will stick with continued practice, that hopefully occurs in the off season.

My bigger concern going forward is with the consciousness of our two best players. It is always alarming to me when players voice concerns over the team not winning, and there are significant weaknesses in their own games. Ricky could have addressed his shooting much earlier, and Love could be playing much tougher D. If we got those two issues fixed, we are in the PO's this season.

[mjs34]

I am in favor of getting him inked to an extension this off season. We would likely get a better deal, would give Love some incentive to re-sign, and gives us a more valuable asset if we decided we needed to move him.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

A few thoughts:

- He is not the exact same player this year as his prior two years. In fact, he has slowly improved since his rookie campaign. He is the same player stylistically, but he's more productive and efficient than his first two seasons.

- Assists per game have as much to do with the offensive system as it does with the PG's ability to make plays. Ricky is averaging a career high in assists despite playing in a system that runs a lot of plays through Kevin Love in the high post (which is also why Love has pretty much doubled his career assist rate this year). And it doesn't take advanced stats to realize that Rubio is one of the elite passers in the game today. Just watch him.

- There are a lot of different metrics out there that try to isolate a single player's impact on team defense. Ricky does very well in these. For example, he's tied for 3rd among starting PGs in the Defensive Rating stat. He's 2nd among all PGs in the Defensive RPM stat (a new advanced stat recently unveiled by ESPN). And then if you look at the box score stats of steals and charges taken, he probably creates more turnovers than almost any other PG in the NBA. The bottom line is that it's fair to say that Rubio is an elite defender. He may not always be the best pure one-on-one defender, but if you look at his overall impact on a team defense, he's elite.

- There is no one formula for winning an NBA title. We've seen a number of teams do it over the years without a great offensive PG.

All of that being said, I agree with Tim that we should wait another year before negotiating a contract extension. I don't believe Rubio is an upper echelon PG just yet, but he has shown gradual improvement through his first three years and hopefully that trend continues.

[bleedspeed]

He is not perfect, but he seems to be part of the solution and not the problem. I would love to have a coach that could run a system that builds on the strengths of this team and gives Rubio more opportunities to setup his teamates.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

A few thoughts:

- He is not the exact same player this year as his prior two years. In fact, he has slowly improved since his rookie campaign. He is the same player stylistically, but he's more productive and efficient than his first two seasons.

- Assists per game have as much to do with the offensive system as it does with the PG's ability to make plays. Ricky is averaging a career high in assists despite playing in a system that runs a lot of plays through Kevin Love in the high post (which is also why Love has pretty much doubled his career assist rate this year). And it doesn't take advanced stats to realize that Rubio is one of the elite passers in the game today. Just watch him.

- There are a lot of different metrics out there that try to isolate a single player's impact on team defense. Ricky does very well in these. For example, he's tied for 3rd among starting PGs in the Defensive Rating stat. He's 2nd among all PGs in the Defensive RPM stat (a new advanced stat recently unveiled by ESPN). And then if you look at the box score stats of steals and charges taken, he probably creates more turnovers than almost any other PG in the NBA. The bottom line is that it's fair to say that Rubio is an elite defender. He may not always be the best pure one-on-one defender, but if you look at his overall impact on a team defense, he's elite.

- There is no one formula for winning an NBA title. We've seen a number of teams do it over the years without a great offensive PG.

All of that being said, I agree with Tim that we should wait another year before negotiating a contract extension. I don't believe Rubio is an upper echelon PG just yet, but he has shown gradual improvement through his first three years and hopefully that trend continues.

I agree. Ill still contend that the front office STILL hasn't built a proper team around ricky's skills. Finding a 3 point shooter that can shoot 40% or another 35+% high usage 3 point shooter will make those assists numbers go up. I think his shooting style is one where he's just not going to be a good jump shooter, but improving around the rim, where he can get to as good as anyone, will make all the difference