VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - The last time we watched Ricky Rubio in international basketball, he was looking like Ricky Rubio.

He was hounding opposing point guards on defense and pushing the ball up the floor on fast breaks at every opportunity. He was also missing 3-pointers. At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Rubio shot 4 of 15 from the arc.

He did have a few attempts go in the ring and come out, but come out they did and it led to more more ridicule for a player whose Achilles heel has always been a suspect jumper.

Well, times have changed and Spain may very well benefit. In Minnesota, where Rubio plays for the Timberwolves, the former teenage sensation has been doing it all.

The T-Wolves have been reaping the rewards from the 26-year-old's ballhawking defense, his ball handling, his passing on fast breaks and in the half-court, and yes, they're getting consistent offense from Rubio on the perimeter with his jump shot.

Apologies if you haven't been following Rubio lately and I just made you fall out of your seat.

With seven games remaining in the NBA season, Rubio is almost averaging a double-double in points (10.9) and assists (9) and instead of fans in the Twin Cities watching "brick city" when Rubio launches mid- and long-range jumpers, they're watching "nothing but the bottom of the net city".

On Thursday, he poured in a career-high 33 points in a 119-104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. That meant that in the 17 games since the All-Star Break, Rubio had averaged 16.8 points, 10.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 47 percent from the floor and 44 percent from 3-point land.

In his last 10 games he's averaged 18.4ppg and 10.6apg.

I hope to be at the EuroBasket. We have two weeks of competition. Until the season is over and you analyze everything, I can't say much. But I'm very much looking forward to playing with the national team.Ricky RubioRicky Rubio

"I think it's the best moment of my career," Rubio said to Cadena Ser radio. "I feel I've matured, I'm controlling the games. My game is consistent, which was lacking in my first few campaigns in the NBA."

Minnesota coach and president of basketball operations, Tom Thibodeau, who watched Rubio play against the USA at the Rio Olympics in the Semi-Finals since he was an assistant to boss Mike Krzyzewski, thinks the improvement in Rubio's jump shot is down to one thing and one thing only.

"That's a lot about hard work," Thibodeau said. "Oftentimes, you tend to forget it's step by step and the improvement is incremental. Then all of a sudden you take a step back and you see it's significant. But if you really study him month by month, each month it's gotten a lot better.

"He's playing with a lot of confidence right now. He's putting a lot of time into it, and it's paying off for him."

If Rubio hits his jump shot, he is almost unstoppable. Opponents won't be able to lay off him. If they guard him man-to-man or with double-teams, he'll be able to blow past defenders or pass to the open man. It's not rocket science.

And make no mistake, Rubio wants to be with Spain when they defend their FIBA EuroBasket title. An injury prevented him from playing in 2015. Rubio had played the year before at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Granada and Madrid and he returned to the roster last summer.

"I hope to be at the EuroBasket," he said. "We have two weeks of competition. Until the season is over and you analyze everything, I can't say much. But I'm very much looking forward to playing with the national team."

So Spain, already the best team in Europe, will be a different animal entirely in Cluj-Napoca at FIBA EuroBasket 2017 if Rubio is knocking down jumpers.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

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