Rubio to enter draft

[thebigabd]

I let my game do the talking.

That doesn't work for me.

 

[Seymore Cox]

Not to rehijack this thread, but Everyone here is under the consensus that Rubio will be the best Euro player of all time?

 

[campbest]

Not to rehijack this thread, but Everyone here is under the consensus that Rubio will be the best Euro player of all time?

Best all time? Probably not, that's saying a lot. I think he will have a very successful career, though.

But regional basketball lingo is a lot more interesting than Ricky Rubio's career if you ask me.

 

[thebigabd]

But regional basketball lingo is a lot more interesting than Ricky Rubio's career if you ask me.

Without a doubt.

 

[Cheno]

International "Franchise" Players
Tony Parker: France
Pau Gasol: Spain
Dirk Nowitzki: Germany
Yao Ming: China

Am I missing anyone?

The fact you called Pau Gasol a "franchise" player proves my point about Euro's. Again, Rubio may be a solid player but nothing I've seen out of him tells me he will be an all star caliber player.

 

[Seymore Cox]

Best all time? Probably not, that's saying a lot. I think he will have a very successful career, though.

But regional basketball lingo is a lot more interesting than Ricky Rubio's career if you ask me.

Probably the most common one is when a guy is draining threes. "He's wet". There's a whole bunch that I can't think about right now, but if I were in a game, they would come to me naturally. Generally they come in the heat of the game when you're talking trash to someone and then it heats up and Lance Stephenson throws the ball at you.

 

[Cheno]

It's comments like these that make me laugh.

Yeah, I don't get the whole "Rubio has to prove this or that". He proved he could get past Paul, Williams, and Kidd in the Olympics.

Dude was 17 and in the Olympics making the Americans look bad, you have to draft him high now on potential alone. What's the alternative? This draft class is so weak you can take a chance on a guy like Rubio.

Rubio is not the athlete that Jennings is, but has a basketball IQ and flair that is unteachable. I would bet that he is an all star by his third year in the league (at age 22).

There aren't more than a couple of playmakers at PG that are Rubio's equal. I agree, like a mix of Stockton and Maravich on the court. Kind of like a bigger Steve Nash, not as good a shooter (yet) but with more panache. I definitely think he will be the face of a franchise--in fact, I think he will quickly become one of the top stars in the NBA.

I'm curious if you guys were watching the same Olympics as I was. He made the Americans "look bad"? Huh. Rubio didn't even average 5 points per game in the Olympics. In two games against the USA he hit a total of 2 shots and had the same number of turnovers as assists. The guys high in the Olympics was 8 points. He wasn't the best PG on his own team. Jose Calderon was.
Maybe you guys are thinking of Patrick Mills from Australia and St. Mary's College. He was the best young non-American PG in the Olympics and was the one that was tearing up the Americans.

 

[gracefor24]

Cheno, you are missing the point that the kid was 17 years old! And he held his own on the court and all the US guys were really complimentary after the game. You can't judge the game by stats alone. I watched with my own two eyes and was really impressed by his court awareness and the maturity of his game. He was also a demon defensively.

Patty Mills had a great game against the US as well. He just isn't a pure PG like Rubio and lacks the size and defensive game as well. He is a much better scorer, however.

Bottom line is almost EVERY scout out there is rating Rubio as the #2 pick and a potential franchise player.

Here are Chris Paul's thoughts:

Paul is amazed with Ricky, since “what he has already done is crazy! He is just 17 years old. I am 23 and have been 3 years in college and then 3 in the NBA to be able to play in the Olympics. He will come to the NBA to steal my job.”

It's comments like these that make me laugh.









I'm curious if you guys were watching the same Olympics as I was. He made the Americans "look bad"? Huh. Rubio didn't even average 5 points per game in the Olympics. In two games against the USA he hit a total of 2 shots and had the same number of turnovers as assists. The guys high in the Olympics was 8 points. He wasn't the best PG on his own team. Jose Calderon was.
Maybe you guys are thinking of Patrick Mills from Australia and St. Mary's College. He was the best young non-American PG in the Olympics and was the one that was tearing up the Americans.

 

[Cheno]

I guess we saw something different then Grace. We'll see if he's a perenial all-star like some of you have predicted. I don't see. He's not a great shooter and like someone else said all those fancy passes he does in Europe ain't going to cut it in the NBA. All the scouts were in love with Darko & other Europeans as well who never panned out.
Like I said, I think he'll be solid but I don't think he's worthy of a top 5 pick.

 

[Smash Williams]

He's not a great shooter and like someone else said all those fancy passes he does in Europe ain't going to cut it in the NBA. All the scouts were in love with Darko & other Europeans as well who never panned out.

Adam Morrison, Stromile Swift, and Darius Miles were Top 3 picks, Kwame Brown and Joe Smith were #1 picks, Benoit Benjamin and Shawn Bradley were #2 picks. Scouts have fallen in love with plenty of Americans who never panned out, so Blake Griffin shouldn't be drafted #1 overall? There have been plenty of Euro successes and busts, just as there have been both American successes and busts. Dogging Rubio because of his competition makes no sense, because he is facing far superior competition than any American amateur. Do you think Blake Griffin is going to be able to do the same exact things he did in college with legitimate NBA PFs guarding him? Of course not, but he'll still be pretty darn good.

 

[gracefor24]

I guess we saw something different then Grace. We'll see if he's a perenial all-star like some of you have predicted. I don't see. He's not a great shooter and like someone else said all those fancy passes he does in Europe ain't going to cut it in the NBA. All the scouts were in love with Darko & other Europeans as well who never panned out.
Like I said, I think he'll be solid but I don't think he's worthy of a top 5 pick.

I agree with what you're saying about his fancy passing to a point. Let's not forget he is playing against REALLY good competition. Grown men who are professionals and are getting paid to play.

He schooled Brandon Jennings earlier this year with one hand (other was broken) so I don't see how one can claim that Jennings is worth a high pick and Rubio isn't.

 

[Flintheart Glomgold]

no list of great european players can be complete without mentioning drazen petrovic.

 

[SoonerBackInOKC]

I think the Thunder would draft him at No. 2 or below if available. He'll probably never make it to OKC, but his perceived value is just too high.

You could probably pick him up and then trade him to say... Indiana for Hibbert and their first round pick next season or something in that category.

Maybe pick him up and trade him to Golden State for Andres Beidrins (6'11" 22 year old stud).

--- Unless we really like Thabeet or someone else. If not, you draft Rubio and either keep him or shop him around like crazy.

Imagine.. Ole' Ole' Ole' Ole', Ole' Ole' in the Ford Center!

 

[campbest]

Imagine.. Ohh Lay Ohh Lay Ohh Lay Ohh Lay, Ohh Lay Ohh Lay in the Ford Center!

For this reason only....but it's "Ole".

 

[Smash Williams]

I think the Thunder would draft him at No. 2 or below if available. He'll probably never make it to OKC, but his perceived value is just too high.

You could probably pick him up and then trade him to say... Indiana for Hibbert and their first round pick next season or something in that category.

Maybe pick him up and trade him to Golden State for Andres Beidrins (6'11" 22 year old stud).

--- Unless we really like Thabeet or someone else. If not, you draft Rubio and either keep him or shop him around like crazy.

Imagine.. Ohh Lay Ohh Lay Ohh Lay Ohh Lay, Ohh Lay Ohh Lay in the Ford Center!

I don't get the Indiana part. The Pacers have two legit PGs in Ford and Jack; they need Rubio far less than the Thunder do. It also doesn't make sense from OKC's standpoint because Hibbert and a mid-first round pick in 2010 doesn't come close to matching Rubio's value.

On the other hand, I like Biedrins, but I have two concerns: 1) He doesn't fulfill the need for a defensive presence inside, and 2) he has 5 years, $45 million left on his current deal, and though it's not a bad deal considering the premium placed on NBA bigs, it ties up significant cap room during a period in which the Thunder will have to extend Durant, Green, and Westbrook.

I think the Thunder would be better off by just keeping Rubio and seeing how things play out.

 

[bocabull]

On the mean streets of Taos, New Mexico:

Hey Camp, how about Al's Run? Love that run.

 

[campbest]

Hey Camp, how about Al's Run? Love that run.

Great steep.

Was the first year I can remember that the skiing was considerably better in December than March, but that's New Mexico....

 

[Cheno]

He schooled Brandon Jennings earlier this year with one hand (other was broken) so I don't see how one can claim that Jennings is worth a high pick and Rubio isn't.

I'm certainly not claiming Jennings is better. I haven't seen them both play. I just don't think Rubio will be all that. Now Rubio has been playing professionally for quite awhile now so his game should be more advanced than Jennings. If Jennings had been playing professionally as long as Rubio my gut tells me he'd be better.
I just don't see the talk of Rubio making an immediate impact in the NBA.

 

[Tony]

If Ricky Rubio was American, he would still be playing against high school kids. In Europe, he has been in a professional environment for nearly four years. And people wonder why the rest of the world is catching up to us in the sport...

 

[Cheno]

If Ricky Rubio was American, he would still be playing against high school kids. In Europe, he has been in a professional environment for nearly four years. And people wonder why the rest of the world is catching up to us in the sport...

Exactly, that's why it's really silly to compare him and Jennings. Age has little to do with it. I still for the life of me can't understand American basketballs rules. It just holds back the talent. And why can a 17 or 18 year old Ricky Rubio enter the draft but a 17 or 18 year old American kid can't? Stupid.