Defensive Player of the Year: NBA 1st Half Awards

John Askins

Staff Writer

@Reverse_Jam

Reverse Jam's NBA 1st-Half DPOY

While the NBA has witnessed a historic offensive explosion through the first half of the season -- boasting numerous 50-point performances and Westbrook’s historic triple-double run -- the defensive side of the game has been dominated by one name: Rudy Gobert.  Heading into the 2016-2017 NBA season, league analysts were extremely optimistic of the Utah Jazz, placing them in the middle of the playoff picture for the Western Conference.  Halfway through the season, those predictions could not be more true: The Jazz are currently comfortable in the 5th seed, and when the core of their starting five is healthy, they are a strong and cohesive force on both ends of the ball that consistently show potential to be a contender in the coming years.

The man at the literal center of Utah’s squad of promising young talent is Rudy Gobert, the former 27th overall pick out of France who has become a defensive force in today’s offensively-dominated NBA.  The Stifle Tower is averaging a league-leading 2.6 blocks per game to go along with 12.6 rebounds and 12.8 points.  He is an extremely versatile defender that can also step out to the perimeter and guard stretch bigs effectively, an increasingly important skill with the league’s shoot-first mentality.  His real value, however, is in the paint.  Facing the Jazz with Rudy on the court essentially means the rim is off limits, as it is shadowed by his 7’1” 250lb frame.  Along with being huge, in 2013 he set a draft combine record with 7 feet and 8 ½ inch wingspan.  Take a moment and imagine trying to shoot over that.  The Mr. Fantastic arms allow him to change almost any shot that comes within the paint, and quite often send it back in the opposite direction  Gobert’s truly astounding physical attributes, along with high basketball IQ and a willingness to learn has turned him not only into a great defender, but an incredible NBA player.

The Jazz are the 4th-best defensive team in the league with Gobert on the court, a mighty feat considering there aren’t any premier lockdown defenders on the Jazz squad.  They are an average of +12 per 100 possessions with him anchoring the D, but have a net minus with him on the bench.

Gobert’s defensive prowess has improved exponentially since his entrance in the league.  The shotblocking numbers have always been there -- he averaged almost a block per game as a rookie in just 9.5 minutes -- but he has evolved from a raw, aggressive shotblocker into an all-around elite defender.  The numbers don’t do justice to how many shots he affects and people he rejects from rumbling to the rim, and his incredible interior defensive prowess has even worked to improve the Jazz’s defense as whole.  His teammates have so much confidence in his ability to deter shots inside that they can play more aggressively on-ball, preventing the opposing team from getting off too many 3-pointers.  The Jazz don’t possess a Kawhi Leonard or Andre Iguodala-type player that can lockdown the opposing team’s best perimeter threat, so it’s especially important that their players can take chances and play very aggressively on the ball to deny outside shots, knowing they have Gobert down low to wreak havoc if they get beat off the bounce.

Gobert got paid this past offseason after inking a 4yr/$102million extension with the Jazz, and it hasn’t made him complacent or content in the very slightest.  He remains hungry and prepared to whatever it takes to improve his game, and it really shows.  The improvement he’s made in just 4 short years in the NBA is truly incredible, and surely very few analysts and experts saw this coming.  Look for Gobert to continue to get better and better as he establishes himself in the upper echelon of NBA centers in the coming years.