crzymdups wrote:More Rubio fodder - Rubio is THIRD among all Western guards in All-star Voting.

ESPNSteinLine Marc Stein
A distant third, sure, but Rubio THIRD among West guards in All-Star voting? First rook since immortal J-Kidd whose PASSES were must-see TV
41 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

(note to nixluva: this isn't a slam of iman, merely marveling at the rubio phenomenon.)

Rubio has been great. The hype machine started before he even stepped on an NBA court so this isn't that surprising that they'd react like this if he showed he was the real deal. Just remember that Iman is starting from below scratch. No one even thought he was a realistic option for ROY. I believe in the kid and as time goes by more people will come to appreciate how important this kids defense is to the winning this team does. As i've said assists are very flashy and staying in front of your man doesn't have a stat.

nixluva wrote:

crzymdups wrote:More Rubio fodder - Rubio is THIRD among all Western guards in All-star Voting.

ESPNSteinLine Marc Stein
A distant third, sure, but Rubio THIRD among West guards in All-Star voting? First rook since immortal J-Kidd whose PASSES were must-see TV
41 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

(note to nixluva: this isn't a slam of iman, merely marveling at the rubio phenomenon.)

Rubio has been great. The hype machine started before he even stepped on an NBA court so this isn't that surprising that they'd react like this if he showed he was the real deal. Just remember that Iman is starting from below scratch. No one even thought he was a realistic option for ROY. I believe in the kid and as time goes by more people will come to appreciate how important this kids defense is to the winning this team does. As i've said assists are very flashy and staying in front of your man doesn't have a stat.

hey, i agree. i think iman is actually a PERFECT fit for this team.

but if staying in front of your man mattered in award voting, steve nash wouldn't have won two MVPs. "basketball purists" like the flashy passing and are quick to ignore defense.

that said, i might almost rather have iman for this team. though it'd be pretty fun to see Rubio passing to Tyson and Amar'e every now and then. i really wish the Knicks could have traded up to get Rubio in 2009. Washington gave him away for Mike Miller annnndd.... something else? Foye? It was a ridiculous trade.

ChuckBuck wrote:Oh if we could have only swung a trade for Rubio either draft day or otherwise...Don't get me wrong Shumpert could turn out sick, just amazing how Rubio sees the floor so easily.

Rubio would be a monster in this offense. However, now that i've seen Shump, I wouldn't trade this situation for anything. We really don't have much to worry about scoring wise. It's never been an issue where we said "Oh if only we could score 120 a game". The issue has been defense and Iman plays GREAT defense at a key position on our team. Iman helps protect our Front court from unnecessary fouls due to players driving to the basket all the time. You just can't underestimate how important that is to this teams chances of winning a title.

nixluva wrote:

alexs wrote:Just saw highlights of Minn against bulls, Rubio looks special, don't think Schump is there yet

See that's just the thing about Rubio and Shump. A lot of what Shump does is intangible. When you're shutting down penetration, there's no stat for that! When you're talking up the defense and raising the pressure you put on the other teams offense, there's really not a stat for that.

Assists are a highly visible skill that gets a lot of attention, because it's a positive stat, rather than a play on D where you shut off penetration and get your hand up and force a guy to take a bad shot or pass up the ball. That gets overlooked cuz there's no highlight for that. Also Shump doesn't always get the direct pass that leads to an assist, but he keeps the ball moving in a purposeful way.

I continue to say that it's going to be an interesting year to watch and see how this ROY thing develops. I don't think we've seen the best of Shump yet. He's not even 100% back from his injury yet. I'll say this that Shump at the top of our defense has a very important impact on how we play and it's noticeable. Shumps strength is shutting teams down, verses Rubio's which is helping his team score, tho Rubio is a thief.

So how do you feel about this now?

Rubio last night
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18 pts 11 assists 8 rebounds

Shumpy
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Ass cramps