Phoenix Suns: Ricky Rubio’s FIBA World Cup MVP performance impact on Suns
By Marc C
The 2019 FIBA World Cup championship recently concluded, and Phoenix Suns’ Ricky Rubio was named MVP of the tournament. How will this impact his season?
Phoenix Suns guard Ricky Rubio may have just came off his most impressive performance of his professional career at the FIBA World Cup tournament. According to Basketball Reference, Ricky Rubio led 8-0 Spain in points (16.4) and assists (6.0) and captured the MVP award.
Spain won the FIBA World Cup tournament and won it convincingly as they had a point differential of plus-14 and won the title game by double digits.
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Rubio was a huge reason for that and he even shot the ball well, as he shot about 38 percent from the 3-point line. Rubio’s play over the summer can give Phoenix Suns’ fans a lot of reasons to be excited for this season, but what impact can he truly have?
Confidence
The FIBA World Cup may not be the Olympics, but it is still a big stage nonetheless. Playing against professional players around the world and coming out on top is a confidence booster. Rubio performance under pressure for Spain can bode well for his first year stint in Phoenix.
Coming off an MVP performance usually means good things for players heading into another season and with, arguably, better and younger player on the Suns, expect Rubio to maintain his current pace.
Also, for young players like Devin Booker, Kelly Oubre and Deandre Ayton to see the value of Rubio and see how he led Spain can give them confidence in the fact that they have the right point guard to help them make the playoffs this season.
Leadership
The experience that Rubio gained in international competition will help him be a better leader for the Phoenix Suns. Spain was one of the older teams in the tournament and Rubio, at 28, was one of the younger players on the team. His leadership and performance in the World Cup will help him during the season as he will be one of the older players for the Suns.
With his experience of leading a team to a championship against the best players in the world, the Suns have an optimistic look into the season as I have discussed Rubio’s impact before.
Court vision
Rubio’s court vision and passing has been his biggest strength and is often discussed, but cannot be stated enough on how much of a strength it really is. As previously stated, Rubio led Spain with six assists per game, which may not seem like much, but he only played about 26 minutes per game as international games are shorter than those in the NBA.
With his court vision and passing skills seemingly improving, there is no reason he cannot average eight assists or more this season with a younger athletic roster.
Ricky Rubio was a huge pickup for the Suns and his performance in the FIBA World Cup cemented that. With the momentum he has right now, we can expect him to play even better heading into this NBA season. Rubio is only 28 years old and his core teammates are younger than he is. With his style of play and the pace of today’s NBA, the Phoenix Suns will improve.
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You can guarantee that. Rubio is a FIBA World Cup champion and MVP. Now let’s see how that will translate and aid the Suns this upcoming season.