STOB's Rubio Watch: Rookie Comparison with John Wall

His shooting is falling away but he still compares well to the 2010 #1 pick.

Not the best past week for Rubio as far as stats go.  He had a nice game against Utah but overall had some real stinkers, with a bright spot within the stinker of the Clippers game with the big game tying three.  I have a feeling our Rubio Watch is going to reflect his off week and make his comparison with 2010's #1 overall pick in John Wall a bit tougher. As always we take Rubio's stats (thanks for basketball-reference.com) through however many games he has played at the time and then compare them with an accomplished (or not so much yet in Wall) and heralded (more so for Wall) PG's stats from their rookie year at the same point as Rubio is in now.  We have compared Rubio so far with Chris Paul, Steve Nash and Jason Kidd and he has compared well against them all, let's see how he compares with Wall. (That rhymed and I am embarrassed to say I am really happy about it)

TO THE STATS!

Ricky Rubio through 17 games:

Totals																		Shooting			Per Game
G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%	PTS	TRB	AST
17	7	555	59	153	13	35	51	63	8	68	76	145	42	3	56	43	182	.386	.371	.810	10.7	4.5	8.5

Current PER: 17.6

Oof...as you can see his shooting percentages that were above 40% for each last week, have now fallen below that 40% mark.  I am not too concerned with the 3P% if he can stay around mid-low 30%, I will be fine with that.  But the FG% is a bit concerning and I will be keeping a close eye on that over the next week.

John Wall rookie year through 17 games:

Totals																		Shooting			Per Game
G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%	PTS	TRB	AST
17	13	618	91	230	14	44	72	90	2	62	64	143	35	10	60	47	268	.396	.318	.800	15.8	3.8	8.4

Entire Rookie Season PER: 15.8

As you can see, Wall also was below 40% in both shooting categories.  Assist average is almost identical, with Rubio getting 2 more assists in 63 less minutes played.  Wall was more of a free shooter than Rubio is and with that had more attempts and a higher scoring average.  Rubio at this point in the season has a solid PER of 17.6 (league leader is Lebron James with 35.2...sick...8.3 points better than 2nd place Kobe Bryant and the rest of the league), while Wall had a nice 15.8 for his entire rookie year.  

In the end though there is a lot to like about this comparison if you are a Rubio fan, though Wall is struggling a bit this year after his rookie campaign.  Give Wall a break this year, he is playing with a bunch of "me first" players in a diseased organization in the Wizards (some would say Rubio has a bit of that to deal with in Minnesota as well...but I digress).  The thing you can't deny is Wall is uber talented and for Rubio to hold his own in comparison through 17 games is a win, especially given Rubio's struggles the past week.

Prior to next Tuesday's Rubio Watch, the Wolves and Rubio go on the road to take on Dallas, come home for two against San Antonio and the Lakers and then head back to Texas to take on Houston next Monday.  Four quality teams there for Rubio to try to improve on his already impressive stat lines and more importantly the Wolves win/loss record.  We'll check back with him next Tuesday and compare him then with another elite NBA PG's rookie season.