Rubio has definitely changed the face of the TWolves organization. That city hasn't been so hyped since Kevin Garnett and his MVP days. Even with a losing record the fans are looking forward to every game because they know the future is bright! Motiejunas does have top 5 or top 10 talent and maybe he can make this city excited again! We can barely put people in the seats at Toyota Center and i think maybe he can change that! Can Motiejunas make a Ricky Rubio like impact and change the culture of the Houston Rocket organization in the next year or two?
WTF? Terrence Williams and Hasheem Thabeet have superstar "talent" too by your definition. Many experts (and fans such as myself) were touting Rubio as a potential superstar, largely based on his love of the game, before he was even drafted. Motiejunas is just another high upside guy with questionable motor.
Doubt it, but I'm pretty sure he'll have a bigger impact on this team as a big man than Hill and Thabeet.
I think the key to players not being a bust is confidence. You look at TWill and you look at Thabeet...both players lack confidence. TWILL had a good rookie year and gained confidence but when he got into the dog house with avery johnson...he lost it all and hasnt been the same since.
Jordan Hill also doesnt have confidence in hisself and his ability. You can just look at how he plays on the court. Him and Thabeet always seem very timid
Rubio is a PG that increases the scoring of his teammates. If anything Donuts would be taking shots away from other teammates, his impact would not be Rubio-like. Kevin Love was good, but he made no impact to the team.
I'm starting to think the key it's brains. Most athletes who are stupid or have low basketball IQ go on to be failures.
He can at least hustle and box out and contest shots, things Scola has never been great at but this year has done zero of.
He's a super star because of his love of the game? And you're calling out the OP for his logic in Williams and thabeet? Heck- I love basketball too! Where's my tens of millions of dollars and my runway model wife (who will divorce me take half my NBA money) ? Yea. No The only thing I disagree with the OP is that Rubio doesn't get all the credit here (if much any) the credit actually goes to Love, AMA splash if beastly and a lot of Kahn assembling a young team with plenty of upside.
I don't know if he will have the same impact in terms of popularity, specially given Rubio's hype coming in. But I can say if given the proper opportunity Motiejunas has the talent and NBA readiness to win the ROY next year. This alone would probably start bringing in some more people to the games.
