Rooting Against a Rubio Trade

By Isaac Huss




















For a single, 31-year-old diehard Twins fan, trade deadlines are basically like Valentine’s day. You’re never unaware that it’s happening, and once every few years there’s someone new in your life that warrants your attention (the name Shannon comes to mind..Shannon Stewart, that is), but typically it comes and goes without so much as a raised eyebrow.

Then consider that the NBA closes trade season in mid-to-late February, and you’ll begin to understand why my unhealthy and irrational 7-year love affair with Ricky Rubio feels a bit threatened this time of year. Imagine my trepidation when the late great Flip Saunders (RIP) and now Tom Thibodeau are dangling the Babe from Barcelona into the trade waters, hoping someone, something would bite.

It was already about all that I (and my Twitter feed) could take when ESPN’s Brian Windhorst made it very clear that Thibs was trying to move Ricky, and that was long before Rubio dramatically started social media flirting with Kristaps Porzingis (he’s mine, Zingis).

I tried to quit Rubio, I did. I was convinced at the end of last year that, even as the team was making improvements, Ricky’s wasn’t. This was most obvious in the open jump shooting and finishing at the rim categories, of course. But it was his tendency to tense up and force bad passes and shots as the game tightened that was as much of a concern as any. After all, there are five guys on the court, and only one of them needs to shoot. But if one of them can’t shoot and can’t pass or make simple decisions about whether to do one or the other, well, then, the writing’s on the wall.

I also started to allow my heart to stray towards another: Kris Dunn. I was convinced by the draft lottery in May that Dunn was definitely the third-best player in the draft at worst. His combination of playmaking and scoring along with aggressive, physical defense had me dreaming about another favorite point guard of mine: Gary Payton. And while the Wolves staying at #5 wasn’t terribly promising in its likelihood of netting Dunn, I wasn’t without hope that he would fall to the Timberwolves at #5, and by golly he did.

Almost immediately, Woj bombs started dropping all around me claiming that Rubio was surely to be traded sooner rather than later, and just as immediately I had regretted my role in coveting Dunn. I should have known that Thibs would see Dunn as his guy and that Rubio would have to go. I was naive, in hindsight, to think we could draft Dunn and have him and Rubio coexist like Isiah and Dumars, hell even Ricky and Johnny (Flynn). After all, Jamal Murray was still available, and while I considered him a hair below Dunn based primarily on the defensive discrepancy between them (in favor of Dunn), I would now have preferred Murray if only it meant filling a more obvious need while more importantly not displacing Rubio, my love.

Well, to the surprise of just about everybody, Rubio not only survived that draft night in the blue and green but also the rest of the offseason, and was the opening day starter to kick off the 2016-17 season. But not even Dunn’s atrocious start to his NBA career could seem to dim Thibodeau’s affinity for him and subsequently his desire to unload Rubio to free up the starter position in the near--if not immediate--future.

Fast forward to the 2017 NBA trade deadline and you had all the makings of a Rubio trade: the lingering stench of the Reggie Jackson rumor (pull my hair back?), the less nauseating but not much more palatable Iman Shumpert rumor, and then the newest and sexiest but no less head-scratching, the Derrick Rose (and Joakim Noah) rumor, complete with Ricky and Kristaps sitting in a Twitter tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

You had Thibodeau effusing praise upon Dunn for months without giving Rubio a whiff of a vote of confidence, even though Ricky is by far the greatest veteran presence on the team (and it’s not even close) and has been showing real signs of turning a corner in terms of running Thibs’ offense, posting an incredible assist-to-turnover rate--despite some of the greatest degree of difficulty passes in the L--and even individual shooting-wise improvements.

The ultimate test of irrational fandom for a favorite individual player on a favorite team is how you would feel if he was traded away in an obviously beneficial trade scenario for your team (and even for your favorite player). For instance, if Ricky were to be traded to Indiana along with Shabazz, Brandon Rush, a number 1 and a number 2 draft pick for Paul George and Monta Ellis, that would be an objectively amazing trade for the hometown Timberwolves that might even make New Orleans blush.

But, admittedly, I would have a hard time getting excited about a trade like that, even in all its glory, but for the sole fact that it would mean Rubio would be leaving town. Even now, if I know Rubio isn’t going to be playing (like when he missed five games in November), I’m significantly less excited to watch even the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Zach LaVine. It’s a problem, I know.

There’s just something about the way the man plays the game. He plays hard every minute. He never takes a play off on offense or defense. He’s constantly communicating with his teammates and coaches, on offense and defense, even in fleeting glances that set up jaw-dropping alley-oops or 70-foot leak outs. As Bill Simmons described his experience watching Larry Bird in The Book of Basketball, Rubio changes the way you watch the game. You start to see what he sees: plays developing ahead of time; open passing lanes before they open; hell, you even expect other NBA players to give their all like Rubio does, which is, shall we say, not typical.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Rubio’s play, however, is that he is so relatable. He’s certainly taller, longer, more Spanish, and better looking than most of us, but by all accounts, he’s a slow white guy who can’t jump or shoot. He plays with incredible emotion and leaves his heart on his sleeve. He tells teammates, “Change your face.” He cheers on the third-string point guard when he hits the game-winning shot after he supplanted Rubio himself in the crunch time lineup. What Rubio feels, we feel.

And, best of all--from a Timberwolves standpoint, anyway--Andrew Wiggins has shown himself more than capable of being the primary ball handler and setting up the offense (oftentimes himself) during crunch time. Not that I would ever prefer Rubio to stand in the corner spotting up during any set offensive play (ever), mind you.

But it does serve two purposes: 1. Starting the offense with Wiggins prevents teams from denying Wiggins the ball late in the shot clock and 2. It serves to help the team (and its fans) to avoid repeating the debacle against the Clippers four years ago when Kevin Martin had his pocket picked clean by Jamal Crawford when Martin was trying to bring the ball up the floor in the key play that helped turned a huge Timberwolves win into a crushing loss.

No, Rubio is no longer the liability in the clutch that he once was. He’s more of a threat with his shooting, and that seems to have bolstered his confidence and helped his ability to make the right pass with the game on the line. And, when he has an off game, Tyus Jones has shown the ability (as mentioned earlier) to step in and knock down shots when called upon.

So I’ll go to sleep tonight and rest easy knowing the trade talk has died down, that Thibs said he doesn’t see a trade that would improve his team (and those who heard him actually believe him), that he’s happy with his team as-is, and that we’ll likely have another Minnesota trade deadline come and go without anyone to show for it.

But until that 2pm deadline passes, I won’t be able to help still sweating it out, knowing that my favorite player, Ricky Ricard Rubio Vives may be slangin' his passes elsewhere--if not this week, then soon enough. And I’ll be sad. Like a jealous lover.

This post was amended on 2/23/2017 to account for the author's incorrect reporting of his own age.

MN Sports, Ricky Rubio, and Last Night

If, God willing, I’m ever blessed with a son of my own, we are going to have a talk.  Right around the age of reason, when he starts making decisions on his own, the types of decisions that begin to shape who he is and will become for the rest of his life, I’m going to make sure he knows the ramifications of said decisions.  You know, like choosing to root for Minnesota sports teams.

Because if he does decide to root for Minnesota sports, he’s basically signing up for a lifetime of heartbreaking losses.  Of course, there will inevitably be a period of blissful naïveté, when he thinks he has been born into “just the right time”.  Perhaps a second championship in four years will mark the beginning of his fan life, causing him to think such things are the norm rather than the exception.  Perhaps the star point guard’s bro-love for the franchise player will keep him around, even as said guard dreams of warmer climes, like New York.  Maybe even the most spectacular offense the NFL had ever seen really can overcome a shaky defense.

No, son, not in Minnesota.  I’m not saying you can’t root for your Minnesota teams.  Just be prepared.  And find ways to cope.  Like writing about heartbreaking losses.  Maybe if you at least just understand better why your favorite team lost, you’ll feel better?  It’s worth a try right?

In case you missed it, the most recent heartbreaking loss in the land of 10,000 publicly-financed stadium complaints wasn’t the Vikings soiling themselves in Paul Brown stadium yesterday or even the Wild’s embarrassing loss to a bottom-feeding Rangers team that evening.  No, it was the Timberwolves somehow, someway losing 120-116 in overtime to a very good Clippers team last night whom they had simply outplayed right up until the end.

The play that keeps replaying in my head, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this, is Jamal Crawford stealing the ball from Kevin Martin and scoring to tie the game in the waning seconds of regulation.  All we had to do was hold the ball, make two free throws, and fly home to Minnesota.  Of course, every 24-second possession over 48 minutes counts the same, but it was this one that went so terribly wrong at the most important time, and so it’s worth analyzing this one (and maybe a few more above) and beyond the rest.

The ball was inbounded, shot clock off, into the backcourt to Martin, where he’s double-teamed by Chris Paul and Crawford.  Hold it right there… something needs to change.  The issue is not, as commentator Jim Peterson said, that you don’t want to pass the ball backwards.  Just recognize that Martin is, relative to position, our worst ball handler except for maybe Corey Brewer.  So at this point, everybody on the team should have been running towards him to help, especially Ricky Rubio.  Ricky needs to go get that ball and not let Martin have to even take a dribble.  Why Martin thought it was a good idea to try to dribble around Paul, one of the best defenders in the league, is another story, and thus he deserves blame here as well.

I like Martin as a player and it’s obvious we’re a better team with him, thanks to his outside shooting and playmaking ability.  But this isn’t the first game that I’ve walked away from wondering how a veteran could make such glaring offensive mistakes, as a player who has made his name on the offensive end.  What’s the solution?  Take him for what he is, which is a volume scorer, and don’t ask him to do anything else.  And that “anything else” means, now more than ever, handle the ball with a skilled on-the-ball defender.

But of course there’s a bigger issue here as well.  Martin gets the ball in the back court in the first place because Adelman seems to prefer him bringing the ball up late in games.  The thinking, presumably, is that Rubio isn’t enough of an offensive threat himself and teams would overcommit to keep the ball out of Martin’s hands with the game on the line.  The thinking is sound... as long as nobody forgets that Martin doesn’t dribble like a point guard, and if faced with pressure defense he doesn’t you-know-what.

I’m not opposed to having someone else bring up the ball every once in a while, but Ricky obviously needs the ball in his hands to be effective on offense.  And even when defenders are giving him space to shoot his jumper, he still seems to have little issue getting the ball to his teammates.  As evidenced by the great look he gave Nikola Pekovic at the end of overtime, Ricky is part of the solution on offense, not part of the problem.  And yes, that includes nights when he doesn’t record a point.

There are people who will see Rubio’s zero points in the box score and inevitably continue with the whole “Rubio needs to score more” narrative (actually, this is already happening on Twitter).  But, whether that’s true or not, Rubio’s lack of scoring is not the issue.  The Timberwolves are 4th in the NBA in scoring (105.6/game) and scored 106 in regulation last night.  As a coach, when you have two players scoring as efficiently as Kevin Love (45 on 15/23 shooting) and Pek (34 on 16/28) last night, you want your point guard to do what he did: pass them the ball.  Of course, if you have to choose, you pass it to the one who scored 45 on 15/23, but we’ll get to that later.

For now, Rubio.  Obviously, the man needs to make more of his layups and take less contested jumpers.  But I would argue he’s taking many of those contested jumpers because of outside pressure to become more of a scorer.  And perhaps he should look for his shot more.  But to ask Ricky Rubio to become more of a scorer would be akin to asking Michael Jordan to become more of a baseball player.  Sure, Jordan probably could have gotten better had he stuck with it.  But at what cost?  Jordan was put on this earth to be a basketball player, and Rubio to be a passer.  Love and Pekovic don’t combine to score 79 points if Rubio is pretending to be Russell Westbrook.

How many point guards in the NBA have more of an impact on both offense and defense as Rubio, even without the points?  Put it this way: to say that Rubio needs to score more than his career mark of 10 ppg is to say that he needs to become Chris Paul.  Which, of course, would be nice… but not necessary.  To win a championship in the NBA, you don’t need a scoring point guard.  You need a facilitator who plays defense and can hit an outside shot.

Looking at the list of NBA champions and their point guards over the past 20-25 years, you can make some fun conclusions, especially as a Wolves fan.  First of all, the only point guards that carried a significant scoring load on a championship team were the Spurs’ Tony Parker and the Pistons’ Chauncey Billups.  Of course, Tim Duncan also won a championship without Parker, and the Detroit’s championship was much more about defense than it was about Billups’ scoring.  But speaking of Timberwolves point guards who won championships with other teams, there’s also Sam Cassell, J.J. Barea, and Stephon Marbury (juuuuust kidding).

J.J.’s Mavericks team is a realistic best-case scenario for the Timberwolves.  Similar enough star (Dirk and KLove), point guard (Ricky and Jason Kidd), veteran shooter (Jason Terry and Martin) J.J., etc.  The stark difference?  Defense, really (Tyson Chandler, namely).  Boston won a championship with a young point guard who could hardly hit an outside shot (Rajon Rondo) but was an elite passer and defender.  The rest of those championship teams all had point guards that didn’t do much more than get the ball into the hands of the likes of LeBron, Kobe, Shaq, and Michael.

Which reminds me.  Kevin Love finished 15-23 from the floor, 13-15 on free throws and scored 45 points, yet didn’t touch the ball on the three most critical possessions of the game (Martin’s turnover and the last possessions of regulation and overtime).  I repeat: didn’t touch the ball.

Now, on the last possession of overtime when Pekovic missed from close range, you couldn’t expect Love to get a better look.  Perhaps Pekovic rushed it given the fact time was running out, but Love is not immune to such things himself against the Clippers, in Staples Center (see November 11).  And Crawford’s dunk to tie the game at the end of the 4th was so disorienting that you can’t quite blame Ricky for doing what he could to get a decent look with 10 seconds left without a timeout, even though that resulted in two low-percentage jumpers from Pek.

Still, Love has to have the ball in that situation.  Nay, he has to have the ball on every possession with the game on the line, not to mention when he has been virtually unstoppable all game.  Adelman has to do a better job of pounding that into his team, the team has to do a better job of executing, or both.  That’s not to say Love would have inevitably won the game had he been given the chance.  But he earned the chance by how he’d played so far this game, this season.

That being said, it’s worth wondering if it’s clear how to get him the ball.  Where does he like to get it?  What’s his go-to move?  Go-to players have clear answers to those questions.  We all know where Pek wants the ball, and what he’s going to do.  Maybe that’s why he got it.

It’s easy to forget this team is still very young and very new to each other.  Rubio, Love, and Pek only played a handful of minutes together last year and none with Martin.  Two of the biggest issues for this team right now are help defense and offensive consistency, both of which are exacerbated by a lack of experience together.  More time together could very realistically mean you come away from a game like last night with a win instead of a loss.

Then again, this is Minnesota.

But just so we’re clear, the Wolves need to continue to work to get better on defense, first and foremost.  They need to have a clearer identity on offense so that in close games they know what to do to get a bucket.  And they need to play as hard as they did last night every night, no exceptions.  Such improvement means that Wolves fans very well could be treated to much more meaningful games come springtime…  That will inevitably end in heartbreak.