Ricky Rubio practices with Minnesota Timberwolves as he moves closer to return – NBA News
After a series of bad news particularly in the injury department, the Minnesota Timberwolves finally received some good news as well as their star point guard, Ricky Rubio, was back on the practice court with the rest of the team.
Rubio underwent some light five on none work with the team during practice day as he continues to recover from an ACL injury that he suffered back in March this year. Although his road to a return to action is still a few weeks long, seeing him back on the
court was not only a sigh of relief for the team management, but also for the players.
Kevin Love, the All Star leader of the Minnesota Timberwolves, fractured his hand two weeks before the regular season began, and is yet to play a game for the team this season. The Wolves hence started the season without their
two main players, but still won five of their first seven games. However, they have recently lost Brandon Roy, J.J Barea and Nikola Pekovic to sprains and bruises. The Wolves played against the Golden State Warriors last and after the loss, Andrei Kirilenko
accepted that the team was losing steam because of the injuries on the roster.
Rubio is not expected to return to the team before the mid of December, where as Kevin Love is expected to return some time in the first week of next month. The return of the two star players will be a big boost for the Wolves,
who are fighting for a playoff berth after adding some great talent and depth to the team this offseason. The Wolves have not reached the playoffs since the 2003-2004 NBA season.
"Ricky's so smart. He knew everything, every play we had and where everybody should be. That's just who he is. The more we get him on the court, even if it's five-on-none and doing some shooting, it's good for the team,” said Wolves
Head Coach Rick Adelman after practice.
Even though Rubio is responding well to his rehab process and the team is in dire need of its star point guard, Adelman said that the team is going to be very careful with Rubio, and are in no hurry of bringing him back as they
do not want to risk another injury or any complications in his present injury.
"We have to be careful about the expectations. He had a serious injury. You want him on the court and everything but you're going to have to judge how quickly. ... He's going to have his ups and downs. But he's just the type of
young man that he's going to get through it,” added Adelman.
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