Totally agree with you DD. Tmac_1: In all aspects of life, you use your leverage to your advantage. For the Rubio camp, they are using HYPE to get what they want. Whether it is warranted or not, is irrelevant. If they are not able to capitalize on that, their backup option to play in Europe is not bad because the salaries they offer are competitive to what the NBA has. Now if the time comes and Rubio gets all the "Most Valuable Whatever" awards in Europe and suddenly has this burning desire to play in the NBA, the leverage is now with the team that had the rights to sign him. The balance of power will shift to them and they now have total control of his career in the NBA. Capitalism at it's finest. :-D With regards to lottery teams.... the top five lottery picks usually go to teams who are rebuilding. Why would a team sign a player and build the team around him knowing that he will bail out on them once the contract is done?
He had a good short career at Maryland. He was a finalist for player of the year. He averaged 17 points a game,4.5 assist per game, and 2.8 steals per game. He was a 2nd team All-American. Not great but pretty damn good. But still doesn't make it right to do what he did when the Grizzlies drafted him.
Just because most of us have not seen much of his play outside of the Olympics and some vids, don't think the scouts haven't seen an eyeful. The kid's been playing professionally since he was 14; there's a body of work and a considerable amount of tape by which professional scouts might make a pretty informed evaluation on his skills. Did anyone mention he was only 18? But I guess we'll go with t_mac1's informed opinion and assume he's a bust.
Wow; Steve played one year of Div I basketball. I think you should play at least 2 years to use the term "career". Let's just say he had a great one season at Maryland but couldn't get them past the Sweet 16; in fact they were upset and Steve Francis was an example of the kind of "one year" guys college coaches tried to avoid in lieu of multi-year guys.
Against the U.S, he was 1-4 shooting (made 1 3 pointer) and 5-6 in free throws. He had more turnovers than assists (4 vs. 3). Overall, in the Olympics, he shot 28% from the field and 16.7% on 3 pointers. He averaged 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 steals per game.
Nice take. I was about to mention his lack of productivity there as well. Rubio should shut the hell up until he learns how to make a jumper.
That's not bad for the equivalent of a high school junior going against the best players in the world on a mega-international stage.
is that an actual fact? i dont think i've ever heard kobe was the one who forced his way out, i think it was a two team decision
RV6, if I remember correctly Kobe's camp kinda forced that trade to the Lakers. I think Charlotte drafted him around #13 or so, but Kobe wanted no part of playing over their.
but it is pretty bad when fans are trying to say he held his own or something, not saying you did, but it's been brought up before
I'm against players refusing to play for teams that draft them. We have a draft for a reason: bad teams need the talent. If Blake Griffin said he only wanted to play for the spurs or cavs it'd be messed up. On the other hand, if players have options they should exercise them. Francis, Yi, and Kobe were wrong, but if they wanted to play elsewhere (non-NBA) they could have. Rubio is a professional player already. If he thinks staying in Spain is better for his career then good for him. The NBA does not need him.
Actually, Minny fans don't blame Rubio for this. Why do some rockets fans blame him?! Minny fans think their GM made a mistake to draft Flynn at # 6 since they already drafted Rubio. They think the TWolves should have drafted Curry instead. Rubio and Curry can play together. Some suggest they should trade Flynn to the blazers for wing players. Minny fans love Rubio!
Who would give Rubio the endorsement deal in Minnesota? Target? Im sure its a matter of finance. If he were taken top 3, he would have had a much easier time paying for his buyout. If he were in a bigger market where endorsement deals were pouring in, he would have had a much easier time paying for his buyout. As it stands, he got picked 1-3 slots lower than expected and hes in a small market... his preference to play in another market is more motivated by financial reasons than something as trivial as weather.
But that wasn't the statement that was made. He said Rubio held his own against Team USA. If that's holding your own, then Rafer's stats were God-like and nobody should be b****ing. It's impressive that he was only 17 and playing against the world's best players in the Olympics, and I'm not going to deny his potential, but it's another thing to say "he was handling his" in the Olympics based on those stats.
