Who is the Minnesota Timberwolves’ most discussed player?
No, it’s not Andrew Wiggins. It’s not even rookie Karl-Anthony Towns, who is on his way to the Rookie of the Year Award.
It’s Ricky Rubio.
If you follow basketball, you know why.
There are two camps when it comes to the Spaniard.
The first, of course, is that Rubio can’t shoot. And he won’t learn to. Cut and dry. That’s it. No discussion.
A team can’t win with a point guard who can’t shoot. – They say.
The second is that Rubio is one of, if not, the most valuable player on the team’s roster. He’s the one that makes things tick offensively and defensively.
The first camp is the camp of my uncle. Bless his soul, but every holiday, he’ll come over and talk to me. First about his fantasy football team, because I love hearing about his team, of course. And then eventually we’ll end up on Rubio. He watches three or four games a year (if that) so having a real conversation about this is near impossible.
But he can’t score…
Well, that’s not entirely true, but he does so much else for the te…
And then I get cut off and he eats 12 pounds of stuffing/mashed potatoes/pie.
Of course, this is family and I have no choice but to have these conversations without my mom giving me a glare. But there are others like my uncle out there and some who actually watch a lot of basketball, which 110 percent baffles me.
The Shooting
Rubio isn’t a great shooter. It’s not for lack of effort. He worked tirelessly last season with Mike Penberthy and I’ve seen him make as many as 180 out of 220 shots in practice before. He’s shooting 37.5 percent from the field this season, which isn’t great. But it’s promising that it’s up 0.6 percent from his career average and 1.9 percentage points from his mark last season. He’s also shooting 32.1 percent from the 3-ponit line, up .05 from his career average and six from last season.
He’s been trending upward as of late, shooting 43.3 percent from the field in March and 39 percent from the 3-point line in 11 games.
Small sample size, yes, but a promising one regardless.
And for those saying Rubio can never be a better shooter.
Remember when you were 25? Have you improved on anything since then? Writing? Driving? Cooking? Hiding from your uncle when he tries to find you to talk about fantasy football?
It’s pretty unfair (and dumb) to tell someone they can’t improve on something when they are only 25, especially when they work tirelessly at it daily.
Everything Else
Where to begin?
Rubio’s 10.3 points per game is on point with his career average, but he’s doing it a bit more efficiently, getting to the line 4.4 times per game (up 1.2) from last season while making a career-high 85.2 percent from the field. His true shooting percentage (takes field goals, 3-pointers and free throws into account) is at 53.4 percent, a career high and up 8.2 percent from last season.
We all know Rubio can pass and that hasn’t changed this season. He’s averaging 8.9 assists per game, ranking fifth in the league. His defense has also been on display all season long. He’s not the most athletic point guard in the league by any stretch of the imagination, but the combination of effort and smarts has him in the right spot most of the time. He’s swiped 2.1 steals per game, tied for second in the league. Rubio is also hauling in 4.3 rebounds per game, which is a bit down for him, but still ranks sixth among point guards.
According to Basketball-Reference, Rubio ranks second on the Wolves, contributing 5.3 wins to the Wolves this season, ahead of guys like Kyrie Irving, C.J. McCollum and Kristaps Porzingis. He’s 39th in the league with a 2.1 VORP (Value Among Replacement Player), ahead of guys like DeMar DeRozan, Rajon Rondo and LaMarcus Aldridge.
When Rubio is on the court, the Wolves score 107 points per 100 possessions. Without him? Just 99.8 points. When Rubio is on the court, the Wolves allow 105.5 points per 100 possessions. Without him? The team is allowing 109.4.
Health
In order to be effective, you need to play. After playing just 22 games last season, Rubio has played 65 games this season and if he can stay health for the rest of ht season, he’ll play 76 games. And that’s after a year of people questioning whether or not Rubio could play healthy. If he does play the remainder of the season, he’ll have hit 76 or more games in two of the last three seasons.
If Rubio has a healthy offseason, something he didn’t have last season, who knows how much he’ll improve?
This column isn’t to say that Rubio is in the same class as Westbrook, Paul or Curry. He’s not. But he is one of the better point guards in the NBA and the Wolves are a much better team when he is on the court.
