Timberwolves Complained to the NBA About Physical Play Against Ricky Rubio


Ricky Rubio’s production of late has been abysmal — he’s putting up just 5.8 points and 7.3 assists a night, while shooting an unsightly 20% from the floor over his last 6 games — and his team seems to think that defenders are being a bit too physical with the rookie point guard. From the Star Tribune: “Opponents seeking to slow down Timberwolves rookie Ricky Rubio have done so by attempting to bump and muscle him at every turn. So much so that David Kahn, Wolves president of basketball operations, on Tuesday said the team has sent video to the NBA, seeking to illustrate what it believes are defenders playing Rubio too physically, a tactic that has affected his production recently. The Wolves sent examples of what they deem are fouls that have gone uncalled against teams that have decided the best way to play the skinny rookie is to overpower him. […] When asked how physical defenders are playing him, Rubio chuckled and said, ‘Tough enough. I mean, it’s close to end of the season, everybody wants to get a spot in the playoff and everybody start to play more physically. We just have to play at the same level or even harder. In Europe, we play aggressive, too. But here you have the best players in the world. It’s tougher.'”