It's been marked on my schedule since the beginning of the season, but today is finally the day Ricky Rubio showers us with smiles and hair flips as the Sixers head to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves. Kevin Love and his facestomping ways are enjoyable as well, but it's the Spaniard with his absurd 39.6% AST% that's got me giggling.
The Wolves are coming off two easy wins against punching bag Charlotte and Houston, the latter of which saw both Kevin Love and NIKOLA PEKOVIC score over 30. The last time the Sixers had a player score over 30 was at least five Doctor Who's ago. The Wolves had two in one game. Thus, they are better and the Sixers are terrible, trade everyone.
I do love the young talent on Minnesota, though defense is decidedly not their forte, it's gotten markedly better than in years past. Led by stability at the point guard position (if inefficient shooting), dominant rebounding from Love, and the tremendous improvements of the previously mentioned PEK (watch that video), this team is definitely shooting upwards. Once Derrick Williams figures out how to play in the NBA, Rubio makes a few shots, and Wesley Johnson does....anything, this is a dangerous team.
Tonight though, I'm looking forward to seeing how Doug Collins opts to handle KLove. Similar to Dirk two nights ago, Thaddeus Young should see a lot of time on him, but he's not nearly as agile or dangerous off the dribble so Elton Brand could see more time on him. Rubio's just going to be fun to watch.
If you're looking for reasons why the sky isn't falling, read this, but if ranting and statistical anomalies fit your fancy, give this a look. To sum everything up, the Sixers have been bad, but they're never as great as they look when they're winning and never as bad as they look when they're losing. Somewhere in the middle means they have a good shot to win a second round matchup this season.
We invite you to follow Liberty Ballers on Twitter and like Liberty Ballers on Facebook.