Who’s Better: John Wall or Ricky Rubio?

If we had asked this question even so much as one month ago, the response might’ve been very different. John Wall was set to break out, to make “The Leap,” while Ricky Rubio was an overhyped Spanish guard who couldn’t shoot, and hadn’t improved in three years. Now, Wall is stuck in a dismal situation in Washington where no one takes anything seriously. Meanwhile, Rubio is the most promising Ricky since Ricky from Boyz N’ Da Hood got shot up.

Despite the love fest going on with Rubio, and everyone’s displeasure with how often Wall tries to turn his games into lockout celebrity showcases, they are both still two of the brightest young stars in the game with vastly contrasting styles. The question is though, which player is better.

John Wall or Ricky Rubio. Who would you rather have today, down the line, over the next 10 years? We argue. You decide.

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JOHN WALL
The arrival of Ricky Rubio in the NBA has caught the attention of basketball fans all across the nation. However, despite Rubio’s reputation as a basketball prodigy, the comparisons have gone way too far. Don’t get me wrong, Rubio has the potential to have a great career in the NBA, but I think it’s safe to say that we’re jumping the gun a little with the Pistol Pete comparisons.

Sure he’s shown flashes of brilliance, but his NBA career is only 10 games deep. We can only judge him based upon what he’s done so far, which has been decent, but definitely not worth the praise he’s been receiving. The fact that people are so ready to call him the next Steve Nash or the second coming of Pistol Pete is completely ridiculous. I mean, yeah he’s made a few nice passes, but I don’t see him winning back-to-back MVPs or averaging 31 points a game in a season.

John Wall already has a season under his belt. In his rookie year he met the unofficial standard for a future All-Star point guard, posting 16.4 points & 8.3 assists per game, a season normally worthy of Rookie of the Year honors. The argument debating who is better right now is unjust. Wall is clearly more experienced, and more far along. He was the best player on his team as soon as he set foot in D.C. Rubio is still climbing up the ladder in Minnesota. Comparing the two based upon what they’ve done so far is almost impossible. However what is fair to compare between the two players is potential.

Ricky Rubio’s skills as a passer are unique. If there is one aspect of the game where he can leave his mark, it’s passing the basketball. Although he’s only played 12 games so far, I think it’s safe to say his abilities as a passer are unlimited. It’s also clear that his potential as a scorer isn’t as promising. Rubio’s game can only be effective with the right pieces around him. Since he’s not a legitimate scoring threat, it would make it difficult for him to succeed in a system like Washington’s. Since John Wall can get his own if need be, it opens things up for him as a distributor. Ricky Rubio will have a hard time doing that. Until he turns into an established scorer, he can never fully lead a team the way Wall does.

John Wall’s ceiling is unlimited. There’s no telling how good he could become. He’s very underrated as a distributor because he hasn’t been surrounded by the perfect pieces like Rubio has in Minnesota. Rubio’s numbers have been a reflection of the team around him. He’s playing with athletic finishers on the wings & established shooters on the perimeter, including Kevin Love who is any point guard’s dream teammate. John Wall is on more of a do-it-yourself kind of team, which speaks volumes about what he could do in a proper system.

Also, Wall hasn’t come close to reaching his full potential as a scorer. Once he gets range on his jumper he’ll have the complete scoring package. His ability to get to the rim and finish is already amongst the best in the league. Once he complements those skills with a consistent outside shot, nobody will be able to stay in front of him. If Wall becomes an outside threat he could turn into the best scoring point guard in the league. Just look at what Derrick Rose was able to do after a summer of jump shot training.
-JAIMIE CANTERBURY

RICKY RUBIO
John Wall is a very good basketball player. From his athleticism, to his vision, to his scoring ability, he does most things well.

Scratch that. John Wall does some things that most NBA point guards can’t.

But Ricky Rubio is a better player because he brings something to the table that isn’t tangible. It goes beyond his averages of 10.2 points, 7.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. It’s something so unique and hard to grasp that it’s created an aura in NBA stadiums. Ken Berger called it a magnetism, and there’s a reason behind it.

This is a comparison between Superman and Batman.

Wall, like Batman, has all the tools to get the job done. He creates new gadgets on the fly, and he’s capable of doing insurmountable things based on the tools that we can see. The grappling hook is effective, for sure.

But Rubio is Superman, someone that defies rules of law – gravity and bullets don’t affect Superman. His feats can’t be traced back to a material thing like the grappling hook. It’s superhuman.

Where Wall makes us gasp following every lightning quick move, Rubio makes us jump out of our seats because we don’t know why each pass he makes is perfect, nor how he does it. It’s creativity, genius and something we don’t understand that bring comparisons of Rubio to once-in-a-decade type of guys like John Stockton, Steve Nash and Pistol Pete.

There’s something about how Rubio passes the basketball that’s special. While Wall can also rack up the assists, he’s successful by way of making the right play: penetrate and kick if it’s there, or score the basketball if the defense doesn’t collapse. We can see why holes open up for Wall, but Rubio is different. He makes plays that aren’t there, sees things that happen before he’s supposed to.

About one third of his assists are from one-handed passes, according to ESPN Stats and Info, and it’s a sign that much of what he does is within the flow of his dribble. Everything comes naturally.

Numbers back him up, too. The rookie is third – behind Steve Nash and Rajon Rondo – in the league in assists per 48 minutes. Furthermore, Wall’s 12.52 PER isn’t even close to Rubio’s 19.30.

Wall’s unteachable traits combine athleticism with basketball talent, but Rubio’s are all about being a natural basketball player – he’s pure, molded to the exact definition of what a point guard is supposed to be.

And while Batman will have his success, it’s Superman that in the end will make us wonder how he did it all.
-KEVIN ZIMMERMAN

Who would you rather have for the next decade?

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