It’s been a rough third season for former Wolves No. 5 overall pick Ricky Rubio.
After having a successful first half of his rookie year, the Spanish sensation tore his ACL against the Los Angeles Lakers with just over a month to go in his first campaign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mU8uUBVRIw
The Wolves season spiraled out of control, losing 13 of their last 14 games.
Rubio had a forgettable 2012-13 year, returning from ACL surgery perhaps a bit too soon, and helping the Wolves to just a 31-51 record.
While the season wasn’t Ricky’s finest work, he showed improvement at the end of the year, averaging 13 points and and nearly nine assists per game the final three months of the season after starting slowly.
The hope was that Rubio would carry some of his late-season success over to the 2013-14 campaign, but the third-year point guard has struggled mightily, specifically shooting the ball.
Rubio is averaging a career-high in steals, rebounds, and is just a shade off his career high in assists, but is shooting just 35 percent from the field, one of the worst marks in the NBA.
Perhaps sensing the growing public frustration, and getting a tad fed up himself, Rubio told the Associated Press today that “I’m not feeling comfortable out there.”
Rubio added that it is on him to play better, clearly shouldering some of the blame for Minnesota’s lackluster 18-20 record.
The Wolves are nearly halfway through the season and 11th in the Western Conference standings, four games out of a playoff spot.
