IS RUDY GOBERT GIVING HIS "ALL" ON DEFENSE?

Is it just me, or does it seem like Rudy could be doing so much more on the defensive end? It seems like his timing has been off all year. Maybe this seems super critical, but I have watched almost every game this season and more often than I would like to admit, I have seen Gobert body up on D in the post and he gives the opponent what ever they want. Sometimes he doesn't even jump in his attempt to block the ball.
He is currently ranking 6th in bpg, at 2.04 bpg. But the 3 guy directly in from of him, I believe he is a much more talented player and should be destroying them, not following the pack. Brook Lopez, JaVale McGee, and Hassan Whiteside. Rudy has the 2nd highest standing reach in the NBA, and should be averaging no less than 3 bpg, in my opinion. I know that the stat sheet doesn't always translate effort, but even when I watch him, he doesn't always throw off driving defenders shots, like we saw so much of last year.
I am just trying to wrap my head around what's going on with him this season. I think he hasn't even hit his ceiling yet, and is trying out what works and what doesn't. Am I the only one who has noticed this? I am not taking away from the great defender that he is, in any way. He just seems 1% off which is the difference from being #6 rated as opposed to being #1 rated defensively.

Lakers_Slapper said:

Is it just me, or does it seem like Rudy could be doing so much more on the defensive end? It seems like his timing has been off all year. Maybe this seems super critical, but I have watched almost every game this season and more often than I would like to admit, I have seen Gobert body up on D in the post and he gives the opponent what ever they want. Sometimes he doesn't even jump in his attempt to block the ball.
He is currently ranking 6th in bpg, at 2.04 bpg. But the 3 guy directly in from of him, I believe he is a much more talented player and should be destroying them, not following the pack. Brook Lopez, JaVale McGee, and Hassan Whiteside. Rudy has the 2nd highest standing reach in the NBA, and should be averaging no less than 3 bpg, in my opinion. I know that the stat sheet doesn't always translate effort, but even when I watch him, he usually doesn't even throw off driving defenders shots.
I am just trying to wrap my head around what's going on with him this season. Am I the only one who has noticed this?

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dunno if you're the only one But you are completely full of ****

Douchebag K said:

dunno if you're the only one But you are completely full of ****

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And thank YOU for your valued input! Your given the option to any Jazzfanz profile name that you want, and you willingly choose the name of Douchebag. One might wonder "why?" but then all they have to do is read your posts and responses and suddenly it all becomes clear.

His tracking numbers since December compared to league average have been elite around the rim (>-10% difference between Gobert's defended shots within 6ft and the league average in the same time). He was getting abused at the start of the season at that same range giving up 70% of shots taken within 6ft but since December he's been the elite DPOTY Rudy so if you're thinking it's a recent trend I'm not sure what games you're watching.

This is a joke. Rudy is the engine to the jazz. Rudy blocks, intimidates shots. Rudy is great. The best player on the team!

Sandman822 said:

His tracking numbers since December compared to league average have been elite around the rim (>-10% difference between Gobert's defended shots within 6ft and the league average in the same time). He was getting abused at the start of the season at that same range giving up 70% of shots taken within 6ft but since December he's been the elite DPOTY Rudy so if you're thinking it's a recent trend I'm not sure what games you're watching.

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Don't mistaken me, I'm not saying that he's not a good defender, please understand that. He most definitely is. I am simply stating that it's surprising that guys like Whiteside and JaVale McGee have better defensive rating stats than Gobert for the year. I would love to see the analytic stats your talking about. I tried to find but what I could, but didn't come up with anything substantial in terms of analytics. So I am just going off what I see, which is every game they play. From the stats that are available from the beginning of the year - December to current. His defensive numbers are pretty well matched across the board.
Oct-November he played in 23 games and had 47 blocks = 2.04 BPG.
Dec-Current he played in 24 games and had 49 blocks = 2.04 BPG
His steals number were evenly matched and his rebounding was a bit stronger in the first 2 months.
I would never discredit what he does on defense, I just think that he's so good, he hasn't even peaked yet. With his reach, there is no reason why he should average under 3 BPG. Nobody in the NBA should be beating him in DPR stats.

Lakers_Slapper said:

Don't mistaken me, I'm not saying that he's not a good defender, please understand that. He most definitely is. I am simply stating that it's surprising that guys like Whiteside and JaVale McGee have better defensive rating stats than Gobert for the year. I would love to see the analytic stats your talking about. I tried to find but what I could, but didn't come up with anything substantial in terms of analytics. So I am just going off what I see, which is every game they play. From the stats that are available from the beginning of the year - December to current. His defensive numbers are pretty well matched across the board.
Oct-November he played in 23 games and had 47 blocks = 2.04 BPG.
Dec-Current he played in 24 games and had 49 blocks = 2.04 BPG
His steals number were evenly matched and his rebounding was a bit stronger in the first 2 months.
I would never discredit what he does on defense, I just think that he's so good, he hasn't even peaked yet. With his reach, there is no reason why he should average under 3 BPG. Nobody in the NBA should be beating him in DPR stats.

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Tracking stats - https://stats.nba.com/player/203497/defense-dash/?Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular Season , if you edit the season segment you can see how he did in certain months, over the last n games, etc.

He's also #1 in DRPM - http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM

Finally, the Jazz are 7.1 points per 100 possessions worse off when Gobert is off the floor vs when he's on - https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/goberru01/on-off/2019

Blocks aren't a great defensive metric as it only tells a small fraction of the story. Pretty much every advanced metric suggests that Rudy is DPOTY level on defense, and the eye test backs it up. It's hard to block shots if players aren't even trying to shoot at the rim because of Gobert's interior presence.

edit: Like Gobert's interior presence is similar to Kawhi pre-injury where teams would literally just put the guy Kawhi was guarding in the corner and try to play the Spurs 4 v 4 instead because Kawhi was that dominant. Rudy in the paint is very similar.

Jazz said:

This is a joke. Rudy is the engine to the jazz. Rudy blocks, intimidates shots. Rudy is great. The best player on the team!

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This is getting ridiculous. I don't know how you could read my original post and think that I am seriously bashing on Rudy's Defense. All I am saying is that it appears to be that his timing is off more than what I would expect from him this season. As great as a defensive player he is, he obviously hasn't peaked yet and is still figuring it out. Your obviously saying that you think there is no way he could ever be better than what he is right now. I really hope your wrong.

Sandman822 said:

Tracking stats - https://stats.nba.com/player/203497/defense-dash/?Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular Season , if you edit the season segment you can see how he did in certain months, over the last n games, etc.

He's also #1 in DRPM - http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM

Finally, the Jazz are -7.1 points per 100 possessions worse off when Gobert is off the floor vs when he's on - https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/goberru01/on-off/2019

Blocks aren't a great defensive metric as it only tells a small fraction of the story. Pretty much every advanced metric suggests that Rudy is DPOTY level on defense, and the eye test backs it up. It's hard to block shots if players aren't even trying to shoot at the rim because of Gobert's interior presence.

edit: Like Gobert's interior presence is similar to Kawhi pre-injury where teams would literally just put the guy Kawhi was guarding in the corner and try to play the Spurs 4 v 4 instead because Kawhi was that dominant. Rudy in the paint is very similar.

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Thank your for that. I especially like the one that shows the difference when he's on VS. off the floor. I think that's a real valuable one to look at. Can you sent me the one that shows his numbers based on the defensive opponents distance from the basket? That would be a great one to have on hand and research some other players.

Lakers_Slapper said:

Thank your for that. I especially like the one that shows the difference when he's on VS. off the floor. I think that's a real valuable one to look at. Can you sent me the one that shows his numbers based on the defensive opponents distance from the basket?

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Check the tracking link, it has it all there. Keep in mind that his tracking stats include his awful start in October, the numbers are even more impressive when you look at December/January.

Ok, I see it now. Thank you for that!

I think he's just playing smart. He doesn't have to leave his feet to block every shot. Doing so leaves him out of position more often than not and going for every block is a magnet for today's refs. His standing there or just going straight up usually gets the job done.

Lakers_Slapper said:

And thank YOU for your valued input! Your given the option to any Jazzfanz profile name that you want, and you willingly choose the name of Douchebag. One might wonder "why?" but then all they have to do is read your posts and responses and suddenly it all becomes clear.

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Well, if that isn’t the cats meow. Don’t be a colossal idiot!! I canny believe I have to look at this thread everyday. This is the dumbest take I’ve ever seen.



This thread is like having your brain on drugs.

JazzyFresh said:

I think he's just playing smart. He doesn't have to leave his feet to block every shot. Doing so leaves him out of position more often than not and going for every block is a magnet for today's refs. His standing there or just going straight up usually gets the job done.

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This is it. He's more selective with his blocks and contests. But he's really playing better than ever.

Gobert was a little preoccupied with fighting unwinnable arguments with the refs earlier in the season .

He seems to have put that behind him - the last 4 or 5 games are as good as I've ever seen him play .

I feel exactly like the OP! When I watch Rudy I expect him to get every rebound, catch every lob, block every shot. For some reason I expect him to be super-human. I think it is just because he is so amazing when he does do those things I expect it every time.

Then I have to remind myself he isn't super-human. I don't have to remind myself that Mitchell isn't super human. I never had to remind myself with Stockton or Malone. For some reason I just expect more than is reasonable from Rudy. And I suspect that is what the OP is experiencing as well.

Lakers_Slapper said:

This is getting ridiculous. I don't know how you could read my original post and think that I am seriously bashing on Rudy's Defense. All I am saying is that it appears to be that his timing is off more than what I would expect from him this season. As great as a defensive player he is, he obviously hasn't peaked yet and is still figuring it out. Your obviously saying that you think there is no way he could ever be better than what he is right now. I really hope your wrong.

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On many nights he is the best player on the court. He's too important on both sides of the floor to foul out. When players get in deep he goes straight up flat footed, no other option.

Lakers_Slapper said:

And thank YOU for your valued input! Your given the option to any Jazzfanz profile name that you want, and you willingly choose the name of Douchebag. One might wonder "why?" but then all they have to do is read your posts and responses and suddenly it all becomes clear.

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He lost a bet last season and had to change his name to Douchebag K as a result.

Sent from my SM-N950U using JazzFanz mobile app

Lakers_Slapper said:

And thank YOU for your valued input! Your given the option to any Jazzfanz profile name that you want, and you willingly choose the name of Douchebag. One might wonder "why?" but then all they have to do is read your posts and responses and suddenly it all becomes clear.

Click to expand...

Actually, he lost a bet, that's where the name came from. Although it's true he could change his username back now.