I know you've indicated you are impressed with Kobe so far this year (who wouldn't be?), but do you think he can possibly hold up until the playoffs? He's more prone to injury as he ages and as the season drags on, it starts to show. To make matters worse, there won't be many days off this year with the compacted season. I'm thinking the nicks and bruises will take its toll.

Kobe is like a bionic android, he may have a torn wrist ligament and no cartilage in his knees but he'll keep on coming until you throw him into a pool of magma like the end of Terminator 2.

 

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My Wizards finally won a game!

Granted, they only beat Toronto, so it's not like the beat a pro team, but still.

 

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Oh, those poor D.C. fans. Wizards keep letting them down.

Wizards@Bulls tonight. D.Rose is gonna make John Wall call him daddy, like he always does

 

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Having watched a good number of Wizards home games since Wall was drafted, I have to say I'm not impressed. I can't figure out if he's supposed to be a slash and kick point guard or a shoot first point guard... he's certainly not a pass-first point guard. Wall struggles to get the shots he wants and at times doesn't know where the easy pass is.

Of course, if he developed in a different system than the horrible Wizards franchise, maybe he would be working on a different skill set.

I will say, the story of the season has been how quickly Ricky Rubio has come in and taken over the games he's in. Every time he's on the court, it just gets easier to score. Last five games he's averaging nearly 10 assists, with a 12 and 14 assist game, in under 30 minutes played. Easiest ROY campaign ever.

 

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Ricky Rubio is amazing but it's hard to call him a rookie. Hasn't he spent years and years playing against men (not boys) in the Euro league? he was on Real Madrid and Team Spain IIRC, and those are some of the best teams in Europe and the best competition in the basketball world outside the NBA. I've watched Rubio play in Spain a few times and nothing he's doing right now surprises me, I knew he'd be a beast.

As for Wall, yeah...I'm unimpressed with him as well. He had a lot of hype being a #1 pick but has never been a good shooter and hasn't shown any determination or work ethic to get better in that department. He's surrounded by a bunch of knuckleheads in a bad franchise but he himself has not really taken the initiative to show much leadership or will to win.

 

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I've seen a lot of guys come from Europe, and very few of taken to it the way Rubio has. It's hard to compare European ball to the NBA, hell even high level NCAA play is more athletic and closer to the NBA style. What's unique about Rubio is that he struggled in the Euro leagues because there weren't enough athletic guys that could play at his pace. In short, coming from anywhere in the world to the NBA and playing at the level Ricky is playing at is downright amazing, and worthy of ROY accolades.

EDIT: Hell, this guy had a lockout shortened practice schedule, no time to really mesh with teammates, started coming off the bench, and already has 4 10+ point 10+ assists games, more than anyone in the NBA.

 

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I actually remember Rubio struggling to score last year in Europe, but as far as passing goes, he's always been an amazing passer. I mean I haven't seen passing like that since Steve Nash or maybe Chris Paul. Rubio seems to be an adept shooter in the NBA as well, he's just so unpredictable. Guys play him for the pass then he dribble drives and finishes at the rim. Guys sag off him at the top of the key so he buries a 3. The book isn't out on Rubio yet and it'll be interesting to see what he looks like a year from now. It's only been 10 games but he's putting up crazy stats. 47% from 3 with an APER of 19. Those kinds of numbers are worthy of a #1 pick in his rookie year in most NBA drafts. Rubio needs to start already and I'd be very interested to see him look for his shot some more. He's converting efficiently at the rim and at long range but he's taken next to ZERO mid range shots so far.

 

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I'm not too impressed with Ricky Rubio just yet. I think it's because the first time I saw him play they had ordained him the Spanish Pistol Pete. You can't just declare someone a legend like that, and it didn't sit well with me. And to make matters worse, he was throwing the ball away with bad passes that game so I was left with a "Pistol Pete you say? Huh. Hardly." I haven't seen him play since then, but it sounds like he's playing a lot better than he did that night. Still along way to go before you can call him Pistol Rubio.

More Rubio fun: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/35381/the-dirty-secret-about-ricky-rubio

Henry Abbot argues that statistically (by advanced metrics), he may be better defensively than offensively. He's averaging a couple steals a game as is (since they increased his minutes), and his teams defensive +/- is significantly better when he's on the court.

 

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