Rubio's defense

[revprodeji]

We know he was second place in the defensive player award.

Why does it seem that the opinion on Rubio's defense is either that he will be a very effective defender, or a liability?

What do you think about Rubio's defensive potential? Why do you think some people see him as a poor defender?


My thoughts?

-Great wingspan, quick reflexes, crazy-crazy high BBIQ and dedication means a quality defender.
-I hate to say it but I think people see a long haired euro kid and assume he is a bad defender. Perhaps racism?

[PeeDee]

I think people don't think he's athletic enough to have his defense translate to the NBA.

[revprodeji]

What are they basing that on?

[PeeDee]

Watching him.

[revprodeji]

While drunk? Or perhaps dial-up online games so everything looks slow?

[lobishome]

-Great wingspan, quick reflexes, crazy-crazy high BBIQ and dedication means a quality defender.

I agree, but I think the most powerful strenght of Rubio is his mental quickness, like the best sportmen of every sport. His brain has one more gear than the other players, on defense and on offense.

[revprodeji]

That is what crazy-crazy bbiq means. (BBIQ= Basketball IQ)

[lobishome]

That is what crazy-crazy bbiq means. (BBIQ= Basketball IQ)

I'm not talking about basketball, I say that he can see more things in a second that other players, and he can see things in a hundredth of a second and the other players can't it. He could be a good sportman in many disciplines.

[lobishome]

While drunk?

[PeeDee]

I don't what people watch or even if they really watch anything at all. All I know is what they say. I'm of the opinion that if he keeps improving his shot, he'll be a pretty complete player. He may not be in contention for NBA defensive player of the year, but I think he'll be solid there.

[Three34]

He's big and he gives forth plenty of effort on that end. He'll be fine. Quick opposing point guards will be able to get around him, but quick opposing point guards can get around anyone. At least Rubio can counter with size. You're right, his supposed defensive weakness at the NBA level is overblown.

[Italia Raps Fan]

First, you have to totally ignore the Euroleague Defender of the Year award. Diamantidis won it 5 times in a row and he's not even the best defending wing in Greece, as Pelekanos and Vasilopoulos are better defenders than he is.

That award is pretty much useless. Khryapa is a very, very good defender and he won it, and Diamantidis is a very, very good defender, but they are not the absolute best in Europe and they are not guys that should be winning such awards.

Rubio's finishing second in that award is totally meaningless to me because the award is simply not legit. It's never been legit and it's always a huge controversy every single time the award is given out. There is not a chance in hell that Rubio is the 2nd best defender in Europe. Absolutely zero.

Rubio is a good team defender and he is good at playing the passing lanes, and he is excellent at pressing on the ball. But his man defense in the half court against quick point guards is very poor. Any quick point guard can blow by him with complete ease.

Excellent at pressing the ball, good team defender, good at playing the passing lanes, poor man defender against quick point guards, too small, too short, too weak to guard shooting guards. Absolutely not close to being the second best defender in Europe. He's not even the best defender on his own team as guys like Grimau, N' Dong, and Vazquez on his own team are all better defenders than he is.

Overall, he would be considered I think an above average to good defender at the point guard position in the NBA, and too weak, too short, too small to defend at the two guard position.

[shangrila]

While drunk? Or perhaps dial-up online games so everything looks slow?

It's easy to see he's not athletic. But he's got enough foot speed that, when combined with his height and length, he won't be a liability.

[Italia Raps Fan]

While drunk? Or perhaps dial-up online games so everything looks slow?

It's easy to see he's not athletic. But he's got enough foot speed that, when combined with his height and length, he won't be a liability.

He's a good defender overall in the Euroleague or EuroBasket level and he would be I think also in the NBA. But as I said it's not for his man defense against quick point guards. Quick European point guards beat him off the dribble with pretty much relative ease and have no problem getting into the lane against him.

Rubio just does not have very good lateral foot speed (although he is very quick and fast with the ball) and his wingspan is overstated because it does not help that much against guys that are quicker than you on the perimeter. Where Rubio does good on defense is that he's a good and smart team defender and he really knows how to pressure the ball handler. He's also got a knack for getting steals in the passing lanes.

It seems that most NBA fans think he is some great man defender which simply is not true. He's more like a Chris Paul type that can press the ball, get steals, and play good team defense, but that has bad man defense. He's not what most NBA fans seem to think he is, which seems to be they think he is a great man defender like a Gary Payton or Jason Kidd.

Like in Spain for example, Pablo Prigioni, Rubio, Sergio Llull are all considered "good defenders" at the point guard position. Well, Prigioni is an great man defender, while Rubio and Llull are not. Llull is actually a terrible man defender. But they are good at team defense, pressing the ball (especially Rubio) and at getting in the passing lanes. So they get the rep and label of being good defenders.

But it's not for man defense. There's a big, big difference between the man defense Prigioni plays and the man defense Rubio plays.

[Breakdown777]

When watching him in the Olympics, what stood out to me most was his ability to defensively "fit in" with opposing NBA players at only what, 17 years old? He wasn't great, but he didn't look like he didn't belong, at 17, against chris paul and deron williams.

I don't think he'll be incredible, but he's smart enough to get by just fine. I think that with his length and IQ, he'll be one of those "always in the right place at the right time" sort of guys, on both sides of the floor.

[Foye]

I think his defense will be fine. He'll collect a ton of steals but also get schooled at times.

[Varejao17]

Rubio is a better overall defender than Prigioni IMO...

[dunkonu21]

I think the only worry with Rubio is his lateral quickness. If that isn't up to par then he may have trouble guarding some PGs, but I think he will be able to guard 80% of them even if he isn't as quick as we hope.

[brassviews]

Like I said in another thread, if there's one thing that WILL carry over from Europe to the NBA, it's his defense. Even if he doesn't have a polish offensive game, he'll still get his points simply from playing on the defense end.

[Krapinsky]

What Rubio lacks in lateral quickness he makes it up with his incredible anticipation skills. He'll be just fine, actually more than fine.