Ricky Rubio to return to the Timberwolves after missing five games
Ricky Rubio is returning to the Minnesota Timberwolves. At last, the team’s long-awaited restart can actually restart.
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Rubio, who has been out since October since suffering a sprained right elbow in his team’s second game of the season, will return against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday evening. The Timberwolves confirmed via the Associated Press:
Minnesota Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau says point guard Ricky Rubio is available to play against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night after missing the previous five games with a sprained right elbow.
Thibodeau told reporters after the team’s morning shootaround that Rubio responded well to practice on Friday and was ready to go.
Rubio, without question, is champing at the bit after his hamstrung start to 2016-17:
“I think it’s time to go out there and help the team out,” Rubio said. “I was watching the games at home and it was painful to watch them from home. So I want to jump out there and help out.”
On jumping back after just one full practice and a shootaround to his name:
“It’s tough,” Rubio said. “We only had one practice, was yesterday. It felt good. But I missed a week, so I hope I can catch up really quick and be out there like I never left.”
This is blessed news for the Wolves, who are stuck at 2-5 while working to end a postseason-less streak that dates back to the team’s trip to the Western Conference finals in 2004.
The move to re-introduce Rubio came after the 26-year old veteran returned to practice on Friday in anticipation of the team’s back-to-back weekend games against the Clippers and Lakers. From the AP:
“He looks sharp,” forward Shabazz Muhammad said. “I told him it looks like he hasn’t missed a beat. His conditioning, going hard, shot’s looking better. He’s looking really good out there and we can’t wait to have him back.”
Second-year center Karl-Anthony Towns echoed Muhammad’s glee when discussing Rubio’s (then-possible) return with the AP’s Jon Krawczynski:
“To have a player like that, especially on the bench (during timeouts) where he’s like another coach, it’s awesome to have him.”
Tom Thibodeau, working in his first year as Wolves coach, also told Krawczynski about what the Wolves missed the most about their point man:
“Just the way he can push the ball, his decision-making, team defense, he’s all over the place,” Thibodeau said. “He brings a lot of energy. In transition, he’s such a good decision maker that he gets you a lot of easy baskets, and he knows how to move the ball around.”
The Wolves had started prized rookie hybrid guard Kris Dunn in Rubio’s absence, but the Providence product has struggled out of the gate in averaging 4.9 points, four assists and 36 percent shooting in 23 minutes a contest thus far. Reserve Tyus Jones has also played poorly overall, shooting 32.6 percent on the year. He’s averaged 11 points, six assists and 3.5 steals over his last two contests, but they came in a loss to the lowly Brooklyn Nets and a victory over the maddening Orlando Magic.
In discussing the two youngsters, Rubio preached patience:
“I think (Tyus) controlled the game,” Rubio said. “And Kris is adapting to the league; it’s not easy. On defense, he’s been doing great things. And offense, I think you just have to learn how to play in the NBA. But it’s going to come.”
The Timberwolves went 2-3 in Rubio’s absence, but one of those wins came against a Grizzlies team working without Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, and (mostly, save for 10 minutes of reserve action) Zach Randolph. The team’s schedule has been dotted with winnable games, with the Grizzlies and Nuggets ranking as the team’s top opponents thus far, and yet Minnesota will enter the two games at home against Los Angeles (against the league’s best team in the Clippers and a much-improved Lakers squad) having to make up major ground in the Western Conference playoff race.
Rubio, who averaged 4.5 points (on 33 percent shooting), 6.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 31 minutes, will be counted on to bring his sterling defense and wily offensive mannerisms to the table for a Wolves team that ranks 23rd defensively and seventh offensively so far this season. The team’s top-ranked three-point shooting has provided a good portion of that offensive thrust thus far, but Minnesota is still 30th in the NBA in three-pointers attempted, and there is understandably healthy skepticism as to whether or not that three-point streak can survive the season’s final 75 games.
A 2-5 start isn’t too terrible a hole, though. And, if anything, the absence of the team’s unquestioned leader will leave stark the reminder that the Minnesota Timberwolves should be loath to consider dealing and potentially moving on from its longest-serving player.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
