Ricky Rubio – Pick up where he left off
Ricky Rubio‘s goal is pretty straight forward. He simply needs to continue to be the player that he was for the second half of 2017-18. Rubio’s individual turnaround after an abysmal start was undoubtedly a major contributing factor to the team’s turaround as a whole.
After averaging just 11.1 points per game on horrible shooting splits of 38.4 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from deep during the first 46 games, Rubio turned it up to another level to close out the year. In the remaining contests, he averaged 16 points per game on efficient shooting clips of 46.2 percent from the field and a mind-blowing 43.8 percent from deep.
That solid finish was enough to give him career numbers in several categories despite the forgettable start. Rubio obviously had a tough time adjusting to new teammates and a new system, but that won’t be an issue next year. With that being the case, his goal should simply be to pick up where he left off and to continue to make the kind of impact he did to close out last season.
46.2 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from deep might be hard to sustain over 82 games. But if he’s even in that range, it will make for an absolute career season that could very well elevate the Jazz to a new echelon in the Western Conference.