Rudy Gobert was embarrassed by Willie Cauley-Stein the last time the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings squared off. Can the Stifle Tower reassert himself this time around?
The last time the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings faced off, Jazz fans were feeling optimistic that their team could get back on track on their home court. Instead, Sacramento thrived and quite easily disposed of the Jazz by a score of 119-110. And while many expected the Kings’ two leading scorers, De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield, to give the Jazz the most trouble, in reality it was Sacramento big man Willie Cauley-Stein that dominated the floor.
Cauley-Stein made light work of Rudy Gobert by finishing with 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting and nabbing seven rebounds. Meanwhile, Gobert had just 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting, which isn’t all that great by his standards, though he did nab 15 boards.
No matter how you cut it, though, Willie and the Kings feasted on Gobert and Co. to the tune of 58 points in the paint compared to Utah’s 42. That simply can’t happen, especially against the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Gobert. Sure, the perimeter defense of Rudy’s guard teammates has been putrid and put him in terrible spots so far this season, but allowing that big of a discrepancy and permitting Cauley-Stein to abuse him like that had to hurt.
Hopefully Gobert took that contest personally and is ready to bounce back big time against Cauley-Stein and Co. Especially with Donovan Mitchell sidelined for this bout, the Jazz will need the rest of the roster to step up big time, beginning with their second star Rudy Gobert.
The Jazz will try to redeem themselves on Sunday from an ugly loss to the Kings earlier this week. Via @jaredwoodcoxhttps://t.co/Mtm2VjXgHx
— The J-Notes (@TheJNotes) November 24, 2018
Ironically enough, both Gobert and Cauley-Stein are averaging an identical 14.9 points per game this season. However, Rudy has been more efficient at 69.5 percent from the field, grabbed more rebounds at 12.6 per game, blocked more shots with 1.9 per contest and converted better from the free throw line at 59.8 percent. For comparison, Cauley-Stein is at 53.4 percent shooting, 8.3 rebounds, 0.5 blocks and 48.5 percent shooting at the line.
Those numbers would tell you that Gobert is easily the superior player, but you wouldn’t have known that based on last game’s matchup. Therefore, Rudy and Co. will need to step up mightily if they hope to stifle Cauley-Stein and the Kings. Willie is a putrid free throw shooter, so Gobert and his teammates shouldn’t fret about defending him aggressively and forcing him to earn his points at the line if need be. In the last meeting, Cauley-Stein took only four free throws and made just one.
As much as it pains me to say it, between team-wide defensive issues making life difficult for Gobert and his own personal mistakes and miscues, it’s been an ugly start to the season for the reigning DPOY, punctuated by an embarrassing slap to the face against Willie Cauley-Stein a mere handful of days back. If there was ever a time for Rudy Gobert to get angry and look to reassert his defensive dominance, now would be ideal.
The outcome of Sunday night’s contest and the remainder of the 2018-19 Utah Jazz season may very well depend on it.