The Minnesota Timberwolves have made the NBA aware that they do not appreciate the way in which opponents are defending rookie point guard Ricky Rubio.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn sent a video to the league office, “seeking to illustrate what (the team) believes are defenders playing Rubio too physically, a tactic that has affected his production recently.” The Timberwolves are of the mind that fouls against Rubio that should be called are not being called.
"They're putting bigger guys on him. They're beating the hell out of him right now,” Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said, per the Star Tribune. “The league (other teams) has figured out you have to be physical with him. And he's kind of learning on the fly."
The Wolves alerting the NBA comes as Rubio’s production has declined sharply. Over his past six games, Rubio has shot 20 percent from the floor (9-for-45) and averaged 5.8 points and 7.3 assists per game, the report notes. Before that, he was averaging 11.5 points and 8.4 assists, shooting 35.6 percent.
When asked about the physical defense being played on him, Rubio chuckled and said, "Tough enough. I mean, it's close to end of the season, everybody wants to get a spot in the playoff and everybody start to play more physically. We just have to play at the same level or even harder."
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