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[Revived]

It wasnt too long ago (Like last week) that some people were saying, "Screw CP3, we would have better off sticking with Rubio!".

What's Going on With Ricky Rubio? https://zonecoverage.com/2021/timberwolves/whats-going-on-with-ricky-rubio/

Come on man are you serious right now? Rubio in Monty Williams system was amazing and he had fit like a glove with the rest of our guys. Even Ayton looked far more comfortable with Rubio than CP3

He’s in a mess in Minnesota. If you put Chris Paul in Minnesota with a half a dozen other ball handlers like Russell, Beasley, Okogie etc and just Towns then he would look just as lost.

Rubio’s #s with the Suns last season are about the same as CP3’s #s this season and yet Rubio costs like 3x times less in salary. A way better fit chemistry wise as well. Forget what people here said last week, I’ll say it now that if we swapped Rubio for CP3 we’d be a better team with the former. And as you can see with the responses afterwards, I’m far from the only one to think that as well.

Players on the Suns know how much Rubio did to help change the loser culture in Phoenix and they all thanked him significantly (not the usual PR bs) after the trade. Rubio helped Booker develop into an All Star player while Booker has looked like a rich man’s Shannon Brown under CP3 this season.

And oh yeah, Rubio led us to a better record through the first month of the season (even without Ayton) than Chris Paul has with a stacked roster.

Like others have already mentioned, we did Rubio dirty. Similar to Dragic back in 2015 when we signed and drafted more PGs after he put together an All NBA season and led us to our first season with winning record in like 6 years.

[King4Day]

Something i was thinking about is, if Booker doesn't improve his play, he may not be an all-star this year. This would be a crazy year for him to miss getting an all-star nod

[Bogyo]

Something i was thinking about is, if Booker doesn't improve his play, he may not be an all-star this year. This would be a crazy year for him to miss getting an all-star nod

Could happen. However, narrative (team success) will be with him, unlike the previous years. In some ESPN poll (or some casual ish like that) he was recently in top25 players this year. While we know he might not even be top50 so far this year. (But we also know that he will be back with a vengance )

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Something i was thinking about is, if Booker doesn't improve his play, he may not be an all-star this year. This would be a crazy year for him to miss getting an all-star nod

Could happen. However, narrative (team success) will be with him, unlike the previous years. In some ESPN poll (or some casual ish like that) he was recently in top25 players this year. While we know he might not even be top50 so far this year. (But we also know that he will be back with a vengance )

I've been, like, the biggest anti-Booker Suns fan for years. In that time, I've learned not to bet against him. He'll need to improve his play dramatically to make the AS team. But if he does that, we'll be... what, a top 5 team?

It would be strange to have one of the best records in the west and no all-stars, but if Booker's play doesn't qualify for a spot, who on our team does?

Book ain't the only one struggling. Cam J's had a hard time with his shot. Paul is rounding into game shape. Bridges and Ayton have been our best players overall (though if you're using a per-minute metric you might prefer either Cam or maybe even Langston or Saric... wow, that's like our whole bench).

Paul's steadying influence has been evident. It would be nice to have an intact bench, but other teams have been missing starters, so I hate to mention injuries. At least covid hasn't bitten any of our main guys.

There's so much season left. This squad will look very different by the time playoffs come around, for better or worse (don't @ me, Achilles!).

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Like others have already mentioned, we did Rubio dirty. Similar to Dragic back in 2015 when we signed and drafted more PGs after he put together an All NBA season and led us to our first season with winning record in like 6 years.

I won't agree with the rest, but it does suck that we outright sacrificed him, after he was IMO our best player last season. He gave us his best season.

He's having a down year right now, but he'll be back... maybe he'll even be back on our roster down the line. I'm sure everyone in the FO and on the squad would say they love him and would encourage any friendly rival organization to offer a good contract. So... we maybe did him a little dirty, but not that dirty.

Dragic was forced out and sold for draft picks after he turned into Paul Westphal for us on the cheap. McD was an asshat for not singing his praises every day before and after his departure. He even had the gall to claim on the day of his disastrous trade-splosion that Goran was not as good as the player he was bringing in to replace him, Brandon ("Baby Steph") Knight, who was immediately exposed as a dud. Talk about your sunk costs! It still hurts... James Jones hasn't done anything but sing Ricky's praises, from what I have seen and heard. I don't see any bad words or blood anywhere, just respect all around, and sadness that it had to be how it is.

This sitch with Rubio ain't the same. Everyone knows the NBA is a business. Sucks for him, but, like, not that bad. $17 million per comes with some strings attached - surprise, surprise.

... But you know, I must say it. Goran would be out there kickin' ass for the Wolves rn. And that's the truth. And not only is Ricky not Dragic, but Chris Paul ain't no Brandon Knight. So upon full examination the two situations aren't really that similar at all.

[Revived]

Like others have already mentioned, we did Rubio dirty. Similar to Dragic back in 2015 when we signed and drafted more PGs after he put together an All NBA season and led us to our first season with winning record in like 6 years.

I won't agree with the rest, but it does suck that we outright sacrificed him, after he was IMO our best player last season. He gave us his best season.

He's having a down year right now, but he'll be back... maybe he'll even be back on our roster down the line. I'm sure everyone in the FO and on the squad would say they love him and would encourage any friendly rival organization to offer a good contract. So... we maybe did him a little dirty, but not that dirty.

Dragic was forced out and sold for draft picks after he turned into Paul Westphal for us on the cheap. McD was an asshat for not singing his praises every day before and after his departure. He even had the gall to claim on the day of his disastrous trade-splosion that Goran was not as good as the player he was bringing in to replace him, Brandon ("Baby Steph") Knight, who was immediately exposed as a dud. Talk about your sunk costs! It still hurts... James Jones hasn't done anything but sing Ricky's praises, from what I have seen and heard. I don't see any bad words or blood anywhere, just respect all around, and sadness that it had to be how it is.

This sitch with Rubio ain't the same. Everyone knows the NBA is a business. Sucks for him, but, like, not that bad. $17 million per comes with some strings attached - surprise, surprise.

... But you know, I must say it. Goran would be out there kickin' ass for the Wolves rn. And that's the truth. And not only is Ricky not Dragic, but Chris Paul ain't no Brandon Knight. So upon full examination the two situations aren't really that similar at all.

Read my post again, I never mentioned the Dragic trade. I said they did him dirty with what they did BEFORE Dragic got pissed off and requested a trade.

The Wolves have too many cooks in the kitchen and a HC that doesn’t have control of it in Ryan Saunders.

Rubio didn’t suddenly go from being a very good PG in Utah and Phoenix to being garbage.

Situations matter. Minnesota is a mess and no, Dragic would have the same issue he had in Phoenix where he was competing for ball handling duties with Bledsoe and IT on the court in weird 3 PG lineups. It’d be worse in Minnesota.

[Wilber85]

Can who cares be an option for the poll? Not trying to reminisce about ex girlfriends.

[Saberestar]

It wasnt too long ago (Like last week) that some people were saying, "Screw CP3, we would have better off sticking with Rubio!".

What's Going on With Ricky Rubio? https://zonecoverage.com/2021/timberwolves/whats-going-on-with-ricky-rubio/

Come on man are you serious right now? Rubio in Monty Williams system was amazing and he had fit like a glove with the rest of our guys. Even Ayton looked far more comfortable with Rubio than CP3

He’s in a mess in Minnesota. If you put Chris Paul in Minnesota with a half a dozen other ball handlers like Russell, Beasley, Okogie etc and just Towns then he would look just as lost.

Rubio’s #s with the Suns last season are about the same as CP3’s #s this season and yet Rubio costs like 3x times less in salary. A way better fit chemistry wise as well. Forget what people here said last week, I’ll say it now that if we swapped Rubio for CP3 we’d be a better team with the former. And as you can see with the responses afterwards, I’m far from the only one to think that as well.

Players on the Suns know how much Rubio did to help change the loser culture in Phoenix and they all thanked him significantly (not the usual PR bs) after the trade. Rubio helped Booker develop into an All Star player while Booker has looked like a rich man’s Shannon Brown under CP3 this season.

And oh yeah, Rubio led us to a better record through the first month of the season (even without Ayton) than Chris Paul has with a stacked roster.

Like others have already mentioned, we did Rubio dirty. Similar to Dragic back in 2015 when we signed and drafted more PGs after he put together an All NBA season and led us to our first season with winning record in like 6 years.

What a coincidence that CP3 was a much better player than Rubio last year (CP3 on the Thunder and Rubio on the Suns) and this season CP3 is playing much better than Rubio again (CP3 on the Suns and Rubio on the Wolves).

And well...basically CP3 has been better and makes his teams better than Rubio's teams every single season. I just don't understand why people are thinking that we would have been as good as we are now (4th in the West) with Rubio because we don't have any evidence of that.

Rubio is not in a good physical condition and he is playing strictly bad in a 6th man role for the Wolves...those are facts.

[bigfoot]

It wasnt too long ago (Like last week) that some people were saying, "Screw CP3, we would have better off sticking with Rubio!".

What's Going on With Ricky Rubio? https://zonecoverage.com/2021/timberwolves/whats-going-on-with-ricky-rubio/

Come on man are you serious right now? Rubio in Monty Williams system was amazing and he had fit like a glove with the rest of our guys. Even Ayton looked far more comfortable with Rubio than CP3

He’s in a mess in Minnesota. If you put Chris Paul in Minnesota with a half a dozen other ball handlers like Russell, Beasley, Okogie etc and just Towns then he would look just as lost.

Rubio’s #s with the Suns last season are about the same as CP3’s #s this season and yet Rubio costs like 3x times less in salary. A way better fit chemistry wise as well. Forget what people here said last week, I’ll say it now that if we swapped Rubio for CP3 we’d be a better team with the former. And as you can see with the responses afterwards, I’m far from the only one to think that as well.

Players on the Suns know how much Rubio did to help change the loser culture in Phoenix and they all thanked him significantly (not the usual PR bs) after the trade. Rubio helped Booker develop into an All Star player while Booker has looked like a rich man’s Shannon Brown under CP3 this season.

And oh yeah, Rubio led us to a better record through the first month of the season (even without Ayton) than Chris Paul has with a stacked roster.

Like others have already mentioned, we did Rubio dirty. Similar to Dragic back in 2015 when we signed and drafted more PGs after he put together an All NBA season and led us to our first season with winning record in like 6 years.

What a coincidence that CP3 was a much better player than Rubio last year (CP3 on the Thunder and Rubio on the Suns) and this season CP3 is playing much better than Rubio again (CP3 on the Suns and Rubio on the Wolves).

And well...basically CP3 has been better and makes his teams better than Rubio's teams every single season. I just don't understand why people are thinking that we would have been as good as we are now (4th in the West) with Rubio because we don't have any evidence of that.

Rubio is not in a good physical condition and he is playing strictly bad in a 6th man role for the Wolves...those are facts.

100% ... There is no doubt CP3 is significantly better than Rubio and I loved Rubio on the team. As far as Booker playing worse with Paul that is a two-edged sword. While his offensive game isn't clicking as well, Book is much more engaged as a defender. I give a lot of that credit to Paul.

[bwgood77]

Something i was thinking about is, if Booker doesn't improve his play, he may not be an all-star this year. This would be a crazy year for him to miss getting an all-star nod

Oh, as of right now, he's not even close, even with Harden moving east and all. At this point I'd be pretty surprised if he made it.

[SunsRback4Good]

Something i was thinking about is, if Booker doesn't improve his play, he may not be an all-star this year. This would be a crazy year for him to miss getting an all-star nod

Oh, as of right now, he's not even close, even with Harden moving east and all. At this point I'd be pretty surprised if he made it.

What would he need to do to get an all star nod? Right now he is averaging 22/4/3 on 46.8% fg. Maybe add an extra 3 points to his scoring total and an extra rebound or assist as well?

[bwgood77]

Something i was thinking about is, if Booker doesn't improve his play, he may not be an all-star this year. This would be a crazy year for him to miss getting an all-star nod

Oh, as of right now, he's not even close, even with Harden moving east and all. At this point I'd be pretty surprised if he made it.

What would he need to do to get an all star nod? Right now he is averaging 22/4/3 on 46.8% fg. Maybe add an extra 3 points to his scoring total and an extra rebound or assist as well?

For starters, get his assists above his turnovers. I'd have to think about other players though. It's good that Klay is out again for his chances as well as Harden and KD moving to the east. Also, Paul made it last year and probably won't this year...though you never know about coaches and media...if we are a lot better simply after adding CP3, many might attribute it to that. A lot of people here think adding him makes us so much better...so if they were just taking one player from our team because our record is really good (if it still is), it could be Paul.

It also depends on the media and coaches and what they think of him compared to others like Mitchell, Ja, etc. I don't know if CJ McCollum would get picked but he probably has all star numbers right now, with like 27/5/4 with a 5/1 ast/to ratio and shooting over 44% from 3 and a 62% TS%.

Now people won't just look at numbers, but if you did, like you are trying to do, CJ would almost certainly make it if he keeps that up.

[bigfoot]

Oh, as of right now, he's not even close, even with Harden moving east and all. At this point I'd be pretty surprised if he made it.

What would he need to do to get an all star nod? Right now he is averaging 22/4/3 on 46.8% fg. Maybe add an extra 3 points to his scoring total and an extra rebound or assist as well?

For starters, get his assists above his turnovers. I'd have to think about other players though. It's good that Klay is out again for his chances as well as Harden and KD moving to the east. Also, Paul made it last year and probably won't this year...though you never know about coaches and media...if we are a lot better simply after adding CP3, many might attribute it to that. A lot of people here think adding him makes us so much better...so if they were just taking one player from our team because our record is really good (if it still is), it could be Paul.

It also depends on the media and coaches and what they think of him compared to others like Mitchell, Ja, etc. I don't know if CJ McCollum would get picked but he probably has all star numbers right now, with like 27/5/4 with a 5/1 ast/to ratio and shooting over 44% from 3 and a 62% TS%.

Now people won't just look at numbers, but if you did, like you are trying to do, CJ would almost certainly make it if he keeps that up.

Winning solves the problem ... if the Suns have a top 4 record in the West then one or two players are bound to make the team.

[bwgood77]

What would he need to do to get an all star nod? Right now he is averaging 22/4/3 on 46.8% fg. Maybe add an extra 3 points to his scoring total and an extra rebound or assist as well?

For starters, get his assists above his turnovers. I'd have to think about other players though. It's good that Klay is out again for his chances as well as Harden and KD moving to the east. Also, Paul made it last year and probably won't this year...though you never know about coaches and media...if we are a lot better simply after adding CP3, many might attribute it to that. A lot of people here think adding him makes us so much better...so if they were just taking one player from our team because our record is really good (if it still is), it could be Paul.

It also depends on the media and coaches and what they think of him compared to others like Mitchell, Ja, etc. I don't know if CJ McCollum would get picked but he probably has all star numbers right now, with like 27/5/4 with a 5/1 ast/to ratio and shooting over 44% from 3 and a 62% TS%.

Now people won't just look at numbers, but if you did, like you are trying to do, CJ would almost certainly make it if he keeps that up.

Winning solves the problem ... if the Suns have a top 4 record in the West then one or two players are bound to make the team.

Maybe if one is deserving. However, I forgot that Westbrook made it last year and that Mitchell already made it..was thinking he would compete for a new spot. Given no Westbrook, Harden, KD or Klay that should help. Especially if Wall and Oladipo don't make it because the Rockets are bad and Zion and Ingram don't make it because the Pelicans are bad.

[Qwigglez]

As much as I love Rubio, it's not about the season, it's when the playoffs starts where we'll really need CP3. We will need someone else in crunch time who can score the ball besides Booker. I can only envision if we kept Rubio and it came down to the last 4 minutes of the game, defenders would stick closely to their man (similar to what the Spurs did to the Nash-led Suns) and try to turn Rubio into a scorer. The growing pains of the season are real, but we are already seeing a difference in the gameplan where we are trying to utilize Ayton more offensively. This will only improve our offensive versatility.

[spanishninja]

Haha, Alex Len signs with the Wizards. Great move imo for him. getting paid to do nothing.

[Revived]

It wasnt too long ago (Like last week) that some people were saying, "Screw CP3, we would have better off sticking with Rubio!".

What's Going on With Ricky Rubio? https://zonecoverage.com/2021/timberwolves/whats-going-on-with-ricky-rubio/

Come on man are you serious right now? Rubio in Monty Williams system was amazing and he had fit like a glove with the rest of our guys. Even Ayton looked far more comfortable with Rubio than CP3

He’s in a mess in Minnesota. If you put Chris Paul in Minnesota with a half a dozen other ball handlers like Russell, Beasley, Okogie etc and just Towns then he would look just as lost.

Rubio’s #s with the Suns last season are about the same as CP3’s #s this season and yet Rubio costs like 3x times less in salary. A way better fit chemistry wise as well. Forget what people here said last week, I’ll say it now that if we swapped Rubio for CP3 we’d be a better team with the former. And as you can see with the responses afterwards, I’m far from the only one to think that as well.

Players on the Suns know how much Rubio did to help change the loser culture in Phoenix and they all thanked him significantly (not the usual PR bs) after the trade. Rubio helped Booker develop into an All Star player while Booker has looked like a rich man’s Shannon Brown under CP3 this season.

And oh yeah, Rubio led us to a better record through the first month of the season (even without Ayton) than Chris Paul has with a stacked roster.

Like others have already mentioned, we did Rubio dirty. Similar to Dragic back in 2015 when we signed and drafted more PGs after he put together an All NBA season and led us to our first season with winning record in like 6 years.

What a coincidence that CP3 was a much better player than Rubio last year (CP3 on the Thunder and Rubio on the Suns) and this season CP3 is playing much better than Rubio again (CP3 on the Suns and Rubio on the Wolves).

And well...basically CP3 has been better and makes his teams better than Rubio's teams every single season. I just don't understand why people are thinking that we would have been as good as we are now (4th in the West) with Rubio because we don't have any evidence of that.

Rubio is not in a good physical condition and he is playing strictly bad in a 6th man role for the Wolves...those are facts.

Lmao ok how about you compare apples to apples and compare how Rubio did WITH THE SUNS to how CP3 is doing WITH THE SUNS if you want a direct comparison. I don’t really care how these guys do except for WITH THE SUNS.

If we’re doing random comparisons then let’s just compare CP3 to Jordan in 95 or something cause that makes about as much sense.

And Rubio led the Suns to a better record in the first 13 games of the season last year than CP3 has this year...and Rubio had a far worse roster with no Ayton or Crowder.

So this notion of “oh we would never be this good with Rubio” doesn’t make any sense because we Rubio literally had us just as good last season in the same amount of games as CP3 has had with a worse roster.

I’m cool with giving CP3 more games to get accommodated but I’m not gonna stand for any Rubio slander which is how this all started. He changed the culture here and led us to an 8 game winning streak to finish the season. Suns fans have this stupid habit of hating on our former players and it’s gotta stop unless it’s earned (Morris, Bledsoe etc).

[Saberestar]

Come on man are you serious right now? Rubio in Monty Williams system was amazing and he had fit like a glove with the rest of our guys. Even Ayton looked far more comfortable with Rubio than CP3

He’s in a mess in Minnesota. If you put Chris Paul in Minnesota with a half a dozen other ball handlers like Russell, Beasley, Okogie etc and just Towns then he would look just as lost.

Rubio’s #s with the Suns last season are about the same as CP3’s #s this season and yet Rubio costs like 3x times less in salary. A way better fit chemistry wise as well. Forget what people here said last week, I’ll say it now that if we swapped Rubio for CP3 we’d be a better team with the former. And as you can see with the responses afterwards, I’m far from the only one to think that as well.

Players on the Suns know how much Rubio did to help change the loser culture in Phoenix and they all thanked him significantly (not the usual PR bs) after the trade. Rubio helped Booker develop into an All Star player while Booker has looked like a rich man’s Shannon Brown under CP3 this season.

And oh yeah, Rubio led us to a better record through the first month of the season (even without Ayton) than Chris Paul has with a stacked roster.

Like others have already mentioned, we did Rubio dirty. Similar to Dragic back in 2015 when we signed and drafted more PGs after he put together an All NBA season and led us to our first season with winning record in like 6 years.

What a coincidence that CP3 was a much better player than Rubio last year (CP3 on the Thunder and Rubio on the Suns) and this season CP3 is playing much better than Rubio again (CP3 on the Suns and Rubio on the Wolves).

And well...basically CP3 has been better and makes his teams better than Rubio's teams every single season. I just don't understand why people are thinking that we would have been as good as we are now (4th in the West) with Rubio because we don't have any evidence of that.

Rubio is not in a good physical condition and he is playing strictly bad in a 6th man role for the Wolves...those are facts.

Lmao ok how about you compare apples to apples and compare how Rubio did WITH THE SUNS to how CP3 is doing WITH THE SUNS if you want a direct comparison. I don’t really care how these guys do except for WITH THE SUNS.

If we’re doing random comparisons then let’s just compare CP3 to Jordan in 95 or something cause that makes about as much sense.

And Rubio led the Suns to a better record in the first 13 games of the season last year than CP3 has this year...and Rubio had a far worse roster with no Ayton or Crowder.

So this notion of “oh we would never be this good with Rubio” doesn’t make any sense because we Rubio literally had us just as good last season in the same amount of games as CP3 has had with a worse roster.

I’m cool with giving CP3 more games to get accommodated but I’m not gonna stand for any Rubio slander which is how this all started. He changed the culture here and led us to an 8 game winning streak to finish the season. Suns fans have this stupid habit of hating on our former players and it’s gotta stop unless it’s earned (Morris, Bledsoe etc).

CP3 and Rubio have been in the NBA forever, and Paul has always been the better player and his teams have had more success than Rubio's teams. It's not a secret.

I understand what you are saying about comparing their stats in their lone season on the Suns, and it is OK and I agree that for now they have similar raw numbers even though is a super small sample size on their long careers (we are comparing just 13 games).

The most important thing to me is that we have a solid winning record with Paul and things are working well for us.

[Saberestar]

And Rubio led the Suns to a better record in the first 13 games of the season last year than CP3 has this year...and Rubio had a far worse roster with no Ayton or Crowder.

That's not true.

After 13 games we were 7W-6L last year and we are 8W-5L this season.

[spanishninja]

And Rubio led the Suns to a better record in the first 13 games of the season last year than CP3 has this year...and Rubio had a far worse roster with no Ayton or Crowder.

That's not true.

After 13 games we were 7W-6L last year and we are 8W-5L this season.

not to mention around this same time last season we were on our way to losing 6 of 8 games, followed by an 8 game losing streak shortly after. With CP3 around I do not see us losing that many games in a row like that.