Utah Jazz big man Rudy Gobert recently offered an explanation on why he believes his team has been in a funk as of late. According to the 7-foot-1 center, the league’s clamping down on freedom of movement rules has resulted in a negative impact on the type of defense the Jazz plays.
Gobert explains that this transition in the game has made it much more difficult for his team, and himself, in particular, to be the defensive anchor we have seen in recent years.
“As a big, you have to be almost perfect defending the rim without them calling fouls now. It’s a challenge,” Gobert said, via Paolo Uggetti of The Ringer. “We’re getting a lot of cheap fouls, and sometimes that’s going to throw us off, and then we start thinking and we lose our intensity.”
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year might be on to something here. Compared to how great they were last year, the Jazz has faltered this season all the way to the second-worst record in the Western Conference. With a 9-11 tally, only the 4-15 Phoenix Suns hold a worse record than the Jazz in the West.
Gobert went on to explain how this issue is affecting the defensive play of the Utah guards, and how this, in turn, influences his own defensive movements.
“I think it’s harder for my guards to be a little physical, especially fighting through screens,” he claimed. “The more my guard puts pressure on the ball, the easier it is for me to come and block a shot or make the play and get back to my man.”
The good news for Gobert and the Jazz is that it’s still very early in the season, and there is still a lot of time to make the necessary adjustments. The West is also extremely tight at the moment, with just 4.5 games separating the first-place Los Angeles Clippers and the 14th-placed Jazz. A timely win streak would surely propel Utah into relevance once again.
