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JWillTheFreak wrote:He is as athletic like maybe K Henrich / A Miller...

He's a better athlete than Hinrich.

6-4 Magic Johnson. That's the most accurate description.

Kidd in his early years is probably the best comparison. I see a lot of people saying Rubio doesn't have Kidd's physique but if you look back at Kidd as a rookie or after a year or two in the league he wasn't exactly a muscle man or anything.

I don't know, I think people forget how athletic Kidd once was. Check out his dunk at the 3:00 mark while in high school. Ain't nothing to sneeze at.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu7NlImDoNs

Part I of a pretty good Cal recruiting/Jason Kidd video from the early 90's when he was a prospect.

Jason Williams definitely shoots it better than Rubio. Williams could actually shoot the ball pretty well and had a nice stroke, just look at his FT% over the years. It was his horrid shot selection that caused him to shoot the percentages he did.

There's really no comparison for Rubio that fits perfectly. I'd say Rondo is a reasonable comparison, but Rondo is way more athletic and Rubio has better court vision.

yehyeh82 wrote:Check out his dunk at the 3:00 mark while in high school. Ain't nothing to sneeze at.

What was so special about it??
I've seen Rubio do more imperssive dunks.

Kidd was an absolute speed demon with the ball, or hell, without it.
His lateral quicks were great as well, one of the reasons he used to be an elite defender.

I'll give the disclaimer, I have seen Rubio play literally about 3 complete games, plus youtube highlights and 2 games in the Olympics. I have read a lot about him, from mocks, to scouting reports, to internet forums filled with Euro fans that actually watch him, including Spanish superhomers and haters alike, along with others that haven't seen him play much, but love to pretend they have and don't mention the fact they haven't or just lie and say they did.

After all that, the comparison I have been making for a while now is Andre Miller or Andre Miller meets Shaun Livingston. Take it with a grain of salt and for what it's worth.
Some actual European fans that have seen the NBA a great deal seem to love it, a lot of others like to hardcore flame me and tell me I don't know what I am talking about, when it is obvious that, well, I don't know what I am talking about, that is exactly what I have stated, lol. The ones that have flamed me are also the ones that seem to tell American fans that Rubio is the next coming of Jesus(Shuttlesworth of course ) and compare him to Jason Kidd(A lock HOFer who was extremely athletic in his youth up until his very early 30's. News flash: athleticism is more then being able to jump high), but say things like he will be better.
The more level headed ones that still diagree tell me it is close, but Rubio is more creative and better, and maybe more athletic, but I have a feeling it's just cause they have no idea what Miller was like before he was getting a senior citizen's discount at IHOP.

Resume...

To me, Ricky best comparison is a remix of Nash and Rondo.

Passing ability and court vision as Nash
(Lack of) rebounding as Nash
Defenses as Rondo.
(Lack of) shooting as Rondo.

Put it another way, Nash with better defense without the shooting touch, or Rondo passing better but rebounding worse.

I have a feeling people are going to be in for a rude awakening when he finally makes his debut.

I have a feeling haters are going to be in for a rude awakening when he finally settles in the League.

Just curious, have you seen him play much?

Ricky is a great atlete, his only weakness is his jump, but he is always running during all the game.
In Spain some people spoke about if his extreme intensity could be damaging for his body in form of injuries.
So, in defense I thing that the comparision with Rondo is right, Ricky can´t jump so much, but his wingspan is amazing, whith those arms and his inteligence he makes innumerables steals, in fact I think that the next year Ricky could be the best stealer in the league and one of the best defenders.

In offense he have a lot things of many players. His passing skills remember me to Nash, Kidd, J-Will or Sergio Rodriguez, but he don't loose so many balls like Jason or Sergio.
With the ball he can do anything, he´s a great ball-hander, his behind the back dribble definitely is the best in the world. In others situations his use of the feet is amazing, specially when he go to the basket.
But he isn´t a great shooter, his shooting mechanic is too ugly, he shoots without jumping, although he's improving, this year had a good 43% in 3p shooting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqLGzkhRHN8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrLFdhEN2Oc

The defense in Europe is HORRIBLE. Absolutely ATROCIOUS defense.

On the second video, take a look at 1:40-1:45............

Ricky Rubio is NOT Allen Iverson, WTF do you have all of your eyes on him for?

Such a sequence happened twice or three times in that video. It will NOT happen in the NBA. There's no solid defensive team that's going to treat Rubio like a hall of famer.

Then at like 3:35-3:40, Rubio makes a cross-court pass. Instead of trying to guard the player recieving the pass, they tried to steal the pass. Okay, especially since you had 2 men down there

But they didn't deflect the pass, they didn't come close. Their arms were like freaking pads trying to hit a tennis ball not a basketball. PATHETIC. Because of their half-assed attempt at "defense", Rubio got an easy assist for 2.

The big men in Europe are equally as inept, CLOSE-OUT. Bigs jobs are to close out and protect the paint. Playoff-winning coaches like Jim O'Brien and Larry Brown preached it.

Larry went to the NBA Finals with DEKE, Wallace Brothers. Phil won 4 NBA titles with Shaquille O'Neal, Pao Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

The bigs let Rubio get lay-up after lay-up and there's no rotation whatsoever.

Take a look at 5:01..................

The defender is communicating to the man BEHIND him, when you know Ricky's ahead of you?

The difference in levels between Europe and College are overwhelming(See:Brandon Jennings LACK of development). Europe and the NBA?

Ricky Rubio's been handled with gloves. People say "Rubio held his own with the USA"

'Get used to that, he's an average NBA level player.

Dedicated_76ers_fan wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqLGzkhRHN8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrLFdhEN2Oc

The defense in Europe is HORRIBLE. Absolutely ATROCIOUS defense.

On the second video, take a look at 1:40-1:45............

Ricky Rubio is NOT Allen Iverson, WTF do you have all of your eyes on him for?

Such a sequence happened twice or three times in that video. It will NOT happen in the NBA. There's no solid defensive team that's going to treat Rubio like a hall of famer.

Then at like 3:35-3:40, Rubio makes a cross-court pass. Instead of trying to guard the player recieving the pass, they tried to steal the pass. Okay, especially since you had 2 men down there

But they didn't deflect the pass, they didn't come close. Their arms were like freaking pads trying to hit a tennis ball not a basketball. PATHETIC. Because of their half-assed attempt at "defense", Rubio got an easy assist for 2.

The big men in Europe are equally as inept, CLOSE-OUT. Bigs jobs are to close out and protect the paint. Playoff-winning coaches like Jim O'Brien and Larry Brown preached it.

Larry went to the NBA Finals with DEKE, Wallace Brothers. Phil won 4 NBA titles with Shaquille O'Neal, Pao Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

The bigs let Rubio get lay-up after lay-up and there's no rotation whatsoever.

Take a look at 5:01..................

The defender is communicating to the man BEHIND him, when you know Ricky's ahead of you?

The difference in levels between Europe and College are overwhelming(See:Brandon Jennings LACK of development). Europe and the NBA?

Ricky Rubio's been handled with gloves. People say "Rubio held his own with the USA"

'Get used to that, he's an average NBA level player.

Friend, I saw this game in person (yes, I saw the Ricky's debut with Spain yesssss)
They played against Portugal, one of the worst basketball country in the world, so don't say that the defense in Europe is horrible because is better that any NBA defense:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT3Fr_p3nqY&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAMZe-JT ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOb2sSk8SQE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgGNqxg98CM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpj1eMYC8kE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN3LCXsc ... re=related

Great defense yeah lol!!!!

The funny part is James Harden might be the better point guard between the two.

vincecarter4pres wrote:The funny part is James Harden might be the better point guard between the two.

You're one of my favourite poster, with a great sense of humor, but dude... You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, when it comes to Ricky Rubio.

I think these last posts are ridiculous when you consider how young Rubio is. If he were 23 and looked the same then I might agree. But Rubio seems to be such a unique player that I don't think anyone can really predict what kind of NBA tools he may be able to develop. He may end up being a very special player, or average, but pretending like this is the Rubio we will see forever in the NBA is just

No doubt, International Teams can compete. But they're more fundamentally sound then the crap Ricky Rubio has faced.

Johnny Firpo wrote:

vincecarter4pres wrote:The funny part is James Harden might be the better point guard between the two.

You're one of my favourite poster, with a great sense of humor, but dude... You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, when it comes to Ricky Rubio.

1st off, thanks.

But, when it comes to Rubio I have definitely admitted and proved this much.

The potential of this kid is really, really high. Any of you haters are just hating.

The way he squeezes through space is very Nash-like. His defense looks good, has good length. If Rubio ever gets a shot (he's only 19?), he'll be an upgraded version of Kirk Heinrich.