Past championship teams-- Lakers: Fisher's contribution (24th pick) <<<< Bynum's (9th? pick) Fisher's contribution <<<<< Shaq's (1st pick) Celtics: Rondo's contribution (20th something pick) <<<< KG's (i forgot what pick, but it should be high) Spurs: Parker's contribution (late pick) << Duncan's (1st) The Pistons... Billups contribution was pretty equal to Sheed's and Ben's Rockets, Bulls, so forth and so forth...
The bottom line is this... if it wasn't Gasol that got traded to the Lakers to help Kobe, could a star PG have helped them the same way? Could Kobe and a star PG (like Rose) win a championship together? Because IMO, I don't think so. The other teams, The Celtics, if (present) Rose was on that team instead of KG would they have won it all? The Spurs, if (present) Rose was on that team and not Duncan. Lakers first threepeat, if (present) Rose was on that team instead of Shaq. Would these teams have won? Yeah we'll probably have to disagree...
Prime Shaq and DRose would probably have won one for sure, I don't know about three. LOL what is the big deal about his height, he is 6'3"-6'4", I don't think it matters all that much. I would think Golden State would want more than the second pick for Ellis? They would have to add another talent in there to make it work, probably Wesley Johnson and Darko as well.
Rubio will do better in the NBA than he did in Euroleague. I have already said that here several times. The NBA has more space between the defenders, easier defense, rules set to help the offense, refs that call the game tight, etc. It will be much easier for Rubio in the NBA than it ever was in Euroleague. And his numbers will surely be better in the NBA. However, the bottom line is that Rubio is not a good player. He is actually quite a bad player. Whenever he is on the court, Barca and the Spanish national team were exponentially worse. He is a burden to his teams and he is truly one of the worst players in Euroleague. I have no doubt that he will start for the Wolves and put up some numbers, but regardless he is definitely a bad player. DD is calling him the "next great NBA point guard", which if this happens will mean the NBA is one of the weaker pro leagues there is. Because Rubio is just bad. He is a detriment to his team and the truth is that Barca cannot wait to get rid of him. They were basically forcing him to get out of their team because his play is so awful. Rubio definitely is a player for a team like the Wolves. He is not a player that meets the standards and level of a team like Barca though. He has his good points, but all in all, he's basically Rafer Alston with less range and worse shooting.
OHMSS has very little knowledge about basketball, he runs around the internet posting fake blog posts and hopes to get them picked up by legitimate websites, that cite his crap, and then he uses that as some sort of validation for the mindless dribble that pukes out of his pie hole. The guy has multiple personalities, multiple accounts and probably lives in his parents basement where he keeps an old Rockets program with a piece of Vspan's chest hair in the middle as a press souvenier. Why people believe anything this little fur ball says is beyond me.... But hey....have a great time reading his made up stuff......fiction is fun reading. DD
I've said it before and I still stand behind what I said: Rubio will be a top 5 point guard in the NBA the first second he steps on an NBA floor. And he will be top 3 and in the argument for the best PG of the league in a year or two.
You know what's funny? Everyone read each paragraph carefully. He is only repeating himself in each paragraph. With little info at all about Rubio except that he sucks, blah blah blah. So I don't know how people can say this guy knows anything, except to troll and annoy the hell out of people.
You say this about every white incoming white guy, I'm serious. But with that said I don't think he will be top 5. Maybe top 10. He'll only be as good as Rondo, if not a little better. Think about what Rondo does, he plays like a maniac in the playoffs almost averaging a triple double. Rubio will never be a scorer like PG so he'll never average past 18+ PPG. He doesn't look like a rebounder either. Assists he'll obviously master that statistic. I'm guessing in his prime he'll average around 18 PPG, 12 APG. Def. not enough to be considered a top 3 PG. That is not to say however I wouldn't pick him to lead my team, as I have said before in previous posts, I believe he is not bad and just good enough to be a championship level PG in the mold of Rondo/ Parker.
having only briefly read over some of the posts in this thread, can anyone succinctly explain to me why Rubio is so hyped? I've only watched him play a little from a few youtube highlight clips, but I was not impressed. - He's a good passer in both half and full court, but he is a really weak shooter. People will play him for the pass more so than they do Rajon Rondo. - He's got poor strength, mediocre handles, and, without a real explosive first step, I dont see him as much of a penetrator or finisher around the rim. - I don't really trust him with the ball because he's 1) cavalier with passing 2) a really awkward dribbler. I feel like a good, athletic perimeter defender will take him out of the game. - Is he really that good of a defender? He's got great length and solid height, but he's appears to have pretty average agility and lacks top end speed for the pt guard position. He seems to go for steals far too often and puts his teammates at a disadvantage. Again, I haven't seen more than a few highlights/clips of the kid, but what does he have going for him besides his youth and vision? Will he even be able to use that vision in the NBA if he lacks the ability to put pressure on the opposing team in other ways? Is this hype all a residual of having seen Steve Nash beat the odds as the once-in-a-decade pure skill/IQ pt guard who happened to excel?
Are you kidding me? His dribbling ability seems like his most strongest strength. He has some sick handles, almost as good as Paul or Kobe. As for his defense I think he'll be in the mold of Ginobili, always gambling for steals (and will get a lot of them in the end). But IMO, you're right about him going to struggle with a physical defender. I think it will only be in his rookie year, I predict he'll average 3+ turnovers. Once he gets it in his head that being flashy isn't all that, he'll be a better player. His weakness as a shooter I think will be overshadowed by the fact that he can see spots to pass no other PG could see. I don't think he'll have that bad of a problem. Worst case scenario is he keeps running around or driving in until he finds a man (pretty much what Rondo does).
Explain why you believe this. Rubio will go from being a backup PG in Europe to a deserved All-Star candidate as a rookie? Pardon me, but that sounds totally ridiculous. Then he will be a candidate for All-NBA in just 2 or 3 seasons? That will be an incredibly meteoric rise. What combination does he bring to the table that will make him elite so fast? Rubio is a very creative passer who sees the floor differently than most players, I'll give you that. Running a half-court offense in the NBA is going to be a lot harder for him than you think.
Good post - but be honest - you have some actual first hand knowledge about the Rockets program with a piece of VSpan's chest hair in the middle don't you? You sold it to him, didn't you? I'm glad to see you've moved on from VSpan, DD. :grin:
From what I've seen, RR has fancy handles, but he lacks both the control (i.e. steve nash, paul) and "pop" (i.e. d-will, rose) great ball handlers and pgs have that allows them to navigate the paint and change directions quickly. He plays awkward and loose in tight spaces; this might be okay in the euroleague where everyone is tough but not explosive, but this will get him killed in the NBA where swinging the ball around on a drive means a certain Chuck Hayes strip. Also, I'm really not sure if he can just run around like Rondo if he doesn't have the same footspeed and finishing ability of Rondo. People seem to forget that Rondo is probably one of the most atheltic PGs in the game and puts incredible pressure on the opponent to keep him from scoring around the paint. If you could contain Ricky with an athletic guard and then blitz any pick and roll they run to free him up with another defender, RR's lack of quickness and strength is really going to show.
I respect your analysis... we will see. There will be a Rubio game on the 9th that I want to catch. Hope we can know more about Rubio in the next following weeks as I think it is playoff time in the Euroleague.
More Rubio videos that may have been overlooked: <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZVsLLIgSgZM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OaftlmCC7jE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/b_mInw1Bp6Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
BTW, I'd like everyone to check out the play at 3:05 in the "Ricky Rubio vs CSKA Moscú SF Euroleague(7-5-2010)" video. Don't think I have seen that in any highlights. What an awesome awesome pass.
That's not really an awesome pass, just a bailout, any pg could do that. I still can't believe how overhyped rubio is here, I've seen him play tons of times, even live, he just isn't what you make him out to be. And what I don't understand the most is that some of you actually want him on the Rockets... We already have Dragic who is 10 times the player Rubio is, with slightly worse vision but tremendously better at everything else. I remember specifically this game in the eurocup 2009 (Slovenia v Spain) in which Dragič completely owned Rubio in the clutch with this block http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jH4wRfkKZE&playnext=1&list=PLEBA49D767F8F260C + 2 consecutive steals to get Slovenia back in the game please stop overrating Rubio
I think all the Rubio detesters have completely forgotten that he is 20 years old. Some of you act like it is impossible for him to grow in skill. Basketball players still have potential until they hit about 25-27, Rubio still has a lot to learn.
I'm not really sure what to expect with Rubio. On one hand I think he absolutely has the talent to be a really good PG although being a "great" PG in this day in age is going to be tough with so many exceptional PGs in the league. That being said, he is playing on one of the most poorly run franchises of reason memory. Rambis struggled mightily last year(he seriously was playing Love at the 3 before he switched him to the 4 and magically Love started going 20/20 on teams)....and there is the still the issue with that team being a collection of castaways and ill fitting pieces. The odds are stacked against Rubio having much of a team to work with or very good coaching to help....but I think a big part of the anti-Rubio camp comes from people who break him down more based on how he measures up in terms of speed & strength to American players and I find that BS. I think a guy with exceptional passing skills is of value to any team - even if he has deficiencies elsewhere. Look at Jason Kidd - never has been much of a shooter(until very recently), never was the fastest guy in the league (although he has always been strong) - yet he has been considered a HOF level PG for at least a decade now based on his exceptional court vision, smart play, and quick hands. Rondo can't shoot to save his life but has decent vision and is a great defender. Nash can shoot and has NBA level speed, but defensively he is porous and he's still considered one of the game's best PGs. Manu Ginobili is not always a consistent shooter and though athletic is not as fast as most guys yet he plays smart defense and has a great skill in using different "gears" to throw would be defenders off. What one poster calls awkward court movement by Rubio looks awfully similar to Ginobili to me. My point is, I don't think the absence of any one skill necessarily dooms him in lieu of the other strengths he brings - as long as he can be exceptional in at least a couple other areas. I think no question, Rubio gives you exceptional court vision and at least decent handles. If he can bring one other thing to the table, I think he will be very effective on the right team. Let's not forget neither Michael Jordan OR Lebron James were good shooters when they came into the league. Young players CAN improve their shot with hard work(Lowry improved tremendously this year) and Rubio's form doesn't look fundamentally broken like you see with some players(Ronnie Brewer & Rondo comes to mind).
