Ricky Rubio Works to Get Back to the Court

“It’s everything. I want to improve in everything. I know I can do good things. I can do it even better. I want to improve my skills like passing, like dribbling, like scoring, like leading the team.”

"I just want to be better."--Ricky Rubio, 22-year old point guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who was injured in March of this year.

Rubio is working hard to return to his spectacular rookie form and beyond. He is tenacious and like all highly successful professional athletes has a great degree of perseverance and determination. He has the willingness to fight through the difficult and slow process of rehabilitation. He is willing to endure the pain, suffering and hard work to get back to the status he reached last year, his first in the NBA. He is committed to being the best he can be through hard work and sacrifice. He has a continuous improvement mentality that requires him to focus on the day-to-day task of getting better, step-by-step. He pushes himself and does not let up.

Would you work this hard to rehabilitate and improve? 

Excerpts from Grantland.com (December 5, 2012), article by Joan Niesen, "The Place for Doubt in the Celebrated Return of Ricky Rubio"; and the book, Razor Thin:  The Difference Between Winning and Losing by Luis F. Valdes (2012). 

Ricky Rubio: Basketball Prodigy with a Dream

“It’s my dream.”

--Ricky Rubio, 18-year old Spainiard, who is widely considered the second best propspect available in the 2009 NBA draft, discussing his desire to succeed in the NBA.

Though Rubio has yet to prove his worth as an NBA player, he is off to a good mental start. Successful athletes have been found to be successful due in part to their personality characteristics, including: their vision (the ability to focus on a dream), their drive (ability identify specific goals and work hard toward them), their resilience; and their ability to find personal meaning in their mission.

“I don’t think about what they say about me,” Rubio said. “I only think about my objective. I have my own dreams and I don’t listen to people who say you’re going to be in the top or you’re going to be all hype. I don’t care. We’re going to see what they can do on the court. I talk on the court.”

Rubio is a 6-foot, 5-inch point guard who has been playing in the Spain's top professional league since the age of 14. He played well against NBA talent in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He has been rumored to be coveted by some teams but not others. It is unknown where he will actually land in the draft due to his age or the perception of his potential skills.

European basketball players are known for their hunger to prove themselves and their preparation in basketball skills and fundamentals.

And, at least, he has his head on straight.

For more on Rubio and other European NBA players, go to http://peakperformancetheblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/european-nba-players-fundamentals.html

Excerpts from the New York Times (June 25, 2009)