Lets get Rubio!

[D.R.P.]

If Rubio " led the Spanish in last years olympics then ACie Law " led" the Hawks to the 2nd round of the playoffs this year with his 2 or 3 ppg. You get caught in all the hype you want .

When did Acie play against Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, or Deron Williams? In a gym somewhere during the offseason? Heck, Acie hasn't even played against those guys in the NBA! LOL!

Let's table this post and come back to it in about two years and see how much crow you'll be eating.

Edited May 20, 2009 by D.R.P.

[hawkman]

The Pistol Pete comparrison takes the cake. I cant take it anymore. Your talking about a guy who could who averaged 43 f'n points a game at Rubios age not 4 points a game. THANK GOD WE ARE IN NO POSITION TO FALL IN TO THIS DARKO SIZED TRAP.

Wasn't that "yes I eat cabbages" (forgot how to spell his name) guy a hot commodity a few season back? Indiana picked him up and he didn't work out in the NBA. Wasn't he another one of those "best Euro league guards" type of guys. I'm just not sold on Rubio yet. I wish I could get a better look at the guy other than highlight films. Heck, Yi looked awesome in his highlights before the draft. Remember the big debate of Yi vs. Horf?

[dlpin]

First of all Ricky Rubio is not Mexican he is Spanish and if you think he is the second coming of Luke Ridnour, than that tells me all I need to know about your lack of basketball knowledge.

Also, how old is Arroyo? Did Arroyo lead his team to the Olympic championship game?

How many games have you ever watched Rubio play?

[NJHAWK]

When did Acie play against Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, or Deron Williams? In a gym somewhere during the offseason? Heck, Acie hasn't even played against those guys in the NBA! LOL!

Let's table this post and come back to it in about two years and see how much crow you'll be eating.

Arroyo scored 24 and 7 vs guys named Lebron, Mello, Duncun, Wade and company. They couldnt stop him and he beat the USA single handedly with players that nobody has ever heard of on his team. My point is not that Arroyo is a superstar but that the olympics are meaningless when it comes to the nba. You want us to trade Josh Smith or Al Horford for a cat who put up 4 points and 3 assist in last years olympics. So he played vs Kidd, Paul and Deron, he obviously didnt do shyyt against them. Mario West played vs Lebron in the playoffs should we give him Smooves deal?

[NJHAWK]

Wasn't that "yes I eat cabbages" (forgot how to spell his name) guy a hot commodity a few season back? Indiana picked him up and he didn't work out in the NBA. Wasn't he another one of those "best Euro league guards" type of guys. I'm just not sold on Rubio yet. I wish I could get a better look at the guy other than highlight films. Heck, Yi looked awesome in his highlights before the draft. Remember the big debate of Yi vs. Horf?

Hype, these guys are ready to unload our best young players for a bunch of hype. Wow to think how little you have to do to get a Pistol Pete comparrison these days. He would roll over in his grave.

[D.R.P.]

Wasn't that "yes I eat cabbages" (forgot how to spell his name) guy a hot commodity a few season back? Indiana picked him up and he didn't work out in the NBA. Wasn't he another one of those "best Euro league guards" type of guys. I'm just not sold on Rubio yet. I wish I could get a better look at the guy other than highlight films. Heck, Yi looked awesome in his highlights before the draft. Remember the big debate of Yi vs. Horf?

Of course Yi looked great in those clips. The secret is that none of the guys he played against in those videos were taller than 6' 4". LOL! Also, everything looked like it was in slow motion in those videos even though it was in real time.

To say I was not impressed with the Yi videos is an understatement.

[NJHAWK]

There is hope for this kid after all. In his euro league games he only averaged 4 ppg but at HOME he averaged 4.5 ppg.

[dlpin]

Memphis is not going to be taking on any players with high salaries. So what team in the lottery (that needs a point guard) has a better big on a rookie contract than Horford? Also the Hawks have more valuable assets (Childress, Andersen and Akyol), that could also be included in a trade. The Grizz and the Thunder basically need the same things; veteran players and a big that can defend and rebound (Horford).

This doesn't make any sense at all. What does Memphis reluctance to add players with high salaries has to do with their willingness to trade the number 2 pick? the number 2 pick for horford plus a late 1st round is an extremely lopsided deal that no team would make. Horford, while solid, is the sort of pf/c tweener that is fairly common in this league. No one is going to trade away a potential franchise PG for a solid, but far from franchise cornerstone, horford. If they so desperately need a big, they might as well either draft Thabeet at 2, or trade down a couple of spots and trade him and get something else in return.

[D.R.P.]

Arroyo scored 24 and 7 vs guys named Lebron, Mello, Duncun, Wade and company. They couldnt stop him and he beat the USA single handedly with players that nobody has ever heard of on his team. My point is not that Arroyo is a superstar but that the olympics are meaningless when it comes to the nba. You want us to trade Josh Smith or Al Horford for a cat who put up 4 points and 3 assist in last years olympics. So he played vs Kidd, Paul and Deron, he obviously didnt do shyyt against them. Mario West played vs Lebron in the playoffs should we give him Smooves deal?

Please read my original post. I never said trade Josh Smith.

The difference is that Rubio already knows how to direct a team on the court with his high BBIQ (watch the Kobe documentary video) while Arroyo doesn't. It's not just about directing on offense it's also about defense. One of the main things the Hawks need to go to the next level is an alpha dog player that can direct his team on the court. Joe is to mute to do so and doesn't have that type of personality.

[dlpin]

There is hope for this kid after all. In his euro league games he only averaged 4 ppg but at HOME he averaged 4.5 ppg.

Again, how many games have you watched him play?

By the way, you are looking at the stats of an 18 year old kid playing against professional competition in 40 minute games. And his average this season was actually 6.2, but we are talking about 5 games here. Just to compare, "NBA ready" Josh Childress averaged 8.8.

By the way, Euroleague is the continental competition. On the Spanish league, he averaged 10 points and 6 assists a game (again, as an 18 year old). In fact, he led the league in assists, ahead of former NBA players Omar Cook, Shammond WIlliams and Raul Lopes. I would think that leading the 2nd best basketball league in the world at 18 ranks as a major accomplishment.

Just for comparison's sake: David Andersen, who so many here seem to like, averaged 9 a game.

[D.R.P.]

This doesn't make any sense at all. What does Memphis reluctance to add players with high salaries has to do with their willingness to trade the number 2 pick? the number 2 pick for horford plus a late 1st round is an extremely lopsided deal that no team would make. Horford, while solid, is the sort of pf/c tweener that is fairly common in this league. No one is going to trade away a potential franchise PG for a solid, but far from franchise cornerstone, horford. If they so desperately need a big, they might as well either draft Thabeet at 2, or trade down a couple of spots and trade him and get something else in return.

Your underrating Horford; it's not like Thabeet has some type of offense skills. Horford is exactly the type of player the Grizzles need. It's not like Horford has played at his natural position.

[dlpin]

Your underrating Horford; it's not like Thabeet has some type of offense skills. Horford is exactly the type of player the Grizzles need. It's not like Horford has played at his natural position.

No, I'm not. Horford, as I said, is solid, but no one thinks he will ever be a franchise type player. And as such, other teams can easily offer more for that number 2.

I cannot remember a single instance where a top 2 pick was traded that didn't involve either an all star or another top 5 pick.

[MaceCase]

Man these arguments are hilarious :laughing5:

I'd have to side with NJHawk here Rubio is intriguing but with so many weak prospects in the draft he stands out more than he should. I believe it's far more difficult for a euro guard to translate his skills to the NBA. First of all they are not very athletic in comparison to our home bred guards and I can't think of a one that can actually bench press 100 pounds. Just look at all the busts at guard that have come out of euroleagues. You have Sarunas Jasikevicus who nearly single handedly ended the US' hope for gold back in 2000, he came over at 29 and couldn't get off the bench in Indy or GS. Speaking of GS you've got Marco Beninelli the Michael Jordan of summer league currently glued to the bench. You had the pg out of greece Vassili Spanoulis who literally went crying back to his parents in Greece. Other Spanish national team standouts such as Raul Lopez whom I can't remember doing anything, Juan Carlos Navarro who actually had a decent year in Memphis before he chased the money, and "Spanish Chocalate" Sergio Rodriguez who can't start over Steve Blake of all people and Jose Calderon who actually started ahead of Rubio in Beijing before getting injured and honestly you can't say tha Calderon is all that himself.

Rubio has talent but to be of any impact in this league he's going to need time to adjust mostly to the speed and athleticism of the guys he'll be playing with and against. I just don't see why we'd mortgage the farm for him, word has it Memphis might not be interested in him even. There's no debate in Griffin/Rubio like there were for other 1/2s like Oden/Durant and Rose/Beasley, Rubio just happens to be the best of the rest.

[dlpin]

I think that judging a player because he is "euro" is silly, especially when one hasn't seen many, if any, games of him.

There have been good and bad Euro guards. You listed some busts, but you are forgetting Tony Parker, Drazen Petrovic, Rudy Fernandez and Sarunas Marciulionis. Besides that, you have the South American players who played in Europe before coming over, like Manu and Barbosa.

So saying Rubio is going to be this or that because he is Euro is like saying you shouldn't draft players who went to college in California, as Olowakandi, Jerome Moiso, Bo Kimble and Ed O'Bannon went to college within that state. Or Utah, as Keith Van Horn and Shawn Bradley were huge busts.

Or what about Kentucky? So many busts came out of Univ. of Kentucky and Lousiville... Sam Bowie, Pervis Ellison, Melvin Turpin, Ron Mercer, Samaki Walker...

fact is, it is silly to evaluate players based on where they are from.

[NJHAWK]

A cross between Shaun Livingston after his knee injury ( yes this guy is that slow ) and Sasha Volkov. Thats the best I can think of.

[NJHAWK]

Well there are 4 of us now on the say no to Rubio side. Hawkman,MaCeCase. myself and Sekou Smith. He says in answering a ? in his latest blog that he would not part with one of our good players for Rubio. He says we could get a player just as good or better at pick 19. Listen to Flava Flav on this one and DONT, DONT, DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE !!!!!!

Edited May 20, 2009 by NJHAWK

[D.R.P.]

Well there are 4 of us now on the say no to Rubio side. Hawkman,MaCeCase. myself and Sekou Smith. He says in answering a ? in his latest blog that he would not part with one of our good players for Rubio. He says we could get a player just as good or better at pick 19. Listen to Flava Flav on this one and DONT, DONT, DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE !!!!!!

Wow! That's 4 people that wouldn't trade up for Rubio. LOL! Kinda reminds me of some people that doubted Chris Paul and didn't want to draft him. Those people were Billy Knight, Mike Woodson, and the ASG.

As for Sekou, I value his basketball insight as much as I value Knight's drafting ability.

Edited May 20, 2009 by D.R.P.

[dlpin]

Well there are 4 of us now on the say no to Rubio side. Hawkman,MaCeCase. myself and Sekou Smith. He says in answering a ? in his latest blog that he would not part with one of our good players for Rubio. He says we could get a player just as good or better at pick 19. Listen to Flava Flav on this one and DONT, DONT, DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE !!!!!!

And the 4 of you put together have watched how many of his games?

[MaceCase]

I think that judging a player because he is "euro" is silly, especially when one hasn't seen many, if any, games of him.

There have been good and bad Euro guards. You listed some busts, but you are forgetting Tony Parker, Drazen Petrovic, Rudy Fernandez and Sarunas Marciulionis. Besides that, you have the South American players who played in Europe before coming over, like Manu and Barbosa.

So saying Rubio is going to be this or that because he is Euro is like saying you shouldn't draft players who went to college in California, as Olowakandi, Jerome Moiso, Bo Kimble and Ed O'Bannon went to college within that state. Or Utah, as Keith Van Horn and Shawn Bradley were huge busts.

Or what about Kentucky? So many busts came out of Univ. of Kentucky and Lousiville... Sam Bowie, Pervis Ellison, Melvin Turpin, Ron Mercer, Samaki Walker...

fact is, it is silly to evaluate players based on where they are from.

No I can say that about "Euros" because they play a much softer skill set based type of basketball than we do. It's a fact, it's not me generalizing it's just how they are brought up playing the game. To them you don't need to be a great athlete to succeed in their leagues that's why you can see even their bigs with shot and handles. The South Americans that play in euro leagues are obviously more physical and athletic just like their soccer players, all of them Ginobili, Scola, then Nene, Barbosa. They are either tough or athletic as hell or both. Tony Parker is half American and touts playing street ball in his dad's hometown of Chicago for giving him toughness. Be it geneology or cultural influences that's just how the cookie crumbles.

Beyond that Rubio is not a very athletic player, scouts all over have said it too but what allows him to be so intriguing are his passing skills, court vision and size. Those are great aspects to have and as I already stated, once he's had time to gain an NBA body and adjust to the speed the game here is played he'll be a threat but as is I can clearly remember watching was Chris Paul, one of our smallest PGs in the league, backing down Rubio to create space for his drives. We are a playoff team with zero depth why in the hell would we trade our talent for a guy that won't be able to help us consistently right away. I swear some of you people seem to miss the lottery days when we could all fight over prospects. Being that we are a playoff team now only looking for small pieces to add to our current succesful set, we don't need to be discussing homerun hitters when all we need is a set up man in our bullpen.

[MaceCase]

And the 4 of you put together have watched how many of his games?

I can only speak for myself that I've only seen him at the olympics and not just the USA game either, about 3 games, He didn't wow me but I saw the skill and talent there. He played with confidence but the Spaniard team as a whole were very cocky as they were loaded with talent and tougness almost top to bottom. By the same merit I enjoyed Patty Mills performance at the Olympics but he's mentioned nowhere near the same calibre of player as Rubio, so yea I'm not believing on this "deep PG class" hype. None of us here are experts because, why would we do this for free? but in my opinion this draft is filled with mid level starters to great backups. I see maybe one all star coming out of this class.