The Stifle Tower has revolutionized Utah’s defense, and made it possible for Utah to deal Enes Kanter to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the trade deadline. Rudy Gobert is so domineering at the rim, Nerlens Noel got rejected in the normally defense-averse Rising Stars Challenge Game over All-Star weekend. But when the two tangoed in Philadelphia on Friday, they both picked up technicals late, and Gobert says Noel was “talking too much.”
The play in question happened with a little over a minute remaining in Utah’s 89-83 win in Philadelphia. Noel threw it down on Gobert, who took offense to Noel hanging on the rim and kicking his legs out at Gobert after he failed to thwart his dunk.
Rudy threw an arm at Noel as a timid form of retribution, and the refs, as they normally do in situations like this, assessed both technicals.
Gobert wasn’t too happy with himself, or Noel after the game, as he relayed to the Desert News;:
“He was talking too much, that’s why,” Gobert said when asked about the technical. “I just got mad and I shouldn’t react. I shouldn’t react.”
[…]
“I try to really control my emotions,” Gobert said, “because I don’t want to get a technical every game.”
The 22-year-old Frenchman was picked late (No. 27 overall versus Noel at No. 6) in the 2013 NBA Draft, and it took him until February to be freed of the shackles Kanter’s presence wrought. But, by then, he’d already introduced himself to Noel:
Gobert did admit later he had been jawing with Noel “a little bit,” on Friday because “that’s the only thing I can do.”
We disagree, but at least Gobert got one thing right:
“We won the game,” Gobert said, “so I’m not mad.”
So far this season, the Jazz defense when Gobert is on the floor ranks among the top seven in the league, and when he’s off the court, they’re in the bottom five. Per SportVu data, he’s holding players to the lowest field goal percentage at the rim (39 percent) in the whole Association (among players who average at least 20 minutes and have appeared in at least 50 games). The next closest are well-known rim protectors and perennial DPOY candidates: Serge Ibaka (40.7 percent) and Roy Hibbert (42.2).
Since Kanter was dealt on Feb. 19, the Jazz have given up only 89.7 points per 100 possessions, the best in the NBA. Last season, Utah ranked dead last in defensive efficiency. The biggest difference has been Gobert.
Jawing with Nerlens Noel isn’t the only thing Rudy can do.
(Desert News; H/T PBT; video via Dan Feldman)
