Rudy Gobert Must Rekindle His Spark From Last Season

Rudy Gobert corralled an offensive rebound with five minutes left in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets. He awkwardly passed the ball back out to the perimeter. Naz Reid attempted a left-handed hook shot as the second shot clock was dwindling.

Reid missed, and Gobert poked the ball free again and hustled for another offensive rebound, which led to Anthony Edwards drilling a pull-up three to put the Minnesota Timberwolves up 94-77.

Before Edwards hit the three, and an impending win was coming into focus, a contingent of fans at Target Center were already on their feet, letting out a low, howling chant in the direction of Gobert that has become synonymous with Timberwolves games:

“RUUUUUUU.”

It was a vintage Gobert moment against one of Minnesota’s biggest rivals. The back-to-back rebounds and the reception from the crowd were reminiscent of last season when Gobert won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year trophy and probably should have been an All-Star.

Gobert has never flashed offensively, averaging fewer than 16 points in his 12 NBA seasons. Still, he is on track to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame once his career and was invaluable to Minnesota’s success last season – anchoring the NBA’s best defense.

However, this season has been different in more ways than one. The Wolves are 24-21 on January 26. Exactly one year ago, they were 32-13, tied for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Gobert’s inconsistencies in all the main areas he usually positively impacts are buried within the laundry list of shortcomings from the Wolves this season. He will likely not win his fifth DPOY award, and voters are not seriously considering him for the All-Star game.

Still, Gobert remains paramount to Minnesota’s success. After a slow start, he’s on a journey to rekindle the irreplaceable spark he had last season.

“I’ve got to be better,” Gobert said regarding his rebounding before the Nuggets game. “Just don’t overthink it; just go get it. Sometimes, I tend to overthink, which takes me out of the flow. In a way, I get distracted a little bit listening to whatever I hear.”

Gobert’s rebounding numbers are down across the board.

Rudy is averaging 10.2 rebounds this season, down from the 12.9 he averaged over 76 games last year. His rebounding percentage (an estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while on the floor) is also significantly lower than last season. Consequently, the Wolves rank 18th league-wide in defensive rebounds (33.2) per game. Last season, they ranked fifth in defensive rebounds (34.2).

Some of Minnesota’s regression on the glass stems from replacing Karl-Anthony Towns (7’0”) with Julius Randle (6’9”) this off-season and losing Kyle Anderson in free agency. However, much of the blame sits on Gobert’s 7’1″ shoulders.

It’s not just the rebounding. Gobert is averaging two fewer points than last season, two fewer shot attempts, and shooting a worst field goal percentage. Collectively, it has been an underwhelming season for Gobert. There have been multiple situations through 45 games where opponents have played him off the floor with how they defend Edwards. Couple that with less impactful defense, rebounding, and Minnesota’s unimpressive season – it has been easy for fans to quickly grow upset with Gobert.

However, Saturday was different. There were no sour emotions while the Wolves cruised to a 133-104 win over the Nuggets. The crowd lost its mind after Gobert’s back-to-back rebounds in the third quarter because of everything he did leading up to that. It all started with Gobert recording an early steal and going coast-to-coast for a two-handed tomahawk slam that injected life into the building.

“He was really good,” Chris Finch told the media postgame regarding Gobert’s performance. “Just active, like we need him to be. I thought he set the tone on the offensive glass in the first quarter. And then when [Denver] tried to mix lineups and go small, he continued to be a presence when they tried to put small guys on him. His activity level bothered everything.”

Gobert matched up against Nikola Jokić, who infamously dropped 40 points against the Rudy and Wolves in Game 5 of the second round last season. Jokić has been on an unstoppable run this season, averaging 29.9 points, 13.1 rebounds, and 10.1 assists on 56.6% from the floor and 47.9% from three. Usually, the Wolves put their power forward (Towns or Randle this season) on Jokić and Gobert on Aaron Gordon, or Denver’s worst three-point shooter, to allow Rudy to patrol the paint.

However, Finch put Gobert on Jokić right away.

“Defensively, we did a pretty good job. I could have done better early on Jokić,” Gobert told reporters after the game. “But I thought we did a good job controlling the boards, for the most part, and making them earn what they got.”

Jokić already had six points against Gobert in the first six minutes. Rudy was defending him well, but it didn’t matter – the Joker looked poised for another one of his impressive stat lines. However, Gobert did not let Jokić’s buckets go answered. Rudy put his mark on the game early, recording nine points, four rebounds, and four assists in the first quarter.

Gobert was the best passer on the floor in the opening frame. His four assists tied a career-high for Rudy’s most dimes in one quarter, something he had only done three times.

Noticeably, Gobert found his teammates in the short roll and outside the restricted area. Four of his six makes were also push shots or floaters. It’s usually a death sentence when Gobert has the ball anywhere away from the rim, but it wasn’t Saturday. The Wolves hung 40 points on the board in the first quarter and shot 69% from the floor, which wasn’t a coincidence.

The offense was humming, and Gobert was acting as the conductor.

“Today, I got to realize how important it is for my teammates’ confidence,” Gobert said regarding his production on the short roll. “I realized that when I am decisive and confident, they have more confidence in finding me in situations. For me, it is just about being decisive and aggressive. Those shots came naturally because I work on it.”

Gobert’s impact on offense set the tone on both ends. After Jokić’s hot start, he only scored two more points against Gobert the rest of the night and turned it over two times when Rudy was the primary defender.

It was exactly the performance Gobert needed. He challenged himself to be better, finishing with 14 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, four steals, no turnovers, and only two fouls on 6 of 8 shooting in 30 minutes. The Wolves also outscored Denver, the fourth seed in the West, by 26 points with Gobert on the floor.

“Tonight, Rudy took the challenge,” Mike Conley said postgame. “He made it apparent that he was going to be all over the floor and doing the right things playcall-wise – being able to stay within the schemes. Contesting shots and being there for us when we get beat. Just being all over the place to where we have the utmost faith in him guarding anybody.”

The Wolves are trying to move on from last season. This year’s team will never reach the same level that last year’s team was on consistently. However, they have shown flashes of a good team. Sometimes, a really good team. Gobert is a common denominator in all of Minnesota’s impressive wins. When he is playing confidently and not overthinking things, the Wolves look similar to the team they were last season.

They will need more from Gobert to reel off a winning streak and leapfrog teams close to them in the standings. That doesn’t mean DPOY-level defense every game and 15+ rebounds. Finch needs Gobert to be more active, which boils down to two things.

1. The Wolves have to look for Rudy in advantageous situations.
2. Rudy must be more of a weapon when his teammates pass him the ball, especially in the short roll.

Gobert’s game feels connected. If both of those things happen and he sets a ton on offense early, it will likely lead to more productive defense. At the end of this season, Gobert will not be waiting for a DPOY trophy, and Minnesota will probably not compete for a Finals appearance, either. However, the Wolves still believe they can be a good team and have shown that in spurts this year.

Gobert doing what he did Saturday more consistently will be the lynchpin to how often the Wolves look like the euphoric team they were last season.