The Utah Jazz will play in their first postseason since 2011-12 and they should thank French Rejection (I’m fighting with you, Zach Lowe) Rudy Gobert for this. Still 24, Gobert is already one of the most dominant big men in this league and has been a key factor in Jazz’s return to the playoffs. His confidence is on a sky-high level, so high he thinks he’s the best center in the league, as he revealed to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon a couple of months ago.
This season Gobert averaged 14.1 points, 12.8 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 1.2 assists per game, shooting almost 67% from the field. He’s also one of the most likely candidates to win Defensive Player Of The Year Award along with Golden State Warriors All-Star Draymond Green. Gobert has always been known as a great defensive player, but this season he has improved a lot offensively, becoming a force in pick & roll situations. He finishes at the rim with authority in traffic and defenses started to respect him more and more. Now, with his team, Gobert will face the Los Angeles Clippers in the playoffs, a matchup that will put him on another great rim protector like DeAndre Jordan. So what should we expect from Gobert in this series?
As you can see in the shot chart, courtesy of Statmuse, Rudy Gobert never changed his style of play in the four games played during the regular season against the Clippers. He’s always aggressive and he’s not scared of finishing at the rim against DeAndre Jordan. But, of course, Gobert would have the power to change the face of the series on the defensive end, thanks mostly to his ability to protect the rim. He only allows 43.1% at the rim, the second best in the league just behind LaMarcus Aldridge of the Spurs. Jazz’s big man is really able to scare his opponents and force them to change their minds.
With a 9’9” standing reach and 7’9” wingspan, it’s almost impossible to avoid Gobert at the rim. His lateral quickness is amazing and thanks to his great timing he’s always able to block his opponent at the rim. This would definitely help the Jazz in limiting Chris Paul in pick & roll situations, thanks to Gobert’s presence, his teammates wouldn’t need to help, so they can stay on the perimeter without leaving shooters open. The French Rejection, in fact, is amazing also when he has to guard smaller guys and force them to take bad shots. For a guy of his size, being able to switch in that way against guys like Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, and Chris Paul is almost unbelievable. Just standing in his position and with his arms open, Gobert is able to cover both the point guard and the big man in pick & roll situation, giving an incredible strength to his team.
But Gobert is not only the best shot blocker in the league, he’s also a fantastic rebound-grabbing machine. He’s currently the second-best offensive rebounder in the league and fifth in offensive rebounding percentage with 13.7%, he’s also fourth in rebounds per game with 12.8. This is a huge reason why Utah is third in the league in rebound differential with +3.2. Gobert’s rebounding skill will help the Jazz a lot during the series against the Clippers. Especially down the stretch, when the Clippers may decide to go real small and playing with Blake Griffin as a stretch five, having a rebounding machine like Gobert will be key for the team to secure the result they want.
Another key for Utah during the series will be using Gobert as a screener as best as they can. Rudy, as mentioned before, averages 1.2 assists per game but with his screen generates a lot of easy baskets for his teammates. He’s the second-best screen assist man in the league, with 6.2 per game, just behind Marcin Gortat. His screens are often strong and on time, leading the ball handler to an easy penetration. Opponents are so scared of Gobert rolling hard to the basket that they’re inclined to over helping and letting shooters open on the perimeter.
Rudy Gobert makes the Utah Jazz a better team, simple as that. When he’s on the court, the Jazz have a positive plus/minus with +8.1 per 100 possessions. When he’s on the bench, the Jazz have a negative plus/minus per 100 possessions with -3.5. His matchup against DeAndre Jordan will be a must watch during the series because watching two of the best centers in the league going against each other for at least four games doesn’t happen every single day.
Anticipate a great series, The French Rejection looks ready to take down Lob City and bring Salt Lake City back to the top of the Western Conference.
