Posted June 20, 2011    

•Ricky Rubio

•Glen Taylor

•Siyani Chambers

•Jerry Kill

•Michael Cuddyer

Here’s Your Ricky Rubio Primer 

Ricky Rubio will be introduced to media and fans tomorrow at Target Center.  He signed a multi-year contract with the Wolves last week, ending two years of speculation about whether he would ever play for the NBA team housed at First Ave. North. 

That commitment ended one phase of the Rubio story, but another begins when the much discussed Spanish guard plays his first NBA season.  Rubio’s NBA potential is hotly debated.  Detractors point to his single digits per game averages in scoring and assists in Europe, an inferior basketball environment to the states.  Admirers gush about Rubio’s court vision, passing and ball handling.  

A psychic may know how Rubio’s NBA future looks, but the rest of us will have to see whether the Wolves, winners of only 17 games last season, have a savior or a dud in the controversial 20-year-old who has been playing against pros since he was 14.  The years ahead will tell if we’ve got another "Pistol" Pete Maravich or Marko Jaric, but Sports Headliners offers the following on what Rubio can expect during his introductory months in the NBA, and what his arrival means to the Wolves franchise and this town. 

• Rubio can expect to be verbally and physically targeted by the many “characters” playing in the NBA.  Expletives and body blows will say, “Welcome to the NBA, Rook.” 

• The greeting will be friendlier inside the Wolves’ locker room where forward Kevin Love will likely lead the friendship committee.  The Wolves are a team searching for both talent and leaders, and that will make the locker room chemistry a lot better for Rubio than if a veteran star or two (see Kevin Garnett) saw this club as his domain.  
   

• Rubio will find the NBA more wide open and favorable to his fast break style of basketball.  He will play more minutes per game than in Europe and presumably have a coaching staff interested in building a system around him.  
   

• The grind of the 82-game season will test the young body and mind of the 6-4, 190 pound Rubio who is still maturing.  That could be “code” for saying Rubio will play inconsistently, some nights making brilliant plays and other games making us pine for Jonny Flynn.  
   

• The scouting report on Rubio is his passing and ability to drive to the basket are world class, but his shooting needs work.  And his defense might, too, because he lacks foot speed although his quick hands will compensate.  
   

• Rubio can expect criticism from media and fans here, some of it nasty and undeserved.  Welcome to a cynical society. 
   

• But he can also expect adoration.  He plays with flair and is good looking. The groupies are dancing in anticipation of his arrival downtown.

 

Rubio Means Money to Wolves 

• Rubio’s arrival breathes life into a Wolves franchise that has been bleeding money for years.  He’s created excitement this month among the hard core fan base and made marginal fans pay attention. 
   

• Rubio will wear jersey No. 9 and the aggressive Wolves marketing department announced the availability of $9 tickets last week.  Wolves owner Glen Taylor has reported annual losses of more than $10 million in a season, and can only hope that Rubio is such a big box office hit that his franchise eventually exhausts ticket availability in all categories. 
   

• That’s not going to happen for all 41 home games next season but a smashing Rubio debut changes the basketball landscape in this town.  The Wolves have been awful for years and the basketball Gophers haven’t capitalized on the opportunity.  If the two products are stocks, a buyer has to be thinking the Wolves are a “potential buy.”  
   

• While Rubio’s arrival helps close “the hole in Taylor’s wallet,” it also boosts the resume of beleaguered general manager David Kahn.  He’s made some much criticized moves (see Steph Curry, 2009 draft and DeMarcus Cousins, 2010 draft) but just signing Rubio exceeds the expectations of the most negative critics who said he would never agree to play in small market Minneapolis for the woeful Wolves.  
   

• Rubio’s signing means the Wolves are likely to trade 22-year-old point guard Jonny Flynn and keep 30-year-old Luke Ridnour for comfort and security.  It also means that should Cleveland choose not to take Duke point guard Kyrie Irving No. 1 overall in Thursday night’s NBA draft, the Wolves will either pick Irving at No. 2 and trade him, or pass on him for another player.  
   

• With Rubio at point guard, the Wolves will have one of the NBA’s best passing and most unselfish teams.  In the money and glory selfish NBA, that’s a refreshing sentence to write.  Not only will Rubio often pass first and shoot second, so too will Love and center Darko Milicic.  
   

• Rubio’s arrival gives substance to the franchise mantra of “Run with the Wolves.”  The scheme will include Love rebounding and outleting the ball to Rubio from the defensive end.  Rubio moves to the middle of the court and sees all the fast break possibilities including teammates running ahead of him.  Rubio deftly makes a long bounce pass, or a pinpoint alley-oop pass.  
   

• Even in June the anticipation of it all quickens the pulses of Wolves fans and commands the attention of those who have been in hiding for years.   Ricky Rubio just might make the dreary winters ahead seem shorter and more pleasant.

 

Worth Noting  

Look for the Gophers basketball team to have nonconference home games this fall against Virginia Tech and Southern California.   

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien reported via email that Hopkins point guard Siyani Chambers visited Harvard, Boston College, Providence and Boston University last week.  Chambers has been invited this week to attend Deron Williams’ camp for the best 20 high school and top 10 college point guards in the country.  The three-day camp is in Chicago Thursday-Saturday. 

The Gophers’ home football schedule includes games with Iowa and Wisconsin but so far the game with the most ticket demand is against North Dakota State on September 24.  A source told Sports Headliners North Dakota State has sold all 3,000 tickets allotted by the Gophers and Bison supporters are looking for more.  

North Dakota State finished 9-5 last season and was a Division I Football Championship Subdivision power.   The Gophers lost 27-21 to the Bison in the Metrodome in 2007.  

Coach Jerry Kill has added two players to his Gophers roster.  Wide receiver Malcolm Moulton from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas is rated by Rivals.com as a three-star player.  Quarterback Dexter Foreman from Marvel, Texas is rated a two-star by Rivals.com. 

The Twins, who beat San Diego yesterday for a three game sweep, have now defeated the Padres six straight.  The Twins have won 14 of their last 16 games.   

The Twins’ Michael Cuddyer is batting .331 (39-for-118) with 20 runs, eight doubles, seven home runs, 23 RBI and 11 walks in his last 31 games dating back to May 14.  In his last nine games, he is batting .467 (14-for-30) with five doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI and five walks.  He has doubled in three straight games and has five doubles in his last eight games.

After the Twins beat the White Sox 1-0 last Thursday at Target Field, Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen ordered batting practice.  Guillen exercised before the game by riding a bicycle to Target Field.

 

 Ken Lien
 

 
  Jerry Kill