Full article here: https://theathletic.com/4032433/2022/12/27/nba-timberwolves-rudy-gobert/
Jon Krawczynski puts forth scalding criticisms of Rudy Gobert, his play this season, Minnesota's decision to trade for him, and the Wolves overall as a team.
Key points of note:
Thirty-four games into their first season with Gobert, the Timberwolves are faced with a much more concerning possibility that goes far deeper than questions about his fit with the current roster. After watching Gobert get outplayed by a rookie center on a two-way contract in a loss to the severely short-handed Miami Heat on Monday night, the Timberwolves have to ask themselves if the Gobert they got in the trade with the Jazz is a shadow of the player who was such a force in Utah for so many years, or just one that needs a little more time to find his way.
Last season Gobert averaged 15.6 points, a league-leading 14.7 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and shot a league-leading 71.3 percent from the field to make his third straight All-Star game. His numbers so far this season are down sharply across the board — 14.0 points, 12.3 rebounds, 66.2 field goal percentage and, most troubling of all, just 1.2 blocks per game, his lowest number since he played sparingly as a rookie in 2013-14. It just isn’t the same guy yet.
The drop-off was startling against the Heat in Miami, where stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo did not play because of injuries. Backup center Dewayne Dedmon was out as well, leaving Erik Spoelstra to start 6-foot-10 rookie Nikola Jovic at center. Max Strus and Caleb Martin, a pair of 6-5 forwards, flanked Jovic in the starting lineup, a trio so small that Gobert should have eaten them alive. ... Instead, Gobert managed just 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting with eight rebounds and zero blocked shots in 31 minutes. The only reason he did not play more was that Finch went with Naz Reid for the bulk of the final five minutes.
The lackluster performance from Gobert led Finch to go with Reid down the stretch. Reid’s defense is not on Gobert’s level, but the Wolves run cleaner offense with him on the floor. Reid finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds in just under 30 minutes. ... The Wolves were plus-13 in Reid’s minutes and outscored by 14 with Gobert on the floor.
No one expects him to be a 30-point scorer, but Gobert was so much bigger than anyone the Heat could throw at him on Monday night. He needs to make them pay for playing as small as they did, but he and the Timberwolves couldn’t take advantage. Part of that is on his teammates. Russell and Anthony Edwards seem to have trouble finding him in the halfcourt against smaller defenders, and the team turned the ball over 22 times on Monday night to short-circuit so many of their possessions practically before they even started.
But Gobert’s struggles with catching passes from his teammates in traffic, securing rebounds that are contested and blocking shots to intimidate opponents have made it difficult for him to inspire faith from his teammates. The ball moves better on offense and the defense is more active, though not as effective, when Gobert is off the floor. The Timberwolves simply cannot afford for that to be the case.
It wasn’t just on the boards where Gobert was a step slow. Coming off a game in Boston where the Celtics pulled him away from the basket to render him ineffective, the smaller Heat just decided to go right at him, unafraid of a man with the reputation as one of the game’s great shot blockers.
It is not time to panic, especially with Towns out. But Gobert’s numbers in aggregate and his inability to impose his will in Miami are the kind of startling snapshots that made his acquisition, and the price the Wolves paid for it, such a questioned move from the moment it was made. So far, all of those doubters have been right. ... There are so many people across the league, and increasingly in the Timberwolves’ pain-stricken fan base, who believe the move was destined to fail.
And to end things:
Yes, they were playing without Towns (calf), Kyle Anderson (non-COVID illness), Taurean Prince (shoulder) and Jordan McLaughlin (calf), four of their top nine players. All four bring attributes to the table that are sorely needed, from Anderson’s playmaking to Prince’s shooting to McLaughlin’s ability to run an offense. And there isn’t enough time to chuckle at the absurd suggestion that frequently popped up after he went down in Washington that this team would be better without Towns on the floor. But this is a roster that was supposed to be able to withstand an injury or two. They still had Edwards, Russell and Gobert in the starting lineup, a former No. 1 overall pick putting things together in his third season, a $30 million point guard and a $38 million center. That should have been more than enough to beat an aging Lowry, an erratic Herro and Max Strus.
Instead, it was a 22-year-old undrafted rookie from Fresno State who had the greater impact on Monday night in Miami. Gobert is on the books for four years and $169 million. If the Wolves cannot find a way to consistently unlock a version of him that is much closer to the force he was in Utah, one of the most heavily debated deals of the summer will be no debate at all.
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