Uh...really? Jennings in Euroleague /40 min, pace adjusted : 14.7 pts Rubio in Euroleague last season /40 min, pace adjusted: 9.0 pts And even worse, Jennings isn't comiing off 3 years of regression, and actually has NBA-level speed & athleticism....Rubio? Well he has 6-year old youtube clips of fancy passes. See above, pace adjusted. Regardless I'm basing his loss of luster also on how flat out bad he looked at the WC's last year, he was terrible and looked it.
Jennings is a score first PG and Rubio is a pass first PG, I think he might have trouble scoring at first, but will have no problem providing assists. I have a hard time believing a player who almost lead a victory against a team USA with lebron, kobe, howard, wade, kidd, etc all on the team in the olympic finals can regress so much in just a few years. I also doubt he was at all motivated to play hard in europe after being drafted in the NBA, he was probably thinking "man this can't get over with fast enough so I can get over to the NBA". He could have score 0.1 ppg and nothing would change, he was already drafted, so nothing he could have done would change that.
Do people believe Jimmer Fredette is a better player than Rubio? I can imagine the match up now, Jimmer shooting lights out over Rubio while Rubio helping his team more by getting them involved.
The list of "lead a team to victory over USA in Olympics/Worlds" guys (including those that actually have DONE it) is littered with NBA washouts like Spanoulis, Jasikevicius, Arroyo and others. Shane Heal, step right up. Oh, and for the record, in Rubio's case, "almost lead a team to victory" means getting train-probed by 40 in one game and then momentarily being with a basket in a second game before losing by 11. (his statline in this near-victory? a blistering 1-3 from the field for 6 pts and 3 assists - it's not like Rudy Fernandez' 5-9 3pt shooting in 15 minutes in the 2nd half helped or anything.)
I think the bottom line here is nobody will know how he will fare in the NBA until he steps on that court. The guys ridiculing him and claiming he will be a bust are just as ridiculous as those anointing him as the next Kidd.
Like another poster already stated Carlos Arroyo also played well against Team USA and look at him in the NBA now.
True, for some reason I remebered it like he did better that game, but that was Fernandez and the Gasol bros leading. Maybe he scored the majority of his points in the 4th quarter or something to give me that perception, for what it's worth he wasn't a starter in that game and I'm not sure how many minutes he got.
Euro league is much better than NBA. Euro league play defense, NBA does not in regular season. TMo is better than LeBron James. TMo would be go to scorer and defender on the 1994 Rockets team.
I was thinking, how well would Rubio fare in a Suns type offense? Assuming they can get a two guard like they're looking for, it might work. Rubio-Nash Ellis-Johnson/Richardson Wesley Johnson- Marion Love-Amar'e Darko-Fyre
People love flashy athletic shoot first point guards, but how many of those players with that type of play have won the Championship? Just sayin... If you guys look at the best PG in the league right now (which is Rose) and look how far he carried his team. I think that's the farthest he's ever gonna go in his career (maybe get to the Finals once) because Championship Calibur teams should never have a PG as their focal point. What *could* be great about Rubio is that he could be one of those point guards that won't be THE best player on the team and fool the organization into building around him, but he could be an integral piece, a major piece, in the mold of Tony Parker or Rondo. So you guys can stay hyped about every great athletic PG that comes out every year as a top pick, I'll be looking at potential championship point guards who stay under the radar.
Well, kinda got me there. But as I was saying, Tony Parker is one of those PGs teams don't build around because he doesn't separate himself into being one of the best, just good enough to be a major contributor. He ain't that athletic...
Brandon Jennings was guarded normally in Euroleague. Rubio is never guarded. He is always left wide open, and his team always plays 4 on 5 on offense. Figure into your stats analysis that Jennings was being guarded and Rubio was being treated like Ben Wallace is in the NBA and never defended. Also, Jennings is not a good NBA player. He plays no defense. He is a chucker. He shoots bad, and he is not a real point guard. So the way people set the bar as being Brandon Jennings for Rubio is pretty low. Also, Jennings could not finish in Euroleague because he was too weak. But he could at least get some shots off in the paint. Rubio struggles to even do that, while not being defended. Jennings could not shoot in Euroleague because he just can't shoot. But Jennings was not throwing up air balls on a regular basis while being left unguarded. That is what Rubio does. He is left wide open and you can still expect an air ball at some point during the game from him. There is no comparison between the two in Euroleague. Jennings was a below average Euroleague player. Rubio is one of the worst players in the Euroleague. As for the Kidd comparisons, that is just wrong. Kidd is excellent at running pick and roll and can create in the half court. Rubio is nothing more than an average passer and creator in the half court and he is below average at running the pick and roll. Of course in the NBA with the easier offense rules, more spacing, and refs that allow much less physical contact he will be able to operate more easily in half court and to run pick and roll easier, but he is nowhere close Kidd in those skills. Rubio's play making and pick roll skill is no more than a Rafer Alston or Jason Williams in a half court set. Comparing Rubio to Nash or Kidd or Maravich like the NBA has been doing is ridiculous. He is Jason Williams with better D and no jump shot. or He is Rafer Alston with a worse jump shot and less shooting range. or He is Rajaon Rondo with less athleticism and less scoring ability. Rubio is the 3rd best point guard on his team after Sada and Lakovic. If you count Navarro, then he is the 4th best point guard on his own team. He is not "the next Jason Kidd". BTW, Terence Morris is a bench role player in Euroleague.
So we have to go get PG's that aren't too good...because if they are too good we might build around them and never get a ring.
The NBA is a whole different animal and Rubio has the raw tools to excel. A sweet handle with size and defensive prowess means he's already on par with a Rajon Rondo (after a few months or a year of acclimation). His size and wingspan makes up for his lack of strength and finishing ability. Rubio will earn himself a contract after his rookie one expires based on his ability to guard bigger PG's (who are dominating this league) alone. Don't overanalyze a youngster in the Euro league (see: Dirk).
Not exactly. In other words, if we have a top pick, I wouldn't spend it on a PG. I'd take my chance on a big man because those are what championship teams revolve around.
