We've seen young players that have huge impacts on teams right away in their career. Ricky Rubio is not unique in that sense. But watching him play I realized something: Ricky Rubio plays like he has been with his teammates since they started their traveling team in 3rd grade. His understanding of where each player is on the court, and his understanding of the individual strengths of his teammates - Wes Johnson included - is one of the aspects that makes his game so unique.
Especially with younger playmakers, you see them almost guessing as to where players are supposed to be, or where they are going to be. And if I'm wrong on this, I blame my ignorance to any mistakes that Ricky has or will ever make - but he doesn't turn the ball over because he thought someone was going to be there, or because he thought someone should've been there. Ricky no doubt turns the ball over (3.3 TO/game), but those aren't happening due to the plays we talked about earlier (guessing, not knowing where guys are, expecting a guy to roll instead of pop, etc.). And when you consider the plays that he makes - no look passes, behind the back passes, bounce passes between opponent's legs, unnamed-because-they-are-so-awesome-and-we-haven't-seen-them-before... passes, it really is remarkable that he doesn't turn the ball over more, right?
Looking forward to seeing what Ricky Rubio & the Timberwolves do once they have played together for a year, 2 years, 3 years, etc. Let's continue to be patient with these young Wolves, but I think we can also begin to raise expectations in 'Sota. Thanks Ricky.
No comments:
Post a Comment