Rubio on moral victories: 'Future is bright but we can't wait any longer'
Moral victories is for minor league coaches.
A minor league coach with a minor league mentality Ricky Rubio is not.
His young Minnesota Timberwolves dropped a narrow 110-105 decision to a far superior Los Angeles Clippers team, a five-point margin that could very much be considered a moral victory. The rebuilding Wolves are flush with youth and inexperience, and hanging in against one of the league's best teams is impressive.
To hear Rubio tell it, though, the Wolves are past the point of finding solace in such things:
The future is bright but we can't wait any longer. We have to start winning now. It's a process we have to learn. But we can't lose more games because we need to win. Sometimes during this season we didn't feel (it). But I think lately we've been better and fighting. Some nights you're gonna win. Some nights you're gonna lose. But you have to be there every night.
It's a tough position for Rubio to be in. Still 24, he has plenty of career left and fits well with the team's new, longer-term timeline for competing. But he also spent the last few seasons with Kevin Love on more competitive teams, so taking a step back may be difficult.
The reality is that the Wolves may not actually be that far off from competing. While they're 13-46, they've been hammered by injuries all season and are a more respectable 6-10 when Rubio plays. The season has also afforded Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng and other young pieces expedited development time, perhaps pushing their individual timelines forward.
Along with Rubio and the host of youngsters, the Wolves have solid veterans in Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic, and will have enough cap room this summer to add a depth piece or two.
They'll also have a likely top-five draft pick, which is what may make the remainder of this season additionally frustrating for Rubio. The Wolves are best served as they're currently playing, narrowly losing games in which they're learning.