# The next big thing...



## UD40

According to Slam magazine is 16-year old Spain phenom, Ricky Rubio. Rubio is a 6'5" PG who plays on DKV Joventut of the ACB (I don't follow Euro ball, but this is considered one of the top leagues over seas.) In the U-16 Championship game against Russia, he posted an isane 51 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists, and 7 steals. 51-24-12-7...wow. Here is how Slam discribes his game:

"Ricky passes like *Jason Kidd*, with a court vision that defies logic. He dribbles like *Steve Nash*, weaving around picks and keeping his eyes always looking forward. He defends like *Gary Payton* leading the ACB in steals per minute. He has a serious wingspan, his hands grazing his knees like *Rajon Rondo*. He's nearly 6'5" and wiry strong like *Rip Hamilton*, but plays the point and seems taller, like *Steve Smith*. When he needs to, he scores like *Kobe.*"

They said they hate to compare young kids to special talent, since it's still too early to tell how they'll turn out, but they said the only camparison they could think of was Magic Johnson.


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## Block

If Slam is right, I hope that Rubio takes his time. International players may struggle initially, especially if he enters the draft at too young an age


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## NeoSamurai

anyone who can pull off an almost quad-double in against international calibre talent has to be watched...especially if you consider that hes playing pro ball against some of the top players outside of America...


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## UD40

Another interesting note is that he's the youngest player to play in the ACB in over 70 years.


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## BlakeJesus

How can't you be excited about a player like this? But it gets annoying since he wont be in the league for how long you just want to see them play NOW.


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## Priest

doesnt this always happen? whatever happened to that french kid who was supposed to be the next big thing averaging quadruaple doubles?


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## UD40

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He's #9

The play around 1:45 is smooth, and so is the pass around the 2:00 mark.

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#32 (this is from the ACB league)

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#32 again


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## Javelin

Not talking high school/college prospects here, but I feel that Andre Iguadala should seriously be taken into consideration as a future monster in the NBA, without Iverson, he's free to reign as the number 1 star without competition from anyone on his team. Assuming that he'll be fortunately to avoid injuries over the next couple of years, you can definitely expect to see his face on the ALL-STAR roster, he has youth, potential, and his skills and talent are heavily underrated although he has already begun to emerge as a true star.


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## Kuskid

Call me when he does something in the NBA. The player they just described is the GOAT right now, at age 16. Oh yeah, and they forgot shoots like Bird, works like Jordan, and rebounds like Russell.


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## rainman

Kuskid said:


> Call me when he does something in the NBA. The player they just described is the GOAT right now, at age 16. Oh yeah, and they forgot shoots like Bird, works like Jordan, and rebounds like Russell.



This thread would probably make more sense on the draft board where we've already talked about him more than he probably deserves(considering his age).


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## rebelsun

The Spanish Jason Kidd. He's 6'4-5 with something like a 6'9 wingspan. Ricky led the Euroleague in steals this year, and by a decent margin, as a 16 y/o. The kid is just a great basketball player. I don't think he'll be draft eligible until at least 2009.


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## PauloCatarino

UD40 said:


> According to Slam magazine is 16-year old Spain phenom, Ricky Rubio. Rubio is a 6'5" PG who plays on DKV Joventut of the ACB (I don't follow Euro ball, but this is considered one of the top leagues over seas.) In the U-16 Championship game against Russia, he posted an isane 51 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists, and 7 steals. 51-24-12-7...wow. Here is how Slam discribes his game:
> 
> "Ricky passes like *Jason Kidd*, with a court vision that defies logic. He dribbles like *Steve Nash*, weaving around picks and keeping his eyes always looking forward. He defends like *Gary Payton* leading the ACB in steals per minute. He has a serious wingspan, his hands grazing his knees like *Rajon Rondo*. He's nearly 6'5" and wiry strong like *Rip Hamilton*, but plays the point and seems taller, like *Steve Smith*. When he needs to, he scores like *Kobe.*"
> 
> They said they hate to compare young kids to special talent, since it's still too early to tell how they'll turn out, but they said the only camparison they could think of was Magic Johnson.


SLAM sucks.

They will overhype any guy who can throw a no-look pass/dunk in traffic.

They suck.


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## o.iatlhawksfan

RebelSun said:


> The Spanish Jason Kidd. He's 6'4-5 with something like a 6'9 wingspan. Ricky led the Euroleague in steals this year, and by a decent margin, as a 16 y/o. The kid is just a great basketball player. I don't think he'll be draft eligible until at least 2009.



It's way to early to be talking about this kid, I remeber hearing that he signed a deal with his spanish club till 2011 or something, so don't expect to see him in the league for a while, and lots of things can happen in a long amount of time.


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## WhoDaBest23

PauloCatarino said:


> SLAM sucks.
> 
> They will overhype any guy who can throw a no-look pass/dunk in traffic.
> 
> They suck.


Well they sure were right about overhyping LeBron weren't they?

I've been reading SLAM for years and sure they miss out on some players, but it's still a pretty good read. From the looks of it, this Rubio kid's going to be sheltered for a while. Hopefully he'll get more exposure because he seems like the real deal.


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## rainman

PauloCatarino said:


> SLAM sucks.
> 
> They will overhype any guy who can throw a no-look pass/dunk in traffic.
> 
> They suck.


Slam didnt make any of this stuff up, they were actually late to the dance, we were talking about him long before that article. I would agree it is early but what is there not to like, the kid was on the national team at 16. Think he would be hyped if he were a sophomore in highschool in this country? I think he might.


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## Kuskid

I'm not saying the kid's not going to be a great player, he appears to be a phenom in every sense of the word. But read some of that over.


> Ricky passes like Jason Kidd... dribbles like Steve Nash... defends like Gary Payton... wiry strong like Rip Hamilton... scores like Kobe.


I guess I'm skeptical of any comparison that goes this far.


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## mysterio

So the kid has the best attributes of all the best players in the NBA. Move over MJ... he does look pretty impressive though in those clips.


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## CAMERON

Couldn´t quite agree more with Slam,Ricky is by far the biggest young prospect in Europe ,he made his debut for DKV Joventut ( one of the better teams in the ACB League ) with hardly 15 years,playing alongside people like Rudy Fernandez,Elmer Bennett....as he had been playing at the highest level all his life,can score ( as his statistics in the last U-18 European Tournament http://www.fibaeurope-u18men.com/en/Default.asp?cid={0A5D217A-4698-4FA8-B126-60BCC13F0FEC}&teamID=362&compID={2248A846-FA78-40FF-B03C-54B460890F45}&season=2007&roundID=5526&playerID=53827) ,pass,steal,and overall he´s very strong mentally....and all of this ,being only 16 years old¡¡¡he´s got to polish his shooting technic ( one of his few weak points ) to become one of the dominant players in Europe ( he´s bound to NBA for sure ).I´m not sure when he´ll be elegible but if he keeps this progression,in 3/4 years he´ll be ready to jump to the NBA.

Best Regards


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## Wyrm

I hate to see all the talk about Ricky Rubio. In reality, he's nothing but a solid player
overhyped by spanish (and some international) media. I reality, he has an average shot if not worse,
no real vertical, average speed (in NBA terms), average athleticism (NBA terms) and average defense (NBA terms). 
Will he get much better? I doubt it very much. Everybody's talking about his 52 point performance at U-16 championships, but
it's nothing unusual: for example, Turk Ibrahim Kutlay scored 53 at the same age. He is nothing but a solid player now. 
Ricky Rubio NBA future? IMO, Doug Christy, there's realy nothing more to him. If Doug lived in Spain age 14-18, 
he would enjoy all this hype as well. 
Pete Maravich and Drazen Petrovic comparisons? Please, give me a break. Pete was a genius, and Drazen worked out 8 hours a day every day. 
Don't even mention this guy anymore. Watch him fade away in years to come. In this year's U-18 championships, his avergae was
already down considerably, this all with selfish stat-pumping kind of play that got his team nowhere. There were at least two players
in the championships (Koufos and Macvan) clearly way better then Rubio even at this stage. And they can only develop, while his upside
is very limited, IMO. 
STOP THE RUBIO HYPE!!!


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## rainman

Wyrm said:


> I hate to see all the talk about Ricky Rubio. In reality, he's nothing but a solid player
> overhyped by spanish (and some international) media. I reality, he has an average shot if not worse,
> no real vertical, average speed (in NBA terms), average athleticism (NBA terms) and average defense (NBA terms).
> Will he get much better? I doubt it very much. Everybody's talking about his 52 point performance at U-16 championships, but
> it's nothing unusual: for example, Turk Ibrahim Kutlay scored 53 at the same age. He is nothing but a solid player now.
> Ricky Rubio NBA future? IMO, Doug Christy, there's realy nothing more to him. If Doug lived in Spain age 14-18,
> he would enjoy all this hype as well.
> Pete Maravich and Drazen Petrovic comparisons? Please, give me a break. Pete was a genius, and Drazen worked out 8 hours a day every day.
> Don't even mention this guy anymore. Watch him fade away in years to come. In this year's U-18 championships, his avergae was
> already down considerably, this all with selfish stat-pumping kind of play that got his team nowhere. There were at least two players
> in the championships (Koufos and Macvan) clearly way better then Rubio even at this stage. And they can only develop, while his upside
> is very limited, IMO.
> STOP THE RUBIO HYPE!!!


It's going to be pretty hard to control the hype seeing as he's projected by some as the top pick in the 09 draft. Thanks to the internet there is a ton of video on this guy and i have to disagree with just about everything you have posted about him. At 16 he is probably better than a lot of NBA guards right now. Best 16 year old under 7ft that i've ever seen.


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## King Sancho Fantastic

hahaha. They were calling Sasha Vujacic the euro Kobe before he came into the league...


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## rainman

CubanLaker said:


> hahaha. They were calling Sasha Vujacic the euro Kobe before he came into the league...


You think Vujacic compares to Ricky Rubio? you need to get your eyes checked.


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## Wyrm

Rubio is all hype and selfish. Bottom line. Best for him if he stays in Spain; if he ever goest to the NBA,
he would get eaten alive. What Euro point guards have made it in the NBA? None. Take a look at Iasikevicius (best PG in Europe before he left),or 
Sasha Djordjevic (one of legendary euro-guards). The funniest thing I heard about Rubio (yeah, besides this Kidd/Kobe/Jordan etc. thing)
is that someone compared him to Drazen Petrovic. Please, don't do that, ever. 
Rubio is nothing but a selfish, overhyped kid at this moment. I know all of Spain wants him to be the next Gasol, but forget it! 
We all saw Rubio at the U-18 championship, and what we all saw tells just one story: forget about Rubio!


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## CAMERON

Wyrm said:


> Rubio is all hype and selfish. Bottom line. Best for him if he stays in Spain; if he ever goest to the NBA,
> he would get eaten alive. What Euro point guards have made it in the NBA? None. Take a look at Iasikevicius (best PG in Europe before he left),or
> Sasha Djordjevic (one of legendary euro-guards). The funniest thing I heard about Rubio (yeah, besides this Kidd/Kobe/Jordan etc. thing)
> is that someone compared him to Drazen Petrovic. Please, don't do that, ever.
> Rubio is nothing but a selfish, overhyped kid at this moment. I know all of Spain wants him to be the next Gasol, but forget it!
> We all saw Rubio at the U-18 championship, and what we all saw tells just one story: forget about Rubio!


First of all we don´t want Rubio to be the next Gasol,Navarro or Rudy Fernandez cause they´re completely different players,Rubio is a unique player that I think will mark an era in european basketball ( time´ll tell ) .Second I don´t think that comparaisons with Petrovic aren´t fair for both players ( I don´t think that they have so much in common,first of all Rubio is a extraordinary deffensive player and Petrovic wasn´t until he arrived in the NBA ) ,remember that Rubio made his debut at the age of only 15 years in one of the top sides of one of the top european leagues under the coaching of one of the most susccesfull managers of all times ( Aito Garcia Reneses ),he´s leaded the European League steal statistics ( no one has ever leaded one European statistic with that age ) ....although this doesn´t mean that he´s headed surely for stardom ( nothing is for sure ) ,he´s got what it takes to be one of the greatest ( and as I´ve said before he´s got many things to improve as well,included his shooting ) 

Regarding the U-18 ....if you don´t find an average of 19.1 ppg,5 rpg and 4.8 aspg ( not to forget the 4.0 steals per game ) impressive you don´t know a thing about basketball .. ( all of this with only 27.9 min ppg while players like Koufos and Macavan have played far more than 30 minumtes per game ) .

Best Regards

Pd:by the way...¿Macvan better than Rubio?you´re kidding¡¡¡I want to see how Macvan will do in proffesionals ,right now he´s doing his mark at U-18 thanks to his phisical supperiority ( although he´s a little bit overweighted ),but I´d like to see how he´ll do when facing players with same or supperior strength ,remember that so called "Baby Shaq" taht used to abuse his rivals at junior levels....the good one from Serbia was Stojacic.


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## Wyrm

Rubio is selfish, big way. And it is widely known he goes for the steal way too often, 
leaving his man open if he doesn't make it. In Serbia-Spain game those weakneses were too obvious...
Also, I would realy like to know what his teammates make of him. I don't think he's the most popular player in the world, you know.
As for Gasol, Navarro and Garbajosa comparison, they were always a team. Gasol was always a team first player, and that's
just why he's great. Rubio? Just a selfish kid who dominated competition in U-16. Why didn't he dominate the U-18? And yeah, 
Macvan and Koufos are definitely better prospects. Macvan's physique is questionable, I agree, only God know what's gonna happen with that.


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## CAMERON

Wyrm said:


> Rubio is selfish, big way. And it is widely known he goes for the steal way too often,
> leaving his man open if he doesn't make it. In Serbia-Spain game those weakneses were too obvious...
> Also, I would realy like to know what his teammates make of him. I don't think he's the most popular player in the world, you know.
> As for Gasol, Navarro and Garbajosa comparison, they were always a team. Gasol was always a team first player, and that's
> just why he's great. Rubio? Just a selfish kid who dominated competition in U-16. Why didn't he dominate the U-18? And yeah,
> Macvan and Koufos are definitely better prospects. Macvan's physique is questionable, I agree, only God know what's gonna happen with that.



Well ,calling selfish someone who averages 5 assists per game could be a little bit daring...so Rubio with an average of 11 shots per game is a selfish player and Macvan and Koufos with an average of 15 and 21 aren,t ( try to find Serbia´s and Greece´s next top scorers after Macvan and Koufos,as we say in Spain they shoot even their shoes )?.Is he too impulsive and tries to steal the ball when he shouldn´t?could be the case, but that are the kind of mistakes a youngster is supposed to commit ( Aito will work hard on that aspect this year ) and are easily solved with tactical work and commitment..on the contrary talent is something you can´t obtain just by training.

Best Regards


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## Wyrm

Very few players dominate at the U-16 level and then carry on to the senior level. If someone ruins Rubio's career, 
it will be all this unnecesarry hype and sensational journalists. I mean, c'mon, he realy hasn't done anything yet, and
they are already comparing him to Kidd, Petrovic and who else not!?! This is positively the surest way to ruin a young player! 
Remember Ibrahim Kutlay? He scored 53 pts at U-16 Euro's, and Turkish media was like "he's a Jordan". Well, he wasn't then, and he certainly isn't now. 
What about Mladen Sekularac, Montenegrian? He was scoring 30 points age 17 against Red Star and Partizan at Serbian championship, and where is he now?
Take it slow with Rubio, for his own sake. 
But I think he's already lost.


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## UD40

Bump.

Two days till the draft, just remembered I made this thread about two years ago.


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