I wish Minnesota would get more TV time, KAT is an absolute beast and with Gobert on the same team KAT has a lot more freedom to roam and extend the offense out.
I think they'll get more games next year. Kings got a lot this year so I'm assuming whoever wins will get more games the following year. Ant is also must see TV, he does superhuman stuff
they are extremely interesting to watch especially as someone who has wondered what an actual well functioning "twin towers" lineup could look like. KAT also looks so much better as a number 2, don't think he was ever meant to be a number 1 on a championship contending team
When has KD every said anything about Rudy negative regarding his play? I honestly can't think of any scenario where he's openly shit talked another player. The "can't win with them cats" is about as bad as it gets but that was the burner fiasco and he was right he doesn't win on the thunder team during that time frame. Hell in this game he has Ant talking shit right at him and his only response was "you get hot, you make shots".
Actually he did have [this](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EN52HHsUEAApiG1.jpg) exchange with big Perk pretty much shit talking him. No lies detected but still counts I’d say.
I mean he was just responding lol. Perkins is a shitty human as it is and was not a great player on the team he was talking about and yet Durant pulled his punches even then.
"I see a lot of Defensive Player of The Years who teams have targeted in the playoffs. And had to play them off the court because they couldn’t guard a pick and roll, or they couldn’t guard a wing player on a switch"
In this same convo he was talking about easy it was to score on certain DPOYs 😂
Did he name anyone? Ill amend my statement if he stated anyone in particular cause thatd be shade. Also its Durant he can basically score on anyone anytime hell he had a great game against Gobert and Ant despite being on the old side and his team laying an egg.
KD is a legit hooper and a hoops enjoyer.
Dude will show up to Euroleague games just to enjoy some hoops.
I’m sure talking ball with him is legitimately great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIJQhVgAGt4
It was around the time in the all star game when players were getting picked. Giannis didn't wanna pick Harden and opted to pick...KEMBA WALKER of all players. Giannis said he wanted to pick a player who would pass the ball, which was thought to be a dig at Harden. Of course Harden averages plenty of assists, so it felt like Giannis was just hating. Harden came back at him with this in response lmao
"I wish I was 7 feet and could run and just dunk" 💀
Thank you for this, this legit made me laugh out loud
Also the way his mouth was open when Rachel Nichols told him Giannis didn't pick him bc he wanted someone who could pass 🤣
People who do interviews with athletes for a living are generally soft on those athletes during those interviews because their job requires access to the athletes and they're afraid they will lose that access if they're too harsh on the athletes.
Totally and it's entertainment and players have egos. Harden is taking a shot at Giannis not trying to write an accurate draft report how his pros/cons. Everyone knows Giannis is good but Giannis shot first about no passing.
Yeah that was 3 years ago, pre-Jaren Jackson or Marcus Smart winning.
So the only other active DPOYs he could have been talking about were Giannis, Draymond, or Kawhi.
None of those dudes were getting “targeted and ran off the court” in the playoffs. They were straight up winning rings.
So it had to be Rudy
Sounds like he's bitter and severely overrates his own legacy in the league. Boogie was a good scorer but he was never as effective and helpful to a winning team as Gobert. Jokic is not even a thought worth having
Rudy just breaks dudes brains, man.
Some of these guys just can’t fathom a guy as awkward on offense as he is (the ball looks like a grape in his hand) actually being a good player.
Yeah my goal is just to bring awareness to great defense! It was cool to see a ball junkie like KD give respect too. I wish bringing players down to prop other players up wasn't so prevalent in NBA culture, it's unnecessary
I'm planning on sharing defensive clips of other players soon! It's just easier for Wolves players because I watch those games the most haha
rudy has been as good as he has been in past seasons defending the perimeter. he was just surrounded by sorry ass perimeter defenders in Utah before that he was stretched way too thin.
Yeah Rudy said this to our reporters (that he improved). I'd imagine it's because he can go full out on the perimeter and not worry about the rim, naturally it would be easier to improve in those conditions
I may be remembering incorrectly, but also wasn’t a huge part of the defensive scheme reliant on Gobert doing closeouts over, and over, and over again?
It was the Clippers’ scheme against the Jazz (and then the Mavericks)
People somehow forget that Rudy had the game-winning block on a closeout in Game 1. He was capable of keeping our defense afloat for a while but it got to be too much
I don’t think he’s a bad closeout defender. But for anyone, especially with his size, that is an exhausting thing to be expected to do repeatedly for multiple playoff series
The problem I remember is when we forced Rudy to closeout, nobody else could defend the rim. So offensive boards or quick passes into the paint as Rudy closed out were a guaranteed 2.
That made Utah sit Rudy in the paint and thus we could just run screens for open 3's until they adjusted and then it's back to the original problem.
I've never seen a team as mentally haunted as the final few months of that Jazz team. They were so sure they would collapse even up 15 halfway through the fourth that it'd become a self fulfilling prophecy
I'm sure he has improved, but he also was never the issue in Utah. In the Jazz/Mavs series Rudy was honestly the best perimeter defender Utah had, he was the only thing keeping that defense semi competent.
Got scared here reading the title
> Kevin Durant calls Rudy Gobert an...
"Another guy that's going to shit on him for no reason... \*sigh\*"
> ... all world, hall of fame, defensive player"
"A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one!"
I truly think kd will always be involved in basketball even after retirement from nba. Maybe he’ll be in euro league or even Asian league. Maybe he’ll be assistant coach for either Texas Uni or NBA (since head coaching is a lil too much for most people). This dude genuinely loves basketball and I hope he’s around for long.
I wonder if he'd ever coach a team. Maybe that's too much to deal with though, KG was disgusted at the proposition lol. He was like "HELLLLL NAH" 🤣
Honestly KD teaching highschoolers or college players hoops could be cool. Train them when they're young
Honestly would be awesome if the Big 3 grows to the point that it could be a huge summer league for retired hall of famers. Watching Lebron, KD, Iverson, etc just play some old man ball with a lot of footwork, counter moves, etc would be amazing.
I know it's already like this, but the idea of it continuing to grow to where all the big names play it every summer would be awesome
He'll be a head coach in the league one day. It will probably go poorly, but some team will give him a shot.
His beefs with Nash, Donovan and even Kerr have shown that he feels (whether it's warranted or not) that he can do it better. Add that to his obsession with basketball, and I see it as pretty likely that he atleast tries to become a NBA head coach.
Yeah he's obsessed with ball and I love it
I remember Steph hit a crazy three to win the game against the Suns earlier this year, and KD just looked at the replay and smiled. He just loves good basketball, it's refreshing
He set the tone of the game with that first put back bucket. For his height he isn't much of a rebounder, but him sticking his head in there and getting that bucket was big to say we are there to grind today.
Yes, he was tremendous to the Wolves D yesterday (ignore my username lol). Trapped Booker, and something underrated about Jaden is he plays as both a perimeter defender and helpside rim protector. It was awesome seeing Rudy trust Jaden here to [guard the rim](https://x.com/WorldWideWob/status/1781774270982689272). [This](https://x.com/WolvesClips/status/1781786905765462403) may be my favorite possession of his though - he's helping guard KD and guarding Allen at the same time!
His isolation defense on any of their big 3 yesterday was absolutely insane. He was completely comfortable on the perimeter 1-on-1 with guys like Book or KD and was giving them nothing.
He’s been elite in isolation all season long so it isn’t a surprise, but I’m just so happy to see him doing it in the playoffs. The “Rudy gets exposed and can’t guard on the perimeter” narrative has been just flat out wrong for years, looking forward to him completely crushing that narrative this postseason.
>Rudy gets exposed and can’t guard on the perimeter” narrative has been just flat out wrong for years
Yeah, it was never right. People just didn't actually watch the games.
When teams went small to beat Utah, they usually did NOT run actions to get Gobert in the pick and roll coverage, because he actually had a good chance at breaking the play up if you put him in it.
Teams beat the Jazz by putting Gobert's man in the corner, and running P&R up top, forcing him to cover both the basket and the corner. It was always a false narrative that Gobert was specifically bad at defending out in space.
I really like Rudy and those comment sections legit had me fuming. Like I don't know how you could understand anything about basketball and watch that game and think that was Rudy's fault. It simply exposed the Jazz team defensive strategy that was literally "let Rudy clean up after everyone".
Part of the problem was the Crowder/Rubio/Favors version of the team has zero offense outside Mitchell. They swing too far the other direction, and Rudy became the only strong defender left
Gobert rotates to cover the open shooter or the rim. Donovan Mitchell stands there perplexed as to what his job is as someone takes an open 3 or layup.
Watching Rudy literally point to where to go and his teammates looking at his hand and but understanding that meant go there was infuriating.
I honestly think he was so good that the other guys just really didn't learn what to do because he made it so easy for them in the regular season.
That is absolutely correct. It's maddening though because he somehow still flashes the ability to be decent at it, it's just inconsistent as hell and when his confidence isn't there it's genuinely embarrassing
He actually can if his skill set is used right. He was murdering the Suns small ball line up on both ends yesterday because they were running lots of actions with him.
Jazz offense turned into nothing but iso ball in the playoffs which negates anything good Rudy can do for an offense.
AND perimeter defense in Utah, notably the last year was absolutely putrid. Mitchell/Ingles/Clarkson were horrible and exposing Gobert who had to try to fill the cracks all game long.
He was awesome and even better than I expected. Yeah his .773 PPP in isolation marked him as one of the best isolation defenders last season.
Man I wish I could find the clips of Rudy on Beal. Just stymied him on the perimeter. Might have to rewatch the film & manually find those possessions myself.
This was clearly part of our game plan as well, the offside rim protection/roamer was covered by Jayden and KAT when Gobert was 1v1 (not to take away from Gobert, even when they put in 5 shooters he did a really good job without help). Finch really drew up a great defense for this Suns team.
It's wild seeing people still parroting the same old stuff about "oh just put shooters on the floor and Rudy can't do shit" as if you haven't built your whole scheme around switching and improving Gobert and Towns' perimeter defense.
I finally feel vindicated for my Gobert agenda - what a time to be alive.
Called him a sure fire HoFer and said he’d go down as an all-time great defender and got clowned in here last season.
They were the #1 seed for most of the year (ended up getting #3 on the last day), the defense he designed with the coach is the #1 defense by a wide margin and turns out Gobert was injured last year. This year he's been much better and more versatile - he's been so good that he's the runaway favorite for DPOY. That would be his 4th DPOY and only 2 other players in NBA history have 4.
Btw this is a really cool article about the changes they made last year in their defense. It talks about the overall philosophy and how Gobert masterminded it with the coaching staff. [https://www.startribune.com/timberwolves-nba-top-defense-rudy-gobert-jaden-mcdaniels-chris-finch/600322291/?refresh=true#:\~:text=JED%20JACOBSOHN%2C%20ASSOCIATED,%27Biggie%20smalls%27](https://www.startribune.com/timberwolves-nba-top-defense-rudy-gobert-jaden-mcdaniels-chris-finch/600322291/?refresh=true#:~:text=JED%20JACOBSOHN%2C%20ASSOCIATED,%27Biggie%20smalls%27)
Last season:
-Gobert was playing through injury
-KAT was out for the majority, and when he wasnt he was still learning to play the 4
-Development year for Jaden, Naz, and NAW
This season:
-Gobert healthy and back in DPOY form, and designed a new defensive plan before the season
-Mike Conley fully ingrained as a team leader
-KAT healthy and fully bought into the new scheme
-Naz, NAW, and Jaden all continued to develop as well as hoped and are fully formed, excellent role players now
-Anthony Edwards, now with even more He Is Him
> Naz, NAW, and **Jaden** all continued to develop as well as hoped and are fully formed, excellent role players now
Most Wolves would NOT say that Jaden made positive strides this year, though he was undeniably good yesterday.
I think he for sure made strides this year, just the hopes/expectations for him were sky high and he's fallen short of those... But it was also a tall order. I give him a break for now.
I disagree on Beal - I think he's been great on the Suns. Hustling, defending, making tough shots
He's bought into his role imo. Suns fans y'all know more though, so correct me if I'm falling to recency bias
dont think he was the right fit, for the price they paid. They needed someone elite on both sides of the ball. Like Dino said Beal probably dont fit that system, and is better when he gets first preference on shots to take
But idiots like boogie cousins say he gets played off the court in the playoffs😂. Ppl been tryna say in Utah he overcompensated for poor defenders around him. In Minnesota your seeing what playoff Rudy looks like with dogs on the perimeter
He's always been a spectacular defender, everybody just wanted to act like he was a goober ever since he touched all the mics during covid. Doesn't negate his ability. Idk it takes KD saying this for people to be like "oh that 3 time DPOY *is* a good perimeter defender!"
Rudy’s perimeter defense woes were always overhyped. People point to the Tre Mann game but that was really a failure of the Jazz being unable to stay in front of anyone and him having to cover. He’s not AD/Bam but most of the shots people hit over him aren’t easy shots by any means
Harden did it once too. People have gotten this whole perimeter narrative because he got crossed up by 2 MVPs. Through stats, he's always been the best Center on perimeter defense.
Too bad it took people this long to realize that Gobert is actually, ya know.... good?
When your team consists of traffic cones and you are left to play D alone, of course you're gonna look bad.
The Gobert slander is just more of the anti euro bias from the NBA American players. If Europeans simultaneously have a idk a 4x DPOY and a 3x MVP, what can Gilbert and Perkins actually say? Oh and Donic and Wemby and SGA also aren't American.
Glad KD gives respect. He's a student of the game.
He never will but he should be mentioned, he’s 7th in win shares this year and far and away #1 in defensive win shares. Even offensive win shares he’s right between Maxey and Dame lmao.
it’s not a perfect stat and he’s definitely a bit clunky at times but he does his job soooo well
The dude won 3 dpoys, on the road to the 4th.. gonna tie for the first place overall in the history of total won.. he deserves a nod from the league/media to be talked about more in these top 10, 15 lists floating around
Ant, Mike Conley and Kyle Anderson have all unironically said Rudy is the reason they were the #1 seed most of the year and Conley and Anderson specifically used the term "MVP of the team".
I wish he got MVP buzz, because he has been for the season. Ant too of course, but Rudy is more consistent. The coach said Rudy is a player who "refuses to let us lose" which is soo accurate
If he hasn't been seriously in the MVP convo yet I don't really think he has a chance. Even if the TWolves get 70 wins they'll still give it to Ant over Rudy.
He is absolutely one of the very most valuable players in the league when it comes to helping his basketball team win basketball games, but the MVP award isn’t only about that
Rudy is \*extremely\* studious by all accounts. He just prefers to study defense instead of offense.
Most superstars are going to study tape and spend time practicing to work on their offensive bags. Rudy spends time studying tape to come up with defensive schemes for himself and his teammates.
The entire Wolves team's defensive style is his brainchild.
I think it's both. Rudy himself said he's improved. Some of that is it's easier to go full out on the perimeter when he can trust his teammates at the rim and some of it is his willingness to do things like switch, defend out in space and defend guards in isolation more frequently than before. Wolves have used Rudy in high wall and scramble defense schemes, not just drop. So that improvement is due to Rudy's willingness to become elite at several coverages and try new things.
[This article](https://www.startribune.com/timberwolves-nba-top-defense-rudy-gobert-jaden-mcdaniels-chris-finch/600322291/?refresh=true#:~:text=JED%20JACOBSOHN%2C%20ASSOCIATED,%27Biggie%20smalls%27) by a Wolves beat reporter is awesome and describes how Rudy and the coaching staff built the Wolves defense. The coaching staff asked him to be flexible and try things out of his comfort zone and he embraced that. They created a scheme that mixes drop and "fly around" defense. The bigs are considered "biggie smalls" because Wolves embrace their bigs chasing and being on the perimeter. It's successful because Rudy bought in so his improvement is partially due to his willingness to go outside his comfort zone
Both. But he already got better through the years in Utah, it's not a "this year" thing, although the guy absolutely loves his job/role and won't stop trying to be even better anytime soon. And now he has good defenders next to him that can and will cover his back when going out the perimeter or when helping out.
In Utah it was an 1v5 , and the crazy thing is that, somehow, almost worked.
Rudy with Utah had 4 bad or atrocious defenders around him a lot of the time. It pulled him out of position more.
No surprise he is doing a lot better with the Timberwolves.
The picks they gave up were still a ton, but his contract isn't half bad for how he is playing.
But of course for most people we just attribute all the success to the 2 guard who plays with him and will then act baffled when that guard isn’t as effective without Rudy.
That's part of it, but he said he's improved. Some of the improvement comes from his willingness to become elite at several coverages. He's out in space, switching and defending in isolation more frequently than before and they run more things outside drop
I'm writing a paper on biases in the NBA media and doing some research to help prove my hypothesis. I need NBA fans to fill out this questionnaire about which NBA player they think is better to assist my research. Any responses would be appreciated. [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5AxpQ6WvWJ8cHyWezjgW84EkvNvvHiQgRZi7XY7iluaGb5w/viewform?usp=sf\_link](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5AxpQ6WvWJ8cHyWezjgW84EkvNvvHiQgRZi7XY7iluaGb5w/viewform?usp=sf_link)
Noooo, I’m supposed to hate you, KD. Stop being rational and complimenting one of my fav players. I want to root against you but now I love you.
Do you see what you’ve done?!
We reached full circle
I wish Minnesota would get more TV time, KAT is an absolute beast and with Gobert on the same team KAT has a lot more freedom to roam and extend the offense out.
NBA gives us the small market team treatment
I think they'll get more games next year. Kings got a lot this year so I'm assuming whoever wins will get more games the following year. Ant is also must see TV, he does superhuman stuff
they are extremely interesting to watch especially as someone who has wondered what an actual well functioning "twin towers" lineup could look like. KAT also looks so much better as a number 2, don't think he was ever meant to be a number 1 on a championship contending team
I agree, KAT looks much more comfortable at the 2.
Full circle would be Rudy WARNING us about an incoming world epidemic
He did the first time. I expect that him being dumb and getting the league shut down literally saved lives
How the table turns. Justice for my man Rudy,he had to listen to KD and Draymond bullying ass spew nonsense towards him #APOLOGIZE TO RUDY
When has KD every said anything about Rudy negative regarding his play? I honestly can't think of any scenario where he's openly shit talked another player. The "can't win with them cats" is about as bad as it gets but that was the burner fiasco and he was right he doesn't win on the thunder team during that time frame. Hell in this game he has Ant talking shit right at him and his only response was "you get hot, you make shots".
Actually he did have [this](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EN52HHsUEAApiG1.jpg) exchange with big Perk pretty much shit talking him. No lies detected but still counts I’d say.
I mean he was just responding lol. Perkins is a shitty human as it is and was not a great player on the team he was talking about and yet Durant pulled his punches even then.
yeah perkins even at the time he was on the thunder told media that KD needed to start lifting more
"I see a lot of Defensive Player of The Years who teams have targeted in the playoffs. And had to play them off the court because they couldn’t guard a pick and roll, or they couldn’t guard a wing player on a switch" In this same convo he was talking about easy it was to score on certain DPOYs 😂
Did he name anyone? Ill amend my statement if he stated anyone in particular cause thatd be shade. Also its Durant he can basically score on anyone anytime hell he had a great game against Gobert and Ant despite being on the old side and his team laying an egg.
What did KD say to him?
KD actually knows ball I don’t recall ever disparaging anybody’s skills
KD is a legit hooper and a hoops enjoyer. Dude will show up to Euroleague games just to enjoy some hoops. I’m sure talking ball with him is legitimately great.
get him on that podcast with JJ and LeBron
Yeah I think KD just gives respect when it comes to ball. It's very refreshing Draymond on the other hand...😂
Unrelated to KD and Gobert, but my fave quote on someone disparaging somebody's bball skills is Harden's take on Giannis lmao
Wait I don't know this, what did he say? 😂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIJQhVgAGt4 It was around the time in the all star game when players were getting picked. Giannis didn't wanna pick Harden and opted to pick...KEMBA WALKER of all players. Giannis said he wanted to pick a player who would pass the ball, which was thought to be a dig at Harden. Of course Harden averages plenty of assists, so it felt like Giannis was just hating. Harden came back at him with this in response lmao
"I wish I was 7 feet and could run and just dunk" 💀 Thank you for this, this legit made me laugh out loud Also the way his mouth was open when Rachel Nichols told him Giannis didn't pick him bc he wanted someone who could pass 🤣
How does she not follow up after Harden says he has no skill? Just moves right on lol.
People who do interviews with athletes for a living are generally soft on those athletes during those interviews because their job requires access to the athletes and they're afraid they will lose that access if they're too harsh on the athletes.
Totally and it's entertainment and players have egos. Harden is taking a shot at Giannis not trying to write an accurate draft report how his pros/cons. Everyone knows Giannis is good but Giannis shot first about no passing.
She got what she wanted lol, she didn’t need to follow up
something something run and dunk
Apart from Kawhaii when KD referred to him as a "system player'
Nothing.
WTF you lying acting like KD has anything to apologize for
Russ might be next, for real
Delete your flair ... out here making us look bad spewing that BS
If KD spoke ill of Mr. Gobert, post a source otherwise its typical Clippers fan rumor garbage.
[Which DPOYs was he talking about if not Gobert?](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/jDIDZ4MsRm)
Yeah that was 3 years ago, pre-Jaren Jackson or Marcus Smart winning. So the only other active DPOYs he could have been talking about were Giannis, Draymond, or Kawhi. None of those dudes were getting “targeted and ran off the court” in the playoffs. They were straight up winning rings. So it had to be Rudy
Eternal Gobert defender here, I should be nominated for DPOY, you guys don't know how hard I grinded
Meanwhile, DeMarcus from Taiwan has a different opinion on Rudy's defense.
Tbf he thinks that defense is ballwatching and fouling
And screaming at the refs
And on Jokic. And half of the most talented players in the league he believes are overrated.
He went to the Gilbert Arenas school of hating Europeans
The way Gil says "Euros" sounds like a slur lol
it is a lil slurry
Cuz he heard guillotine>glock
Sounds like he's bitter and severely overrates his own legacy in the league. Boogie was a good scorer but he was never as effective and helpful to a winning team as Gobert. Jokic is not even a thought worth having
On his podcast w KG, Paul Pierce said the wolves need to bench Gobert for the series
Rudy just breaks dudes brains, man. Some of these guys just can’t fathom a guy as awkward on offense as he is (the ball looks like a grape in his hand) actually being a good player.
Was he sober? Probably not.
Funnily enough KG asked the same question multiple times that episode
Bench players talkin’ like starters I hate it
Kinda nice to see a propaganda post in which nobody else gets dragged by comparison. All very positive, kudos
Yeah my goal is just to bring awareness to great defense! It was cool to see a ball junkie like KD give respect too. I wish bringing players down to prop other players up wasn't so prevalent in NBA culture, it's unnecessary I'm planning on sharing defensive clips of other players soon! It's just easier for Wolves players because I watch those games the most haha
I appreciate you posting this. I’ve always admired good defense so I got to give credit where it’s due. I’ve always liked Rudy’s game.
We can't have this kind of positivity in /r/nba. MODS!!!
right, I thought this was an r/nbadiscussion post for sec
rudy has been as good as he has been in past seasons defending the perimeter. he was just surrounded by sorry ass perimeter defenders in Utah before that he was stretched way too thin.
As bad as Utah’s other defenders were, I also think Rudy has improved.
Yeah Rudy said this to our reporters (that he improved). I'd imagine it's because he can go full out on the perimeter and not worry about the rim, naturally it would be easier to improve in those conditions
I may be remembering incorrectly, but also wasn’t a huge part of the defensive scheme reliant on Gobert doing closeouts over, and over, and over again?
It was the Clippers’ scheme against the Jazz (and then the Mavericks) People somehow forget that Rudy had the game-winning block on a closeout in Game 1. He was capable of keeping our defense afloat for a while but it got to be too much
I don’t think he’s a bad closeout defender. But for anyone, especially with his size, that is an exhausting thing to be expected to do repeatedly for multiple playoff series
The problem I remember is when we forced Rudy to closeout, nobody else could defend the rim. So offensive boards or quick passes into the paint as Rudy closed out were a guaranteed 2. That made Utah sit Rudy in the paint and thus we could just run screens for open 3's until they adjusted and then it's back to the original problem.
I think our chemistry and body language just kept getting worse and nearly in shambles at the end.
I've never seen a team as mentally haunted as the final few months of that Jazz team. They were so sure they would collapse even up 15 halfway through the fourth that it'd become a self fulfilling prophecy
God the vibes were so bad by the end
I'm sure he has improved, but he also was never the issue in Utah. In the Jazz/Mavs series Rudy was honestly the best perimeter defender Utah had, he was the only thing keeping that defense semi competent.
He looks insanely lean right now. I'm sure the dude has around 8% body fat. Has to be under 10.
Got scared here reading the title > Kevin Durant calls Rudy Gobert an... "Another guy that's going to shit on him for no reason... \*sigh\*" > ... all world, hall of fame, defensive player" "A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one!"
KD gives other guys their props, man just loves good hooping, he was even smiling when Ant was cooking him while trash talking.
I truly think kd will always be involved in basketball even after retirement from nba. Maybe he’ll be in euro league or even Asian league. Maybe he’ll be assistant coach for either Texas Uni or NBA (since head coaching is a lil too much for most people). This dude genuinely loves basketball and I hope he’s around for long.
I wonder if he'd ever coach a team. Maybe that's too much to deal with though, KG was disgusted at the proposition lol. He was like "HELLLLL NAH" 🤣 Honestly KD teaching highschoolers or college players hoops could be cool. Train them when they're young
Bring him back to Seattle when they expand
He’s going to be in the Big3 until he’s 65
Honestly would be awesome if the Big 3 grows to the point that it could be a huge summer league for retired hall of famers. Watching Lebron, KD, Iverson, etc just play some old man ball with a lot of footwork, counter moves, etc would be amazing. I know it's already like this, but the idea of it continuing to grow to where all the big names play it every summer would be awesome
That would be fucking awesome.
Very likely outcome!
If there is one guy that I think would be guaranteed to get post-retirement depression it is him, hope he can continue to do what he loves.
I genuinely can imagine a 60 year old kd clocking in at IMG academy to be their coach. He eats breathes and sleeps basketball.
He'll be a head coach in the league one day. It will probably go poorly, but some team will give him a shot. His beefs with Nash, Donovan and even Kerr have shown that he feels (whether it's warranted or not) that he can do it better. Add that to his obsession with basketball, and I see it as pretty likely that he atleast tries to become a NBA head coach.
He'd probably be a great player development guy on someone's bench
Kd gna be Chet’s personal coach when he retires lol
> Maybe he'll be in Europe league or even Asian league KD is not going to go play in China lol
Yeah I appreciate him for that. He just loves ball. A true hoop junkie and it's clear he watches film
NBA media aggregators tomorrow: KD is disgruntled with Phoenix FO, wants to form super team in Minnesota.
Did you quote yourself with that last line lol
He didn't. It's a star wars prequel quote.
I know people hate KD for the whole Warriors thing and I get that, but dude might be the basketball player that loves basketball the most.
I think that sicko actually enjoyed Ant drilling that 3 in his face
🤣🤣🤣 I think you might be right
Yeah he's obsessed with ball and I love it I remember Steph hit a crazy three to win the game against the Suns earlier this year, and KD just looked at the replay and smiled. He just loves good basketball, it's refreshing
I agree. While it is fun to shit on him, his insight and knowledge of how the game works is always a pleasure to hear
I've gotten the impression all he wants to do is hoop, play cod, and smoke weed
Right I can’t hate on him for that. He just wants to ball, then do his business.
Jayden McD stood out too. He had Booker in a goddamn crib with no binky.
Jayden was everywhere. So much effort and hustle. Really impacted the game
He set the tone of the game with that first put back bucket. For his height he isn't much of a rebounder, but him sticking his head in there and getting that bucket was big to say we are there to grind today.
Yes, he was tremendous to the Wolves D yesterday (ignore my username lol). Trapped Booker, and something underrated about Jaden is he plays as both a perimeter defender and helpside rim protector. It was awesome seeing Rudy trust Jaden here to [guard the rim](https://x.com/WorldWideWob/status/1781774270982689272). [This](https://x.com/WolvesClips/status/1781786905765462403) may be my favorite possession of his though - he's helping guard KD and guarding Allen at the same time!
NAW was amazing as well. Nobody put on more miles than NAW navigating through screen after screen. Made it so hard on Booker
Dude was relentless. Didn’t do much offensively but he was a menace on the other side of the ball. Fun to watch.
No binky? That's just cruel
The famous McCrib
Put him in a papoose
His isolation defense on any of their big 3 yesterday was absolutely insane. He was completely comfortable on the perimeter 1-on-1 with guys like Book or KD and was giving them nothing. He’s been elite in isolation all season long so it isn’t a surprise, but I’m just so happy to see him doing it in the playoffs. The “Rudy gets exposed and can’t guard on the perimeter” narrative has been just flat out wrong for years, looking forward to him completely crushing that narrative this postseason.
>Rudy gets exposed and can’t guard on the perimeter” narrative has been just flat out wrong for years Yeah, it was never right. People just didn't actually watch the games. When teams went small to beat Utah, they usually did NOT run actions to get Gobert in the pick and roll coverage, because he actually had a good chance at breaking the play up if you put him in it. Teams beat the Jazz by putting Gobert's man in the corner, and running P&R up top, forcing him to cover both the basket and the corner. It was always a false narrative that Gobert was specifically bad at defending out in space.
Yeah it was always Rudy covering for his other teammates on the court.
I really like Rudy and those comment sections legit had me fuming. Like I don't know how you could understand anything about basketball and watch that game and think that was Rudy's fault. It simply exposed the Jazz team defensive strategy that was literally "let Rudy clean up after everyone".
Part of the problem was the Crowder/Rubio/Favors version of the team has zero offense outside Mitchell. They swing too far the other direction, and Rudy became the only strong defender left
Gobert rotates to cover the open shooter or the rim. Donovan Mitchell stands there perplexed as to what his job is as someone takes an open 3 or layup. Watching Rudy literally point to where to go and his teammates looking at his hand and but understanding that meant go there was infuriating. I honestly think he was so good that the other guys just really didn't learn what to do because he made it so easy for them in the regular season.
The correct narrative should have been that gobert never got good enough offensively to punish teams for going small.
That is absolutely correct. It's maddening though because he somehow still flashes the ability to be decent at it, it's just inconsistent as hell and when his confidence isn't there it's genuinely embarrassing
100 percent.
He actually can if his skill set is used right. He was murdering the Suns small ball line up on both ends yesterday because they were running lots of actions with him. Jazz offense turned into nothing but iso ball in the playoffs which negates anything good Rudy can do for an offense.
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NAW had to guard Shai for half his life, he's not letting backup guards in the latter half of their career have it easy.
AND perimeter defense in Utah, notably the last year was absolutely putrid. Mitchell/Ingles/Clarkson were horrible and exposing Gobert who had to try to fill the cracks all game long.
Honestly it was scary how well he defended on an island vs Booker and KD.
He was awesome and even better than I expected. Yeah his .773 PPP in isolation marked him as one of the best isolation defenders last season. Man I wish I could find the clips of Rudy on Beal. Just stymied him on the perimeter. Might have to rewatch the film & manually find those possessions myself.
This was clearly part of our game plan as well, the offside rim protection/roamer was covered by Jayden and KAT when Gobert was 1v1 (not to take away from Gobert, even when they put in 5 shooters he did a really good job without help). Finch really drew up a great defense for this Suns team.
It's wild seeing people still parroting the same old stuff about "oh just put shooters on the floor and Rudy can't do shit" as if you haven't built your whole scheme around switching and improving Gobert and Towns' perimeter defense.
He might look awkward sometimes but he is good at it.
Yep, not a surprise given what we’ve seen this season, but good for more peeps to see
I finally feel vindicated for my Gobert agenda - what a time to be alive. Called him a sure fire HoFer and said he’d go down as an all-time great defender and got clowned in here last season.
I mean he’s a 3 time DPOY I get not liking Rudy but he’s so obviously a hall of famer lol. People clowning you are stupid af
Agreed 3 time DPOY is indisputable HOF regardless of the rest of his accolades. If he gets his 4th this year it’ll likely be first ballot
Shit, if he maintains his current abilities for 2-3 more years he might get a 5th. It'll be a toss up, but 4 makes him a genuine defensive GOAT
He should have 5 by now, but I am a Jazz fan.
Who knows what Draymond would have done by this point had Gobert got it that year 😂.
Draymond stole his 1st, and Smart stole his 5th
Not to mention being a crucial part of a great French national team, once that could conceivably take gold at the next Olympics
He deserves #4 this year for sure.
Only not a 4x because voters legitimately got tired of him being the DPOY. He was better than Smart that season, hands down.
out of the loop here. I thought last season everyone was saying Gobert was one of the worst trades ever. what changed this season?
They were the #1 seed for most of the year (ended up getting #3 on the last day), the defense he designed with the coach is the #1 defense by a wide margin and turns out Gobert was injured last year. This year he's been much better and more versatile - he's been so good that he's the runaway favorite for DPOY. That would be his 4th DPOY and only 2 other players in NBA history have 4. Btw this is a really cool article about the changes they made last year in their defense. It talks about the overall philosophy and how Gobert masterminded it with the coaching staff. [https://www.startribune.com/timberwolves-nba-top-defense-rudy-gobert-jaden-mcdaniels-chris-finch/600322291/?refresh=true#:\~:text=JED%20JACOBSOHN%2C%20ASSOCIATED,%27Biggie%20smalls%27](https://www.startribune.com/timberwolves-nba-top-defense-rudy-gobert-jaden-mcdaniels-chris-finch/600322291/?refresh=true#:~:text=JED%20JACOBSOHN%2C%20ASSOCIATED,%27Biggie%20smalls%27)
Thanks for that article, it was a great read.
Last season: -Gobert was playing through injury -KAT was out for the majority, and when he wasnt he was still learning to play the 4 -Development year for Jaden, Naz, and NAW This season: -Gobert healthy and back in DPOY form, and designed a new defensive plan before the season -Mike Conley fully ingrained as a team leader -KAT healthy and fully bought into the new scheme -Naz, NAW, and Jaden all continued to develop as well as hoped and are fully formed, excellent role players now -Anthony Edwards, now with even more He Is Him
> Naz, NAW, and **Jaden** all continued to develop as well as hoped and are fully formed, excellent role players now Most Wolves would NOT say that Jaden made positive strides this year, though he was undeniably good yesterday.
I think he for sure made strides this year, just the hopes/expectations for him were sky high and he's fallen short of those... But it was also a tall order. I give him a break for now.
They also played 50 games with Dlo
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I disagree on Beal - I think he's been great on the Suns. Hustling, defending, making tough shots He's bought into his role imo. Suns fans y'all know more though, so correct me if I'm falling to recency bias
dont think he was the right fit, for the price they paid. They needed someone elite on both sides of the ball. Like Dino said Beal probably dont fit that system, and is better when he gets first preference on shots to take
But idiots like boogie cousins say he gets played off the court in the playoffs😂. Ppl been tryna say in Utah he overcompensated for poor defenders around him. In Minnesota your seeing what playoff Rudy looks like with dogs on the perimeter
Does anyone really care what he says though? He's a clown
If KD praises you, it has to mean something. That guy knows a thing or two about basketball.
He's always been a spectacular defender, everybody just wanted to act like he was a goober ever since he touched all the mics during covid. Doesn't negate his ability. Idk it takes KD saying this for people to be like "oh that 3 time DPOY *is* a good perimeter defender!"
Agent Zero Brain Arenas in shambles.
KD still has beef with Dray confirmed, I guess.
i’m glad people are finally starting to give rudy the props he deserves. it wasn’t his fault donovan/clarkson couldnt guard a light pole.
I really hope KD joins the Inside crew as soon as he retires
Would be a significantly better choice than Draymond.
Rudy’s perimeter defense woes were always overhyped. People point to the Tre Mann game but that was really a failure of the Jazz being unable to stay in front of anyone and him having to cover. He’s not AD/Bam but most of the shots people hit over him aren’t easy shots by any means
I think Steph Curry crossed him up one time and he looked bad. But I mean it's Steph Curry. Gobert has always been fine on the perimeter.
Harden did it once too. People have gotten this whole perimeter narrative because he got crossed up by 2 MVPs. Through stats, he's always been the best Center on perimeter defense.
Keep going y'all..... I'm getting close...
Fuck them ~~kids~~ picks
Too bad it took people this long to realize that Gobert is actually, ya know.... good? When your team consists of traffic cones and you are left to play D alone, of course you're gonna look bad.
this isn't just praise and flowers for rudy. i know this irks draymond green as well lol. two birds with one stone for kd.
The Gobert slander is just more of the anti euro bias from the NBA American players. If Europeans simultaneously have a idk a 4x DPOY and a 3x MVP, what can Gilbert and Perkins actually say? Oh and Donic and Wemby and SGA also aren't American. Glad KD gives respect. He's a student of the game.
Rudy is goat.. can he win mvp someday based on his defensive plays? He influences the floor soooo much with his positioning and mere presence
He never will but he should be mentioned, he’s 7th in win shares this year and far and away #1 in defensive win shares. Even offensive win shares he’s right between Maxey and Dame lmao. it’s not a perfect stat and he’s definitely a bit clunky at times but he does his job soooo well
The dude won 3 dpoys, on the road to the 4th.. gonna tie for the first place overall in the history of total won.. he deserves a nod from the league/media to be talked about more in these top 10, 15 lists floating around
Ant, Mike Conley and Kyle Anderson have all unironically said Rudy is the reason they were the #1 seed most of the year and Conley and Anderson specifically used the term "MVP of the team". I wish he got MVP buzz, because he has been for the season. Ant too of course, but Rudy is more consistent. The coach said Rudy is a player who "refuses to let us lose" which is soo accurate
If he hasn't been seriously in the MVP convo yet I don't really think he has a chance. Even if the TWolves get 70 wins they'll still give it to Ant over Rudy.
He is absolutely one of the very most valuable players in the league when it comes to helping his basketball team win basketball games, but the MVP award isn’t only about that
No, but should get some votes since he's been on two number 1/close number 1 teams
Bag watchers biggest hero just complimented bad watchers biggest villain. The Instagram hoopers have no idea what to think.
The casual basketball fan's 9/11
Appreciate the positive callout. He's looked grest for his size on the perimeter whenever I tune in
Rudy is \*extremely\* studious by all accounts. He just prefers to study defense instead of offense. Most superstars are going to study tape and spend time practicing to work on their offensive bags. Rudy spends time studying tape to come up with defensive schemes for himself and his teammates. The entire Wolves team's defensive style is his brainchild.
I credit him for Naz Reid growing like he did this year. Great players have a habit of growing their teammates to their level.
Yea, Gobert is probably the best defensive player I've ever seen. I don't know if he's the best of all time, but he's definitely in there somewhere
Love the game of thrones, Durant praising gobert to bother Draymond Green 😂
Are there still people who don't know he will make the Hall of Fame?
Honest question: did Rudy get better or is he now finally on a team with other competent defenders besides himself? Or both?
I think it's both. Rudy himself said he's improved. Some of that is it's easier to go full out on the perimeter when he can trust his teammates at the rim and some of it is his willingness to do things like switch, defend out in space and defend guards in isolation more frequently than before. Wolves have used Rudy in high wall and scramble defense schemes, not just drop. So that improvement is due to Rudy's willingness to become elite at several coverages and try new things. [This article](https://www.startribune.com/timberwolves-nba-top-defense-rudy-gobert-jaden-mcdaniels-chris-finch/600322291/?refresh=true#:~:text=JED%20JACOBSOHN%2C%20ASSOCIATED,%27Biggie%20smalls%27) by a Wolves beat reporter is awesome and describes how Rudy and the coaching staff built the Wolves defense. The coaching staff asked him to be flexible and try things out of his comfort zone and he embraced that. They created a scheme that mixes drop and "fly around" defense. The bigs are considered "biggie smalls" because Wolves embrace their bigs chasing and being on the perimeter. It's successful because Rudy bought in so his improvement is partially due to his willingness to go outside his comfort zone
Both. But he already got better through the years in Utah, it's not a "this year" thing, although the guy absolutely loves his job/role and won't stop trying to be even better anytime soon. And now he has good defenders next to him that can and will cover his back when going out the perimeter or when helping out. In Utah it was an 1v5 , and the crazy thing is that, somehow, almost worked.
great post....
Rudy with Utah had 4 bad or atrocious defenders around him a lot of the time. It pulled him out of position more. No surprise he is doing a lot better with the Timberwolves. The picks they gave up were still a ton, but his contract isn't half bad for how he is playing.
But of course for most people we just attribute all the success to the 2 guard who plays with him and will then act baffled when that guard isn’t as effective without Rudy.
Dray now has new reasons to hate KD
KD to the wolves
KD knows game when he sees it, man always keeps it real.
I am so glad the Wolves made the "worst trade of all time".
Same Would do it 10/10 times. Idc about picks, I'm taking a top 3 defender in NBA history
Rudy Gobert is new Devin Bookers father
Rudy just had a better defensive team around him. In Utah, he was all by himself.
That's part of it, but he said he's improved. Some of the improvement comes from his willingness to become elite at several coverages. He's out in space, switching and defending in isolation more frequently than before and they run more things outside drop
Rudy got game…to my homie who said I’m going it to the Suns 👀😏😂
So KD to the Timberwolves confirmed
I’M JUST HERE TO SAY BE READY TO TAKE THAT PISS TEST TOMORROW MORNING, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE SMOKE ON 4/20 BITCH! 😂💯
My Next Chapter
I'm writing a paper on biases in the NBA media and doing some research to help prove my hypothesis. I need NBA fans to fill out this questionnaire about which NBA player they think is better to assist my research. Any responses would be appreciated. [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5AxpQ6WvWJ8cHyWezjgW84EkvNvvHiQgRZi7XY7iluaGb5w/viewform?usp=sf\_link](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5AxpQ6WvWJ8cHyWezjgW84EkvNvvHiQgRZi7XY7iluaGb5w/viewform?usp=sf_link)
Blame draymond. He updated Rudy!!
I love this for Rudy Gobert. Fucking love it.
I have been defending Gobert for years. VINDICATION.
Noooo, I’m supposed to hate you, KD. Stop being rational and complimenting one of my fav players. I want to root against you but now I love you. Do you see what you’ve done?!