One of the major story lines during the first week of the NBA season has been the arrival (and play) of Spanish sensation, Ricky Rubio.

Rubio landed in Minnesota with great expectations. He has long been in the NBA spotlight (we started profiling him at DraftExpress when he was 14 years old), and his strengths and weaknesses largely remain the same as when he was drafted 5th overall two years ago.  Nothing that we’ve witnessed over his first three games (including one preseason) has given us any sort of new revelation on his game, but it has now been displayed to a much larger audience with and against NBA players.

I’m going to take a look at two areas of Rubio’s game that can help the Timberwolves right away; transition and pick and rolls. That isn’t to suggest that Rubio is a complete player in these areas. After all, one can’t expect a 21 year old point guard playing his first games in the NBA to be without flaws. However, it is clear Rubio’s exceptional court vision in transition and in pick and roll sets are going to be positive additions to the Timberwolves team.

Here is a quick look at Rubio in transition. In the photo, we see Derrick Williams streaking down the lane with Wesley Johnson flanking him. Oklahoma City’s Eric Maynor is in position to stop the ball while another defender, Daequan Cook runs with Anthony Tolliver. This leaves Thunder beard aficionado James Harden to have to defend both Williams and Johnson.

As we move forward, we see that Rubio does two things exceptionally well in this situation. The first thing he showcases is his ability to make one handed passes off the dribble. That may seem rudimentary, but it is a skill many point guards are not fully comfortable with and Rubio’s mastery of it allows him to take advantage of passing lanes that may not be there for others.

The second is his ability to make no-look passes. Many times no-look passes are derided as a form of style over substance. They are considered flashy and dangerous done more for dramatics than effect. Not in Rubio’s case. His use of the no-look pass is to get a defender off balance, especially one adept at reading a ballhandlers eyes in anticipation of jumping a passing lane. In the picture below, Rubio looks James Harden off, gets him flat-footed and makes him commit ever so slightly towards the streaking Williams. This sets up Wesley Johnson for an easy lay-in.

Here’s a video of the sequence shown above. Pay attention to how effectively Rubio uses his no-look pass.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r2WjCtcvww&w=560&h=315]

Below is another video of Rubio in transition.  Again, not only is his ability to make a one-handed bounce pass off the dribble impressive, but so is his patience in letting the play develop.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyLGJnQt_I&w=560&h=315]

The second area that Rubio is going to have a major impact is on pick and rolls, where his court vision off of pick and rolls is already among the best in the league. However, his passing lanes may be somewhat clogged until he improves his proficiency shooting off the dribble.

Below is a pick and roll between Rubio and Anthony Randolph.  Randolph’s roll on the play sucks in the low weakside defender, Daequan Cook. Rubio immediately finds the open man (Wesley Johnson) with a cross court pass. Wings like Johnson and Derrick Williams should provide Rubio with spot-up options off pick and rolls throughout the year and Rubio should excel at finding those release valves with quick, accurate passes.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JmmrSJjYWI&w=560&h=315]

The next pick and roll is between Rubio and Wolves bellcow Kevin Love. Rubio once again shows off excellent court vision, creativity and execution with his pass.  Love was whistled for a travel, but the result of the play doesn’t take away from Rubio’s nifty pass.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joYFGKDWxEI&w=560&h=315]

Even though he dove in the last clip, Love typically prefers to pick and pop and is of the best in the league at doing it.  Last year, according to Synergy Sports Technology, he picked and pop’d over 60% of the time he was involved in ballscreen action and was more efficient than 98% of the league.  In the next clip, Love and Rubio run a high pick and pop with Williams setting a second screen.  Rubio quickly gets the ball into the hands of the dangerous Love who attacks a scrambling defense with a pass that leads to an easy lay-up from Williams.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSoBvICyu1g&w=560&h=315]

What may surprise many fans is how well Rubio can move his feet defensively. It was an area most expected him to struggle in. The video below shows Rubio matched up in isolation sets with Russell Westbrook and Brandon Jennings, two guards that are extremely quick and explosive with the ball in there hands. As you’ll see, Rubio holds his own against them.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QqHmlNCFn0&w=560&h=315]

So far during Rubio’s young NBA career, he has accumulated 17 assists to 4 turnovers in his three games (preseason and regular season) and has given us glimpses of that outstanding court vision which made him such a phenom overseas.  While he clearly has some areas he needs to improve upon (most notably being a consistent shooter off the dribble), his court vision and passing ability have been just as good as advertised thus far in this young season.

For added enjoyment, here is a video that shows all of the young Spaniard’s assists so far this season.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivVVNkXn0Tg&w=560&h=315]