Utah Jazz need Rudy Gobert to avoid slow start in 2018-19

In order for the Utah Jazz to reach their ultimate potential, they’ll need Rudy Gobert to buck a recent trend and get off to a solid start in 2018-19.

In Monday’s Utah Jazz media day, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert made one thing very clear. He expects the 2018-19 season to be his best yet, and for this Jazz group to follow suit.

That may very well be the case. He has the tools to continue to be a force on the defensive end, the drive to improve in all aspects and the support from a renowned Jazz development system to allow him to continue to grow. As the team collectively advances, Rudy Gobert will no doubt be an enormous part of that improvement.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that in order for the Jazz to take a major leap, they’ll need Rudy to fulfill his goal and have far and above his most impactful season yet. Utah’s success could very well come as a direct result to Gobert turning in a superb year.

For the record, I believe one hundred percent in the Stifle Tower and believe him at his word when he claims that this will be his best season yet. He’s consistently improved since entering the league, and nothing should stop him from continuing to do so in his sixth year of action. But in order for him to reach those heights, and for his Jazz team to follow suit, there’s one thing Gobert will most certainly have to do – get off to a quick and solid start.

As good as Rudy has been the past two years, his starts haven’t been nearly as memorable as his finishes. Of course, last season that was due largely to a pair of knee injuries that held him out for much of the early part of the 2017-18 campaign. Prior to those setbacks, Gobert was dealing with the adjustment of a new starting point guard and a squad that had lost its former leading scorer in Gordon Hayward.

In other words, Gobert’s slow start last season was very much justified. Still, there can be no excuse for such a start this time around if he is to reach an all-new potential.

In 2016-17, Rudy managed to play in all but one regular season game, and he was a key part of Utah’s success all year long. However, there’s simply no denying that he was better in the latter part of the season than in the former.

If you recall, by the time All-Star rosters were announced, Gobert found himself on the outside looking in, beaten out by the likes of DeAndre Jordan and even fellow teammate Gordon Hayward. But by the time the season came to a close, he was receiving All-NBA Honors ahead of said players. That just goes to show that his second half of the year was so dominant as to place him above the competition when looking at the full season.

He’ll need to bring that dominance from Day 1 this upcoming year if he is to take the leap he has predicted.

To further illustrate what I’m referring to regarding Rudy’s recent trend, let’s break down the numbers real quick, shall we? Here’s a look at Gobert’s stats pre and post All-Star break in each of the past two seasons.

2016-17

• Pre All-Star: 12.9 PPG, 63.9 FG%, 12.6 RPG, 2.5 BLK, 5.8 +/-, 108.8 ORTG, 99.7 DRTG, 9.1 NET
• Post All-Star: 16.7 PPG, 70.1 FG%, 13.1 RPG, 3.0 BLK 4.3 +/-, 108.5 ORTG, 102.6 DRTG, 6.0 NET

2017-18

• Pre All-Star: 12.5 PPG, 57.9 FG%, 10.1 RPG, 2.3 BLK, 2.7 +/-, 103.1 ORTG, 99.9 DRTG, 3.2 NET
• Post All-Star: 14.9 PPG, 67.5 FG%, 11.5 RPG, 2.3 BLK, 10.8 +/-, 109.4 ORTG, 95.0 DRTG, 14.5 NET

Although some of Rudy’s post All-Star advanced marks were down in the latter half of 2016-17, his dominance in shooting, scoring and blocking shots in the latter half of the season were incredible. Meanwhile, in the latter part of 2017-18, he was better in all aspects.

This year, rather than have a sharp incline near the All-Star break, the Jazz will need Gobert to be a steady and consistent force all throughout the season. He claims to have not even scratched the surface of his potential, so we’ll need to see that growth beginning with Game 1 all the way until Game 82.

We all know about the slow start the Utah Jazz got off to last year that saw them fall to nine games below .500 in mid-January. That of course coincided with Rudy’s early season issues and injury woes. Take that out of the mix this upcoming year and the Jazz could very well be in line for a top seed in the Western Conference.

Utah’s schedule is quite top-heavy, with many of their tougher games coming in the earlier part of the schedule, so getting Rudy Gobert off to a quick start will be a key to set a good tone for the season and maintain it all the way into the playoffs.