Ricky Rubio deserved better in Minnesota
Ricky Rubio deserved better in Minnesota.
Everyone has well established the fact now that the Minnesota Timberwolves haven’t made the playoffs since the 2003-2004 season. Frankly, they haven’t been real close to making it other than maybe a couple of seasons. For a good chunk of that playoff drought, Ricky Rubio has been on the squad and he deserved better.
Rubio joined the Wolves in the 2011-2012 season. The best players on the team that season along with Rubio were Kevin Love, Luke Ridnour and Nikola Pekovic. The talent eventually improved around him with the additions of the likes of Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, but their youth didn’t result in early career wins for them.
The Timberwolves best record with Rubio on the squad was 40-42 in the 2013-14 season which still only resulted in the 10th best record in the Western Conference that season. Ironically, the best season the Timberwolves had with Rubio on the team was in the only season that Rubio played in all 82 games.
I cannot claim to know if Jeff Teague is a better fit than Ricky Rubio on this current Wolves team. I can see the advantages of either of the point guards. It is just a shame that Rubio will never have the chance to dish out assists on a fast break with Jimmy Butler on one wing and Andrew Wiggins on the other.
Rubio was not a good shooter or a scorer, that was his downfall in Minnesota and what will probably be the thing holding him back from being one of the best point guards in the game. Rubio does have just about everything else. Not many point guards are better defenders or passers than Rubio.
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In his seven years in Minnesota, the Wolves underachieved. The team should have made the playoffs with Rubio at the helm, but maybe that was the issue. We thought that Rubio would be a major part of saving the team and bringing the Wolves back to the success they found with Kevin Garnett.
The truth of the matter is this: Ricky Rubio is a very good point guard, but he is not a star point guard. You cannot build a team around Rubio and he probably won’t be one of the top three players on a championship team. He still deserved better.
Rubio deserved to play with a team that didn’t need to have him shoot or score. A non-scoring point guard has done wonderful in the game of basketball before and it will happen again. It will.
Thank you, Ricky, for putting up with Minnesota basketball. You played in half-empty Target Center for your whole NBA career and now have been shipped to Utah. You still deserve better.
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