Wicky Wubio Signs 6 year Deal with Wegal Barcelona, affordable buyout in 2011

Some of you guys talk like the 19 y.o Rubio is a finished product.

Yes, he has things that need work, noticeably his shooting prowess, but the kid (and I emphasis KID) has out of this world abilities for his age.

You can tell he is something special - and he will be a great NBA player for many, many years IMO.

 

no, not really. you could tell kobe and lebron james was special. rubio isnt special. what he did as a kid against older people was pretty amazing but that doesnt mean it's gonna translate as he's getting older and definitely not going to be effective in the nba.

 

I think Livingston was the lastest PG compared to Magic Johnson. Tall, great court vision and passing. What Livingston lacked was physical strength.

Rubio looks sturdier than Livingston, but seems to have the same kind of vision. IMO, he has potential to be a good player. But only time will tell. Those who dismiss him without seeing him play a game in the NBA are jumping to conclusion too fast.

Many people dismissed Yao Ming right off the bat too, thinking him too slow, too soft, too clumsy to be any good in the athletic world of NBA.

 

Most of this thread has turned into back and forth about how good of an NBA player Rubio will be...

What about the 6-year deal he just signed with Barthelona?

I understand there will be buyouts but what does the fact that he was willing to sign such a long-term deal tell us about his desire to come over?

 

Kahn reports that no deal has been reached yet. So we'll have to wait for the press conference announcing the deal.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...?slug=ap-timberwolves-rubio&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

good point about Yao. Rubio is quick enough to play in the NBA and he is only 18, plenty of time to get bigger and stronger and develop a shot. Right now he's so young that his Spanish club babies him by playing limited minutes, the Rubio we're seeing today is not the finished product, he's only going to get better.

 

Apparently Morey thinks he's really special. And I'm going to trust Morey on that.

 

I get the strong feeling that Ricky Rubio's most arduous partisans aren't the least bit familiar with streetball. The reason I say this is that almost all of the claims I had seen on this board (earlier in the summer when we were discussing him heavily) of his purported greatness in the realm of point guard instincts and court vision are substantiated by highlight clips of flashy passes/dribbling against flat footed Euro stiffs. I can link you to twenty more videos of Sebastian freaking Telfair doing even better stuff on the playground. What some here don't seem to realize is that these abilities are pretty much the standard norm for Generation Y but these guys don't have any type of leeway in the NBA or Division 1 schools. Hell, just watch Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury during their primes in the All-Star game - both guys look like they have eyes in the back of their heads with some of the no-look passing but we all know neither are good NBA point guards or have any type of point guard instincts.

Now certainly, this doesn't preclude Rubio from actually having great court vision. The point is that fancy passing isn't indicative of it. My main problem with Rubio is that he just doesn't have the physical tools. I can't think of one elite point guard who was as incredibly slow-footed as Rubio appears. In combination with his slow shooting release, the recipe could be disastrous. He will be effective when he fills out, which will take a few years, just by virtue of his height, but I don't forecast any type of greatness or the other hyperbole which is being thrown around. I am extremely unimpressed by Ricky Rubio.

 

Except Rubio isn't doing it in streetball, he's doing it in the 2nd best league in the world, where wins and losses matter and people play defense.

 

Rubio did this in the Spanish league at a high level of play during actual professional games. Also, he did it during the olympics. Rubio will be at the very least a legit starting point guard in the NBA or at the very best a star player. He will probably never be a superstar but neither will he be a bust.

 

I think that after all of the internet hype surrounding Euroleague/FIBA performances people--especially NBA general managers, and especially those ESPN draft gods who are wrong about everything--would develop a healthy dose of skepticism.

From what I've seen, it would take years before Rubio could be a starting-caliber point guard. And with his pampered background and prima donna mentality, I doubt he would accept the frustration that so many players at his position face in there first seasons.

BTW: Dan Dickau could have pulled off the highlights posted in this thread, and he probably had greater foot-speed than Rubio. I stand by these words.

 

Chocolate Español

 

With all due respect, cabbage, I don't think Morey and other GMs scouted Rubio by watching streetball highligths only. Again, judging him garbage is as rash as crowning him superstar at this point of his career.

Guys like Iverson and Marbury do have court vision and passing abilities. What they lack is team ball mentality. Only time will tell if Rubio is like them.

 

True that!!!!

 

you guys can slob rubio/morey's knob all day and night if you want, vspan's highlights are more appealing to me than rubios and we all know how that turned out.

 

Good points. But to be fair, this was a really weak draft, and four general managers did pass on him. It's also difficult to tell the difference between a team's interest and a smokescreen designed to throw off the competition. Further, GMs are wrong more often than they are right in the lottery....

 

Do you REALLY think Morey and other NBA GMs like Rubio because of his highlight reel?

 

True. I don't know about other GMs. But I am pretty sure Morey's scouting system is a lot more sophisticated than any of us here can know.

Morey did show quite a bit of interest in Rubio. But you have a point that it might have been just a smokescreen.

 

yes, that's exactly what i said.

everyone here basically has the same access to rubios play: some from the olympics, some games here and there from online, and highlight clips. sorry to say that vspan was more impressive than rubio. the only thing that stood out with rubio is that he's young. the game highlights of rubio in the original post wasnt that great, at least not for the press that rubio's been getting. i could be totally wrong and he might be manu ginobili (in terms of success) in PG form but i doubt it.

i dont care about morey's interest in rubio. frankly, i have more faith in morey making trades than his ability to pick players in the draft.

 

Is there a point in here somewhere?

You think Vspan is better than Rubio, you think Vspan has better highlights, but you could be totally wrong. Plus you don't care about Morey's interest in Rubio and wants him to make trades instead of picking players, even though if Morey acquired Rubio it would be via trade.

I think that post was terrible, but I could be wrong and it could be great....