FIFY, because getting blocked by some guy not trying to block you isn't embarrasing enough when that guy is Kendrick Perkins!
Legit question. Just being around ballers for a long time you kinda get a feel for who is going to continue to get better and who is going to plateau. Ricky will NEVER be on the level of a Steph Curry or Damian Lillard shooting the basketball. It's not his focus. But he will improve because he loves the game and because he values his place in it and his legacy. Ricky has championship DNA. He'll become a 38-40% 3-point shooter. And he'll eschew the midrange shot as much as possible. Last season a full 25% of his shots were from 16 feet out to the 3 point line, the worst shot in basketball. He'll change that as he gets more experience. And he'll become an even better playmaker as teams finally have to show out on him outside to prevent him from simply lining up the 3. (Curry and Lillard have championship DNA as well. While they will NEVER be the playmaker Ricky is they will continue to improve at playmaking and playmaking will not be a weakness in their games. By the way if you go back to the 2009 draft I did predict that the 2 best point guards in that draft would be Curry and Rubio. And that was when most posters were giving me fits once again for severely overrating both of them. Now Curry has proven his value. And Rubio really has to. It's just that most casual fans don't realize the value of what Rubio brings defensively and with his playmaking. It's easy to spot big time positive shooters. It takes more than the casual fan to see how a player like Rubio completely dominates a game without shooting the basketball. But he does.) I've watched Ricky play for several years now going back a couple years b4 he was drafted. I've seen him dominate the US in international competition with Spain. CP3 said he was big time legit years ago after playing against him in international ball (that's about as strong an endorsement as you're going to find for a PG). I seen him take that Spanish team and generate a positive +/- while he was on the floor and then the team go negative when he left the floor. That was against a team of America's most elite players. The ONLY weakness Rubio has in his game is his 3-point shooting. Not his finishing but his 3-point shooting. Can't make a layup? Bull. His finishing ability is fine. It's his inability to can that 3-point shot at a highly efficient rate that hinders him. Once he gets that, the finishing and the playmaking will turn even more positive than they already are. You can see it coming with Rubio. He'll be a 38-40% 3-point shooter within 2 seasons.
38% may even be a bit high on Rubio but I could see it happening. I say 36% or so next year. Rubio would do wonders for Harden. If teams think they can help on Harden off of Rubio then Harden will just kick out to Rubio and he will create something. That in itself initiates a favorable motion for our team offense. Ricky Rubio will make someone like Terrence Jones (assuming he stayed) better. Rubio having an elite finisher like D12 is just a crazy thought. Rubio has elite court vision on both sides. He is tall and rangy for a pg. He is currently 23 years old.
Whats amazing about people writing about Rubio shooting 38-40% from 3pt line is the poor kid has shot a miserable .368% from the damn field for his career for christs sakes. LOL. Where do people pull this stuff out of predicting he's going to be a good shooter and finisher. Geeeeeezus. If the Rockets were to get into the playoffs say against the Spurs and Greg Popovich, I can gurantee you Pop will force Rubio to beat them on the offensive end. If the rockets had to settle for Rubio then I would rather pass and stick with Beverly at the moment while waiting for the trade deadline.
You marry yourself too much to your preconceived opinions, refusing to allow additional information change your opinion. Stubbornly sticking to an opinion doesn't solidify your argument, it makes you look stupid. You even say yourself that you had preconceived opinions on Rubio, which doesn't render you better to judge him, it renders you less capable. You so desperately want to be right, you convince yourself of it, in spite of basically any and all counter information. For the rest of us, who probably didn't know much about him other than he's Spanish, a lot of us had high hopes for him, but he just hasn't shown it. You say his finishing is fine, but being the worst in the entire nba is not fine, it can never be fine (unless we're talking female mood swing "fine"), added to that, he doesn't suffer as some pgs from being undersized as a factor, so there can't really be any way to wash his finishing as anything short of atrocious without drastically misinterpreting any evidence. His jumper is also broken, not inconsistent action Jones broken, but low and slow release broken (like Curry had, except way worse before his father rebuilt his shot, for just that reason), he might up his percentage but it will never be useful because he can't do it off the dribble (see slow and low), nor if any defender is anywhere near (not in his face, but half helping away near) him. On top of that, I can't help but think Rubio might be posturing on Morey's side, only 4 teams have won built around stars at pg, Russell's old Celtics (Cousy), the Bucks (Big O), Showtime (Magic) and the Spurs (Parker), we can throw in Chauncey if you like as well. Of those, not 1 even came close to a points = assists playmaker type pg, which is why Morey had such a history of scoring pgs. Rubio doesn't have the type of game that has ever transitioned to a championship point guard, even far better versions of him (like Stockton, who can do everything he can, plus was an awesome shooter) were the almost but not quite types, Rondo too once he transitioned from being the young cheap point guard for Boston superforce to one of their core. He'd be ok, if he wasn't demanding a max next year (and didn't have agent doucheforce - I for one don't want another RFA with one his clients, and I doubt Morey does either) and could be the 4th or 5th best player, but 3rd? even if he develops to the extent of his potential, he'd still be the almost but not quite guy (and I have seen nothing to indicate that he will develop to optimum scenario I'm suggesting here). Playmaker points guards might look pretty, but they aren't winners, and we have 60 years of history to back that up.
You forgot to mention that Tony Parker shoots almost .50% FG for his entire career and he's one of the all time best finishers in the game compared to Rubio's .368% FG. Comparing Rubio to Parker is almost completely laughable.
CP3 also endorsed Isaiah Canaan and said Isaiah Cannan was legit. Look bro, Ricky Rubio is a great passer....and that's it. Horrible shooter, horrible finisher, and is overrated defensively. He won't get better...look at his jump shot.
I support your post. Just one however, however - - Kareem won the Ring in Milwaukee. The (very) Big O, on the shortlist of NBA GOAT, was late in his career and carried by the young Kareem.
I do, but I was never given a timetable. I'm hoping Plowman is right because I can't wait any longer!
Morey is always working on getting better. This makes him great but is also his downfall since there are always rumours and players feeling they can easily be replaced. Personally, I believe cyberx regarding Bledsoe not wanting to be just another asset. I would not want to go to a team where you know you can always be traded for a top player since Morey openly talks about looking for that third guy. If the Rockets already had Bosh for example, I wouldn't hesitate to go to Houston just based on the security alone.
