Utah Jazz: Stability at the helm could be difference maker for Ricky Rubio

Ricky Rubio’s fresh start with the Utah Jazz could be exactly the change he needs to live up to the illustrious expectations that have followed him throughout his career.

If you weren’t following along during Utah Jazz Media Day, you definitely missed out on a lot of excitement. Rodney Hood wants to win the Most Improved Player Award. Derrick Favors and Alec Burks are feeling great. Donovan Mitchell’s teammates have high praise for him. And Rudy Gobert expects the team to be much better than national media is predicting.

In other words, there’s about a million and one reasons to be excited about the Utah Jazz in 2017-18. But one of the more understated reasons, in my opinion, is the Jazz’s addition of Ricky Rubio.

Rubio was highly touted as a brilliant passer and potential NBA star when he was drafted into the league. However, unfortunately a combination of early injuries, playing with a young team and enduring a constant coaching carousel in Minnesota have prevented him from truly becoming that player. After six years in the league, Rubio has yet to make a playoff appearance.

Yet, if he and his new Jazz teammates have anything to say about it, that ought to change this season. And, if Rubio can fit in as well as he seems capable of with the Jazz, he will very likely be a huge part of that. One blessing that Rubio should have right from the start is a coach and front office that believes in him and therefore, with two years left on his current contract and a potential willingness to stay with the Jazz beyond that, he may finally find some stability.

Rubio has played with four different head coaches in six years in Minnesota – Rick Adelman, Flip Saunders, Sam Mitchell, and Tom Thibodeau. That was certainly a significant amount of change to undergo as a young player, so it ought to be a nice change of pace for Rubio to be paired up with head coach Quin Snyder who appears to be the man set to be at the Utah Jazz’s helm for the foreseeable future.

Interestingly enough, despite Rubio’s short time thus far as a Jazzman, during Monday’s media day, he went so far as to say, “I’ve only been here two months but I’ve already talked to Quin more than any other coach.”

That’s both a testament to how invested Quin is in the success of his team and players and to why perhaps Rubio has struggled to be as confident and reliable as he was speculated to be in Minnesota. Quite truthfully, the Jazz organization clearly believes in Rubio and has faith that he can succeed. If he can build off of that, he should be in for a spectacular year and hopefully more with the Jazz.

And quite frankly, that belief in him as well as the stability in the head coach that Rubio will enjoy ought to work wonders for him. Rubio has already had high praise for Coach Snyder and as the Utah coach figures out how to best implement Rubio to maximize his strengths and solidify him as the Jazz’s starting point guard, Ricky could very well be in for a breakout year.

Last season, George Hill put up a career year in a Jazz uniform in spite of several injuries. As Rubio looks forward to a fresh start on a new team, he should very well be able to do likewise.

And as Quin continues to work with him and help him grow and improve, the stability that such a coach will provide him may allow Rubio to finally live up to the illustrious expectations that have followed him throughout his NBA career.

Next: Utah Jazz show no shortage of confidence during Media Day

There are several different factors that can help revitalize a player’s career. And Utah’s combination of a savvy and steady coach, a great team chemistry that includes his teammates believing in him and an overall culture that seems to fit the Spanish guard, may do just the trick for Ricky Rubio.