A two-way Rudy? According to Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune, Rudy Gobert is working with Dirk Nowitzki’s shooting coach for 10 days in Germany this summer. Gobert is reportedly hitting 15-footers with consistency in recent workouts. Just the thought of this, is terrifying because if Rudy Gobert can shoot and protect the rim he could undoubtedly be an elite center in the NBA.
Once the Utah Jazz traded Enes Kanter to the Oklahoma City Thunder and slotted Gobert into the starting lineup, they had one of the NBA’s best defenses for the rest of the season. Since then Rudy Gobert became a defensive beast. This is a player who will almost certainly be in the running Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 after not even seeing his name on any of the NBA’s All-Defensive teams this past season. Rejection can sometimes be a great motivator, and I feel Rudy is someone who is driven to improve. Even a mild improvement in Rudy’s shooting range will do wonders for the Jazz’s spacing, and many teams would have nightmares if he developed a face up game for the long-haul of his career.
“I’m more confident,”
he said of his offensive game.
“Really in the first season and early last season, I wasn’t really trying anything offensively. Now I can really work on my game and try to show it on the floor.”
Gobert also said he doesn’t have specific statistical targets set for next year.
“I’m not really thinking about numbers right now,” he said. “I’m just thinking about playing the best defense I can. The numbers — there’s going to be rebounds, there’s going to be blocks if you play great defense.”
The center will definitely have plenty of work to do in order for his name to be included on the list for the NBA All-Defensive teams, once they are announced next May. Let’s hope the Utah Jazz are playing playoff basketball when that happens.
