I have a hard time with Gobert being the best defensive player in the L.

[Carbine]

He is routeinly attacked on pick and roll. He got dominated by Jokic last year.

This dude is suppose to be an anchor. To me, Draymond Green is such a better and more impactful defender. You don't go at Draymond. Clippers and other teams search out Gobert. That's our DPOY? A player other teams search out and usually have great success doing it......

[ShawkFactory]

I think they do this to attempt to get him in a position to foul.

Without him on the court the Jazz defense will dive bomb

[iamgine]

Well when Gobert is on the court the opponent has a -13 offensive rating compared to when he's off.

[RRR3]

He’s certainly not the best defensive player in the playoffs. In the regular season he is easily.

[Xiao Yao You]

Well when Gobert is on the court the opponent has a -13 offensive rating compared to when he's off.

the trolls aren't in to facts

[Proctor]

Anyone who actually watches the games knows this. There is one resident troll here that will say otherwise but among actual viewers, it's consensus. He is too soft.

[RRR3]

Anyone who actually watches the games knows this. There is one resident troll here that will say otherwise but among actual viewers, it's consensus. He is too soft.
Too slow too. Drop bigs just aren’t worth it in today’s league unless they are great at offense.

[ShawkFactory]

Too slow too. Drop bigs just aren’t worth it in today’s league unless they are great at offense.

In what sense? You don't think every team in the league would love to have that kind of presence? The issue is that the Jazz aren't all that deep, and they're missing one of their best players.

[RRR3]

In what sense? You don't think every team in the league would love to have that kind of presence? The issue is that the Jazz aren't all that deep, and they're missing one of their best players.
In the sense that I saw a ton of open shots because Rudy was playing far back and too slow to recover.

[Smoke117]

Jazz drating is drastically worse with him off the floor so clearly he is one of the best. And Draymond is washed up.

[ShawkFactory]

In the sense that I saw a ton of open shots because Rudy was playing far back and too slow to recover.

His job is to protect the paint. You're acting as though a paint protector isn't valuable unless he can guard the perimeter.

The Jazz without Conley are relatively weak defensively outside. It's not Gobert's fault that he's not Garnett or whatever. That isn't his role or what he is as a player.

Every team would be ecstatic to have a guy who does what Gobert does. Gotta have the right pieces around him to win. That's why he isn't a top 10-15 guy in the league. But his value is clear.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Jazz drating is drastically worse with him off the floor so clearly he is one of the best. And Draymond is washed up.

Just anchored a top 5 defense and made All Defense 1st team.

Dray is washed on offense not defense. He was clamping AD in the playin game.

[Kblaze8855]

He’s obviously a great defender just not as great historically as impact numbers wild suggest due to the scarcity of great defensive minded bigs in a league that plays no defense. A much less extreme version of what Bill Russel was in the 50s and 60s. An outlier in a league that mostly didn’t play D at all making himself a greater defender relative to the league than he would be had they valued defense before he came along. Rudy is obviously nothing in the vicinity of Russell impact wise just a similar outlier from his league. Rudy, Turner, and Capela at times have some pretty wild defensive numbers but that doesn’t mean they are David Robinson or whoever.

It means a dedicated defender in a league nobody play D has a bigger impact than one in a league where maybe half the teams play D. Throw in the fact that the league wants nothing but layups and 3s and someone who takes away layups has even more impact. A league with the more well rounded scorers who wild simply rise up on the drive and not be lost when the layup or 4 isn’t there would do more damage. A Paul Pierce or Kobe type who took what you gave would run wild.

All together it’s a perfect storm for all time defensive impact in measurable ways....but he doesn’t have the foot speed or man D of a number of the bigs who came before with worse peak impact numbers.

He’s a justifiable DPOY he’s just not the kind a lot of us came up on. And he’s in a league that will pick on bigs in space more than they used to as well.

Mutombo was a wall but he’d get put in pick and rolls today too.

This is an era for Joakim Noah, KG, and Draymond types more than the traditional lane cloggers but Rudy does a good job walking a middle ground. I’d have probably given him my DPOY vote with the understanding that it doesn’t mean I expect him to be Rodman and guard everyone individually. He’s there for general team backing defense not to shut individuals down.

[getting_old]

he's a threat, but he is not fierce enough for the playoffs

[ImKobe]

Jazz drating is drastically worse with him off the floor so clearly he is one of the best. And Draymond is washed up.

That's not saying much, especially since Jordan Clarkson (a notoriously bad defender) comes off the bench with the 2nd unit.

Dray is not washed up defensively, Warriors were top 10 defensively all year (ended up 5th in DRTG, 1 spot below Utah), and that's with them playing Wiseman and some of those trash G-league players with no Klay Thompson.

[999Guy]

Draymond is better, but this is not a bad defensive series at all.

[Carbine]

Draymond is better, but this is not a bad defensive series at all.

The Clippers worst game is 109 points, with a 118 PPG average. That is bad defense in the playoffs.

[999Guy]

The Clippers worst game is 109 points, with a 118 PPG average. That is bad defense in the playoffs.

And 144 ORTG with Gobert off is worse defense in the playoffs.

Gobert had to cover Mitchell, Bogi, and Clarkson against the Clippers wing heavy offense. It’s not ideal.