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Ricky, we hardly knew ye

Posted at 11:23 AM on November 21, 2011 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Sports

I was getting along fine and not missing the NBA too much during its lockout, until I saw this video of new Timberwolf Ricky Rubio at last night's Drew Gooden Make-A-Wish Charity Game at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.

Rubio reminded Minnesota fans what they might be missing, if they missed the NBA.

Rubio is probably heading back to Spain to play as it appears more likely the NBA will close up shop for (at least) a season.

(h/t: Bring Me The News)

Comments (8)

Don't worry. Bob. I'm sure the wolves will draft another over-rated white kid who doesn't like cold weather soon. Maybe next year.

Posted by Jim Shapiro | November 21, 2011 1:36 PM

Since you brought up race, I'm at a loss to think of the last "overrated white kid" the Timberwolves drafted. (BTW, I consider draft picks to be first round only).

I'm pretty sure the last white kid drafted by the Timberwolves in the first round was Igor Rakocevic in 2000.

Drafting overrated white kids have not been the Timberwolves' problem.

Posted by Bob Collins | November 21, 2011 1:47 PM

Bob, I readily defer to you as being much more knowledgeable about the Timberwolves in specific, and probably the NBA in general.

I love the game, but have always followed favorite individuals as opposed to teams - Dr. J, Magic, The Dream, Sir Charles, The Worm, and yes, Christian Laettner and Steve Nash.

No, of course it's not all about race.
Just as conservatives reviling Obama isn't all about race.

But a demographically statistically significant part of it is. ( And Rubio's stats speak - very quietly - for themselves.)

I believe that while denying ant tendency towards racism may allow us to feel better about ourselves, it does nothing to help us move forward.

Posted by Jim Shapiro | November 21, 2011 2:29 PM

Don't get too excited about a no-defense-shown exhibition game.

(Clever comments about how that describes all regular season NBA games would be appropriate though.)

Posted by Michael | November 21, 2011 2:56 PM

A Christian Laettner fan? Really? Because, you know, he perfectly fits the description you provided earlier. (g)

Posted by Bob Collins | November 21, 2011 3:50 PM

Yes, Laettner's NBA stats were rather underwhelming. And he is somewhat melanin-challenged. But his NBA performance would have been difficult to predict in light of his arguably unequaled NCAA career, thus the justified high draft pick.

I think I mostly liked him because he was a smart, smart ass rebel.

Still not sure what Rubio offers besides some cute passes, his mug and his epidermal status.

Posted by Jim Shapiro | November 21, 2011 4:20 PM

What Rubio offers is creativity, court vision and a true point guard mentality, which the Timberwolves possibly have not had since the Terrell Brandon days. Even though he hasn't played in real NBA games yet, his teammates LOVE playing with him. His passes and his ability to run an offense are going to make all of them so much better that it's truly sad that this season is being jeopardized by this ongoing lockout.

Posted by Mark Snyder | November 22, 2011 10:04 AM

Other than Kevin Garnett, when was the last time the T-wolves drafted anyone decent? Even then he was considered risky because he came straight out of HS. Ray Allen? He did't last long. In fact the T-wolves can't even put together a decent group of trades. They had what? One decent run when they had Garnett, Sprewell & Cassel... Then the team fell apart again. MN seems like it's becoming the abyss of the NBA.

Posted by Aaron | November 22, 2011 12:32 PM