The Utah Jazz have emerged as one of the upper echelon teams in the Western Conference, currently owners of the fourth seed with the regular season winding down. A lot of Utah’s dominance this season has come from the defensive end, thanks in large part to interior anchor and defensive player of the year candidate Rudy Gobert. Gobert is viewed as, by many, the premier rim protector in the game and some even thought he was a snub for the All-Star game though teammate Gordon Hayward deservedly got the nod.
Despite their success this season, it’s clear the Jazz still need to work some things out as the team has dropped four of their past five matchups, not a good sign with the postseason looming.
Their most recent loss coming at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers especially hurt because it was one of the most pivotal games for both squads down the stretch. After the 108-95 Clipper victory in which Gobert put up 26 points to go with 14 boards, Los Angeles currently sits only half a game behind the Jazz for the fourth seed.
With plenty on the line in this game, the Jazz put forth a pedestrian defensive effort, to say the least, allowing Jamal Crawford to get hot and carry LA to a pivotal victory, pouring in 28 points. After the game, Gobert ripped into his teammates, expressing his frustration towards the team’s evident lack of effort. Following from Tim McMahon of ESPN:
Rudy Gobert: “We’ve got guys that compete, but some of us don’t compete. Some of us just think about scoring. That’s what it is. … Coach keeps repeating it: We’ve just got to compete. We’re too nice. Those guys, we know they’re going to get calls. We’ve just got to come out aggressive and ready to fight.”
It’s not clear whether Gobert was addressing someone specifically or was just speaking on the overall lack of competitiveness we’ve seen from Utah over this last stretch of games. The two leading scorers for the Jazz, Gordon Hayward and George Hill, both put up modest stat lines against the Clips, combining for 22 points on 9-23 shooting. Whether Gobert was sending a message or just airing out his frustrations over his team’s recent struggles doesn’t really matter. Seeing any sign of discord among teammates is not a good sign for a winning team with the playoffs rapidly approaching.
