What's new
By:

Has Kessler surpassed Gobert?

Has Kessler surpassed Gobert?

  • Yes, Kessler is better now

    Votes: 9 17.3%

  • They are on the same level

    Votes: 7 13.5%

  • No, Gobert is better now

    Votes: 28 53.8%

  • Too early to know for sure

    Votes: 8 15.4%
  • Total voters
    52
fishonjazz said:
Kesslers 3 years blocks per 36 per game numbers are 3.7, 3.7, and 3.5.
In goberts 12 years his career high in blocks per 36 per game is 3.4. (vast majority of seasons is under 3)
Click to expand...

I mean, the major thing here is that Kessler has anchored back to back last place defensive teams and they haven't even been close to the 29th ranked team.

This is his best season and he's anchoring one of the worst defenses in NBA history.

The Jazz's defensive issues are much more about the sheer terribleness of George, Sexton, Hardy, Markkanen, and Collins on defense, but Kessler hasn't shown that he can be a game changing defensive center yet. The Jazz are even worse on defense with Kessler on the court (though this is because he usually plays with George, Sexton, and Markkanen)
 
HadAnEffectHere said:
I mean, the major thing here is that Kessler has anchored back to back last place defensive teams and they haven't even been close to the 29th ranked team.

This is his best season and he's anchoring one of the worst defenses in NBA history.

The Jazz's defensive issues are much more about the sheer terribleness of George, Sexton, Hardy, Markkanen, and Collins on defense, but Kessler hasn't shown that he can be a game changing defensive center yet. The Jazz are even worse on defense with Kessler on the court (though this is because he usually plays with George, Sexton, and Markkanen)
Click to expand...
I remember seeing many tweets of stats regarding Kessler defense showing that he is a game changing defensive center.

I also remember myself and @MT Steve tracking his effect during games in game threads over and over again so I'm gonna have to disagree with you.

Yes the teams defense sucks. It would have sucked the last 2 years (and this year so far) with gobert as well. Would have been a bit better but would still suck.

Tanking is tanky.
 
Last edited:
Our best defender at the 1-3 positions is, probably, Cody. The same guy who the Jazz just shipped to the G-League. Ainge somehow managed to assemble a cast of guards where every single one is absolutely atrocious on defense. That's not easy to do.
 
Gobert with 2 points and 6 rebounds tonight
 
jazznik said:
Something is going on with Rudy. In the last 6 games he had games with 4 points - 9 rebounds, 3 points - 4 rebounds , and 2 points - 6 rebounds. He never had stretches like that.
Click to expand...
Rudy just can't play with Randle. He did not see the ball, spacing with Randle is awful.... this team is beyond stupid. They were very good last year and by trading Randle , they lose all the efficiency from Rudy, Mike... If they don't make a move, they may ended outside the play-in position, considering how tough West is. They play well for 6 games because they were defending well ( but against not good or average team) but the crash test against better team is impressive. They are just not good enough.
 
Stats obviously don't tell the whole story, but this is what the numbers look like:

q3zP4x6.jpeg


stathead.com

Walker Kessler (2025-2025) vs. Rudy Gobert (2025-2025): Head-to-Head Stats Comparison | Stathead.com

Compare Players: Check out the head-to-head stats of Walker Kessler (2025-2025) and Rudy Gobert (2025-2025) including their awards, honors, championships, playoff and regular season stats, and much more on Stathead.com
stathead.com stathead.com
 
Kessler was amazing last night. The hack-a-walker at the end kind of ruined a great, great, dominant night from him. Just crucial rebounds while crowded by three Cavs at times, unstoppable.
 
I do find it kind of funny that we keep comparing two guys with basic stats when we know damn well the basic stats don’t tell the whole story with either.

I think what we’re seeing with Gobert is inconsistency that has come from aging. IMO, he was nowhere close to his standard to begin the year. I know many disagree, but incredibly difficult for me to say he had not dropped off substantially from what he was. Then he had a good run where it looked like his form had returned, and now again he’s struggling.

I just don’t think Rudy can be at that peak level all season. He can still reach higher heights than Kessler has, but not as consistently as his prime years.
 
Tanktastic said:
His form is awful, but it also looks like it's mostly mental. When he gets to the line, he seems like he wants it just to be over asap. - so any "fix" in his form needs to include mental practice to *want* to get to the line.
Click to expand...
When they do the arial shot you can tell the ball shifts a lot in his palm before he releases. I do think he needs to retool his form from the FT line.
 
FWIW, Gobert’s adjusted +\- stuff is still quite good and Kessler’s is terrible. Doesn’t necessarily mean that is gospel, but that’s what the results are.

On paper, it’s still Gobert by a fairly large margin depending on how much you value the +\- stuff versus box score stuff. I think these are two players where the box scores matter the least, but also think Kessler has been very unlucky +\- wise playing for the Jazz. Perhaps that’s homerism…but something about the UTA’s extreme awfulness makes things difficult to evaluate.

Someone has to answer for our defense though.
 
fishonjazz said:
Kesslers 3 years blocks per 36 per game numbers are 3.7, 3.7, and 3.5.
In goberts 12 years his career high in blocks per 36 per game is 3.4. (vast majority of seasons is under 3)
Click to expand...
Yeah but the eye test matters too. Teams straight up stopped going at Gobert. We had lots of discussions about this, how he would lead the league in blocks if teams challenged him in the paint, but more often than not they would veer off rather than go at Gobert. Lots of his blocks were on help defense as a result. A better measure would be Drtg. Or one of the advanced defensive stats.
 
fishonjazz said:
Kesslers 3 years blocks per 36 per game numbers are 3.7, 3.7, and 3.5.
In goberts 12 years his career high in blocks per 36 per game is 3.4. (vast majority of seasons is under 3)
Click to expand...
The one thing is that Gobert in his first three years played on a much better and more physical defense. There were I’m guessing less opportunities for blocks as I’m guessing they were better at keeping other teams out of the paint, but that’s mostly speculation on my part.
 
The main shot blocking skill that Walker has on Gobert is that he's really good at using either hand to block shots.
 
LogGrad98 said:
Yeah but the eye test matters too. Teams straight up stopped going at Gobert. We had lots of discussions about this, how he would lead the league in blocks if teams challenged him in the paint, but more often than not they would veer off rather than go at Gobert. Lots of his blocks were on help defense as a result. A better measure would be Drtg. Or one of the advanced defensive stats.
Click to expand...
That's very true. Could still also be true that Kessler is just better at blocking shots.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top