The Wolves will open the season Wednesday against the Lakers in Los Angeles with a point guard whose playing time the past seven months consists of three preseason games.
After being limited to 22 games last season by an ankle injury that ultimately required surgery in April, Ricky Rubio missed much of the preseason because of a quadriceps strain, returning for the final three games.
Now, he said, he's pain-free. But is his game ready for the regular season?
It's getting there, Rubio said. But it wasn't until the second half of Friday's preseason finale that he started to feel like himself.
Indeed, Rubio said he spent his first two preseason appearances working mainly on himself and not the team.
"I was out for a long time," Rubio said. "Those two games, on the road, I was trying to find myself before trying to help the team to get something going. It was selfish, but it was something I needed to do. I was out six, seven months. I had to find myself again."
He looked good at Target Center onFriday, hitting four of seven shots, going 1-for-2 on three-pointers, scoring 13 points with six assists and three steals. But it was in the second half when things really started clicking for him, Rubio said.
"You can run, you can do a lot of things off the court," he said. "When you jump out there, you think, 'I'm in good shape.' But it's not the same. You can't imitate game shape. And it's not just being fast and quick, it's being in the right time and the right spot. You need to remember where [you need to be] on the floor."
