Rudy Gobert – Get off to a good start
Some might say that Rudy Gobert’s goal for 2018-19 should be to defend his Defensive Player of the Year title or earn his first All-Star selection. Both of those are worthy goals, to be sure, and I hope that they’re ones that he’s aiming for and can achieve. However, considering that so much of those are up to voters instead of being solely based on Gobert’s performance, I have a goal for him that I feel is much more attainable. And much more important.
The Jazz need Rudy Gobert to start off the season as well as he’s finished the last two. In each of the past two seasons, Gobert has gotten off to slow starts before turning things around and closing out strong. Of course, in 2017-18, that was largely due to the injuries he dealt with during the first part of the year. But even before he got hurt, Gobert didn’t exactly come out of the gates roaring.
In the first seven games in the month of October, Gobert posted a net rating of -0.4. In his five games played in November, he went an atrocious -16.2.
There were certainly justifications to this. The Favors-Gobert combo dilemma, adjusting to a new point guard and playing without Gordon Hayward or George Hill, to name a few. Still, the fact remains that Gobert didn’t look like himself to start out the year and it took a long time for him to get up and running.
The same could be said about his 2016-17 performance. There’s a reason why Gobert wasn’t named an All-Star, but would ultimately earn All-NBA honors at the conclusion of the season. When the All-Star votes were collected, he was playing well, but not amazing. But by the conclusion of the season, there was no denying his prowess.
A quick look at the numbers confirms this as well. Prior to that year’s All-Star break, Gobert averaged 12.9 points on 63.9 percent shooting and 12.6 rebounds. Those aren’t bad marks at all. But they pale in comparison to what he did following the All-Star break, where he put up 16.7 points per game on 70.1 percent shooting from the field while nabbing 13.1 rebounds per contest.
His numbers in October and November of that year were even lower, as he put up just 11.1 points and grabbed 11.1 rebounds, providing further evidence of his slow start.
The Jazz got into trouble this past season because of their slow start that for a while almost made it appear that they wouldn’t even qualify for the playoffs. Had they commenced the season stronger, they undoubtedly would have finished with a higher seed. As the West only continues to get tougher, it will be imperative that the Jazz start out strong out of the gates.
To do so, they’ll need the anchor of their defense, Rudy Gobert, to lead that charge, and get off to a good start himself.