Dunking With Wolves
Fansided

The Timberwolves’ key contributors at the midway point

By Randy Spurlock

Jan 12, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine (8) celebrates with forward Shabazz Muhammad (15) during the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center. The Thunder defeated the Timberwolves 101-96. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 12, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine (8) celebrates with forward Shabazz Muhammad (15) during the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center. The Thunder defeated the Timberwolves 101-96. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 7, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio (9) smiles against the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center. The Clippers defeated the Timberwolves 110-106. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 7, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio (9) smiles against the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center. The Clippers defeated the Timberwolves 110-106. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /

Ricky Rubio may be the Wolves’ most valuable player so far this season. While Towns and Wiggins have both been producing at high levels, the team just doesn’t run the same when Rubio isn’t in the game.

Rubio has played in 37 of 44 games this season, thankfully avoiding a major injury to this point (knock on wood). He’s shooting 35.2 percent overall this year and 30.3 percent from deep, which are both actually just a tick below his career average. That’s a little disappointing considering that his first game of the year was his offensive explosion against the Lakers where it looked like he had fixed some of his shooting problems.

What contradicts his poor shooting from the field is his high mark from the line. Rubio makes 83.2 percent of his free throws. That Rubio is able to hit free throws at that high percentage shows that he has the potential to be a good shooter. It continues to be confusing why he isn’t shooting better from the field, since his most common shots are threes or mid-range jumpers when he has time to set up and get his feet under him.

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Even though he still isn’t shooting very well, Rubio more than makes up for that with his play in other areas of his game. He ranks 5th in the league in assists and is also 3rd in steals. Among point guards, he ranks 6th in rebounds. All of that taken together shows that Rubio is one of the most well-rounded point guards in the entire league.

His turnovers are at a career low, and his assist/turnover ratio is a superb 3.52. That assist/turnover ratio is 4th in the league among players that have played at least 10 games, and Kevin Garnett is actually one of the players ahead of him. Rubio is slightly ahead of Chris Paul in that category, and Paul is likely still the game’s best facilitator and is consistently at the top of the assist/turnover rankings.

At the other end of the floor, Rubio has a defensive rating of 100.5, which places him at second on the team and well above Towns (104.5) and Wiggins (104.6), who are both great defenders. Rubio’s net rating this season is 1.4, making him one of two Wolves this season with a positive net rating. Put another way, the 14-31 Wolves are actually outscoring opponents when Rubio is on the floor.

Rubio is the Wolf that is out there having the most consistently positive impact on the games. His shooting is still poor, but every other aspect of his game is among the best in the NBA.

Next: Kevin Garnett

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