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Ricky Rubio: NBA Draft Profile
December 24th, 2008
by Jeff Fox
Ricky Rubio
Ricky Rubio
Team: DKV Joventut
Birth Year: 1990
Position: PG
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 180lbs
Accolades: Spanish National Team, Spanish Under-16 National Team, Spanish Under-18 National Team, First Team All-Spanish League (08).
Scouting Report: Pistol Pete for the YouTube generation.
Strengths: Incredible passer - has excellent court vision and is a creative passer. Very unselfish - prefers to set up teammates rather than score. Disruptive presence on defense - quick feet and hands - led the Spanish League in steals last season; averaged 3.2 swipes per game as a 16-year-old in the Euroleague. Fantastic ball handler - very elusive, tons of moves. Has blow-by speed with the ball - can get by his defender and into the lane. Has three-point range on his jumper. Extremely experienced - has played professionally since he was 15 - extensive international experience with Spain, including last year’s Olympics. Long wingspan - reportedly 6’9”.
Weaknesses: Needs to become a more consistent shooter. Injury and surgery done on shooting wrist caused him to miss a lot of time this past season and subsequently kept him from improving his jumper. Needs to add weight and strength. Can be too flashy at times - tries to force passes into tight coverage. Not a big scorer - only averaged in double figures in scoring once in his pro career. Still very young - especially for a point guard.
Projected 2009 Draft Range: Top three pick.
Consensus: While we compare Rubio to Pistol Pete above, Jason Kidd is probably a better comparison (passing, defense, ball handling, poor shooting). Whether he ever reaches Kidd’s lofty level is unknown, but he should be a very good NBA player regardless.
Stats:
http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=LFW - Euroleague
http://www.acb.com/stsacumjug.php?cod_jugador=BA5 – Spanish League
NBA Draft on CollegeHoops.net
Current NBA Mock Draft Position
Complete NBA Draft coverage
CHN's Six-Star Ranking System w/ 2008 Equivalents
= Superstar/All-NBA Potential - Michael Beasley
= Potential NBA All-Star - Derrick Rose
= Consistent NBA Starter - Brook Lopez
= 6th Man/Fringe Starter - Russell Westbrook
= Career Reserve - Roy Hibbert
= Fringe NBA Player/12th Man - JR Giddens
0 stars = Life in the Minor Leagues - Drew Neitzel
Comments
Hard worker & commited
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2009-06-05 10:43.
Ricky is always wanting to improve, he has great work ethic and he's still 18!
By 2012 he'll be All Star, when he develops a decent jumpshot (his current one is horrendous). Nowadays he just needs playtime and a shooting coach, but a good vet on his side won't harm either.
If I were Chris Wallace I'd gamble, here we have a special talent who can develop in a John Stockton PG type - he won't average 20 ppg ever-, and i'm not convinced on Thabeet or Harden.
Ricky Rubio="poor shooting"
Submitted by shoooter (not verified) on Tue, 2009-06-23 17:37.
Ricky Rubio="poor shooting" ???
Are you kidding??
I can't understand why the american people is always more critic with internetional players than american NCAA rookies. Ricky's shooting is much better than people like T.J. Ford, considered "a shooter" by american GMs.
Ricky has 18!!! I can't remember this kind of skills on any 18-years-old NCAA player ever!!
With nice health in his career, Ricky will be Hall of Famer.
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About Jeff Fox
Columnist
NBA Draft & International Hoops
Contact
foxyjj@sympatico.ca
Background
Jeff Fox is a freelance journalist based an hour outside of Toronto, Canada. While attending University of Waterloo (Canada) earning a B.A. in Economics and Management Studies, Jeff managed to walk onto the school’s varsity basketball team, the Warriors, for 2 seasons. His final year riding the pine for the Warriors saw the team make it to the CIS (Canada’s NCAA equivalent) Final 8 tournament. In addition to this site, he is a regular contributor to SLAM magzine (& online) and The Hoops Manifesto. When he isn’t planted in front of his computer he spends the rest of his time with his wife, Lisa, his son, Adam and his dog Jeannie.
Location
Toronto, CA
Favorite Links
Bad pick at 2nd
How does he get out of his contract with his European team ($8M buyout). He is likely to stay in Europe for at least a year after he is picked. This pick is based on Olympic Play. One tournament, and he is better than all the point guards in college? I find that hard to believe. He's good no doubt. He ran a solid offensive surge against the likes of CP and helped Spain mount a decent comeback - true. But I think this is just another lousy pick for the Grizzlies. This is the team that did not know how to develop Pau Gasol, and is likely to not be able to develop this guy also. I do not like him at this pick. NBA ready? Sure. Second pick ready? No.