Not really, on and off numbers aren’t really a problem with him, more or less the Mavs were the Wolves worst nightmare, a huge fast pace athletic team, and Luka was a matchup nightmare for Jaden McDaniels, he was just too thin and frail to be an effective defender on a bigger wing. And this series is where Ants conditioning issues really started to show, he was simply doing to much, trying to be a playmaker/shot creator, while trying to guard a star player is a recipe for disaster which it was, Kat also got torched by Dallas’s smaller and faster wings, which left Gobert no choice but to try and compensate for his teammates, which again lead to disaster.
I'd say that he looks worse offensively than he is due to the lowlight reels of his post moves and fast breaks. He's a great screener, lob threat and offensive rebounder which is limited but enough to be useful to the rest of the team
This. As a diehard wolves fan i truly believe he is a generational defensive talent, but a horrendous offensive talent. The reason why we can’t play him sometimes is because of his lackluster offensive skillset, not because future mvp doncic can cook him on an iso
FT line at times at 65%, but to my eye Rudy shoots to that average, Always, and isn't better or worse depending upon time of game. Also Career 65% FG - that's elite. I'm think the best passer Rudy has played with consistently is Conley, and he's a Very good passer, but there are PGs Rudy would pair up better with. Wish Utah had kept Ricky Rubio all those years ago to see how that could of developed.
All I know is I have been a Wolves fan for 20 years. Rudy comes to the team and we become the number 1 defense and made it further then I have ever seen them in 20 years. I love Rudy Gobert
Judging Rudy on his perimeter defense is like judging GP, MJ or Smart for their post defense or rim protection. And yes he gets paid a lot and he doesn't have any offensive skill whatsoever.
Gobert plays in a smarter, more perimeter based league that revolves around matchup hunting. That amplifies his weakness. Plus MJ was a much better rim protector than gobert is a perimeter defender, and both those guys offer sooooo much more offensively
@@margiteberbach2324 they are more versatile but the impact numbers dont lie. i see this as more of a coaching issue, dont blame the player who you pay massive money when you dont put him in his ideal position. if you dont want to deal with that you didnt put in enough research as a front office.
@@cwj_721 numbers do lie actually, their best playoff game against the nuggets is game 2, which he didnt play. same with france in recent olympics, they got better when hes out too. hes basically useless against elite teams, cause they can easily take advantage of his glaring weaknesses
An excellent point was made about how Minnesota dominated the RS by being able to defend PNRs 2v2 all year and stay home everywhere else. Rudy affords you that margin for error and can momentarily handle a 1v2 until his POA guy can get through the pick. Luka’s size and patience in the middle of the floor was the perfect counter as he’s a master of the cat & mouse game. Think Joker has a lot of the same qualities but they were able to duck under his ball screens and he was attacking from 15 feet in so Rudy didn’t have to cover as much ground or come out farther on PNR.
@@julesm5892They think they could do what Luka did to the wolves defense if given the chance is why. Massive egos from a lot of these recently retired players.
They’ll just his bring goofy ass out the paint cuz he can’t do shit on the perimeter. How fucking times do y’all have to see this fraud get exposed in playoffs for y’all realize he’s just not as good as y’all say he is
@@donaldpratt2296 -- Well, one could argue mismanagement in part. But the combo of Gobert and Donovan Mitchell couldn't make it past the 2nd round. Teams will pay players b/c there is promise. But it didn't work out in Utah and the contract looks like an overpay -- despite the team leaving him on an island to guard all 5 positions. To me, it was an overpay b/c he has no post moves with one dribble -- he's only a lob threat. But he ain't the worst contract so hopefully AntMan, Naz Reid, Gobert-KAT can figure it out. Note: I also think KAT is overpaid too b/c he fouls way too much to stay in the game -- too many mental lapses. For $35M, great. $40M, sure. At $45M i'm getting worried, lol. And at $50M, it's a nope for me.
This is what i’ve been trying to tell people for so long. He isn’t getting targeted on defense because he’s food, it’s because they respect his help defense and don’t respect his teammates help defense. they can all lie about it, but players know rudy will be there to help if he can, but other players strike no fear when it comes to helping rudy. his actual issue is his inability to capitalize on mismatches. i wouldn’t say he is a liability fully, he is the best at role playing center activities that lead to good offensive ratings (screen setting, offensive boards, high rim % bc of lobs and dump offs) BUT he has no ability to do any self creation outside of random occasions. if he had the ability to punish teams for going small, his value would sky rocket.
This video shows that he does though really unless you think Booker or KD are bad perimeter players. He isn’t Bam levels of switching but then again Bam isn’t the same level of rim protector. Hot take I think Gobert does as good a job out in space as AD, AD is a bit more comfortable doing hedges but then again in LA he had better help defenders in the 2020 season.
@@kujoneJokić was the only one who ate when Rudy was defending him, and the dude showed that Jokić's lack of concern about help defense the other Timberwolves made it easier to attack Rudy. Luka got Rudy on one iso possession off of a switch; other than that, Rudy was not defending him one-on-one.
Very good, sounds like he is a great “covering”/ roaming defender. To get the best out of him, Timberwolves need to pre switch, so that he can roam the paint.
This seems like situational defense, not defense as a whole. I think that’s the point nba players are trying to make. This last year Rudy did a wayyyy better job of playing defense as a whole but he is a team/rim defender. Also, he doesn’t score. That really does it. A good offense is literally apart of good defense, if you aren’t providing enough of one or the other then being great at one might not be enough for too players to respect you.
This is the best take ive seen on the rudy gobert problem. Another reason i think that you didnt mention is simply because his game isnt aesthetic and i think that affects a lot of players. I think a lot of NBA fans and players overrate players whose style of play is aesthetically pleasing. I know this as a houston rockets fan who has to hear people talk about Jalen Green. People who just watch highlights think he’s the best player on our team because he gets so many amazing highlights but in reality last year he was probably the third or fourth most impactful player. Its the other way for Rudy because he doesn’t have crazy highlight blocks like wemby, he doesnt posterise people like AD or Bam, he doesnt make flashy passes like draymond and he looks goofy when trying to do any of those things. No body wants to spend time watching screen assists and rim deterrence, the NBA is entertainment first, basketball second.
completely agree, people don't even know what a good screen looks like even when they see one because they're too focused on the ball, watching smooth jumpers is like an addiction though I guess people do like rim deterence because when wemby does it they're all like "wow, it's amazing" but that might just be a wemby thing
Exactly. So much of what makes Gobert so special is how much he takes away from opposing offenses. It’s not so much what Gobert is doing, it’s what Gobert is making other players not do. So much of this happens subtly and away from the ball so it’s not appreciated by most fans.
A lot of this comes from the fact that a significant percentage of NBA fans are casuals. They don't even know what a good drop scheme is and overrate switching defense. For example, a lot of people truly belive Bam is a greater and more impactful defender than Rudy, when it doesn't hold water looking at the numbers or the educated eye test.
@@badmontadYou can make a case for DPOY for Bam and AD too this year. Voters maybe chose Gobert for his insane paint protection but Bam and AD aren't too far from him. Duncan didn't win DPOY even if he's considered one of the greatest defender ever.
Had to pause the video, cus some of the footage where KAT is on the floor really highlights just how pathetic he is on defense at 7 feet tall... The replay that had Luka making an over the top pass to a rolling Derrick Jones Jr after the blitz had KAT literally clutching himself.
he was doing well all season and through the first two rounds. he wasn’t amazing still had defensive lapses but you could tell he bought into the system defensively. i think the wolves knew they met their match in the wcf and that probably had something to do with it because in the first two rounds kat was amazing offensively and less of a liability defensively
Kat had to guard KD and Jokic in the previous two rounds, and he actually held up pretty well. As the video states he’s not used to help-side defense, and he tends to loose focus quite often. Imo he generally struggles when he doesn’t have a definitive task.
@@jkim4994 Him and Ant-Man suffer from the same defensive lapses away from the ball. I really hope Edward will become a smarter off-ball defender in the future.
Ant said it himself after they lost the series - the entire team never once clicked altogether at the same time during the WCF. I don't know if they just ran out of gas or injuries compounded to cause poor play (NAW shoulder, KAT leg, Ant tailbone) but the offense AND defense didn't look anything like it had in previous series. KAT had a HISTORICALLY awful first 3 games shooting (27% and 13% from 3) and there was absolutely no rotation when Gobert went to blitz. Like 1 or 2 guys would be late on their rotation leaving the man in the corner or roller to the rim wide open. That's why I have a much better feeling about this team going into this season - everybody should be starting off healthy and know what to expect going into the playoffs. So long as there's no serious regression from anyone, I think this MN team has a shot at winning the championship
more people need to see this video. it’s honestly sad how people treat rudy tbh. he gets blamed for everything negative that happens/happened on his teams even though it’s not his fault. the main problem in that dallas series was the wolves didn’t have anybody really to match up with luka, first they went with j mac but luka is stronger and ways way more than him, then they went with ant but that gave them a height disadvantage. rudy got blamed for luka’s greatness even though he was really probably the wolves best player in that series
Rudy is so hated that it's convenient. He's the perfect scapegoat. His +/- on the Suns series +63 His +/- on the Nuggets series +49 And even against Dallas on the first 4 games he's the only starter with a +/- of +7 (Ant for example -19) For a guy who would be a handicap for his team it's surprising.
@@Slashovic yeah he was the main reason the mavs games were even close. no matter what team he’s on he has consistently had the best playoff +/- out of anyone on his team(including ant and donavan mitchell)
Excellent take! I’d be curious to learn what the offensive ratings were when Gobert was in and off the floor. IIRC, when he was with the Jazz, he was generally positive on offense as well.
The amount of discourse of this that was spread by actual traditional NBA TV ''analysts'' is baffling, cuz normally they just restrict themselves to ignore actual points and comment on broader, near irrelevant concepts instead of the facts, but with Gobert they flat out just say he is a bad defender. Dude, you put EVERY good defensive center on the League in that spot against Luka, maybe TWO guys are stopping him, and thats a BIG maybe, and none of them have Gobert's interior defense.
Obviously he’s not a BAD defender but he is extremely overrated by dork stat nerds. I swear I’ve never seen a player get this many excuses made for them
Daniel, I challenge you to make a video on KDs failures in last 3 years playoffs. 2022, 2023, 2024 KD was destroyed in playoffs but no one got balls to say how ineffective his scoring was. KD got his stats but him on floor just don’t influence team wins anymore in playoffs
I think gobert hate is because of a lot of things but the biggest ones are, imo: -people usually don't care about help defenders, they judge defense by how well someone can shut down his 1 on 1 matchup which isn't gobert's biggest strength even though it is one, in the suns serie he did a good job against kd and the suns' guards, the thing is when you have the two best offensive players in luka and jokic as your matchup it's not gonna go well regardless of who's the defender -he's awkward on offense and usually a negative, people love offense more than defense and of course if you're not hitting turnaround jumpers but you're getting paid superstar money people are gonna hate, I would also argue he's not even that useless on offense, he's a great rimrunner, probably the best screen setter in the league right now? and he can playmake in the shortroll. The problem is that he's not great in the post even though he has the perfect frame for it an he seals his opponents very well, at least that means he gets rebounds -he's french
Nice vid! Goberts actually my litmus test to see how much a person understands ball. I’ll completely ignore all of someone’s opinion if they think Goberts a below average defender
Rudy Gobert has never been a defensive liability, he’s a top three defender in the league. It’s his offense that makes him unplayable, he can’t take advantage of the smaller man and that allows the opposing team to run a small ball 5.
The real problem is Luka is one of the best players one the pick and roll. His best skill is knowing how to keep his defender behind him creating the 2 on 1 on the pick and roll. Problem is Luka is to smart and skilled and outsmarts Gobert in the two on one either with floaters or lobs to extremly athletic center as Gafford and Livley are. But naturaly its normal for a defender to be beaten if your outnumbered so the value of a defender like Gobert should be reducing the number of times luka scores or gets an assist. In my opinion he dosent reduce drastically these numbers enough to deserve all of these accolades, AD would do the same and be a beast on offense at the same time.
Yes he's the best defender imo. The most impactful. The things he's best at, rim protection, rebounding, screening are things that tend to unnoticed by casuals. Loud things like scoring, passing, he doesn't do. So despite being a 4x DPOY I think he'll always be underrated by most unless you paid good attention to him.
Take Gobert out the paint and he’s mincemeat lol. He can’t guard the perimeter or guard a highly skilled post player. Teams take advantage in the playoffs and exactly why the french coach didn’t play him basically at all against USA for gold
There is one very valid piece of criticism of Rudy that should not be overlooked. He has failed to become a more reliable scorer and an effective passer. That said, to consider him deadweight on offense is false. He's lead the league in Screen Assists nearly every year he's been in the NBA. Until Wemby came in, Rudy was the best defender in the league, and it's not even close; two tiers above anyone else. For these reasons, it's preposterous to think he's a liability on either end of the floor.
And for so many people, it seems to fall on deaf ears, as they’re too busy seeing him as defensively incompetent, when they would’ve been in the Finals or won if Rudy was good offensively
It is truly disappointing to see how many NBA players past and present push their biases to casuals. The Rudy situation is just one example, and we’re even seeing it in the WNBA with Caitlin Clark and Sheryl Swoopes. Fans respect what players have to say on the game and on other players so it’s sad to see players push narratives in the media just out of spite.
great video, I appreciate the stats and film to back up the analysis. Although I think your point about players hunting Gobert vs Dray and AD is lacking. I watch every warriors game each season/playoffs and teams are not targeting dray like they target gobert. Especially in ISO situations. Celtics doing it in the finals was a rarity and you cherry picked some plays where it worked, but ultimately that strategy failed them.
Once again, the man, the myth, the legend, Daniel Li, delivering the goods. Literally, it's a case of, so you're saying Luka and Jokic are just that good? YES. People (fans and players) literally just refuse to see anything outside of the narrative they wanna believe in.
Thank you for this, outstanding analysis! When I see those (mostly former NBA players) haters there's only 2 possibilities; Either they are jealous or they don't really understand how defense works. Or both ;)
Rudy Gobert is the best drop defender in the NBA. Drop coverage works for the most part, that's why teams play it. By having your guards chase aggressively over the screen, and your center drop into the paint, you give up the worst shots in basketball, off the dribble jumpers. The problem is, the best playoff teams generally have an elite off the dribble jump shooter as an offensive centerpiece, a la Luka Doncic. When you play a 7 game series running drop coverage against Luka, you're going to have a bad time. Replace Rudy with literally any other center in the NBA and run the same scheme, and you're going to have an even worse time. Rudy is really, really, really good at what he does, the best in the NBA in fact, but what he does is very one dimensional.
If I had to put it one way, it's that Rudy Gobert's skillset has its drawbacks in the modern era where three point shooting is more pronounced than ever. He's great at the rim, but players today play on the perimeter more and that makes it tough when you're forced to guard a part of the floor you're not equipped to.
Nice analysis! Agree completely. He's a great defender but I'd never want him on my team anyway due to his offensive shortcomings. Always feels like they're missing half a man in the offense. Dude just has no touch at all. I don't think you can become champ like this in today's basketball age.
entirely wrong. they get on him for being a fraud defensively because casuals and general public thinks that rudy should be able to defend guards and wings and when he gets fried, they start questioning his dpoy. and they don't do it to bam or draymond because they are defenders that can switch onto guards and defend in space way better than gobert which is becoming a necessity for centers in today's game but they failed to realize that there's no 7 footers with the size of gobert that can defends guards consistently like a jrue or a point of attack defender. also you got to take context luka pick and roll iq is brilliant and its hard to defend luka ball screens traditionally, this is where the should of put rudy on djj like the Celtics putting kp on him and made djj beat them from three and have them blitz the pnr in my opinion( also a lack of a defensive four would of help them in this situation)
Dray is a wing that can miraculously play the 5 and be a good rim protector in his own way. He’s 6’6 meaning that Dray has a naturally easier time switching but also more likely to have size behind him from the center like Looney or Bogut (really solid rim protectors) or a 4 with size if it’s small ball like KD or another taller wing. The Heat also run a weird zone quite a bit due to their average at best perimeter defenders depending on the goal trying to cover for different things. I think what sucks for Rudy is he’s such an all time rim protector/PnR and help defender that his teams don’t try to account for breakdowns when he’s away from the basket in PnRs and players pass it around. They don’t pre-switch like the Warriors or other teams do when there’s a PnR. Also for a center he’s capable of defending in space you see it in this video
This video is 100% facts: Rudy is a liability on offense, not on defense. The fact that he is a goofy-looking, layup-blowing, ball-fumbling TO machine on offense doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve to be a 4x DPOY; he absolutely does. His impact is that huge, as Minnesota showcased when he had time to gel with great perimeter defenders. It's the Defensive Player of the Year award, not the 'Best Two-way Player of the Year' award. MVP is practically the Offensive Player of the Year at this point; it's totally unfair to respect great offensive players with defensive liabilities and put down great defenders with offensive shortcomings.
Rudy's stats speak for themselves - Rudy led the league in Dunks, Rebounds, FG %, And Blocks for 4+ years straight in his prime. Not many NBA bigs who can make this claim.
@@maartenvz Should’ve won one of them for sure, maybe two, but the stuff he says more is the issue. I mean, I get being mad, but be mad about the way they go about the awards. Respect the craft as much as you criticize the awards
Draymond especially should know better. I remember him saying that the Timberwolves went on their run to win game 7 against the Nuggets because they took Gobert off the floor... When that was quite literally untrue. I lost all respect for him as an analyst that day. As one of the smartest defender in NBA history, he out of all people should have the responsibility to present pure facts to the fans... And he failed at that mission.
1. Offensively inept is hilarious and incredibly apt. 2. I would have liked to see some analysis on what Finch and co should have done differently aside from not give up corner 3s to the Mavs. Presumably they will run into Luka again in the playoffs. Luka is incredibly unique and has the uncanny ability, as you said, to put guys on his back, extend plays, playmake, and keep Gobert guessing. I agree blitzing doesn't work and essentially neuters Rudy. It obviously makes no sense to pay the dude and not play him in the playoffs. Certainly the low hanging fruit is not give up corner 3s. But do they let Luka kill them in the midrange? Do they preswitch like the Celtics to keep Gobert by the rim? This is the next step for the Wolves. I believe they can get there. A ton of credit needs to get to Luka and how excellent he is, rather than focusing on Rudy. Great vid as always.
Well the Celtics figured out how to stop the Mavs offense 😂 By game 2 it was very obvious there was nothing the Mavs could do to win that series. But that Celtics roster just has way more talented personnel on the roster that allowed them to do stuff like put Tatum on Gafford/lively, contain the ball without doubling and Not give up corner 3s( forcing DJJ and PJ to shoot above the break 3s)
@@berserkmonk5331Yeah, it's so interesting as Daniel did videos on OKC and Celtics vs Dallas. Celtics did kind of what OKC did, but not as extreme. OKC sold out on everyone not named Irving or Luka, whereas Celtics only did that on above the break 3's. I think Twolves probably had the personnel to do what Celtics did defensively, just got sucked in to trying to chase any open 3.
@@commenting4909 that OKC Mavs series was super close. It honestly could have gone OKC's way if Shai didn't foul PJ on the last 3 and send him to the line. Then OKC would have had game 7 at home, with momentum. Idk that the wolves could have done the same. Jaden McDaniels is one of the best elite perimeter defenders, but he was not able to bother Luka at all. Too small to Not get bullied by Luka if he squared up and kept him in front, and whenever he trailed Luka, Luka was not bothered by McDaniels trying to block a shot while he's behind. Lu Dort, however, has like 40lbs on McDaniels. He bothered Luka a lot more than McDaniels did. Idk who the wolves realistically have that can bother Luka in 1on1 coverage I guess Ant can, but putting way more energy into defending Luka will have a toll on his offense.
@@berserkmonk5331And if OKC met Luka again in the 2025 playoffs, they will have another guy to throw at him: Alex Caruso. He has a similar build to Dort, I believe.
@@noahamankwaah9802 nah Caruso is alot smaller than Dort, weight wise. It would be interesting to see that matchup though, but I think Caruso is probably better off guarding Klay or maybe Kyrie.
I would’ve loved to see your evaluation of Rudy on switches. You briefly touched on it, but I wonder why Minny didn’t use that coverage more against the Mavs. The Celtics shut down the Mavs by switching
I largely agree with your thoughts about his lack of offensive game amplifies criticism of him. However, Draymond Green should also have that level of criticism about him. Draymond avoids that criticism because of his versatility. I think the biggest misunderstanding about Gobert is how we view his rim protection numbers. He is an incredible drop defender, I don't really think there should be much of a debate about that. His willingness to always default to a drop coverage inflates his rim protections numbers significantly. In the age of spacing and high volume 3 point shooting a drop coverage works sometimes, but eventually players figure it out. So the issue comes up again that are several ways to scheme around Gobert and the team trying extremely hard to keep him in drop coverage. Somewhat noisy, but you didn't talk about game 2 of the Wolves vs Nuggets where Gobert was out and because of that the entire team was freed up to play an aggressive ball pressure scheme. All that to say is the Playoffs is about versatility and adjustments. And there really aren't that many adjustments you can make with Gobert, if a team solves his drop coverage, good luck. I remember in the 2023 playoffs the Warriors would matchup Draymond Green on De'aaron Fox. Fox whose one of the fastest player in the league being guarded by the warriors starting center. That is truly what makes the discourse around Gobert and other elite defenders different is Gobert doesn't want to switched out onto Fox, while Green, Bam or even AD, have much more of an ability to hold up because of the array of versatility defensive skillsets.
AD is not nearly as switchable as Bam or Dray on switches that’s a bit over the top. I think Rudy is as capable on switches in space as AD with different strengths and strategy although AD is more comfortable hedging or coming up to the level of the screen. Defense is a team game and perimeter defenders by the very nature of where they defend get beat more often due to a variety of reasons. Once Rudy is up defending a PnR there’s bound to be passes behind/around him.
Thank you for this breakdown and with the statistical support. I also found a lot of the criticism towards Gobert to be dubious. Even in a big picture view, the man and his team are in the West finals, and getting cherry picked/hunted in the pick and roll. Like you said in the video, is to get him out of his comfort zone. So much of game planning esp in the playoffs is to use my greatest offensive strength to negate your greatest defensive strength and vice versa. Esp on that stage of the west finals, you already have a few rounds of case studies to deem what is effective. Also it is a physical attribute thing. A 7-footer is not gonna have the quickness, agility, to guard a Steph Curry crossover, likewise, a Jrue Holiday/Marcus Smart is not gonna have the reach of a Gobert. They are all great defenders, just that he is under the spotlight and on that stage, and has the awards and accolades to show for it, you feel like he should be superhuman and getting "exposed". In reality, it is the game-planning that is putting him on the spot and for very deliberate reasons to gain a very specific advantage.
Great breakdown. Although,I think you may have downplayed his offensive struggles. There would be no argument against his greatness if the NBA had both offensive and defensive teams like the NFL. But his inability to be nearly as impactful on the offensive end is shocking to a viewer
He's overrated because what he brings to the court doesn't warrant his contract nor the trade and while he's a fantastic rim protector that's really all he can hang his hat on. Don't expect him to get buckets, don't expect him to pass well, don't expect him to guard smaller guys in space. And most importantly, being tagged as a 4 time DPOY is an all time caliber accolade and he's simply not an all time player. He's underrated because that one thing he's really really good at is extremely important not only as a player but also in a teambuilding sense. Like this video showed having Rudy vs not having Rudy is such a massive difference and that's what makes him so good. He has skills that few others have and that are so highly coveted it's earned him so many awards and a healthy amount of money. So here's the thing, its all about perception and expectation. It's hard to say where I lean in terms of his rating because he's gotten the credit from the league he deserves, arguably too much imo, but then gets clowned on pretty frequently and again, arguably fairly given the circumstances. Do those things balance each other out? I'd like to think so but where I fall on Rudy is he's overpaid and the Wolves overpaid but so far it's worked out relatively well and the future will determine that outcome. I think the fact he has 4 DPOY is insane, he's good but not tied for the most all time with Ben Wallace and Mutombo good which is pretty ridiculous if you ask me. Still a great player but underrated by fans and media and overrated by the league I think is where I'd settle.
I think rudy would hv had a lot of success too if he played inthe 90s or 00s... and i could see centers from that era struggle like rudy if they play in current era. Centers back then really roam around the paint mostly. The game was a lot closer to the basket not as spread out like todays
If he just didn’t win in 2018, everything would’ve been fine. Would’ve been an amazing defender worth 3 DPOY’s, on a similar level to Dwight, and he could’ve contended in 2018 if he just played games. But people just wanna talk accolades. It’s about what you do on the court
@@Jonathan-A.C. This will sound weird but in sports history he strikes me more as the kinda guy who never won the awards but was plaudit by fans and analysts for how good he was. Basically like his career was inverse if that makes sense
@@timlett99 I agree a lot. He has true defensive abilities and impact, but wouldn’t have been awarded as much in a different era, more in regards to how he plays and acts. Frankly, he has similarities to a Tim Duncan or Marcus Camby, so I could see him getting a DPOY back then, but I also think people look at advanced stats differently now
Rudy's biggest weakness might actually be his hands. He's bad at catching passes and gathering without getting stripped. Probably why his teammates rarely throw him the ball in traffic.
Being an ensured offensive liability, if Gobert cannot make a huge impact on defensive end, he cannot justify him occupying a max contract that Timberwolves could otherwise have spent on a star player. And it just so happens that good teams can exploit his weakness to nullify his defensive presence.
to be fair DPOY is a regular season awards for regular season and gobert did great in regular season playoff is a different beast why a lot of people forget about this?
His team just got beaten by a better team.. i think its that simple. If hes really a reliability, his team wouldve never past the 1st round let alone make the playoff
Yeah but the thing with comparing him to other great defensive players like AD and Draymond is a some put you have to factor in offensive ability especially in the playoffs and Gobert is severely lacking on that end, which I believe also contributes to him being taken out in the playoffs. The Wolves were fine giving up a layup after playing decent defense if it meant Kat, Naz, can come hit a three in response.
@@noahamankwaah9802 I don’t think their offended but wemby was the obvious winner & saying “he’ll win more” isn’t an excuse to not give him one that he deserves
@@versatillion15 No he was not the obvious winner. You need to carry your defense to at least top 10 rating wise if you want to get the award. Rudy has done it with a putrid defensive cast in Utah... Why couldn't Wemby done the same if he truly was that dominant?
Ultimately, your team’s ceiling is limited with Gobert due to his limited offensive skillset and specific defensive skillset. Which would be fine, except his contract and how much the Wolves gave up in the trade indicates he should have an impact closer to that of Anthony Davis. Offensive flexibility is more important than defensive specialty in the pace and space NBA.
I think that its just really easy for peole to act like defensive players are thrash, especially bigmen and help defenders, if they just have something the dislike about them. The same is true for Dwight and Draymond.
he needs to just guard a non rim finisher. the same way the celtics use porsingus and the way they used rob williams. pre and peel switch to keep him near the rim. doing everything you can to only give up above the break threes, anything but corner 3’s
why not? It's easily the best shot in the NBA that he is preventing. Teams shoot 60% at the rim, 1.2 ppp. The Twolves not only allow one of the lowest % at the rim, teams also shoot a couple fewer against them compared to the rest of the league.
@maartenvz I dont disagree, but that's rudy's main skill. He doesn't do much else out there at a high level save for dunking the ball sometimes. If Rudy's rim protection is getting taken out of the play then he's not affecting the possession in another meaningful way. Like I said he's a fine player i just think the wolves haven't fully maximized his skillset especially in the playoffs.
I will give Gobert his props for rim protection, but there is more to defense than his defense prowess vs slashing guards. I still believe he's overrated.
The problem is that compared with other great defenders who can guard blitz or switch with clear communication and understanding, rudy gobert plays badly with blitz against dallas. Som he is clearly not the best even though he is good.
ppl praise derozen but he's the anti - gobert, black hole on defense puts up 25ppg .. gobert is more valuable on offense than derozen on defense by farrr
Team game. Rim protection means nothing without solid perimeter defense. Ask Brook and Giannis. This is where a coach is supposed to earn his check. Put your players in position to maximize their strengths and hide their flaws. Drop coverage only works if you got guards pressuring at the point of attack. Luka and Kyrie are the two hardest perimeter players in the league to press or speed up. Bad matchup. Denver only had Murray and he didn't play at the same level he was during the championship run. NBA playoffs will make you look like a killer one round and a bust the next.
He is a great defender but not elite that’s how I sum up his defense. Is he a liability ? No . But is he the defender like AD or Giannis ? Of course not . I think when you earn so much money and doesn’t have too much offensive impact people would hold a higher standard on defense and rightfully so.
Not a defensive liability, but an offensive one.
Not really, on and off numbers aren’t really a problem with him, more or less the Mavs were the Wolves worst nightmare, a huge fast pace athletic team, and Luka was a matchup nightmare for Jaden McDaniels, he was just too thin and frail to be an effective defender on a bigger wing. And this series is where Ants conditioning issues really started to show, he was simply doing to much, trying to be a playmaker/shot creator, while trying to guard a star player is a recipe for disaster which it was, Kat also got torched by Dallas’s smaller and faster wings, which left Gobert no choice but to try and compensate for his teammates, which again lead to disaster.
Do you have any data to back this up?
I'd say that he looks worse offensively than he is due to the lowlight reels of his post moves and fast breaks. He's a great screener, lob threat and offensive rebounder which is limited but enough to be useful to the rest of the team
This. As a diehard wolves fan i truly believe he is a generational defensive talent, but a horrendous offensive talent. The reason why we can’t play him sometimes is because of his lackluster offensive skillset, not because future mvp doncic can cook him on an iso
FT line at times at 65%, but to my eye Rudy shoots to that average, Always, and isn't better or worse depending upon time of game. Also Career 65% FG - that's elite. I'm think the best passer Rudy has played with consistently is Conley, and he's a Very good passer, but there are PGs Rudy would pair up better with. Wish Utah had kept Ricky Rubio all those years ago to see how that could of developed.
Very good analysis. It’s kinda shocking to see even some NBA players not able to understand how valuable his rim protection is
Bro it’s just because they see everyone else saying it it’s really ridiculous
Low BBIQ and/or jealousy, it's indeed pretty sad to see
@@MrDuckman0852he gets more hate than actual abusers in the league it’s really strange. my best guess as to why is cause he’s french
@@2phonebabykeem913 lowest hanging fruit out there bruv. Do better
When will people understand that these NBA players don’t really watch basketball
All I know is I have been a Wolves fan for 20 years. Rudy comes to the team and we become the number 1 defense and made it further then I have ever seen them in 20 years. I love Rudy Gobert
@DarkCreator-YTOh, wah. Rudy started something with Luka. So what? Luka's a big boy. He'll be fine.
It's crazy how that one shot changed everyone's perception of him
Judging Rudy on his perimeter defense is like judging GP, MJ or Smart for their post defense or rim protection. And yes he gets paid a lot and he doesn't have any offensive skill whatsoever.
Gobert plays in a smarter, more perimeter based league that revolves around matchup hunting. That amplifies his weakness. Plus MJ was a much better rim protector than gobert is a perimeter defender, and both those guys offer sooooo much more offensively
you have to realize his dpoy competion are giannis, jjj, ad and wemby. those guys doesnt have problems handling the perimeter if they have to
@@margiteberbach2324 they are more versatile but the impact numbers dont lie. i see this as more of a coaching issue, dont blame the player who you pay massive money when you dont put him in his ideal position. if you dont want to deal with that you didnt put in enough research as a front office.
@@cwj_721 numbers do lie actually, their best playoff game against the nuggets is game 2, which he didnt play. same with france in recent olympics, they got better when hes out too. hes basically useless against elite teams, cause they can easily take advantage of his glaring weaknesses
@@margiteberbach2324You didn’t watch the video did you lol
An excellent point was made about how Minnesota dominated the RS by being able to defend PNRs 2v2 all year and stay home everywhere else.
Rudy affords you that margin for error and can momentarily handle a 1v2 until his POA guy can get through the pick.
Luka’s size and patience in the middle of the floor was the perfect counter as he’s a master of the cat & mouse game.
Think Joker has a lot of the same qualities but they were able to duck under his ball screens and he was attacking from 15 feet in so Rudy didn’t have to cover as much ground or come out farther on PNR.
thank you for educating the community
NBA players be saying gobert is overrated then they don't want to go to the rim against him lmao
it's really funny how they're all saying he's trash and then not even look at the rim and pass it back cause they're afraid of the block
@@julesm5892They think they could do what Luka did to the wolves defense if given the chance is why. Massive egos from a lot of these recently retired players.
@@lilbaby9547 not just the recently retired ones, all the retired ones, and even current players who are playing against him like draymond
They know they can get away with lying when most NBA fans are too biased and uneducated to read through them.
They’ll just his bring goofy ass out the paint cuz he can’t do shit on the perimeter. How fucking times do y’all have to see this fraud get exposed in playoffs for y’all realize he’s just not as good as y’all say he is
It’s sad that NBA players are using their personal bias to not rate Rudy Gobert properly.
Is he max, for $45-50M? Not to me. If he worth $40M, maybe. $35M? yes.
If he could post (other than lob threat), then he is a strong $40M/year
@@jlui21not his fault. The Jazz overpaid him as part of their overall inability to manage a team.
@@donaldpratt2296 -- Well, one could argue mismanagement in part.
But the combo of Gobert and Donovan Mitchell couldn't make it past the 2nd round. Teams will pay players b/c there is promise. But it didn't work out in Utah and the contract looks like an overpay -- despite the team leaving him on an island to guard all 5 positions.
To me, it was an overpay b/c he has no post moves with one dribble -- he's only a lob threat. But he ain't the worst contract so hopefully AntMan, Naz Reid, Gobert-KAT can figure it out.
Note: I also think KAT is overpaid too b/c he fouls way too much to stay in the game -- too many mental lapses. For $35M, great. $40M, sure. At $45M i'm getting worried, lol.
And at $50M, it's a nope for me.
He’s got a massive contract and is a 4 time dpoy is that not rated properly or even slightly overrated
This is what i’ve been trying to tell people for so long. He isn’t getting targeted on defense because he’s food, it’s because they respect his help defense and don’t respect his teammates help defense. they can all lie about it, but players know rudy will be there to help if he can, but other players strike no fear when it comes to helping rudy. his actual issue is his inability to capitalize on mismatches. i wouldn’t say he is a liability fully, he is the best at role playing center activities that lead to good offensive ratings (screen setting, offensive boards, high rim % bc of lobs and dump offs) BUT he has no ability to do any self creation outside of random occasions. if he had the ability to punish teams for going small, his value would sky rocket.
yeah he's food cuz players eat when gobert is defending then
@@kujoneseriously. Sure it mostly happens because his rim defense is so feared, but he still doesnt hold up to being targeted.
This video shows that he does though really unless you think Booker or KD are bad perimeter players. He isn’t Bam levels of switching but then again Bam isn’t the same level of rim protector.
Hot take I think Gobert does as good a job out in space as AD, AD is a bit more comfortable doing hedges but then again in LA he had better help defenders in the 2020 season.
@@kujoneJokić was the only one who ate when Rudy was defending him, and the dude showed that Jokić's lack of concern about help defense the other Timberwolves made it easier to attack Rudy. Luka got Rudy on one iso possession off of a switch; other than that, Rudy was not defending him one-on-one.
OMG who cares he is still getting exposed and he’s not winning shit. I don’t understand why y’all make million excuses for this bum
thanks for braking it down like this, at the end of the day it's a team sport and there's only so much one player can do
Very good, sounds like he is a great “covering”/ roaming defender. To get the best out of him, Timberwolves need to pre switch, so that he can roam the paint.
100%
Great take! This pre-switching is something the Warriors were very good at and something I hope Finch and the TWolves will pick up on coming season.
This seems like situational defense, not defense as a whole. I think that’s the point nba players are trying to make. This last year Rudy did a wayyyy better job of playing defense as a whole but he is a team/rim defender. Also, he doesn’t score. That really does it. A good offense is literally apart of good defense, if you aren’t providing enough of one or the other then being great at one might not be enough for too players to respect you.
This is the best take ive seen on the rudy gobert problem. Another reason i think that you didnt mention is simply because his game isnt aesthetic and i think that affects a lot of players.
I think a lot of NBA fans and players overrate players whose style of play is aesthetically pleasing. I know this as a houston rockets fan who has to hear people talk about Jalen Green. People who just watch highlights think he’s the best player on our team because he gets so many amazing highlights but in reality last year he was probably the third or fourth most impactful player. Its the other way for Rudy because he doesn’t have crazy highlight blocks like wemby, he doesnt posterise people like AD or Bam, he doesnt make flashy passes like draymond and he looks goofy when trying to do any of those things. No body wants to spend time watching screen assists and rim deterrence, the NBA is entertainment first, basketball second.
completely agree, people don't even know what a good screen looks like even when they see one because they're too focused on the ball, watching smooth jumpers is like an addiction
though I guess people do like rim deterence because when wemby does it they're all like "wow, it's amazing" but that might just be a wemby thing
Exactly. So much of what makes Gobert so special is how much he takes away from opposing offenses. It’s not so much what Gobert is doing, it’s what Gobert is making other players not do. So much of this happens subtly and away from the ball so it’s not appreciated by most fans.
A lot of this comes from the fact that a significant percentage of NBA fans are casuals. They don't even know what a good drop scheme is and overrate switching defense. For example, a lot of people truly belive Bam is a greater and more impactful defender than Rudy, when it doesn't hold water looking at the numbers or the educated eye test.
@@noahamankwaah9802 however I disagree with this. I think Bam is on par with rudy defensively and in the playoffs is better because of his versatility
@@badmontadYou can make a case for DPOY for Bam and AD too this year. Voters maybe chose Gobert for his insane paint protection but Bam and AD aren't too far from him.
Duncan didn't win DPOY even if he's considered one of the greatest defender ever.
Had to pause the video, cus some of the footage where KAT is on the floor really highlights just how pathetic he is on defense at 7 feet tall... The replay that had Luka making an over the top pass to a rolling Derrick Jones Jr after the blitz had KAT literally clutching himself.
Even when he actually puts in effort on that side of the ball, his defensive footwork and IQ is so awful...
he was doing well all season and through the first two rounds. he wasn’t amazing still had defensive lapses but you could tell he bought into the system defensively. i think the wolves knew they met their match in the wcf and that probably had something to do with it because in the first two rounds kat was amazing offensively and less of a liability defensively
Kat had to guard KD and Jokic in the previous two rounds, and he actually held up pretty well. As the video states he’s not used to help-side defense, and he tends to loose focus quite often. Imo he generally struggles when he doesn’t have a definitive task.
He does well sometimes, but he’s not yet consistent. He’s not tough like Gobert. Needs more work
@@jkim4994 Him and Ant-Man suffer from the same defensive lapses away from the ball. I really hope Edward will become a smarter off-ball defender in the future.
Ant said it himself after they lost the series - the entire team never once clicked altogether at the same time during the WCF. I don't know if they just ran out of gas or injuries compounded to cause poor play (NAW shoulder, KAT leg, Ant tailbone) but the offense AND defense didn't look anything like it had in previous series. KAT had a HISTORICALLY awful first 3 games shooting (27% and 13% from 3) and there was absolutely no rotation when Gobert went to blitz. Like 1 or 2 guys would be late on their rotation leaving the man in the corner or roller to the rim wide open.
That's why I have a much better feeling about this team going into this season - everybody should be starting off healthy and know what to expect going into the playoffs. So long as there's no serious regression from anyone, I think this MN team has a shot at winning the championship
more people need to see this video. it’s honestly sad how people treat rudy tbh. he gets blamed for everything negative that happens/happened on his teams even though it’s not his fault. the main problem in that dallas series was the wolves didn’t have anybody really to match up with luka, first they went with j mac but luka is stronger and ways way more than him, then they went with ant but that gave them a height disadvantage. rudy got blamed for luka’s greatness even though he was really probably the wolves best player in that series
Rudy is so hated that it's convenient. He's the perfect scapegoat.
His +/- on the Suns series +63
His +/- on the Nuggets series +49
And even against Dallas on the first 4 games he's the only starter with a +/- of +7 (Ant for example -19)
For a guy who would be a handicap for his team it's surprising.
@@Slashovic yeah he was the main reason the mavs games were even close. no matter what team he’s on he has consistently had the best playoff +/- out of anyone on his team(including ant and donavan mitchell)
Excellent take! I’d be curious to learn what the offensive ratings were when Gobert was in and off the floor. IIRC, when he was with the Jazz, he was generally positive on offense as well.
good screen setting and offensive rebounding = easier jumpshots for guards, open shooters, and more possessions. little stuff
The amount of discourse of this that was spread by actual traditional NBA TV ''analysts'' is baffling, cuz normally they just restrict themselves to ignore actual points and comment on broader, near irrelevant concepts instead of the facts, but with Gobert they flat out just say he is a bad defender.
Dude, you put EVERY good defensive center on the League in that spot against Luka, maybe TWO guys are stopping him, and thats a BIG maybe, and none of them have Gobert's interior defense.
No center can stop Luka or Jokic, because if you do, they make the pass and make you look silly.
Obviously he’s not a BAD defender but he is extremely overrated by dork stat nerds. I swear I’ve never seen a player get this many excuses made for them
Daniel, I challenge you to make a video on KDs failures in last 3 years playoffs. 2022, 2023, 2024 KD was destroyed in playoffs but no one got balls to say how ineffective his scoring was. KD got his stats but him on floor just don’t influence team wins anymore in playoffs
I think gobert hate is because of a lot of things but the biggest ones are, imo:
-people usually don't care about help defenders, they judge defense by how well someone can shut down his 1 on 1 matchup which isn't gobert's biggest strength even though it is one, in the suns serie he did a good job against kd and the suns' guards, the thing is when you have the two best offensive players in luka and jokic as your matchup it's not gonna go well regardless of who's the defender
-he's awkward on offense and usually a negative, people love offense more than defense and of course if you're not hitting turnaround jumpers but you're getting paid superstar money people are gonna hate, I would also argue he's not even that useless on offense, he's a great rimrunner, probably the best screen setter in the league right now? and he can playmake in the shortroll. The problem is that he's not great in the post even though he has the perfect frame for it an he seals his opponents very well, at least that means he gets rebounds
-he's french
great video as always man!
Nice vid! Goberts actually my litmus test to see how much a person understands ball. I’ll completely ignore all of someone’s opinion if they think Goberts a below average defender
Rudy Gobert has never been a defensive liability, he’s a top three defender in the league. It’s his offense that makes him unplayable, he can’t take advantage of the smaller man and that allows the opposing team to run a small ball 5.
So the analysis is it’s not Gobert, Luka is just fucking different 😂.
Great video! Thank you, Daniel, I really enjoy how you structure your questions and provide answers.
Good point, Daniel!
The real problem is Luka is one of the best players one the pick and roll. His best skill is knowing how to keep his defender behind him creating the 2 on 1 on the pick and roll. Problem is Luka is to smart and skilled and outsmarts Gobert in the two on one either with floaters or lobs to extremly athletic center as Gafford and Livley are. But naturaly its normal for a defender to be beaten if your outnumbered so the value of a defender like Gobert should be reducing the number of times luka scores or gets an assist. In my opinion he dosent reduce drastically these numbers enough to deserve all of these accolades, AD would do the same and be a beast on offense at the same time.
you always do such a great job with your breakdowns Dan
phenomenal analysis! rly appreciate the fair balanced takes :) quite refreshing
not the clip of anthony davis watching himself get injured on 2k lol
Great analysis, really enjoyed the video
Yes he's the best defender imo. The most impactful. The things he's best at, rim protection, rebounding, screening are things that tend to unnoticed by casuals. Loud things like scoring, passing, he doesn't do. So despite being a 4x DPOY I think he'll always be underrated by most unless you paid good attention to him.
wemby is by far more impactful, (not by that far but still.) rudy won it this year specifically due to him being on the best defensive team
@@propthetopofacopwins matter for dpoy, mvp, 6moty awards, a sub 25 win team getting any of those awards would be straight blasphemy
@@2phonebabykeem913yeah you should expect results if you want it and 25 games not that much results
Take Gobert out the paint and he’s mincemeat lol. He can’t guard the perimeter or guard a highly skilled post player. Teams take advantage in the playoffs and exactly why the french coach didn’t play him basically at all against USA for gold
@@XxW3irDModZxX ah yes, so you mean every center in the nba right now?
There is one very valid piece of criticism of Rudy that should not be overlooked. He has failed to become a more reliable scorer and an effective passer. That said, to consider him deadweight on offense is false. He's lead the league in Screen Assists nearly every year he's been in the NBA. Until Wemby came in, Rudy was the best defender in the league, and it's not even close; two tiers above anyone else.
For these reasons, it's preposterous to think he's a liability on either end of the floor.
Bro was never in tier above anyone
And for so many people, it seems to fall on deaf ears, as they’re too busy seeing him as defensively incompetent, when they would’ve been in the Finals or won if Rudy was good offensively
This is one of the greatest breaksdowns ive ever seen
People just don’t like him so any time he gets cooked it adds fuel to the hate.
It is truly disappointing to see how many NBA players past and present push their biases to casuals. The Rudy situation is just one example, and we’re even seeing it in the WNBA with Caitlin Clark and Sheryl Swoopes. Fans respect what players have to say on the game and on other players so it’s sad to see players push narratives in the media just out of spite.
sick breakdown
great analysis man! but like you said gobert's lack of offense is the problem in his game.
great video, I appreciate the stats and film to back up the analysis. Although I think your point about players hunting Gobert vs Dray and AD is lacking. I watch every warriors game each season/playoffs and teams are not targeting dray like they target gobert. Especially in ISO situations. Celtics doing it in the finals was a rarity and you cherry picked some plays where it worked, but ultimately that strategy failed them.
Once again, the man, the myth, the legend, Daniel Li, delivering the goods.
Literally, it's a case of, so you're saying Luka and Jokic are just that good? YES. People (fans and players) literally just refuse to see anything outside of the narrative they wanna believe in.
great analysis, love it
Thank you for this, outstanding analysis! When I see those (mostly former NBA players) haters there's only 2 possibilities; Either they are jealous or they don't really understand how defense works. Or both ;)
Rudy Gobert is the best drop defender in the NBA. Drop coverage works for the most part, that's why teams play it. By having your guards chase aggressively over the screen, and your center drop into the paint, you give up the worst shots in basketball, off the dribble jumpers. The problem is, the best playoff teams generally have an elite off the dribble jump shooter as an offensive centerpiece, a la Luka Doncic. When you play a 7 game series running drop coverage against Luka, you're going to have a bad time. Replace Rudy with literally any other center in the NBA and run the same scheme, and you're going to have an even worse time. Rudy is really, really, really good at what he does, the best in the NBA in fact, but what he does is very one dimensional.
If I had to put it one way, it's that Rudy Gobert's skillset has its drawbacks in the modern era where three point shooting is more pronounced than ever. He's great at the rim, but players today play on the perimeter more and that makes it tough when you're forced to guard a part of the floor you're not equipped to.
This was beautifully spoken thank you for all the casuals
Nice analysis! Agree completely. He's a great defender but I'd never want him on my team anyway due to his offensive shortcomings. Always feels like they're missing half a man in the offense. Dude just has no touch at all. I don't think you can become champ like this in today's basketball age.
entirely wrong. they get on him for being a fraud defensively because casuals and general public thinks that rudy should be able to defend guards and wings and when he gets fried, they start questioning his dpoy. and they don't do it to bam or draymond because they are defenders that can switch onto guards and defend in space way better than gobert which is becoming a necessity for centers in today's game but they failed to realize that there's no 7 footers with the size of gobert that can defends guards consistently like a jrue or a point of attack defender.
also you got to take context luka pick and roll iq is brilliant and its hard to defend luka ball screens traditionally, this is where the should of put rudy on djj like the Celtics putting kp on him and made djj beat them from three and have them blitz the pnr in my opinion( also a lack of a defensive four would of help them in this situation)
Dray is a wing that can miraculously play the 5 and be a good rim protector in his own way. He’s 6’6 meaning that Dray has a naturally easier time switching but also more likely to have size behind him from the center like Looney or Bogut (really solid rim protectors) or a 4 with size if it’s small ball like KD or another taller wing.
The Heat also run a weird zone quite a bit due to their average at best perimeter defenders depending on the goal trying to cover for different things.
I think what sucks for Rudy is he’s such an all time rim protector/PnR and help defender that his teams don’t try to account for breakdowns when he’s away from the basket in PnRs and players pass it around. They don’t pre-switch like the Warriors or other teams do when there’s a PnR. Also for a center he’s capable of defending in space you see it in this video
very well put, good video
This video is 100% facts: Rudy is a liability on offense, not on defense. The fact that he is a goofy-looking, layup-blowing, ball-fumbling TO machine on offense doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve to be a 4x DPOY; he absolutely does. His impact is that huge, as Minnesota showcased when he had time to gel with great perimeter defenders. It's the Defensive Player of the Year award, not the 'Best Two-way Player of the Year' award. MVP is practically the Offensive Player of the Year at this point; it's totally unfair to respect great offensive players with defensive liabilities and put down great defenders with offensive shortcomings.
interesting that in none of Luka's highlights Rudy did something wrong
Love me some Rudy defending content
bro changed title of the video more times then ANT humped the air
Rudy's stats speak for themselves - Rudy led the league in Dunks, Rebounds, FG %, And Blocks for 4+ years straight in his prime. Not many NBA bigs who can make this claim.
Quality content thanks
You’re goated Daniel
Draymond Green should stop hating on rudy.
Draymond is just jealous because he believes he should have won at least half those DPOY awards.
@@maartenvz
Should’ve won one of them for sure, maybe two, but the stuff he says more is the issue. I mean, I get being mad, but be mad about the way they go about the awards. Respect the craft as much as you criticize the awards
Draymond especially should know better. I remember him saying that the Timberwolves went on their run to win game 7 against the Nuggets because they took Gobert off the floor... When that was quite literally untrue. I lost all respect for him as an analyst that day. As one of the smartest defender in NBA history, he out of all people should have the responsibility to present pure facts to the fans... And he failed at that mission.
@@noahamankwaah9802
Facts
Not a fan of Gobert, but I have to admit the stats do back up his defense. Math doesn't lie
1. Offensively inept is hilarious and incredibly apt. 2. I would have liked to see some analysis on what Finch and co should have done differently aside from not give up corner 3s to the Mavs. Presumably they will run into Luka again in the playoffs. Luka is incredibly unique and has the uncanny ability, as you said, to put guys on his back, extend plays, playmake, and keep Gobert guessing. I agree blitzing doesn't work and essentially neuters Rudy. It obviously makes no sense to pay the dude and not play him in the playoffs. Certainly the low hanging fruit is not give up corner 3s. But do they let Luka kill them in the midrange? Do they preswitch like the Celtics to keep Gobert by the rim? This is the next step for the Wolves. I believe they can get there. A ton of credit needs to get to Luka and how excellent he is, rather than focusing on Rudy. Great vid as always.
Well the Celtics figured out how to stop the Mavs offense 😂
By game 2 it was very obvious there was nothing the Mavs could do to win that series.
But that Celtics roster just has way more talented personnel on the roster that allowed them to do stuff like put Tatum on Gafford/lively, contain the ball without doubling and Not give up corner 3s( forcing DJJ and PJ to shoot above the break 3s)
@@berserkmonk5331Yeah, it's so interesting as Daniel did videos on OKC and Celtics vs Dallas. Celtics did kind of what OKC did, but not as extreme. OKC sold out on everyone not named Irving or Luka, whereas Celtics only did that on above the break 3's. I think Twolves probably had the personnel to do what Celtics did defensively, just got sucked in to trying to chase any open 3.
@@commenting4909 that OKC Mavs series was super close. It honestly could have gone OKC's way if Shai didn't foul PJ on the last 3 and send him to the line. Then OKC would have had game 7 at home, with momentum.
Idk that the wolves could have done the same.
Jaden McDaniels is one of the best elite perimeter defenders, but he was not able to bother Luka at all. Too small to Not get bullied by Luka if he squared up and kept him in front, and whenever he trailed Luka, Luka was not bothered by McDaniels trying to block a shot while he's behind.
Lu Dort, however, has like 40lbs on McDaniels. He bothered Luka a lot more than McDaniels did. Idk who the wolves realistically have that can bother Luka in 1on1 coverage I guess Ant can, but putting way more energy into defending Luka will have a toll on his offense.
@@berserkmonk5331And if OKC met Luka again in the 2025 playoffs, they will have another guy to throw at him: Alex Caruso. He has a similar build to Dort, I believe.
@@noahamankwaah9802 nah Caruso is alot smaller than Dort, weight wise.
It would be interesting to see that matchup though, but I think Caruso is probably better off guarding Klay or maybe Kyrie.
I would’ve loved to see your evaluation of Rudy on switches. You briefly touched on it, but I wonder why Minny didn’t use that coverage more against the Mavs. The Celtics shut down the Mavs by switching
THANK U 4 MAKING THIS VID💯🤩🤩
I largely agree with your thoughts about his lack of offensive game amplifies criticism of him. However, Draymond Green should also have that level of criticism about him. Draymond avoids that criticism because of his versatility. I think the biggest misunderstanding about Gobert is how we view his rim protection numbers. He is an incredible drop defender, I don't really think there should be much of a debate about that. His willingness to always default to a drop coverage inflates his rim protections numbers significantly. In the age of spacing and high volume 3 point shooting a drop coverage works sometimes, but eventually players figure it out. So the issue comes up again that are several ways to scheme around Gobert and the team trying extremely hard to keep him in drop coverage. Somewhat noisy, but you didn't talk about game 2 of the Wolves vs Nuggets where Gobert was out and because of that the entire team was freed up to play an aggressive ball pressure scheme. All that to say is the Playoffs is about versatility and adjustments. And there really aren't that many adjustments you can make with Gobert, if a team solves his drop coverage, good luck. I remember in the 2023 playoffs the Warriors would matchup Draymond Green on De'aaron Fox. Fox whose one of the fastest player in the league being guarded by the warriors starting center. That is truly what makes the discourse around Gobert and other elite defenders different is Gobert doesn't want to switched out onto Fox, while Green, Bam or even AD, have much more of an ability to hold up because of the array of versatility defensive skillsets.
AD is not nearly as switchable as Bam or Dray on switches that’s a bit over the top. I think Rudy is as capable on switches in space as AD with different strengths and strategy although AD is more comfortable hedging or coming up to the level of the screen.
Defense is a team game and perimeter defenders by the very nature of where they defend get beat more often due to a variety of reasons. Once Rudy is up defending a PnR there’s bound to be passes behind/around him.
Most players are jealous, its just about money
He takes 50M/year
He is a great player, I dont care about the money he takes
Gobert should take Dereck Lively's roasting personal
Thank you for this breakdown and with the statistical support. I also found a lot of the criticism towards Gobert to be dubious. Even in a big picture view, the man and his team are in the West finals, and getting cherry picked/hunted in the pick and roll. Like you said in the video, is to get him out of his comfort zone. So much of game planning esp in the playoffs is to use my greatest offensive strength to negate your greatest defensive strength and vice versa. Esp on that stage of the west finals, you already have a few rounds of case studies to deem what is effective. Also it is a physical attribute thing. A 7-footer is not gonna have the quickness, agility, to guard a Steph Curry crossover, likewise, a Jrue Holiday/Marcus Smart is not gonna have the reach of a Gobert. They are all great defenders, just that he is under the spotlight and on that stage, and has the awards and accolades to show for it, you feel like he should be superhuman and getting "exposed". In reality, it is the game-planning that is putting him on the spot and for very deliberate reasons to gain a very specific advantage.
NBA fans tend to only follow narratives and watch highlights (or lowlights) they have no real idea of whos truly great
Excellent video
Great breakdown. Although,I think you may have downplayed his offensive struggles. There would be no argument against his greatness if the NBA had both offensive and defensive teams like the NFL. But his inability to be nearly as impactful on the offensive end is shocking to a viewer
He's overrated because what he brings to the court doesn't warrant his contract nor the trade and while he's a fantastic rim protector that's really all he can hang his hat on. Don't expect him to get buckets, don't expect him to pass well, don't expect him to guard smaller guys in space. And most importantly, being tagged as a 4 time DPOY is an all time caliber accolade and he's simply not an all time player.
He's underrated because that one thing he's really really good at is extremely important not only as a player but also in a teambuilding sense. Like this video showed having Rudy vs not having Rudy is such a massive difference and that's what makes him so good. He has skills that few others have and that are so highly coveted it's earned him so many awards and a healthy amount of money.
So here's the thing, its all about perception and expectation. It's hard to say where I lean in terms of his rating because he's gotten the credit from the league he deserves, arguably too much imo, but then gets clowned on pretty frequently and again, arguably fairly given the circumstances. Do those things balance each other out? I'd like to think so but where I fall on Rudy is he's overpaid and the Wolves overpaid but so far it's worked out relatively well and the future will determine that outcome. I think the fact he has 4 DPOY is insane, he's good but not tied for the most all time with Ben Wallace and Mutombo good which is pretty ridiculous if you ask me. Still a great player but underrated by fans and media and overrated by the league I think is where I'd settle.
I think rudy would hv had a lot of success too if he played inthe 90s or 00s... and i could see centers from that era struggle like rudy if they play in current era. Centers back then really roam around the paint mostly. The game was a lot closer to the basket not as spread out like todays
If he just didn’t win in 2018, everything would’ve been fine. Would’ve been an amazing defender worth 3 DPOY’s, on a similar level to Dwight, and he could’ve contended in 2018 if he just played games. But people just wanna talk accolades.
It’s about what you do on the court
@@Jonathan-A.C. This will sound weird but in sports history he strikes me more as the kinda guy who never won the awards but was plaudit by fans and analysts for how good he was. Basically like his career was inverse if that makes sense
He has 4 dpoy and ur just a retard mad at that online.
@@timlett99
I agree a lot. He has true defensive abilities and impact, but wouldn’t have been awarded as much in a different era, more in regards to how he plays and acts. Frankly, he has similarities to a Tim Duncan or Marcus Camby, so I could see him getting a DPOY back then, but I also think people look at advanced stats differently now
Thank you bro, people act like gobert is the only big that gets bought into alot of actions
I've seen it happen to embid AD etc
Rudy's biggest weakness might actually be his hands.
He's bad at catching passes and gathering without getting stripped.
Probably why his teammates rarely throw him the ball in traffic.
Exactly. I'm a huge fan of his but I can't remember a big with worse hands than his... Maybe Kwame Brown?
Being an ensured offensive liability, if Gobert cannot make a huge impact on defensive end, he cannot justify him occupying a max contract that Timberwolves could otherwise have spent on a star player. And it just so happens that good teams can exploit his weakness to nullify his defensive presence.
to be fair DPOY is a regular season awards for regular season and gobert did great in regular season
playoff is a different beast
why a lot of people forget about this?
11:58 Luka u don’t gotta humiliate Rudy like that 😂😂
Exactly i would rather have AD Bam or Draymond type of big instead of Rudy who only offers rim protection and nothing on the offensive end
Based
His team just got beaten by a better team.. i think its that simple. If hes really a reliability, his team wouldve never past the 1st round let alone make the playoff
Yeah but the thing with comparing him to other great defensive players like AD and Draymond is a some put you have to factor in offensive ability especially in the playoffs and Gobert is severely lacking on that end, which I believe also contributes to him being taken out in the playoffs. The Wolves were fine giving up a layup after playing decent defense if it meant Kat, Naz, can come hit a three in response.
The reason everybody has been calling Rudy overrated is because he robbed Wemby of the DPOY this year
Outside ROY you can’t be on a sub 25 win team and win any substantial accolade
Wemby will win plenty of DPOY awards in his career, no need to get offended on his behalf
@@noahamankwaah9802 I don’t think their offended but wemby was the obvious winner & saying “he’ll win more” isn’t an excuse to not give him one that he deserves
@@X02Overdose the defensive player of the year award should go to the defensive player of the year
@@versatillion15 No he was not the obvious winner. You need to carry your defense to at least top 10 rating wise if you want to get the award. Rudy has done it with a putrid defensive cast in Utah... Why couldn't Wemby done the same if he truly was that dominant?
haven't thought about it that way, his defense prowess is indeed judge for his lacking offensive power
theres so many times rudy had an open floor or mismatched in pick and roll but most of the time they didnt pass the ball or thet missed it.
I used this tactic to abuse paint campers in 2K 😂😂😂
He’s not a defensive liability , he’s a an offensive liability
The game has changed. Gobert would’ve been incredible up until about 2012. Too many athletes doing too much to respect a one-trick pony.
Ultimately, your team’s ceiling is limited with Gobert due to his limited offensive skillset and specific defensive skillset. Which would be fine, except his contract and how much the Wolves gave up in the trade indicates he should have an impact closer to that of Anthony Davis. Offensive flexibility is more important than defensive specialty in the pace and space NBA.
What I learned from the vid: Rudy Gobert is good but, Luka is different
I think that its just really easy for peole to act like defensive players are thrash, especially bigmen and help defenders, if they just have something the dislike about them. The same is true for Dwight and Draymond.
Rim protection is only effective vs 20 teams that aren't elite at shooting 3s.
Especially when that's the only skill he's really good at.
Talk about Game 2 of the Nuggets series.
Look at how Miami is able to rotate on switches. That is the true weakness of teams when they play 3 point teams.
In short, a lot of people consider him overrated because of his huge salary
he needs to just guard a non rim finisher. the same way the celtics use porsingus and the way they used rob williams. pre and peel switch to keep him near the rim. doing everything you can to only give up above the break threes, anything but corner 3’s
Rim protection is important, but not THAT important imo. Gobert is a fine player but his skillset is just very specific. Good vid Li
why not? It's easily the best shot in the NBA that he is preventing. Teams shoot 60% at the rim, 1.2 ppp. The Twolves not only allow one of the lowest % at the rim, teams also shoot a couple fewer against them compared to the rest of the league.
@maartenvz I dont disagree, but that's rudy's main skill. He doesn't do much else out there at a high level save for dunking the ball sometimes. If Rudy's rim protection is getting taken out of the play then he's not affecting the possession in another meaningful way. Like I said he's a fine player i just think the wolves haven't fully maximized his skillset especially in the playoffs.
I will give Gobert his props for rim protection, but there is more to defense than his defense prowess vs slashing guards. I still believe he's overrated.
Did you actually watch the video? The ONLY guard to give him problem in the playoffs was Luka.
@@noahamankwaah9802 Guard that they showed.
nailed it on the head with rudy it’s his Offence that make his defence worse because he has no bag
The problem is that compared with other great defenders who can guard blitz or switch with clear communication and understanding, rudy gobert plays badly with blitz against dallas. Som he is clearly not the best even though he is good.
Why does everyone post the exact same video at the same time? Why is this only just now becoming a topic after 1 person posts it?
ppl praise derozen but he's the anti - gobert, black hole on defense puts up 25ppg .. gobert is more valuable on offense than derozen on defense by farrr
Team game. Rim protection means nothing without solid perimeter defense. Ask Brook and Giannis. This is where a coach is supposed to earn his check. Put your players in position to maximize their strengths and hide their flaws. Drop coverage only works if you got guards pressuring at the point of attack. Luka and Kyrie are the two hardest perimeter players in the league to press or speed up. Bad matchup. Denver only had Murray and he didn't play at the same level he was during the championship run. NBA playoffs will make you look like a killer one round and a bust the next.
All facts
He is a great defender but not elite that’s how I sum up his defense.
Is he a liability ? No .
But is he the defender like AD or Giannis ?
Of course not .
I think when you earn so much money and doesn’t have too much offensive impact people would hold a higher standard on defense and rightfully so.