Utah Jazz: 2019-20 Midseason report card for Rudy Gobert
Offense
On the surface level, Rudy Gobert’s offensive figures are solid but don’t scream incredible. He’s putting up 15 points per game, down slightly from a year ago, and perhaps most disappointing is his dip in free-throw percentage as he’s fallen to 60.6 percent. That mark is down three percent from last season and down eight percent from a season before that.
Considering that fighting for buckets at the rim is Rudy’s scoring specialty, it would be far more encouraging to see him post a higher conversion rate on free throws. A heightened reliability at the charity stripe would make Gobert a much more prolific offensive weapon and would certainly bolster his scoring average as well.
The missed free throws certainly impact games. Just look at Thursday’s loss to the New Orleans Pelicans wherein Gobert could have won the game in regulation had he not split his pair of free throws at the fourth quarter’s conclusion.
On the bright side, Gobert is shooting a career-high 67.4 percent from the field which means his teammates are finding him in good spots and he’s converting extremely well.
But his impact goes well beyond that. Gobert is currently first in the league in screen assists by a healthy margin with eight per game. The second-highest mark in the NBA is an entire screen assist less than Rudy, and that is owned by Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis who averages seven. Unsurprisingly, Gobert also leads the league in points generated off screen assists at 18.2. Again, Sabonis comes in second but at a much-reduced 15.6.
In pick-and-rolls, Gobert is also highly efficient. He averages 1.16 points per possession as the roll-man and gets 4.6 of his points per game in that fashion. Even more encouraging is the fact that Rudy is shooting a solid mark of 62.9 percent in those situations.
Lastly, let’s not ignore the fact that Gobert most certainly commands the opposition’s attention on offense. The space he takes up in the paint is immense and opposing bigs are forced to have their attention glued to him pretty much at all times. He’s increased his ability to catch in traffic and is getting better at fighting through contact to convert.
As a constant lob threat, Rudy is someone that can’t be ignored and helps make his teammates’ lives easier as they attack the basket and nearly always have the option to dump the ball off to him if and when the defense collapses.
Rudy’s offensive impact is easily seen in the difference in Utah’s offensive rating when he’s on versus off the court. With Gobert on the floor, the Jazz post a mark of 113. When he’s off, it dips all the way to 102.2. That’s a swing of over 10 points, which is almost difficult to believe.
But the proof is in the pudding. With Rudy in action, the Jazz’s offense has a constant paint threat and his improved finishing as denoted by his career-best field goal percentage has been a revelation this year.
The only major issues with Rudy’s offense this year have been the poor free throw shooting, which allows opponents to feel comfortable fouling him to make him earn points at the line, and a lack of expanding his offensive shooting repertoire. Now, I’m not saying we need to see Gobert become a frequent post-up guy or develop a mid-range jump shooting game, but I’ve long hoped that he’d develop some sort of move for when he’s a few feet out from the basket.
If he can use his height and length to better maneuver around defenders with a little push shot or finger-roll-esque move, he’ll be able to take even better advantage of mismatches and be even more of a threat. Still, Gobert’s offense is rock solid and far better than he’s often credited for due to his surface stats, so I’m giving him good marks here.
Grade: B+