Wolves' Rubio familiar with injury frustration, won't put timetable on return
A glimpse of brilliance, an awkward turn of the lower extremities, a long and arduous recovery.
Twice, Ricky Rubio has exhibited the makings of the Timberwolves' cornerstone point guard for years to come. And twice, he's come crashing down on his left leg, altering his course sideways.
The 24-year-old Spaniard's current ankle sprain that has him out indefinitely pales in comparison to the torn ACL that cost him chunks of his first two NBA seasons. But it does add significantly to the frustration that's accompanied Rubio's big-league development.
"I know how hard it is," Rubio said over the weekend when discussing his latest rehabilitation process.
When Rubio rolled his left ankle driving to the basket Nov. 7 at Orlando, he was shooting a career-best 42.6 percent from the field and averaging 10 assists (albeit in five contests). He'd just inked a four-year, $56 million extension and had a rebuilt, Kevin Love-less franchise at his fingertips.
When Rubio's knee buckled as he tried to help defensively against Kobe Bryant on March 9 three seasons ago, he was averaging 10.6 points, 8.2 points, 2.2 steals and 34.2 minutes in a strong candidacy for rookie of the year consideration. Before losing to the Lakers in Rubio's last appearance of the 2011-12 season, Minnesota was in the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff slot with 25 games remaining.
He's a passing wizard and a defensive fiend that needs to improve his shooting. But that's hard to do for a player limited to testing his running and cutting ability in a closed, medicinal setting.
That's become Rubio's existence this season. Lately, he's been seeing how his ankle handles change of direction, both by working with trainers and participating in some 5-on-0 settings.
He'd originally hoped to be back by Christmas. But as the new year closes in, Rubio isn't sure how close he is to returning -- enough that he's no longer putting a timetable on it, though coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders has mentioned mid-January as a likely date.
"I've been saying it's going to be two weeks for the last month," Rubio said. "I don't want to say any more dates, because I've been saying, 'Eh, in two weeks, I think I'm going to be ready,' then two weeks come by, and I still can't play, and I get mad. I don't want to get in a bad mood again."
It's hard not to, though, as he's watched a young, overhauled team get thrashed night after night. The Wolves' 5-24 record is the West's worst, and its minus-10.5 point differential is better than only that of Philadelphia.
With Rubio and fellow starters Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic injured, Minnesota is starting a pair of 19-year-olds in Zach LaVine and Andrew Wiggins and two second-year players in Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng.
"I'm pushing hard," Rubio said. "I can't wait to get back on the court. It's painful seeing them struggle in some games. We're young. We knew that was going to happen, but we didn't know that three of our best players were going to go down.
"Being a rookie's hard; being a rookie that's playing 40 minutes (a game) is even harder."
But with Rubio's zeal to return comes recognition he must retain patience. He learned that in his sophomore season when he came back from the ACL tear and missed 25 of the Wolves' first 30 games in 2012-13.
"I'm going to take it easy this time, because I think I pushed too much myself the last time. I want to push, too, but knowing that the first day I'm going to come back, it's not going to be 100 percent."
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