Battle Of The Bigs: Part Two
The race for Defensive Player of the Year is over for nearly every big man in the league. But with these two — things are just starting to heat up.
It’s no secret that Rudy Gobert and Draymond Green are the league’s most spine-chilling defensive juggernauts among bigs. The most proficient offensive players become transfixed by the mere presence of these two guys.
Gobert and Draymond have some different styles of play to their defensive repertoire. Draymond has more of an effect on wing players with his ability to switch out onto the perimeter. Gobert is like a prison warden in the paint. He seals it off and literally deters players from driving in and attempting an ill-advised layup.
Voters are going to have a tough time voting between the two this year. It may just come down to personal preferences. One thing is clear, Gobert and Draymond are head and shoulders better than the rest of the field of cute potential candidates. So how do they do it? How did Green and Gobert separate themselves from the pack? Let’s take a look…
Rudy Gobert
Rudy Gobert is a man capable of many things. A player that was once a long shot prospect, has blossomed into a defensive stalwart. Watching Gobert browbeat his opponents into taking foolish shots around the paint has been an absolute delight for Jazz fans.
Gobert is among the league’s canniest defenders. There are gobs of bigs that would have been suckered into this pump fake by Lance Thomas. Gobert isn’t one of them. Instead, Gobert sets his feet, stays grounded, and uses his unfathomable length to block Thomas’s shot.
A big man who possesses quickness can impact the game in an extraordinary way. Bigs that are quick can afford to inch away from the paint and help out toward the perimeter. If the ball handler penetrates, the big can make a swift rotation from the weak-side to contest the shot. Furthermore, a quick big man can help the helper from the baseline and either close hard on the shooter or seal off the opponent’s lurking big at the rim. No matter the situation, Gobert has this trait in spades.
Iman Shumpert did everything right in this highlight. He collapsed Utah’s defense and forced Gobert to help off of Tristan Thompson by rotating from the weak-side. This should have been an easy dunk for Thompson but Gobert had other intentions. Gobert’s quickness is scary. Terrifying actually.
Gobert is a wizard at defending the pick-and-roll. He slides over to defend the ball handler, Jimmy Butler. He baits Butler into feeding the roller, Robin Lopez. Gobert recovering in time to contest Lopez’s shot is already impressive. The block is just the gravy. Gobert is extremely quick-witted when it comes to reading and reacting in pick-and-roll coverage.
The only thing better than a big man with quickness is one who is able to use it on both ends of the floor. Once again, Gobert shines.
It looks like Gobert was initially looking to find Gordon Hayward on a cut or dump it off to Joe Ingles at the elbow. Out of the triple threat, Gobert literally blows right past Rakeem Christmas and drives full force into the paint.
Many are of the mindset that Draymond’s versatility gives him a slight edge in the race for Defensive Player of the Year. Stashed away in Gobert’s arsenal of weapons is what use to be a well-kept secret; his passing ability.
Marcus Morris was probably playing Hayward a lot closer than needed at the top of the key. This allows Hayward to back cut toward the paint while Gobert sets a brush screen to give him some wiggle room. A split second before Gobert screens Morris, is a beautifully timed under-the-legs bounce pass to feed a driving Hayward. Incredible.
Here’s a clip of the Jazz running blind pig action with Gobert in the high post. Gobert gently tosses a lob for Hayward to tip in at the basket. Gobert has made astronomical improvements in his passing game. He’s been finding guys on back door cuts all season and hitting them right on the money.
The statistics speak very highly of Gobert as well. He ranks 1st in DRPM, 2nd in defensive rating, and his rim protection numbers are stifling. Of players who are defending six or more shots at the rim, Gobert is holding opponents to an abysmal 43.3 field goal percentage which ranks 1st. Draymond places 2nd at 43.7% but he is only defending 7 shots at the rim per game. Gobert is defending 10.2 shots at the rim per game which is a significantly larger sample size.
Gobert may not have the flashiness or barrage of scoring tactics that Hayward wields. However, it can be argued that Gobert’s impact in Utah is greater than Hayward’s. The Jazz have the 3rd best defensive rating in the league (102.2) but in the 1,115 minutes Gobert has been off the court their defensive rating declines to (106.9) which would rank 21st out of 30 teams. The Jazz are going to be in the playoffs for the first time since 2012 and Gobert’s growth is one of the many factors responsible for such an achievement.
Although the season is coming to a close, their is still quite a few games remaining to sway voters on their end of the season award selections. Nearly everyone has narrowed down their DPOY selections to Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert, and Kawhi Leonard. All are deserving candidates and have clearly made their presence felt on the defensive side of the ball throughout the season. Green has been prowling in Kawhi’s shadow patiently waiting for this award over the last three seasons. Will Leonard become the first player to three-peat since Dwight Howard? Gobert’s defensive brilliance has been on full display this season and now he’s in position to emphatically snare this award from both players.
All stats via nba.com/stats unless otherwise stated.
