Utah Jazz: Four things that must change to even series with Houston
The Stifle Tower needs to have an impact
The battle in the paint in this series between Rudy Gobert and Clint Capela has sparked several debates about which of the two players is better. Of course, when Jazz fans hear such talk, they tend to act as if someone has just insulted their mother based on their rabid defense of Gobert.
On several occasions throughout the past two years, Rudy has proven to be the superior player. However, Clint Capela has the luxury of playing with a pair of superstars in Chris Paul and James Harden that often make him look like the more dominant of the two. With both of them being such electric passers, not to mention commanding so much of the defense’s attention, it’s been very common for Capela to receive and capitalize on easy looks.
That said, all excuses aside, Capela has completely outplayed Gobert in this series. And if the Jazz are to have any hope of competing, that absolutely has to change. Many viewed the center position as one of the few areas in which Utah had a distinct matchup advantage over the Rockets, but that has yet to manifest itself in the series.
Interesting quote from Quin Synder when he was asked about Rudy Gobert's defense last night — a reporter noted it looked like he was in a lot of 2-vs-1 matchups with Harden/Paul and Capela: pic.twitter.com/wKI0z7VwEd
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) May 5, 2018
In fairness, Gobert has an incredibly tough task. He’s supposed to somehow provide help defense when guys like Harden or Paul get past their man, still stop Capela, grab the rebounds off the miss and so much more. Oftentimes, it’s more than Gobert can handle and he certainly needs help from his teammates on that end.
On offense, the Jazz have to find a way to get Rudy more involved, even if it doesn’t necessarily mean running plays specifically for him. They need his solid screening ability as well as his offensive rebounding to play a factor if he is to outmatch Capela and help propel the Jazz to victory. Individually, Gobert needs to be more willing to get physical and be much more committed to asserting his will by going up strong to the rim.
Gobert has had some solid moments and a good Game 2, but the Jazz need dominant Stifle Tower to take over in Game 4 if they hope to keep their heads above water in the series.