After practicing for the first time in 10 days with a right quad injury on Friday, point guard Ricky Rubio made it two practices in a row on Saturday.
This makes it more likely that Rubio will play in a live game for the first time since March 18 tomorrow against the Memphis Grizzlies. While it appears as if Rubio will play (he’s currently listed as probable), interim head coach Sam Mitchell didn’t give a definitive answer.
“He practiced,” Mitchell said. “So if he feels good tomorrow, he’ll play.”
So right now, you can probably pencil him in to get some minutes tomorrow – but we’ve seen things like this change before. It would be great to get Rubio minutes with a new starting lineup before the regular season starts. After all, there are only three preseason games before the regular season starts on Oct. 28.
Rubio admitted on Friday that his conditioning wasn’t exactly where it needed to be, and that’s to be expected with a quad injury. But he’s going full speed and has looked like the player we saw last season before spraining his ankle against Orlando.
“He’s looked good,” Zach LaVine said. “He looked like Ricky. Passing the ball, moving, energetic. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
In other injury related news, shooting guard Kevin Martin had a full practice after back spasms kept him out of Wednesday night’s game. Mitchell noted on Saturday that he’d like to give Martin a few more minutes before the regular season starts.
LaVine spent last season playing majority at the point guard spot, something that was completely new for him. This season, Mitchell announced that he’ll start the season as the team’s starting shooting guard.
Mitchell has said throughout camp that it’s beneficial having two starters who can handle the ball with Rubio and LaVine. It sounds like we could see more of LaVine running the point this week.
“I did it all last year, so I mean, it’s the same thing,” LaVine said. “Wherever coach puts me, I’m going to go out there and work my hardest… Whether it’s point guard or shooting guard, I feel like I know both the roles.
Whether that means with Rubio or when Rubio subs out has yet to be seen.
The Wolves will tip off against the Grizzlies tomorrow at 5 p.m. The game will not be on TV or radio.
