Are We Seeing An Upgrade Of Ricky Rubio’s Game?
For as long as we can remember, one of the biggest knocks on Ricky Rubio is that he can’t shoot. For most of his career, he has basically been a poor man’s Rajon Rondo, minus his ability to rebound and play top-notch defense. I would also add that Rubio can’t get to the rim the way that Rondo can.
Rondo has a unique gift, in that he is able to use craftiness and athleticism to get to the rim and finish.
More from Minnesota Timberwolves
- 5 NBA players everyone should be keeping a close eye on in 2023-24
- Ranking the 4 riskiest boom-or-bust NBA teams in 2023–24
- Ranking the 10 championship-less NBA teams by closeness to title
- 1 Crucial skill that every Timberwolves star must work on this summer
- 3 players in line for a big raise during the 2023 NBA offseason
Rubio doesn’t quite have that skill.
The first thing to notice is that he isn’t as athletic. Rubio is 6-foot-4, so he can get up there when he needs to, but he isn’t going to make the kinds of athletic plays that Rondo will. For example, Rondo is shooting 60 percent in the restricted area this season, which is pretty good. Rubio has been injured, so I didn’t think it would be fair to use this season’s stats as the comparison.
But when you look at last season’s stats, you’ll see that he shot nearly 48 percent from the restricted area.
Not only can he not get to the rim, Rubio hasn’t been that great of a shooter, historically. Although, ironically, if you look at his stats, Rubio has shot a better field goal percentage every single year that he has been in the league. But this season it seems as though he might be getting that elusive jump shot that has hurt him his entire career.
This season, he is shooting 41 percent from the field. That might not seem that good, but for Rubio, that is pretty great. He hasn’t shot better than 40 percent in his entire career. And if he is able to stay better than 40 percent, then its possible that he forces defenses to adjust to his game. They will have to honor his ability to make that shot.
But it’s not just that his field goal percentage has gone up, more importantly, his three-point percentage has gotten significantly higher. He is shooting 41 percent from three-point range. What makes this so important is that he pulls defenders away from the paint.
That significantly opens up the court for his amazing passing ability, and he also opens the paint up for players like Andrew Wiggins. It opens up some players to operate in the post. It allows everything to flow a lot smoother.
What is interesting to note, is that more than double the amount of two-point field goals that Rubio has made this season have been assisted. This just shows that not only is he a guard that is trying to rack up assist numbers, but he is actively seeking to move the ball on offense, and doing things that don’t appear on stat sheets.
These things include cutting to the basket, moving without the ball, setting picks, and things of that sort. Whatever you think of Ricky Rubio, it is hard not to look at him and see his improvement. Since he has returned to action this season, the team has gone 3-3, which seems OK, if you just look at the numbers.
But two of those losses came against the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks. Against Stephen Curry, Rubio had 18 points nine rebounds and five assists.