With just over five minutes remaining between the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec. 6, Anthony Edwards shifted into the paint and attempted a challenging layup that missed the rim entirely, and the defense swatted off the backboard. Rudy Gobert was lurking and corralled the offensive rebound and threw down an emphatic slam all in one motion with the Target Center crowd roaring around him.
The way Gobert could spring himself onto the rim for that dunk was reminiscent of something Giannis Antetokounmpo would do. At this moment, I realized this was a different type of Gobert, one that we haven’t seen yet in his career. The Stifle Tower finished that eventual win, 102-94, against the Spurs with another impressive showing. He tallied 16 points, 20 rebounds, and two blocks on 7-of-8 from the floor. Gobert was also a team-leading plus-31 in 30 minutes played.
“Personally, I think I’m the best Rudy I’ve ever been, and I think there’s still a lot of other ways to grow,” said Gobert postgame. “I’m pushing myself every day to keep learning, keep getting better and stronger. I’m hungry. I want to win. Until you win, you never stop. And even when you win, you want to win again. Right now, I’m trying to win a championship, and I’ll do whatever it takes, anything that’s in my power. And make it fun. It’s about having fun, too.”
The way Gobert is playing right now is the way most people expected he would play last season. However, he wasn’t healthy and didn’t have enough time before the season started to get on the same page with his teammates. Therefore, he had an underwhelming and disappointing debut season in Minnesota.
The goals people set for him were lofty and unobtainable. Erecting the Stifle Tower in the Twin Cities was expected to fix all of the Timberwolves’ woes, like defensive rebounding and paint defense. However, basketball is a team game. For the Wolves to have any relative success in the postseason, they can’t bank on just one player.
Still, Gobert is playing at a level he believes is somewhere he has never been. The Timberwolves have maintained their place atop the Western Conference standings for over three weeks, and Rudy has had his finger on the pulse the entire time. Defensive Player of the Year honors would be his if the season ended today, and some even say his name should be in the running for Most Valuable Player.
Is that a feasible projection? Well, looking at his production on both sides of the court could help the voters decide should the national audience choose to watch the Wolves play.
The Defense (Of Course)
When he arrived in Minnesota, Gobert already had three Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) awards. The team largely traded for his Hall of Fame defensive skills and expected him to lock down the paint nightly. While Gobert expects himself to be a stout defender, one could argue that he is making a greater impact than he ever has before.
Last season, Gobert averaged 1.4 blocks per game, the lowest average since his rookie season in 2013-14. The Wolves included rookie Walker Kessler in the Gobert trade, and he averaged 2.3 blocks per game, which was concerning.
But part of the reason Rudy’s numbers dipped was because he wasn’t healthy. Still, his name and reputation were another factor. Similar to that of LeBron James, Steph Curry, or Michael Jordan. Before you start saying to yourself that I am just a biased Timberwolves supporter, hear me out.
Opposing players refuse to attempt shots in close around Gobert this season. They would rather pass the ball back to the perimeter, which goes against every middle/high school basketball coach’s beliefs. Gobert’s name holds notoriety similar to the all-time greats. Either opposing players, typically younger guys, will try and go at Gobert all game long and attempt to assert their dominance, or they will squander the opportunity.
It becomes a simple equation: Fewer shots attempted = fewer blocking opportunities.
Gobert is averaging 2.5 blocks per game this season, which is around his career average (2.1). Players are still pulling the “Never Mind” often. But of the shots that opponents attempt with Gobert lurking in the paint, most of them are rejected. He has recorded two or more blocks in 18 out of the Timberwolves’ first 22 games, which is an NBA-best.
When the Wolves were in Memphis on Friday night, we saw Gobert’s best overall defensive performance of the season. He finished with six blocks in 36 minutes. In the locker room postgame, Troy Brown Jr. was in disbelief that Gobert swatted six shots in one game.
“For us, he’s been huge,” said Brown when a reporter asked about Gobert’s impact in the paint. “I think he’s Defensive Player of the Year already. He just comes out every night and has been playing great. I think he’s averaging, like, what, 15-and-15 in the last five games? He’s just amazing for us. He does a great job. We need him.”
He Isn’t a Slouch on Offense, Either
Heading into the season, I said that prioritizing Gobert offensively would give the Timberwolves another lethal scoring option. Last year, the Wolves didn’t use Rudy’s skillset properly. He was either running PnRs that would lead to unproductive offense, or opponents posted him up on the block, and he was getting in his teammates’ way.
Gobert is a unique player who, in a way, needs the offense to be centered around him to be effective. He can’t do what Jarred Vanderbilt did, playing off the ball without being in the game plan, and float in the dunker’s spot for the Wolves and be productive. Instead, Gobert needs to be involved in plays correctly, which we have seen this season.
Surprisingly, Gobert’s numbers as the PnR roll man this season aren’t anything to bat an eye at. Below are some of his stats in the category, courtesy of Synergy:
- PnR Frequency %: 21.4 (29th best)
- Points per possession: 1.11 (57th best)
- Total points per game: 2.9 (19th best)
Of course, the Wolves are still running PnRs with Gobert, just not at the frequency I initially thought they would. Chris Finch and his staff also like to run ghost screens involving Gobert, which don’t actually count as PnRs in the logbook because the roller slips before making contact with the defender.
Most of his points per game this season have come from being an active off-ball cutter, being in the right place at the right time, or points off offensive rebounds.
Before Monday’s game in New Orleans, Rudy averaged 16 points on 72.4% from the floor in 33 minutes per game. Correspondingly, Minnesota’s record during that span is an NBA-best 9-1. However, Gobert was taken out of Monday’s contest early with foul trouble. He played in just 25 minutes and finished with eight points, eight rebounds, and two blocks. Overall, it was Gobert’s least productive game of the season, and subsequently, Minnesota suffered its fifth loss of the season.
Words can’t describe Gobert’s impact on the Timberwolves’ historic start. Anyone who isn’t watching his games will have difficulty realizing how high of a level he is currently playing. If Minnesota keeps winning games, and the Stifle Tower keeps up his impressive play, there should be no reason his name isn’t in the MVP conversation at the end of the season. That is if the voters occasionally tune into Wolves games.
