But first things first: At lunch of the first evening, I was lucky enough to be in a restaurant that was showing the Euroleague Game of Barca vs. Montepachi (wereever that might be!). Additionally Im lucky enough to have a fiancé who is totally into watching all types of sports, even on vacation

http://www.euroleague.net/main/results/showgame?gamecode=111&clubcode=BAR&seasoncode=e2009

The game was sometimes pretty close, but barca allways finished the quarters strong. It ended with a 85-70 win, and they closed out their euroleague regular season with a 10-0 record.

On sunday we went to the regular season game of the spanish league.

It was league leading (17-1) Barca vs Xacobeo Blu:Sens (whatever! ) (7-11) The game was decided after 3 mins and never got close down the road. Ricky played just 8 min in the first and 4 in the 3rd quarter.

http://www.acb.com/fichas/LACB54160.php

The impact of Ricky (Hes just called Ricky, not Ricky Rubio. The same as Nene is not called Nene Hilario) was outstanding, at least in the euroleague game. Let me explain the Barca offense for a minute. They are constantly setting screens, and allways moving the ball. There are no isolation plays, and no classic post ups, but the ballmovement usually leads to shots or layups. Nearly all plays start with a high pick and roll. From there you go with either, drive to the basket and a foul/dish (9/10 FT) or a set play were nearly every player on the team touches the ball until there is someone open. It was a little strange to see a PG constantly driving towards the basket and drawing contact, cant remember seeing that to often the last years

Very often, you realize that a player is open exactly the moment Ricky throws the ball in his direction. And by throwing, I mean those things usualy only LeBron does. Like one of us is throwing a ball as hard as we can against a wall, but with accuracy and minus all the telegraphing that at least I would need to hurl a ball as hard as I could ^^

With these passes he had 10 beautiful assists in 25 mins with one turnover I cant remember.

He was not shooting at all both games, but nevertheless had an dominant impact everytime he was in the game. I was not concerned at all bout the nonshoting until I was at the live game. Ricky hit 1 jumper that day. And I include warmup before the game and warmup before the second half! He even added a airball 8 foot floater! He has NO elevation in his shot. I mean: he jumps and you cant even really tell if his feet leave the ground! What he does with his arms looks ok, but I must admit I have no eye for the techniques of jumpshots. He hit one wide open 3 pointer in the 3rd quarter, but missed every of his 30 practise shots! I have seen that he does not need his jumper to be an effective playmaker, but damn! That is one awefull jumpshooter we are talking about!

On the defensive end, there was a really high intensity in both games. Every Wingplayer is hounding his man and every postplayer is fighting for position, even in garbage time of the spanish league game (the last 35 mins) Ricky is a really quick and long defender, who rarely allows his man to drive. He is getting over screens and getting fouled doing so quite regularly, but using a theatrically fashion that wont make him many friends in this league... But what he does on defense, he is doing pretty well. He had a couple of steals slapping the ball away from the ball handler, and while you never feel he is speculating on passing lanes, he somehow seems to appear right in the lane, catching the ball and directly initiating the break.

Aside from Rubio, Juan Carlos Navarro is a killer, whos scores at will if he gets hot. Another player worth to mention is Pete Mickael. Im not shure, but didnt he was drafted by the Knicks back in the day? He was very physical with a good range and hard drives to the basket.

I admit, this is a really small window (2 games) and I'm truely biased on Ricky (even spent 54 Euros for his Jersey ^^), but he definitly is making his teammates look great. You have to wonder if his game would work as good in the NBA. He playes a leading role in a team concept suited to his abilitys, something thats not granted if he comes over, no matter for what team he would play. his shooting is horrible, but it has to be seen if he cant improve it or if he is effective even without it. It will definitly be harder in the NBA, as he will not be able to drive as much, I guess.

Whatever I just wanted to tell you about my visit to the european capitol of sports

PS: Pictures of the game, including the Barca Cheerleaders, will follow as soon as I got them from my girls camera

Doesn't sound like he cares much at all about his shooting, which will be an issue in the NBA.

Can he be effective just driving to the basket in an NBA setting?

I call you BarcelonaSteve from here on.

TMS wrote:Rubio's averaging 4 points & 11 assists on my 2K9 team.

He is created?

And it is showing all of the things that make him such a special player.

SteveSmith wrote:Just found the Video of Barcas Euroleague game.

And it is showing all of the things that make him such a special player.

Impressive. Anybody who tries to guard him will be huffing and puffing by the end of the 1st quarter. Ricky is in perpetual motion. His playmaking skills are undeniable but his defense caught my eye.

Pete Mickeal looked good also. Definite candidate for us.

How funny is it that the first Euro lottery pick(Fran Vasquez) to forsake the NBA is in the same team as Ricky?

SteveSmith wrote:Just found the Video of Barcas Euroleague game.

And it is showing all of the things that make him such a special player.

The Don gave Gallo a 30 min DVD of Bird to motivate him to grow as a player.

Someone should somehow get The Don a thirty min DVD of Rubio maybe it finally puts a fire
under his ASSh to go get this Kid already!!!

NBA stars already know how talented this kid is... Will only help land Bron easier!

I say we offer Chandler and TD for Rubio's rights This is fair and should get it done!!

With Love and Jefferson The Mayor would beast it out there..... They need a promising young SF
and a Promising young combo guard more then they do the rights of someone who will never come to the NBA
to play for Minnesota.

SteveSmith wrote:Just found the Video of Barcas Euroleague game.

And it is showing all of the things that make him such a special player.

wow, i love how active he is on both ends of the floor... u can already tell he'd frustrate the hell out of NBA players who he's guarding & also have to guard him on the other end... awesome court vision & instincts, quickness is good, ballhandling looks great & love the way he can switch direction in an eyeblink with all his momentum going the other way... his length really helps him on defense, u can tell, & seems like he's always looking to anticipate a steal in the lane & off help defense... holds his ground well too & doesn't overplay the pump fakes... looks like he needs to work on his finishing when he penetrates to the lane to complete those And 1 opp's, but otherwise he looks like he is a legit NBA top prospect... hopefully the fact that the Knicks were scouting Pete Mickael not too long ago means they're keeping a close eye on Rubio as well.

btw, never knew Anderson Varejao had a twin brother.