Trouble with Tricky Ricky
Ricky Rubio has had two good games so far this season, and one of them just so happened to come in the most recent bout against the Memphis Grizzlies in which he finished with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 from deep to go along with 11 assists. However, don’t let that outpouring fool you, there’s simply no denying it, Rubio hasn’t been good so far this season.
On the year, he’s averaging just 10.6 points on clips of 35.9 percent shooting from the field and 34.4 percent from the perimeter, while putting up a career-worst 3.3 turnovers per game. Rubio started out the year ice cold last season and, unfortunately, he’s looking largely the same this time around.
What’s most disappointing about that is since he had a full season with the Jazz under his belt and was able to play with them extensively prior to the start of the season, many thought that he’d be primed to get off to a fast start and look much more like the Rubio that we saw in the latter half of last season. But such simply hasn’t been the case thus far.
His shot has been as unreliable as ever, as has his decision making. What’s perhaps more alarming has been his lackluster defense. Opposing point guards such as Derrick Rose, Mike Conley and even Shelvin Mack have all had incredible success against the Jazz. Sure, Rubio wasn’t checking all three of those guys for entire games, but he was certainly matched up against them for stretches and did little to contain them.
I’m trying to remain optimistic that Rubio can turn things around, and much earlier in the year than he did in 2017-18, but the fact remains that his slow start has been an utter disappointment so far this season.