khandor’s sports blog

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Kahn: Rubio not ready to jump to NBA 
“This morning I met with Ricky and his parents and told them that I understood Ricky’s decision,” Kahn said in a statement issued by the Wolves. “It was clear to me yesterday and in this morning’s meeting that the pressure surrounding Ricky and his family to remain in Spain for at least two more years had only intensified as the summer wore on and was weighing heavily on them.

“The NBA is the best basketball league in the world, by far. As an 18-year-old man, Ricky would have been challenged on a nightly basis to a degree he has never experienced. In order for Ricky to meet this challenge fully, I believe it is important that his family and other people important to him were comfortable with the move to the NBA and fully supportive.

“I also agreed with Ricky’s position that two more years of competition in Spain and the Euroleague will only aid his development and that he will be much more ready for the NBA when he joins us” at age 20.

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is the best possible outcome for the T-wolves, in a sticky situation.

At-present, Minnesota is entrenched at the bottom of the NBA.

Ricky Rubio … given his age [18], the state of his physique [skinny], and his present skill-set [can't really shoot it consistently] … simply isn’t ready to make a significant contribution to an NBA team, over the course of an 82 game season.

Minnesota:

- Just hired an entirely new coaching staff
- Has its star Big Man in the process of recovery from ACL surgery
- Has its best SF in the process of recovery from ACL surgery
- Has a current roster which looks like this … and,
- As of right now, has a fairly high probability of landing the No. 1 [overall] Selection in the 2010 NBA Draft, and at least one other high 1st Round Draftee from the 2011 NBA Lottery, given their prospects for success in the Western Conference these next 2 seasons.

If Rubio arrives in the NBA, from Europe, in time for the 2011-2012 season, the T-wolves franchise will be in a much better position to take full advantage of his unique package of skills, at the PG spot, when:

Kevin Love [PG] will be 22 years of age,
Jonny Flynn [PG] will be 22 years of age,
Wayne Ellington [OG] will be 23 years of age,
Corey Brewer [SF] will be 25 years of age,
Aleksiy Pecherov [C] will be 25 years of age,
Ryan Hollins [C] will be 26 years of age,
Al Jeferson [PF] will be 26 years of age,
Ryan Gomes [SF] will be 29 years of age, and,

Kurt Rambis [and Co.] will be in his 3rd season as their head coach.

If David Kahn is truly serious about building a championship basketball operation in Minnesota that’s the type of roster – with an eye towards the future - which can get the job done in the long run … provided the plan includes adding a high calibre 1st Round draft pick next summer, a 2nd high calibre 1st Round draft pick the summer after that, and a dominant, pass-first PG, with good size, and skill, and charisma, like Rubio, for the 2011-2012 season.

After rolling “craps” for quite some time, the T-Wolves may have finally been able to “make their point”.

* Mike Moraeu, Hoopsworld.com, The Kevin Martin Mystery

… one of the most efficient, productive shooting guards in the NBA, the player the Kings rewarded with a $55 million contract this summer as the new “face of the franchise,” is being marginalized.

With all due respect to Mike Moreau, nowhere in his well-written article does he mention anything about what Kevin Martin’s deficiencies might be, in the eyes of a former NBA player who is now Martin’s head coach in ‘the League’.

At 6-7, 185 lbs, Kevin Martin is thought to be “too thin and physically weak” in Reggie Theus’ eyes to warrant getting significantly more minutes for the Kings, than he is at present … despite his incredible efficiency from an ‘Offense-Only’ perspective (which is what is represented in Moreau’s article).

There are three distinct and equal parts to being a “workhorse” player in the NBA:

1) Offense, 2) Defense, and, 3) Rebounding;

and, unfortunately, for both Kevin Martin and his supporters, this highly-skilled and well-behaved young man simply doesn’t “Match-up” well enough, physically, with the other top-notch shooting guards in the NBA, especially, under the latter two categories, listed above.

Whether or not Kevin Martin is, in fact, being marginalised on the Sacramento Kings’ team right now for reasons other than this … is beyond my scope of knowledge, as a non- “NBA Insider” … and, in reality, quite irrelevant to me.

What is not irrelevant to me, though, is the harsh reality of how a former NBA player-turned-head-coach, like Reggie Theus, might actually think about players who resemble Kevin Martin (physically).

Rebounding, Defense and Physical Play (in general, and in contrast to a ‘finesse’ game) … are intricately connected with Winning (and Losing) games, in the NBA.