Not saying Lin is a bad passer, but Rubio seems to see the court a bit differently and handles the ball better. I'll just say Rubio makes "prettier" passes.
Rubio has a slight advantage in terms of passing skills. He sees passing angles many other PG's can't see. Creative and flashy at times. However, without penetration and good shooting percentage, passing only won't lead you so far. Lin is a great passer as well. Lin's strength is his ability to penetrate. When he breaks down his opponent, he creates an instant mismatch, which leads to a better shot opportunity for his teammates. The passes may not be as flashy, but probably even more effective. He is particularly smart and cool on the court, which is another asset for a PG. So, in terms of pure passing skills and court vision, Rubio is slightly better. However, in real game situation, Lin is probably more effective and dangerous.
He basically said Pau is trash (umm... he obviously didn't see 2010 Finals which Pau won for the Lakers). He dismissed Rubio as "great white hope" which is on par with saying Lin's hype is purely because he's Asian. I mean, I agree with most of his optimism about Lin but he uses terrible arguments to back it up and refuses to acknowledge anything else. It's terribly annoying and makes me want Lin to do terribly (which sucks cause I like Lin a lot and want him to do well!!!) so that he will shut-up and disappear (which will happen if Lin doesn't do well). I'm half-convinced he's a troll.
I'll just ignore the whiny troll BS this time. Rubio, 20ft+ jumpshots: .410 in 08-09 .364 in 09-10 Which is what I was talking about in the original post. Rubio's shot is broken. Which I said in my original post. He did go from a layup scorer early on --> to a fairly solid long jumpshot maker --> to losing his confidence during the last year in Barca. Which, again, was my statement in the original post. It's also quite amazing he managed to shoot long jump shots at that rate with such an inconsistent shooting form. That's talent. Which was my point in the original post. I'm not sure there's any point to continue this discussion, unless you are willing to contribute something. You still haven't looked at his stats, obviously, and you are still referring to the same 30% on 10 total shots. Your tirades are simply lazy trolling.
I only watched a handful of Rubio games (I will rectify that this season) but his passes are very pretty (behind the back, no look, between the legs) all that jazz. Lin on the other hand just makes the simple pass, I don't think Lin is the kind of player that will adopt the flashiness that Rubio uses. Both I would say are very effective to be honest. Rubio's passes are pretty but they get the job done, Lin's passes are simple but effective as well. Lin makes some nice outlet passes, I have been trying to find some video of Rubio's outlet passes can't see many unfortunately. I think in the open floor both see the court very well. I am not sure if this is an accurate assessment but it seems like Rubio forecasts things a little better than Lin does. Funny thing, I didn't realize Rubio was 6'4 that kid is tall, for some reason I thought he was like short. Anyway, I would appreciate any more opinions.
Here is Knicks vs Twolves last year game. 2012 It was Jeremy Lin 5th start. Knicks beat a healthy Twolves without Melo and Amare. Jeremy takes on smaller guards like barea, Ridnour and a 6'4 Rubio , and knicks won . wow.. <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GQo93nlacu4?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GQo93nlacu4?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> A bright future for both guys but Rubio was a top 5 draft picks. Jeremy Lin was undrafted, hmmmm wow..
I see. We should all just try to keep the peace to be honest. I just want to talk basketball with intelligent fans, if I wanted trolling or trash talk (not accusing anyone of doing any such thing) I would just go to an ESPN blog. I come here to avoid all that.
This wasn't Lin's best game. I would give his teammate credit for this win over Lin. He started off well but you could see towards the end of the game he was exhausted and had no lift whatsoever. His conditioning definitely held him back a lot. Now that he is the starter he can use the off season to condition his body for starter minutes. I think that alone will have a big impact on his game next year.
Exactly! Same here. Obviously there will be trolls anywhere. At first glance, he seems reasonable. But as time went on, he kept making more and more ridiculous statements. *shrug* I put him on my ignore list so no problem anymore. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75rahCgo-u8 If there are trolls in that room, there are trolls everywhere.
Rubio looks like a legit 6'4" maybe slightly taller. I'd say Lin is 6'2" or so without shoes, close to 6'3" with. Rubio is definitely more of a finesse player--he puts his body at less risk and makes fewer errors. Lin reminds me a bit of Sarunas Marciulonis--ready to crash the lane at all times. Lin is not as big as Sarunas, so his body takes a greater toll. Their productivity (L and R) in assists is essentially identical, so the "prettiness" of passes is not something I consider. Of course, Lin has a big edge scoring. These are two very different players, but Lin's upside is definitely higher. Rubio is content to be a pass first/only point; Lin can score in volume, with efficiency and in the clutch, in addition to matching Rubio's assist average. On top of that, Lin's win % as a starter is off the charts; Rubio's is at or above .500, but not as high as Lin's. Let these guys play and let's enjoy their careers. We all enjoy the game and many of us have played the game and/or continue to.
Lin hit his low point against Miami. He was trashed. But that's all in the past. He will be playing a standard schedule with a full training camp.
Not a fan of Westbrook's game (though his athleticism is mind-boggling) but I LOVE that he dropped "troll..." into that interview. Hilarious.
I didn't even know he called him a troll. LMAO. I missed that one. Anyway, Russ is a interesting player. I kind of know what to expect from him so I am able to take the good with the bad. But yes he is a freak athlete for sure. I believe last off season he worked out with Rondo if I am not mistaken? I know Rose was mentored by Kidd.
That was a heck of a battle: Lin with 20 pts on 8/24, 6 reb., 8 asts, 3 stls, 6 to, +5 Ricky with 12 pts on 5/15, 2 reb., 8 asts, 3 stls, 2 to, -3 Lin w/out Melo or Amare, Ricky w/ K Love and his 32 pts., 21 rebs. Knicks win by 2.
Rubio is 6'4 and Lin is 6'3. You are right Rubio puts his body at less risk (does it Tony Parker style). But Rubio also weights 180lbs (Parker 185). Lin at 200lbs willingly uses his size and strength to his advantage and welcomes the contact and the risk. Although I do think that he needs to become more risk adverse to be honest. And I personally think both are great young prospects with tremendous upside. I am not pitting them against one another at all. Just trying to drive the discussion. In fact, at the All Star Break from the video's I watched it looked as if Lin and Rubio became fast friends. No surprise there.
I watched Ricky play in his first couple of weeks. He was shooting a high percentage, around 50%. What struck me was not so much Ricky's play, BUT THE FAN'S REACTION! He was being treated as a conquering deity, or at least savior. Every bounce pass and assist was greeted with oohs and aahs and/or raucous cheers. The Wolves weren't winning a lot of games, but they were playing competitive ball and it was clear that they could finish over 500 and eventually compete for a playoff spot. I thought Ricky was a nice player for sure, but the expectations were out of line with his actual ability. He's a terrific player but the expectations are so astronomical, it would be impossible for him to live up to the hype. His career will likely approximate Kukoc's. That is, he's a terrific talent, but doesn't have that nth degree of aggressiveness or explosiveness to get to the top tier of nba players. Like Pau and Kukoc Rubio also plays a relatively passive, conservative game. He won't press the action or make the defense react to him. Yao was another int'l player who just didn't have that last gear of aggressiveness for years. There's a very strong stylistic difference between Ricky and Lin: R is the european artiste, Lin is the ugly, strong American brute laying down the hammer. Lin's game is better suited for nba competition.
Absolutely agree with all your points. I watched all of Lin's games and sometimes would even re-watch them on league pass. Definitely, Lin's pinpoint passes and lobs were right on the money - from his impressive full court passes to Carmelo as he was running ahead to his precise bounce passes to Landry/Carmelo and lobs to Tyson/Landry/Shump, and to his impressive kick outs to Novak after penetrating and getting defense to collapse on him. These are some examples just based on memory. Lin's passes are not flashy like Rubio's, but they don't need to be. Stockton didn't have flashy passes but his were pinpoint precise, which is one of his main skills that made him so great. And analysts have often compared Lin to Stockton (and Nash). I also see other players in Lin, but that discussion is for another day. In general, Lin has a good feel for the game and has great anticipation and timing. He also has the court vision and ability to find the open man in a variety of creative ways. Before Lin got hurt last season, some of the naysayers and haters didn't appreciate Lin's abilities until he got hurt. Again, if anybody watched all the Knicks games, they would know how badly Lin was missed. NY media was obsessively tracking Lin's recovery and everyone was just hoping, praying, and holding their breath for an early return. During that time, aside from BD's lobs, there really wasn't much effective passing and point guard action from him and especially Bibby. Ball movement stopped, Landry regressed, and there were no easy buckets for Chandler and very few open shots for Novak. So far, I have been really impressed with Lin's development, given that he didn't play PG in college and just technically finished his second year in the league, but it was really his rookie season. I think he may have greater upside than Rubio since Rubio has been playing professionally since he was 15. However, I don't want to say who is the better PG because both of them are special and their effectiveness depends on the needs of a team. Rubio would be better on a team full of offensive talent, whereas Lin would be suited to a team that needs both of his passing and attacking/scoring abilities.
From all accounts, Lin is a solid 6'3" without shoes. And I think Lin doesn't just welcome contact, he seeks it. He often seemed to move and jump laterally into big men to draw the and 1 after getting in the lane. Btw, that Minnesota game wasn't his best but he sure showed a variety of moves on that one. I think that game, his first off game of the Linsanity era, was the clincher for me in terms of assessing if he really had the talent that I thought I saw. How can you consider that a fluke? It's not like he was drilling shot after shot. He was just playing smart ball with good vision and "feel" while showing his fearlessness and leadership. How the hell is that going to disappear? I know the media hype was crazy and many Lin fans are too aggressive turning people off to him, but a "backup"? Seriously?
Rubio is the better passer but Lin's scoring ability pushes him above Rubio IMO. Lin's no slouch either when passing. I can see lin easily averaging double figure assists per game.
