ALL RUBIO TALK HERE

El_Lobo_3 · Post #641 » by **El_Lobo_3** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:36 pm

there we go! We just need Ricky's email to send him those restaurants and then we can start ordering out Rubio jerseys tomorrow once he finds out!!

john2jer · Post #642 » by **john2jer** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:37 pm

Jennings' name will be in the news quite a bit, and not for the right reasons.

Post #643 » by **revprodeji** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:48 pm

My wife is Sicilian and I just brought back a bunch of fresh fish, so I will take my Mod duty serious and make him some Italian food and some sashimi. They can talk in italian and I can play Guitar hero with him.

Just doing my part.

I do have two younger sisters also. In case rubio has a thing for Irish/Indian girls.

4ho5ive · Post #644 » by **4ho5ive** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:48 pm

Scott Skiles and Jennings is a match made in heaven.

horaceworthy · Post #645 » by **horaceworthy** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:54 pm

It's funny, this board seems like it's always been a magnet for drama queens. We've always had our share of our own (like every board on here), but back during the end of the KG era we attracted all the drama queens and attention whores from the other boards. We got a bit of a break after he was traded, and now the drafting of Rubio has brought them all back.

Rev, TF21, is it time to bring back the lil' bus?

Esohny · Post #646 » by **Esohny** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:55 pm

Mattya wrote:
rfoye4 wrote:Did anyone watch the EA Sports Fan Question interview with Craig Sager? He said that he and his dad love Italian food/pastas so he wants to see if Minnesota has any of that...someone just do a quick research on the best Italian food places in Minnesota and send it to Ricky and I bet he will sign on the dotted line if that is his major concern!

Buca Di Bippo, Bellanotte

Theres a good chance he might like one of those, and bellanotte is right across the street from the target center, talk about convenient

That's almost like telling Tony Parker that he'd love it here because McDonald's serves french fries.

funkatron101 · Post #647 » by **funkatron101** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:57 pm

Esohny wrote:
Mattya wrote:
rfoye4 wrote:Did anyone watch the EA Sports Fan Question interview with Craig Sager? He said that he and his dad love Italian food/pastas so he wants to see if Minnesota has any of that...someone just do a quick research on the best Italian food places in Minnesota and send it to Ricky and I bet he will sign on the dotted line if that is his major concern!

Buca Di Bippo, Bellanotte

Theres a good chance he might like one of those, and bellanotte is right across the street from the target center, talk about convenient

That's almost like telling Tony Parker that he'd love it here because McDonald's serves french fries.

Dude, we should totally give that a shot!

john2jer · Post #648 » by **john2jer** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:05 pm

Maybe we should just target the Norway, Sweden, and Finland National Teams for players?

horaceworthy · Post #649 » by **horaceworthy** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:06 pm

4ho5ive wrote:Scott Skiles and Jennings is a match made in heaven.

Apparently Skiles was pushing for the Bucks to draft Jennings. Jennings also has referred to Skiles as his n***a, which is kinda surreal.

The funny thig is is that Jennings doesn't have as many red flags as Skiles when Skiles was drafted (Skiles was serving time in prison when he learned he'd been drafted, for dealing I think).

It does seem like a really odd match on the surface.

Post #650 » by **revprodeji** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:07 pm

Henk?

btw, the lil bus has snow tires on it. If any real news comes out again I will make a lil bus and a fan page for the rubio talk. But I personally think we are going to hear silence for at least a little while. Coaching news will likely come before any Rubio/Flynn news.

john2jer · Post #651 » by **john2jer** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:09 pm

Henk is a good start.

Rev, any truth to the rumor that Kahn is targeting me as the head coach?

tviper · Post #652 » by **tviper** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:16 pm

FYI, from Kurt on the Forum Blue and Gold (Lakers Blog):

A couple years ago I got to meet and hang out with Xavier, FB&G’s defacto European corrispondent, and at the time he said I needed to see more of this 16 year old named Ricky Rubio. Now, Rubio and his future plans are the talk of the NBA, and Xavier (a professional youth team coach) kindly has provided us a perspective from Spain on the player and everything going on around him.

Since Ricky Rubio said he was planning to enter the 09 NBA draft I’ve been reading plenty of things about him, some of which I do not agree with. I’ve wanted to talk about him since before the playoff started but the Lakers where on the championship run and Rubio was not in team’s plan I decided to postpone this conversation to a better time. I think this time has come.

First of all, on the court basketball. Rubio is not NBA ready. He has incredible talent, feel for the game and has been playing pro since he was 15, 4 years ago. I read somewhere he has zero althletic ability and the PG transition from college to NBA is tough but from FIBA ball to NBA is even harder. Not every PG hits the league as ready as Rose or Paul. His shooting mechanic scares me, a lot; he has to work on it. Of course his shooting is a concern but so was Calderon’s and look at him right now. Ricky is the kind of kid that would hardly make the rookie all-star team but probably be starting with the sophomores a year later. I have no doubt that Ricky is the second best thing of this draft. He won’t save any franchise, nor will Griffin, but in this weak draft those two are the cream of the crop. Minnesota or the team that finally signs him if he makes it to the NBA, will have a gem to work on, but have to understand that his first year will be a transition year, he’s very young and will take a big leap upwards by his second NBA season. In the future I could see him being an above average defensive PG, Nash-like passing skills but not as close as a shooter.

But then there is the off court issue. Things could have been done better, for sure, but the situation is at a point that is impossible to go back.

The buyout issue: Back when he was 15, Ricky signed his first professional contract that settled a high buyout along with a high salary for a 15-year-old boy, which he approved. Joventut is mostly a club that creates players, finds them at 11-12 and teaches them basketball so they can someday play on the senior team (for the record, two Joventud players have been drafted this year in the first round, Rubio and Eyenga, and also Henk Norel in the second round, Rudy Fernández has also been raised in Joventud youth teams). The buyout is like a security for the team that all the money invested in raising the player will not be lost whenever a richer club comes and pays a few bucks for the kid. During 08 summer, Ricky asked the team to reduce the buyout. There were rumors of other top European teams trying to sign Rubio and Joventut offered him to lower by the half his NBA buyout by doubling the money an European team should pay. Rubio didn’t accept that saying he was planning to complete the whole contract with the team. A year later, he denounced the team that has created him for not lowering the buyout to let him play in the NBA. His agent says that his salary is too cheap compared with the high buyout. Usually, it’s the new team that pays the buyout or a compensation agreed with the club, but as the NBA do not allow teams to pay it, the player has to clear that issue. A friendly agreement was arranged last year with Rudy Fernández but after this public denouncing a friendly ending seems almost impossible.

Being the 5th selection: That was really a kick in his balls. If Minnesota jumped on the 2nd pick and drafted him there would be no problem (unless the second was Memphis where he wanted nothing to do with them, his feelings are that Mayo is Memphis PG of the future plus other Spaniards with similar winning mentality as him having trouble there). Don’t make any issue about the “Minnesota is cold” thing. He also said about OKC that his best friend lives nearby. As I read that I talked to that friend. After the conversation I had the impression that the answers where just that, quick answers. The important thing here is the money. Being a 2nd or 3rd pick guaranteed him an easy buyout payment in the case a friendly arrangement wasn’t possible. The 4th pick had more problems but he liked the situation for him (few pressure, nice weather and still an interesting contract) but then Sacramento took Evans and Sota just drafted the PG they wanted right after him. That doesn’t give him confidence. How would you feel if you had to pay to take a job and your new company just hired someone to do the same exact thing as you? With his contract set by the 5th pick, his chances of paying the buyout and still make some money rely on playing on a big city team where he could sign for bigger sponsor endorsements. But the reason the Kings or the Thunder didn’t select him is Dan Fegan. Rubio did few workouts because of his agent. A big buyout from Spain and no possibility to really test the kid against other players is what kept the Kings perfect fit away from him. His aggressiveness and bad ways were well reported as happened with Yi. When I found out that Rubio signed with Fegan my first thought was “Oooh god, that’s gonna be ugly”.

The future: in coming days we’ll know what the judge say about the buyout issue. That will determine how hard will it be to be free from Joventut. Coming back to his longtime club seems unlikely as team president said, “asking a judge to take part opens a wound which remains open” so he’ll probably be looking for another Euro team (Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Unicaja Malaga are considered frontrunners) or signing with the Wolves or the NBA team that hold his rights.

I’m a Joventut season ticket holder, I coach for the youth program that developed Ricky before he went to Joventut. I’ve seen a lot of this kid and he deserves being in the NBA. I fully understand that he doesn’t want to go to a losing team or a team he feels he don’t fit if he has to pay for it and I really wish him the best, but I’m not happy with how the things have evolved. Both Spanish and American agents have done a bad job and the kid is paying for it.

—Xavier

http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2009/06/30/thoughts-on-ricky-rubio/

Pretty much sums up what has already been said, but perspective from someone more familiar with Ricky and the process...

Post #653 » by **BrooklynBulls** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:32 pm

So the thing really is mostly about money. See, you guys shouldn't have fired McHale. If he were still GM, this business would be solved and you'd have Rubio next year.

But you may have to forfeit your next 5 first rounders...

Esohny · Post #654 » by **Esohny** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:35 pm

BrooklynBulls wrote:So the thing really is mostly about money. See, you guys shouldn't have fired McHale. If he were still GM, this business would be solved and you'd have Rubio next year.

But you may have to forfeit your next 5 first rounders...

Did you really have to throw McHale at us? Not cool dude.

mefromthefuture · Post #655 » by **mefromthefuture** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:37 pm

BrooklynBulls wrote:So the thing really is mostly about money. See, you guys shouldn't have fired McHale. If he were still GM, this business would be solved and you'd have Rubio next year.

But you may have to forfeit your next 5 first rounders...

I don't know Taylor did it last time and McHale took the blame.

4ho5ive · Post #656 » by **4ho5ive** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:41 pm

Fall on the sword Kahn.

Post #657 » by **revprodeji** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:48 pm

what do u mean 4ho?

B Calrissian · Post #658 » by **B Calrissian** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:01 pm

BrooklynBulls wrote:
B Calrissian wrote:Not a Wolves fan? Taste the concrete.

GOODBYE FOREVER

Ok I guess there is a vip list. You are on it, along with NO-KG-AI and vc4pres.

Post #659 » by **C.lupus** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:14 pm

With his contract set by the 5th pick, his chances of paying the buyout and still make some money rely on playing on a big city team where he could sign for bigger sponsor endorsements. But the reason the Kings or the Thunder didn’t select him is Dan Fegan.

Not sure if this was intended to read this way but this author seems to be insinuating that Sacramento and OKC are bigger cities than Mpls/St. Paul. This is completely false. There is absolutely no reason why Rubio can't get some large endorsement deals to live on while playing for Minnesota. NO REASON.

EddieJonesFan · Post #660 » by **EddieJonesFan** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:19 pm

C.lupus wrote:
With his contract set by the 5th pick, his chances of paying the buyout and still make some money rely on playing on a big city team where he could sign for bigger sponsor endorsements. But the reason the Kings or the Thunder didn’t select him is Dan Fegan.

Not sure if this was intended to read this way but this author seems to be insinuating that Sacramento and OKC are bigger cities than Mpls/St. Paul. This is completely false. There is absolutely no reason why Rubio can't get some large endorsement deals to live on while playing for Minnesota. NO REASON.

Personally, that's not how I interpreted it.