Ricky Rubio he was self-critical after the bulky defeat of the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Los Angeles Clippers (124-101) and assured forcefully that his team has a lot to change.
“We have to learn. We can make a lot of excuses: We’re young, blah blah blah, this and that. But once you step onto the floor and play for an NBA team … Our last two games have been ridiculously bad. There are no other words, “the Spanish base told the media.
In his best game so far this season, Rubio, of the little salvageable on a very unfortunate night for the Wolves, got 17 points (6 of 8 in shooting) and 5 assists in 25 minutes.
The meeting featured two other Spanish representatives, Serge Ibaka on the Clippers (16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks in 21 minutes) and Juancho Hernangómez in the Wolves (2 points and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes).
The Wolves, who were losing by more than 30 points and that they had already lowered their arms in the middle of the third quarter, thus reaping another very painful defeat, since on Sunday they succumbed 127-91 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Rubio did not beat around the bush after these two serious setbacks.
“First, we have to play as a team and trust our plan. Today we started the game in the right way, but when things don’t go the way we want we all go and play selfishly,” he said.
“If you look at the way we played the Utah Jazz (106-111 for the Wolves) or the top seven today and you compare it to the game against the Lakers or the other 41 minutes today, it’s like two completely different teams.” he added.
Rubio drew a parallel between the accumulation of failures of his team and “A snowball”.
“You make a mistake and it leads to another, it leads to another, it leads to another … And there’s no way to stop that,” he said. And, above all, he asked for a change of attitude.
“We have lost two games by more than 20 and more than 30 points. We have to show some pride,” he said.
“We can lose games. In this league there are a lot of guys who can compete and who can beat you, but we can’t lose the way we did in the last two games,” he added.
Rubio was self-critical and also admitted that the Wolves point guard did not know how to “control the rhythm” of the game or “organize” the attack of his team.
The Wolves, with a balance now of 2 wins and 2 losses, they will face the Washington Wizards on Friday.
