Utah Jazz: Ranking the 5 most important players on the 2021-22 roster

Much has been made of Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert’s inability to close-out three-point attempts in the Western Conference semi-finals vs the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Arguably, too much.

However valid concerns about Gobert’s portability as a defender may be, he’s a 3x Defensive Player of the year for a reason. The recipient of last year’s award, Gobert earned his hardware with an elite 101 Defensive Rating. That may be slightly short of the historic 99 figure he’s posted throughout several seasons, but it was still the highest in the National Basketball Association last season.

The aptly-named Stifle Tower’s importance to his Utah Jazz squad is well-documented. Last season, opponents shot 17.1 shots per game within less than 5 feet of the rim against Gobert, and converted on 56.8% of those looks. The only player to come close to guarding that volume of lay-up and dunk attempts with that level of success was Indiana Pacer Myles Turner. He held opponents to 56.6% accuracy on 20.9 attempts per game.

That’s impressive, and Turner may himself have garnered some Defensive Player of the Year consideration had he not been limited to 47 games due to injury. However, it’s also worth noting that his 108 Defensive Rating was significantly worse than Gobert’s high mark.

Gobert may never join the aforementioned three-point revolution, and he may never defend three-point attempts at a high level either. Regardless, his elite rim protection is a defensive system in-and-of-itself, and Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder will inevitably continue taking advantage of it.