Quietly, Rudy Gobert has become one of the most feared defensive players in the league.
The Utah Jazz center with an absurd wingspan of 7 feet 8 1/2 inches has been building up quite a resume for himself in just his second year in the NBA, leading all players in block percentage (8.2) and defensive box plus/minus. He is also third in total blocks (135) and trails Serge Ibaka by eight blocks despite playing more than 10 minutes less per game, third in blocks per game (2.3), and his individual defensive rating has gone up to eighth overall.
Can you say a monster in the making?
Since entering the starting lineup for good after the team traded Enes Kanter, Gobert has helped the Jazz to a 5-1 record and has averaged 10.6 points, 12.8 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 3.3 blocks in six games. The center was particularly impressive on Tuesday, outshining Marc Gasol in a matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies with 15 points and 24 rebounds.
So he should really be capturing the attention of most around the league, right?
Not quite, if you check out the following tweets:
“@ESPNNBA: The NBA Coast to Coast guys ranked their top 5 defensive players. RT if Chris Broussard got it right. pic.twitter.com/IQguQRAx8k”
— rudy gobert (@rudygobert15) March 4, 2015
“@ESPNNBA: RT if you agree with Bruce Bowen’s current top 5 defensive players. pic.twitter.com/YeuoSwgZce”another one
— rudy gobert (@rudygobert15) March 4, 2015
It’s never easy to pick out a list of “top 5” anything, really, but it’s truly difficult to leave out this man when it comes to discussing who is having one of the best defensive seasons to date (given all the statistics provided above). Again, he is only in his second year in the league, so what he could become in the future as he continues to learn about the NBA is absolutely terrifying. The Jazz have no where to go but up with Gobert controlling the paint area for them.
Jim Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.