international basketball

Monday, August 18, 2008

Spain's Rubio plays well beyond his years

Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio brings a calming influence to his team -- despite being just 17-years old. Rubio and Spain face their toughest test yet when they play Team USA Saturday at 10:15 a.m. ET.

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At the core of Spain's reigning World Championship basketball squad are seven former, current or future NBA players (Marc Gasol and Rudy Fernandez will join the league this season).

But when the team was getting rocked by China in a preliminary game last Tuesday, on the verge of suffering a huge upset, the player who righted them and turned the game around was a skinny 17-year-old making his national team debut.

That kid was point guard Ricky Rubio.

The 6-3 Rubio finished with only one point, but his quickness and defensive mindset turned the game around as he harassed the Chinese guards into several turnovers, picked the pockets of NBA players Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian and threw Pau Gasol a perfect lob for a powerful, momentum-changing dunk. Rubio's relentless pressure shook up the Chinese backcourt into losing their flow and confidence.

Afterwards, coach Aito Garcia Reneses -- who also coaches Rubio on DKJ Joventut -- shrugged off a question about why Rubio was on the court ahead of more experienced players.

"This 17-year-old kid is actually a very mature player and I don't see any problem putting him on the court in overtime, or in any crucial situation," Reneses said.

Indeed, in the third quarter, when Spain looked rattled by the huge, extremely loud crowd and on the verge of succumbing to China's momentum, it was Rubio who stayed cool and composed. His confidence, lack of hesitation and apparent unflappability are startling in a player so young.

"We were looking to pressure a lot and I was just focused on defense," Rubio said after the game, wearing flip-flops and a slight grin. "Everything flowed from that."

Rubio will face a formidable backcourt challenge when Spain takes on Team USA on Day 8. These Olympics may represent Rubio's debut to much of the world, but hoops heads have known about him for a while. His reputation exploded in the final of the 2006 FIBA U-16 Championships, where he torched Russia for 51 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists and 7 steals. He played his first game for DKV Joventut in the demanding ACB League at age 14 and became a starter this year, his first full season.

Rubio will be eligible for the NBA Draft next year, but is signed to his current team through 2010 and resists all attempts to ask him about his future plans. "I will play in the ACB next year and I'm not thinking about two or three years down the road and whether or not I'll be in NBA or Europe," he insisted.

Lang Whitaker, executive editor of Slam Magazine, traveled to Barcelona in February 2007 to spend time with Rubio and his family, and came away impressed with both his support system and his basketball skills.

"It was pretty remarkable to see Ricky at 16 dominating against a bunch of men," said Whitaker. "While his shot could still use some improving, he has an innate sense of the game and he seems to understand that scoring isn't always the most important part of a play."

In that regard, Whitaker believe that Rubio's closest comparison is Magic Johnson, though early American press tends to compare him to "Pistol" Pete Maravich, the scoring machine who starred for the New Orleans Jazz 30 years ago.

"That is an almost purely physical connection - similar looks and body types -- because basketball-wise they are nothing alike," Whitaker said. "Maravich was a scorer first, while Ricky seems suited to being a distributor first and scorer second, though he's tall enough that he'll be able to score in the post against smaller guards once he gains some muscle."

For his part, Rubio is definitive about to whom he hopes to be compared:

"I play like Ricky Rubio."

Source from : www.nbcolympics.com