Like I said, I'm in the minority, but I think he absolutely helps our team next year if we draft him. I don't necessarily care if he starts, or Bayless starts and we wean Rubio along as the White Team General with Rudy, Webs, etc... but I think the kid is special and would definitely help us, even with the bumps along the road.
I don't think he'll be a bust. I also don't think he'll be an All-NBA PG, either. But you pretty much hit my view other than mentioning how I don't think Rubio is worth taking on with a bad contract player like Etan Thomas as well. I don't see what he adds over the next few years, and I feel it would be wasted luxury tax.
Ugh...no He hasn't had numerous injuries prior to this...as far as I know... Not sure if he was or not...
I do not know where this comes from - but I do get to see more than enough Euroleague games during business travel - and the games always look like they are played in slow-motion compared to the NBA game.
Darko Milicic, Andrea Bargnani, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Michael Olowokandi and I all had a pretty good laugh about your post. -Pop
There are NO NBA-level players in AAU. None. Some future NBA players? Sure. Griffin surely played against some NBA-level players in college, but I would bet he played against far fewer than Rubio did professionally and in the Olympics. You will, in the long run, lose... at least according to the numbers. College juniors and senior lottery picks are less likely to succeed than international players and underclassmen. http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/insider/news/story?id=4240924 Ed O.
I'm not sure how I feel about Rubio, but there is no way in hell we'll get him so this thread is moot.
I don't think anyone is saying scouting acclaim makes a prospect a can't-miss. But NBA scouts are a lot more experienced in evaluating prospects than fans, so their acclaim is generally not just uninformed hype, as you implied was the only reason people are excited about Rubio.
Personally, I just think bringing Rubio in sets our timetable back a few years and doesn't take advantage of Brandon or LaMarcus's development schedules. I'd rather bring in a proven NBA player who can help us right away versus pissing away the present with another project at a key position. Those of you who think Rubio = NBA championship are going to be sorely disappointed. -Pop
But you understand that Rubio has played against European pros from 14-15 years of age to 18. Now from 19-22, he'll be playing against current NBA talent. American high school kids play against American high school kids from 15-18 and (theoretically) college players from 19-22. European pros>American high school kids NBA players>American college kids Better experience will lead to better play in the long run. I guess basically all you're saying is that you want a guy with more physical maturity? It's not like Ricky Rubio is friggin' Peter Pan. He's going to get more physically mature.
I don't think it sets the timetable back. At worst, Portland will still have most of what they had last year, except A. improvement from their young core, B. a better back-up point guard, as I think Rubio would exceed what Sergio and Bayless gave Portland last year. That would be a contender as is. To me, what bringing Rubio in does is upgrade the window. In a couple of seasons when Rubio is more developed, Portland will have that much stronger a core. For the decade-plus after that, Portland would have an unfathomably talented team, and not just a group of disparate All-Stars, but a group of players who have developed together and complement one another. I'm certainly interested in Pritchard taking a shot at that.
So if Pritchard trades up and takes Rubio, are you going to laugh at his ability to evaluate talent? b\c history to date would tell a different story....
I guess it comes down to whether or not you think we're ready to win a championship next season. I personally don't. So we bring in a veteran to hold down the fort until Rubio is ready. I don't see a problem there.
What do Arvydas Sabonis, Drazen Petrovic, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Pau Gasol think about his post?
Other than Gasol and Sabas, most of those guys were somewhat under the radar. The guys I mentioned were all heavily hyped and went in the top 5. I'm just saying there are a ton of examples of Euros who scouts thought were can't-miss NBA prospects that didn't pan out. And I thought it was a worthy response to someone saying "I guess you are questioning what several scouts and talent-evaluators have to say about Rubio." -Pop
Oddly, his shooting is still poor and his stats don't look like those of a 4 year vet, and that's against inferior competition compared to the NBA. Perhaps he's Spain's version of Freddie Adu? Good enough to be on a roster of a decent team, but not worth giving away the farm or taking on the farm in terms of another contract.
Rubio played 4 more minutes per game - and no-one had as much talent around him as USA players - but Spain did have one to be NBA champion on the roster (Gasol), a starting PG (Calderon), 2 pretty decent rookies to be (Fernandez, the other Gasol) and one recent NBA player (Navaro). Would you rather compare him to Deron Williams who actually player a little more per game than Rubio (not by much, about 1 minute more per game). Rubio - 4.8 PPG, Deron - 8 PPG Rubio - 4 RPG, Deron - 2.25 RPG Rubio - 3 APG, Deron - 2.8 APG Rubio - 2 TO/G, Deron - 1.5 TO/G Deron is a much better shooter - so his FG% were higher - but overall - in the same amount of time - Rubio, 6 years younger than Deron who is close to entering his prime and a year removed from his rookie campaign - did not look like a complete fool - and Deron is a superstar in today's NBA... Rubio is a great great prospect. Will he pan out? My crystal ball is not working now and it's a real problem getting the replacement parts from the manufacturer - so I can not be sure - but the kid sure can play basketball and has the potential to be a fantastic player... If you are interested - try taking Rubio's ACB per-36 numbers and compare them to Derrick Rose's college per-36 numbers - you will find that Rubio is a superior distributor but Rose is a slightly better scorer... The kid's numbers are just fine...
Here is an interview with someone who played in the league with both Rubio and Jennings. He likes Jennings by the way. http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop...ngs--Roma-Teammate-on-Jennings-vs--Rubio.html
Correction: he played on the same team as Jennings. Which is in the Italian League. Which is in a different country from the ACB. Which is a better league. And if you read his reasons they're incredibly banal. Not exactly insightful stuff. "Jennings is a better athlete - so he'll be better". James "Flight" White is ecstatic to see that.
Reasons why you cited those guys: They were all busts (well, Bargnani might actually turn out decent and Olowokandi showed flashes but obviously just didn't care) who were picked in the top 5 (4 picked either 1 or 2). They are all non-US players Reasons why they are poor comparisons for Rubio They're all tall - 7 footers or just shorter. People will gamble a lot more on height. (Hasheem Thabeet is the guy you should use that list on) Milicic and Tskitishvili (DAMN that name!) - the favorite poster children of the Kenny Smith style Euro-haters - never played any substantial time in the big leagues. They were being developed - they played for the D-League of big teams. In comparison, Pau Gasol DID play for Real Madrid. And Rubio DOES play for DKV Juventut. (Dunno about Bargnani.) Olowokandi played for a tiny college that he picked out of a phone book because he thought it would be by the sea. He didn't even play good COLLEGE players. Compare him with Adonal Foyle, but don't compare him with Rubio. Players you should optimistically compare Rubio with: Tony Parker Manu Ginobili Juan Carlos Navarro (although he's a short 2G not a tall PG) Rudy Fernandez These were all guards and veterans of actual upper-level Euro teams. If you're pessimistic, you could throw in Sarunas Jasikevicious, that Greek guard who played briefly for the Rockets (and hated Van Gundy)[Spanoulis?) and (maybe) Marco Bellinelli (not sure what level he played at). But notice that NOT A SINGLE ONE of these players was taken in the top 5 or ever projected as such. Unlike Rubio.
