With just six weeks left in the regular season, here are 10 more things I like and dislike from across the NBA. This week we highlight ongoing (and mystifying!) Rudy Gobert disrespect, an underrated Celtic and one young guard, Nashing it.
1. Respect Rudy Gobert
Has there ever been a star -- a likely future Hall of Famer -- who draws more unprompted disrespect from peers than Gobert? The NBA may as well name the final spot in the All-Star draft the Rudy Gobert Memorial Last Pick.
A good chunk of this is Gobert having not shown much ball skill. You can't throw it to him and ask him to create an artful shot. He's tall, and awkward, and his rare post-up chances often end in flailing line-drive hooks. He doesn't shoot jumpers, or facilitate much from the elbows. There's a reason the Utah Jazz Propaganda Machine pushed the "screen assist" stat: They need some way to quantify Gobert's (very real) impact on offense. (He is also an elite offensive rebounder, with soft touch on tips and lob redirects.)
Those shortcomings are real, no matter how loudly Jazz Nation shouts "SCREEN ASSISTS!" to drown out debate. They are magnified in the postseason, when elite defenses chip away at Utah's pick-and-roll brilliance. You need more scoring tools, and "toss the ball to your Hall of Fame center" is not in Utah's toolbox. Gobert's usage rate and free throw attempts have typically dropped a tick in the postseason.
But Gobert is freaking awesome. He is a one-man defense -- the best rim-protector in modern history. It's selling Gobert short to call him a "rim" protector. That label implies shot-blocking, and Gobert's impact goes well beyond blocked shots -- even beyond spooking players from shooting in the first place.
Gobert is a paint protector. When he spreads his arms, he obliterates space in every direction. He takes away shots and interior passes at the same time. When panicked ball handlers scan for kickout options, they find them blanketed; Utah's perimeter defenders stay home, knowing Gobert can patrol the inside by himself.
Very tall people -- Gobert included -- just look stilted moving at high speeds. That has created the perception that Gobert is not comfortable defending on the perimeter. Four years ago, that might have been true. He improves every year, and has been one of the league's best one-on-one defenders for two or three seasons now. How many giants could do this -- over and over -- to Luka Doncic?
Gobert is most at home in the paint. Teams with elite midrange shooters -- i.e., Chris Paul -- have exploited that in the past. But Utah wants Gobert in the paint. It leans on the math -- just as the Bucks do with Brook Lopez -- and the math says Gobert should stick to the scheme until it becomes untenable. When and if the situation reaches such a point, he'll venture out -- and be fine. Gobert is never the reason Utah's defense fails.
Utah is on a 9-1 run, and surprise, surprise, it righted its season as soon as Gobert and Donovan Mitchell returned from injury. The Jazz have mauled opponents by 11 points per possessions with their two stars on the floor.
I'd put Utah's chances of reaching the Finals below those of the healthy Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors -- and maybe the Memphis Grizzlies -- but don't write them off.
2. What is Christian Wood?
Wood leaves you with a different impression every time you watch him. On some nights, he's a force on offense -- raining soft 3s, and slithering past slower defenders. When he's engaged on defense, he can be a deterrent at the rim with some switchability.
Two nights later, he floats to a listless 15 and 7. As an (almost) full-time center this season, he has developed a case of Porzingis Syndrome: Teams neutralize his pick-and-pop game by sticking speedier forwards on him, and have their centers defend Jae'Sean Tate (which means ignoring Tate, and chilling in the lane.) Defenses also switch more Wood picks.
Around late November and early December, Wood played some of the best defense of his career -- rotating to the rim on time, sliding in a stance against guards. Lately, there has been more of this: