Utah Jazz: Start Getting Used To The Rudy Gobert Hype

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert has the shot blocking power to deflate a ball even quicker than the Patriots, and now he’s emerging as one of the NBA’s most dominant forces

The Utah Jazz have their fair share of young talent. From America to Europe, to Australia and back again.

Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Dante Exum, Trey Burke, and of course Gordon Hayward, are all key pieces as the Utah Jazz continue their rebuilding project. Yet the young star who hasn’t been in the spotlight nearly enough, is 22 year old center, Rudy Gobert.

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After playing an average of only 10 minutes in 45 games last year, Gobert was only able to show off his immense potential in brief flashes. Last summer, he received enough game time from the French national team to show people exactly how deadly he could be. Now, in his second NBA season, Gobert has shown why he’s a Defensive Player of the Year in the making.

First and foremost, it’s Gobert’s size that makes him so deadly the second he steps on the floor. He makes his teammates feel small, and his opponents even smaller.

Standing at 7’1″ he’s already intimidating enough. Add in the fact that his 7’8.5″ wingspan is the largest in NBA combine history, and you can’t help but marvel at his size.

Or if you’re 37-year-old Vince Carter, you just see it as another opportunity to get a poster made.

Feb 1, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center

DeAndre Jordan

(6) shoots over Utah Jazz center

Rudy Gobert

(27)in the second half of the game at Staples Center. Clippers won 102-87. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

There aren’t many players who can attack the rim against Gobert like Vinsanity did, though. Because despite being in just his second season, he’s already announcing himself as one of the top few interior defenders in the league. And there’s plenty of reasons why.

Offensively, Gobert still has a lot to work on. However, he’s already improved a great deal from a year ago. His playing time has doubled to 21.5 minutes per game, and not only has this increased role boosted his numbers, it’s also elevated his efficiency.

“Notice how much Gobert handles the ball when he’s in the game. It’s not as though he’s facing up and taking people off the bounce. But he is setting up his teammates both in rudimentary and advanced fashion, getting them the ball via simple hand-offs and sophisticated interior passes.” Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune.

His free throw shooting has risen from 49 percent in his rookie season to 65 percent this year. Such a sharp increase already is so promising for the Utah Jazz because it means Gobert is more reliable in close, late game situations. A center who can shoot free throws to help add vital points in the fourth quarter, rather than being a total liability, is extremely valuable to any team. If Gobert continues to work on it, this is just one of the ways the young French star can begin a great career in Utah.

He’s also become far more efficient from the floor as a whole. His field goal percentage has rocketed from 48.6 percent last year (a perfectly respectable number for a rookie) to 63.6 percent. A 15 percent increase is more than his team could have hoped for, and even though he may get most of his points by the means of offensive put backs and the odd pick-and-roll or alley oop, he is doing so at the kind of efficient rate that makes him a valuable weapon.

Jan 18, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) dunks the ball during the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center. The Spurs won 89-69. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Gobert takes 80.9 percent of his shots from within three feet of the basket and is making 72.4 percent of them. He’s clearly shown a knack for finishing under the basket, and when you’re one of the tallest centers in the league, and have arms longer than anyone, it’s not hard to reach above defenders to throw down a vicious slam.

Along with the way he runs the floor, he can always be expected to get a put-back of a missed layup or follow his guards for an easy dunk on a fast break.

For such a long and lanky big man Gobert is surprisingly agile, and even though he can’t face up or utilize any consistent moves in the post he’s shown major improvement. If he can work on a jump hook and develop his up-and-under move, then he can really become a force under the basket as his role and playing time increase.

On defense, however, Gobert has already established himself as one of the most intimidating figures in basketball. Not just because he has the force to deflate a ball even faster than the Patriots, but because he’s protecting the paint at an astonishing level for a second year player.

Despite averaging just 21 minutes of playing time and only starting eight games this year, Gobert has still tallied the third most blocks in the league (101). Translate that to his impact per 36 minutes, and he records 3.6 blocks in that time span. And what makes his shot blocking prowess even more impressive is that he doesn’t always fire the ball into the stands. He’s even been able to send it down the court to set up his teammates for a fast break. Which is partly why his offensive rating happens to be 124.1.

That’s just the beginning of Gobert’s talents, though. He can defend opposing bigs posting up as well as anyone, and he restricts players so much in the paint that they eventually get forced to try their luck from where Rudy can’t reach them.

Gobert holds opponents to a measly 37.1 percent field goal percentage at the rim (shots within five feet of the basket), which is the best in the league among players who defend at least two such shots per game.

To put that into perspective, it’s at least 8 percent better than players such as Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, DeMarcus Cousins and Pau Gasol.

The list goes on, and if Gobert has achieved this kind of presence under the rim within his first season and a half as an NBA center, just think what his future holds.

If Gobert hasn’t already proved enough, he also has the highest block percentage (the amount of the other team’s two point field goals he rejects) in the league, with a ridiculous 7.9 percent.

And last but not least, his rebounding. Hauling in 12.1 rebounds per 36 minutes is yet another way in which Gobert helps the Jazz, and the final reason why it’s about time he became their starting center over Enes Kanter.

He may not match Kanter’s skill level on offense, but Gobert is easily the superior defender and can impact a game in far more areas than the former.

His defensive dominance is something that the Utah Jazz need to utilize fully, and that can’t be achieved in only 21 minutes.

The ways in which he can score will only develop with more playing time, and even though he doesn’t possess a post-up game at the moment it’s his presence at the rim and on the boards that outweighs what any other Jazz player can bring to the center spot.

Gobert will make up the future of this franchise along with players like Hayward and Burke, and it’s about time he starts being allowed to step into that role.

Next: NBA Power Rankings: Are the Warriors human?

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