![]() ![]() The Jazz had quite a few possessions in which they played lockdown defense, and there were flashes of what we saw through the tear they went on the first half of the season.Really the biggest thing with Rudy is our ability to communicate with him and with whoever is in the game, or any action, because that allows him to make plays.” -Jazz head coach Quin Snyder When we’re solid with the other four guys that are on the court, he has a chance to be even more impactful. “One of the things, when we’ve talked about Rudy, is his activity - his ability to do multiple things on defense and to make multiple effort plays. He finished the night with 16 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and about a million instances in which he deterred people from shooting or driving. He closed out on Jayson Tatum and shut him down on multiple drives in one possession, and though he was a little quiet through the first half, he acquitted himself with a monstrous performance. ![]() It wouldn’t be the last time he played great isolation defense to close the game. He sparked a 12-2 run to open the fourth quarter on Tuesday that was capped by him playing excellent one-on-one defense against Jaylen Brown, blocking Brown’s shot and then sprinting to the other end for a lob pass and dunk. Coming off a loss to Golden State on Sunday that overshadowed his 24-point, career-high 28-rebound performance, Gobert was doing all the right things against the Celtics. I could stop right there, but that wouldn’t do him the justice he deserves. And that’s why they’re going home.The Utah Jazz beat the Boston Celtics on the road 117-109 on Tuesday night, improving to 29-10 on the season. This is certainly a lesson in the limitations of a rim protector like Gobert, but it also shows how important keeping paint penetration to a minimum is.Įither way, the Jazz and Gobert couldn’t get it done defensively against the Clippers. That’s not his game as a defender - he’s a rim protector, not a defender. He had to navigate so much space from the paint to the 3-point line to guard the Clippers’ small-ball lineup and he just couldn’t do it. Both are off pick-and-roll action in which the Clippers force a switch, after which Jackson drives by Royce O’Neale and challenges the Defensive Player of the Year. Reggie Jackson has two nearly identical floaters over Rudy Gobert in this quarter. But some of them were certainly possessions like this where he was absolutely attacked by the Clippers. ![]() That’s part of the reason Terance Mann had a career night. Another Clarkson blow by and it is almost the same exact play as the previous one. The inability to prevent penetration is killing the Jazz. To be fair to Rudy, though, many of them were contests like this one where he had to close out to wide-open shooters while also trying to defend the paint. That typically does not happen with Gobert. The Clippers made 15 of those shots (79%). Rudy Gobert was the closest/primary defender on 19 Clipper shot attempts in the 2nd half of Game 6. They hit 15 of those shots, per StatMuse. Gobert was the primary defender on 19 of the Clippers’ shot attempts in the 2nd half of Game 6 when they made their furious comeback. Last year’s playoff series vs the Nuggets. Rudy Gobert has 0 blocks in back-to-back games for the first time since… The last time was when the Jazz were eliminated by the Nuggets. ![]() It was the first time that happened for him in a year, per StatMuse. There are a couple of stats that show just how much the Clippers took advantage of the Jazz star.įirst, he didn’t register a single block in Game 6 just like Game 5. He finished the night as a -24 - a huge negative. They legitimately attacked Gobert to the point where he was uncharacteristically ineffective on defense in an elimination game. He’s one of the best shot blockers and rim protectors we’ve ever seen.īut…none of that really mattered in game 6 against the Clippers on Friday night. You don’t win three defensive player of the year awards by being a liability on that end of the floor. Rudy Gobert is certainly one of the best defenders in the NBA - there’s no question about that. ![]()
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