Heading into his fifth NBA season, Minnesota point guard Ricky Rubio is caught in a bit of a basketball limbo for the Timberwolves. He’s too old to be considered a true member of the Wolves’ raw, young core (though with Rubio being just 24, that’s more a testament to the absurd pool of fresh talent on the team than anything). But he’s not old enough to be considered a veteran elder statesman alongside the old dogs like Kevin Garnett, Andre Miller, and Tayshaun Prince. With some uncertainty about where he fits into the team heading into the future and with young point guards Zach LaVine and Tyus Jones buried behind him on the depth chart, trade rumors have dogged the Spanish guard all summer. But Timberwolves GM Milt Newton wants to put the speculation to rest as soon as possible.
Rubio is a unique case when it comes to performing a cost-benefit analysis of trading him. He’s elite in a couple of facets of the game (playmaking, initiating offense out of the pick-and-roll and on the fastbreak, on-ball defensive instincts), but is severely limited in other important NBA skills such as finishing at the rim and jump-shooting (though his jumper from the left elbow area is money). With the point guard position being by far and away the deepest in the league today (and perhaps even of all-time), the argument could be made that Rubio is a dispensable piece for the up-and-coming Timberwolves. His player development has been slowed down by injuries and with his jumper perpetually failing to improve, opposing defenses can sag a step or two off Rubio on the perimeter and clog up driving and cutting lanes, a death sentence in the pace-and-space era.
But first-class ability to create for teammates and be a defensive pest at the point guard position (not to mention, his underrated rebounding skills for his size) ensure that Rubio will always bring a ton of value to the table. It’s just a matter of weighing what Rubio takes off of that table and deciding if you can work around it and if he fits into the future plans of your team the way things stand today. And with training camp just around the corner, it’s good to see Newton and the Timberwolves finally making that decision.
Rubio just seems like the epitome of peace on earth and goodwill towards men. So when he calls you out for being classless, that’s how you know you’re really goofing up.
Rubio’s native Spain defeated France in their 2015 EuroBasket semifinal game on Thursday by the final of 80-75 to qualify for the Olympic Games. The 24-year-old himself was injured and didn’t play, but teammate Pau Gasol went bonkers with 40 points and 11 rebounds. Gasol really frustrated France’s Rudy Gobert, who wound up fouling out after 31 minutes. Gobert wasn’t pleased with what he thought was biased officiating (for what it’s worth, Gasol shot 18 free throws on the day), and vented his frustrations on Twitter afterwards.
Hard to play when somebody can touch you but you can't touch him! Tough loss it is painfull to lose this way but we will bounce back!! ????
Batum, of course, is no guest of honor in the state of Spain after the events of the 2012 Olympics.
Fortunately, it doesn’t look like Rubio will need to take any further action about Gobert’s lack of class. If the Jazz center doesn’t have any, maybe Rubio’s Timberwolves teammate Andrew Wiggins can teach him some. Again.
Ricky Rubio had a funny reaction to teammate Nikola Pekovic’s answer to a reporter after Wednesday’s win by the Timberwolves over the Nets.
Pekovic talked about forgetting the win and moving on, which caught Rubio off guard. That’s because the whole “forget about it and move on” cliche is generally used following losses, not wins.
Looks like Pekovic wasn’t in a celebratory mood and already prepared to move on, while Rubio at least thought the team should be happy about the victory.
Rubio’s “what the heck you talking about?” face was priceless:
The Kevin Love trade speculation has heated up over the past few days after a report surfaced claiming the three-time All-Star has informed the Minnesota Timberwolves that he will leave via free agency next year if they don’t trade him. Love has wanted out of Minnesota for a while, and Ricky Rubio wonders if Love’s desire to leave has compromised his ability to lead.
“He is a special player, his numbers are unbelievable but maybe our leader must be other player,” Rubio said. “He is our leader in points and another things but he can’t be or he doesn’t want to be our ‘voice’ leader. … Perhaps he shouldn’t have been our leader, perhaps Kevin Martin could have been our leader because he had more experience, perhaps I could take a step ahead to be the definitive leader.”
Love has remained loyal to the Timberwolves since he was drafted, despite the fact that the front office has not assembled a playoff team. Love went public with concerns over his contract a while back, but others in his situation would have become much more of a problem by now.
Like the rest of us, Rubio knows Love is as good as gone. He probably wants it to happen sooner rather than later. If Love is intent on leaving, there’s no sense wasting an entire season with a frustrated superstar who has no interest in being with the team.
So I realize that almost everyone is going to look tiny standing next to 7-foot-6 Yao Ming, but this photo of Ricky Rubio posing with the former Houston Rockets center was just too funny to pass up.
Though he is a point guard, Rubio is still 6-foot-4 and not exactly a shrimp. But he doesn’t even come up to Yao’s shoulders. And it looks like the cameraman snapped the photo a little too quickly, because the ordinarily friendly Yao didn’t get a chance to smile.
Rubio shouldn’t feel badly; Yao also made the massive JJ Watt look like a wee little man in their picture.
Kobe Bryant got away with a blatant foul on Ricky Rubio on the last play of the Los Angeles Lakers-Minnesota Timberwolves game Wednesday.
The Lakers were up 119-117 with 3.4 seconds left and had Kobe at the free throw line. Bryant made his first attempt but missed his second. Rubio grabbed the rebound off the miss, took the ball up the court, and attempted a tying three-pointer from about eight feet beyond the arc. It was a low-percentage shot that might not have gone in, but Bryant clearly made contact with Rubio while he was shooting. Rubio should have been sent to the free throw line for three shots, which would have given the 77 percent free throw shooter a good shot at tying the game. Despite Rubio’s complaints, the referees did not call anything and the players walked off the court.
Kobe may have gotten away with one, but that’s not how he sees things.
“They’re not going to call that s***,” he said after the game, per the OC Register’s Kevin Ding.
He got that right. The Lakers are now 37-35 after the win. They are a game up on Utah for the final spot in the Western Conference, and 1.5 games up on Dallas.
Are you kidding me, Ricky Rubio? Late in the fourth quarter of Minnesota’s 107-83 blowout win over the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday, the T-Wolves point guard decided to show off.
Rubio went behind his back not once, but twice on his way to scoring a pretty layup against San Antonio. Sure, he was going past Spurs bench players Patty Mills and Aron Baynes, but it doesn’t get much better than that.
Rubio finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists for his first career triple double. Between going behind his back for layups and between his legs for passes, he might be the best ball handler and passer in the NBA when it comes to tricks and fancy plays on the court. He makes the T-Wolves a fun team to watch on any night.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have lost four games in a row and appear destined to miss the playoffs for a ninth straight season, but Ricky Rubio is trying to maintain a positive attitude. Not only that, but he’s trying to influence his teammates to do the same.
During Thursday night’s blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, TNT captured Rubio telling teammate Alexey Shved to cheer up. As you can see, his delivery was priceless.
“Alexey, change this face,” Rubio said while patting his teammate on the head. “Be happy. Enjoy it.”
Well said, Ricky. Kevin Love may be sick of all the losing that has gone on in Minnesota since he was drafted, but somebody has to be there to keep spirits high. In only his second NBA season, it appears that Rubio has adopted that role. We’ll see if he’s singing the same tune during blowout losses in a couple years.
The Minnesota Timberwolves (17-22) have not played all that well this season. You could make the argument that they have been even worse when Ricky Rubio is on the floor. The second-year point guard has battled injuries that have limited him to just 14 appearances this season. Of those 14 games, the Timberwolves have won just four.
Minnesota picked up its seventh loss in its past eight games against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night. Head coach Terry Porter decided to bench Rubio in favor of JJ Barea for the entire fourth quarter, and Ricky was not shy about expressing his displeasure after the game.
“I want to know what happened,” Rubio said according to The Pioneer Press. “We’re going to talk. ‘TP’ preferred to play the other players who were playing. I don’t know what to say. I don’t like it.”
To make matters more frustrating, Rubio reported to the scorer’s table twice in the final quarter but was called back both times. The first time, it appeared that Rubio would replace Barea after Barea committed his fifth foul of the quarter. Luke Ridnour replaced Mickael Gelabale instead, and Barea stayed in the game. Later in the quarter, Barea fell hard to the floor and appeared to suffer an injury. Porter was about to put Rubio in, but Barea waved him off before hitting a timely three-pointer.
“J.J. hit a shot,” Porter explained. “He hit a three. I was taking him out because I thought he was hurt but he said he was fine and made a shot. At that point, I just rolled with him. He was hot and made a shot. That was the only difference.”
That may have been the only difference on Wednesday, but there’s no denying Rubio has struggled all throughout his sophomore season. He is averaging just 4.2 points and 5.0 assists per game, as opposed to 10.6 points and 8.2 assists last year. He’s a crucial part of the team’s future, but Rubio simply isn’t performing. The way he has played is enough to earn most players a spot on the bench in certain situations.
When it comes to collecting sports memorabilia, there is a fine line between showing your commitment and creepiness. If you ask me, the Christmas gift you see above crosses that line.
This giant Ricky Rubio rug was shared on Twitter by a man named Dean Pierce, who describes himself as an “NBA fanatic” and has a Minnesota Timberwolves background and avatar on his profile. It would appear that a member of Pierce’s family is one of the biggest Rubio fans on earth. Otherwise, I doubt anyone would have given her such a massive and detailed portrait of the Spaniard.
Personally, I feel that’s a little too much. Asking the young point guard to the prom is one thing, but I couldn’t look at something like that no matter who the athlete was. All that matters is it made someone happy on Christmas.
Heading into his fifth NBA season, Minnesota point guard Ricky Rubio is caught in a bit of a basketball limbo for the Timberwolves. He’s too old to be considered a true member of the Wolves’ raw, young core (though with Rubio being just 24, that’s more a testament to the absurd pool of fresh talent on the team than anything). But he’s not old enough to be considered a veteran elder statesman alongside the old dogs like Kevin Garnett, Andre Miller, and Tayshaun Prince. With some uncertainty about where he fits into the team heading into the future and with young point guards Zach LaVine and Tyus Jones buried behind him on the depth chart, trade rumors have dogged the Spanish guard all summer. But Timberwolves GM Milt Newton wants to put the speculation to rest as soon as possible. 
