Of the numerous attributes attached to Ricky Rubio so far in his young career, flair is undoubtedly near the top of that list. From his passion to his wrong-foot finishes, Rubio’s style is meant for entertainment. Or is it?

Lost in clever passing arsenal he displays on a nightly basis is that everything Rubio does serves a distinct purpose. Every one-hand lob or behind the back pass, while certainly aesthetically pleasing, is facilitated by a necessity to find the appropriate time-space window to deliver the ball. Rubio’s usage of the no-look pass lies in that same vain and was evident again in the Houston game.

Late in the second quarter, the Wolves reset after Anthony Randolph rebounds his own missed jumper. He passes back out to Rubio and the two immediately engage in a step-up screen toward the baseline. It is here where Rubio’s no-look savvy strikes.

As we break it down, we see Love moving up toward the slot position just as Randolph is getting set to screen. Love’s defender, Sam Dalembert, is forced to move away from the basket with him. Dalembert is typically used to being stationed near the basket, doing things like jamming any dive off a ball screen that comes his way. This a responsibility he refuses to relinquish despite the Wolves off-ball alignment in this instance.

In the next picture, we see Dalembert intently focused on watching Rubio’s eyes coming off the pick and roll, as he anticipates possibly having to help off onto Randolph should his defender (Scola) have trouble recovering. Seeing that Rubio is locked in on Randolph, Dalembert pays no attention to his man (Love) settling in beyond the arc.

As Rubio delivers his no-look pass, we see his head completely turned away from Love with both eyes focused on Randolph. Dalembert, even after the ball is out of Rubio’s hand, is still staring at where the young Spaniard is looking.

The end result of the play is that wide open 3-point shot for Love. Here is a look again at the play slowed down.

Just like a quarterback looking off a safety downfield, Rubio uses his eyes to move a defender and create an opportunity for a score. So while it’s easy to attribute Rubio’s no-look passes to his flair, it’s forgetting that there is, in fact, a practical application of his flamboyance that has nothing to do with entertainment. Rubio is seemingly the place where substance and style meet.

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