Utah Jazz: Day 1 At FIBA World Cup
By Greg Chin
Rudy Gobert
The young Utah Jazz center has intrigued fans in his rookie season last year. He only managed to play 45 games, but wowed fans everywhere with his superb athleticism. He averaged 9.6 minutes per game last season, but looks set to be making the big leap after impressive showings at Summer League and again last night.
Gobert posted up a stat line of six points on 60 percent shooting, three rebounds, two blocked shots and four personal fouls on 19 minutes of playing time.
He looked good on both ends on the court, dunking viciously twice and playing good post defense on Nene and Tiago Splitter. Gobert is not the focal point of the French offense, but will entertain fans from time to time with incredible dunks like these.
He defended the post admirably against NBA starting caliber bigs in Nene and Splitter. He was fooled a couple of times by Nene, but that is to be expected from a young, inexperienced center.
A point of concern was his four personal fouls in only 19 minutes. If Gobert wants to have more playing time, he will have to be smarter about the way he plays on defense. He committed two silly fouls on defense, which could have swung the game in France’s favour.
Let me end with this glowing tweet from NBA guru, Grantland’s own Zach Lowe.
Rudy Gobert's NBA future becomes more interesting to me every time I watch him. A guy I'd like to have in my organization.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) August 30, 2014