Locke’s been making this point regarding the need for Rudy to develop offensively for quite some time now, on Locked on Jazz, other podcasts, and local radio. And with objective analysis, as opposed to blind homerism. This is just his latest quote (September 18th) specifically on this topic from his “The Big Show” interview on The Zone Sports Network 1280/97.5:
https://1280thezone.com/david-locke-says-jazz-will-be-as-good-as-mitchell-gobert-can-be-this-season/
Starting around the 4m20s mark: “The one thing I did think... in the US [vs. France FIBA] game, when he [Rudy] got the ball with a defender between him and the basket, he finished a few times.
“OUTSIDE 3 FEET, RUDY IS SHOOTING, Y’KNOW IN THE 30’s. AND THAT’S AN AREA OF HIS GAME THAT HAS TO CHANGE. HE’S GOT TO BE ABLE TO SCORE WHEN THERE’S A DEFENDER BETWEEN HIM AND THE BASKET AT SOME REASONABLE RATE.
“It doesn’t have to be high - it just has to be enough that if somebody switches Harrison Barnes onto him, he can take Harrison Barnes down to the paint and PUNISH THEM FOR IT...
“... Because there are not a lot of ways to defend this Jazz team. There’s one of two things that teams are gonna do (or one of three things): (1) is they’re gonna double the ball handler on the pick and roll to get the ball out of their hands and make Rudy make plays, (2) is they’re gonna switch things and Rudy’s gonna end up with who’s ever guarding MC or DM on him and he’s gonna have to be able to punish him, or (3) is they’re just gonna drop the big with the ball handler all the way to the rim, forcing the Jazz to take some floaters and those kinda shots, and Rudy’s gonna have to get creative with his ability to get himself available in those circumstances.
“And so I think y’know, that those are important plays. We saw Rudy dominate the US when they switched smaller players on him.”
Except Rudy was not dominant at all for most of this FIBA tournament (in fact in the final two games, he practically “disappeared” and was benched because he was a “total non-factor”). In the game vs the US he made a couple awkward and lucky throws at the rim. But at least he finally TRIED them (much like Ben Simmons’ at least TRYING to shoot once in a while when open despite being dominant/far more efficient driving it down the lane). You’ll never improve at anything if you never try anything even slightly outside your comfort zone - it’s pretty obvious that’s critical to any kind of player development.
Again after 6 years in the NBA and being paid hundreds of millions of dollars, Rudy’s still having NEAR-ZERO ABILITY (and just as importantly NEAR-ZERO ATTEMPTS) to make a hook shot over a guy 8 inches shorter than him (with a simple one dribble, hook from 4 ft) should be a little concerning to any Jazz fan with a shred of objectivity.
Despite all your Jazziest jizziness, my point stands. And the types of people whom you guys probably claim to revere (who crunch numbers and do NBA analysis for a living) agree.
Lol maybe you should actually listen to his show (or just other people) once in a while instead of being a jackass who thinks he knows everything. You Jazz homers are really frucking dumb and obstinate. Is this an NBA fan thing or a Utah thing? Or is it just plain American @ssh0le? Lol
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