Poll: Rubio, Yes or No post Irving

[Sophomore]

Celts will not win a championship if Rubio is the lead guard.

In today's NBA, the PG has to be a good 3-point shooter.

Kyle Lowry averaged 14.2 ppg this year on .347 from three. Just saying.

There's a very big difference between Kyle Lowry and Ricky Rubio when it comes to shooting.

Ricky Rubio is more like Rondo when it comes to shooting.

Lowry may have had a bad year shooting 3s last season, but he's a career 36.7% shooting 3s.

The Raptors never sniffed the finals in any other year of Lowry’s career. This year, when he’s not good from 3, they win the finals. This cuts pretty hard against the idea that your PG needs to be great from 3.

Here’s another. Who were the 2d and third best teams in the east this year? Toronto barely escaped Philly, and their PG won’t shoot outside the paint, never mind the 3-point line. Bledsoe is not a noted 3 point shooter, and Giannis often brings the ball up.

You do need shooting, absolutely. Does it have to be the PG? No. One question is whether he brings enough other skills to the table to balance the limited shooting.  I don’t know enough about his game to say. Another is - what’s the talent level and fit of the rest of the team. *If* we get healthy Hayward who’s 90% of Jazz Hayward plus contract year Jaylen taking a leap plus Prime AD plus Horford - that’s a lot.

As for Rondo - surely you’re not saying a team starting Rondo at point could not win an NBA finals. I mean, they did win in ‘08 with him and would have won again in ‘09 but for an injury. Do you really think the game has changed so much that the 08-09 teams couldn’t contend - because of Rondo??

As an aside - who knows what Rubio shoots from 3 next year. He shot .352 in 2017-18. 

[PAOBoston]

Rubio is a pretty good player. The better question is how they would sign him.

[Fierce1]

Celts will not win a championship if Rubio is the lead guard.

In today's NBA, the PG has to be a good 3-point shooter.

Kyle Lowry averaged 14.2 ppg this year on .347 from three. Just saying.

There's a very big difference between Kyle Lowry and Ricky Rubio when it comes to shooting.

Ricky Rubio is more like Rondo when it comes to shooting.

Lowry may have had a bad year shooting 3s last season, but he's a career 36.7% shooting 3s.

The Raptors never sniffed the finals in any other year of Lowry’s career. This year, when he’s not good from 3, they win the finals. This cuts pretty hard against the idea that your PG needs to be great from 3.

Here’s another. Who were the 2d and third best teams in the east this year? Toronto barely escaped Philly, and their PG won’t shoot outside the paint, never mind the 3-point line. Bledsoe is not a noted 3 point shooter, and Giannis often brings the ball up.

You do need shooting, absolutely. Does it have to be the PG? No. One question is whether he brings enough other skills to the table to balance the limited shooting.  I don’t know enough about his game to say. Another is - what’s the talent level and fit of the rest of the team. *If* we get healthy Hayward who’s 90% of Jazz Hayward plus contract year Jaylen taking a leap plus Prime AD plus Horford - that’s a lot.

As for Rondo - surely you’re not saying a team starting Rondo at point could not win an NBA finals. I mean, they did win in ‘08 with him and would have won again in ‘09 but for an injury. Do you really think the game has changed so much that the 08-09 teams couldn’t contend - because of Rondo??

As an aside - who knows what Rubio shoots from 3 next year. He shot .352 in 2017-18.

Don't forget the Celts lost in 2010 to the Lakers in Game 7.

In 2008, the Celts had Eddie House and Sam Cassell backing up Rondo.
Game 4 of the 2008 Finals was a perfect example of how a PG who can shoot saved the Celts.
Rondo was ineffective and only played 17 minutes in that Game 4.
Eddie House was key when the Celts rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit and ended up beating the Lakers 97-91 and a 3-1 series lead
The Lakers were on the verge of tying the series 2-2 if not for the heroics of House and Posey in the 3rd qtr.

And yes, the game has changed so much since 2008, just look at the number of 3pt attempts and made by teams the last few years.

I've been watching the Celts and the NBA for more than 30 years now and this is the only time I see a big man like Horford passing up open layups so that he can kick the ball out for a corner 3.

Back in the 80s and 90s, Horford would be benched for kicking the ball out for a 3 instead of taking the easy layup or dunk.

Since GSW won in 2015, the record for 3pt attempts and made by teams, in a season, has been broken.

Below is what convinced me Rubio will never be a starting PG for a championship team.
 
Poor Ricky Rubio airballed key 3-pointer in perhaps his final game with Jazz
With the game on the line, the former Wolves point guard will never be the guy you want taking the shot. A key miss Wednesday night reinforced that point.
By Michael Rand  APRIL 25, 2019 — 11:07AM

https://twitter.com/i/status/1121237566357790721

[gouki88]

He's a Marcus Smart-tier guy in terms of efficiency (better FT%, worse from deep) with playmaking skills rather than All-NBA defence. I'm not too keen on two guys who shoot below 40% from the field as much as they do above it.

Had enough of that with Rozier

[Stig]

If not Rubio, who else?

[SparzWizard]

If not Rubio, who else?

Since we're talking about Ricky Rubio...how about Patrick Beverley or Darren Collison

[gouki88]

If not Rubio, who else?

Since we're talking about Ricky Rubio...how about Patrick Beverley or Darren Collison

Yep, two players I mentioned before in this thread who I would prefer