{"id":525688,"date":"2026-01-08T20:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/525688\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T20:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:44:12","slug":"rudy-goberts-undeniable-impact-continues-to-fuel-winning-for-the-wolves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/525688\/","title":{"rendered":"Rudy Gobert’s Undeniable Impact Continues to Fuel Winning for the Wolves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rudy Gobert<\/a> is one of basketball\u2019s most misunderstood players.<\/p>\n

The four-time Defensive Player of the Year doesn\u2019t have an aesthetically pleasing game. His 7\u20191\u201d frame, 7\u20199\u201d wingspan, and size 20 feet limit his movement. Although Gobert\u2019s on-court impact continues to pass the eye test, it is only further strengthened through advanced data.<\/p>\n

When Gobert has been on the court, his Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves teams have been entirely different.<\/p>\n

Even with Gobert\u2019s ON\/OFF dominance, there has been a consistent trend of in-season fluctuation since the Timberwolves acquired Gobert from Utah in the 2023 offseason. Gobert had expected growing pains as he adjusted to playing next to Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a>. However, Gobert\u2019s occasionally clunky play has continued long after the Wolves traded Towns to the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n

Playing at an elite level for an entire season is an impossible task for NBA players in today\u2019s era. Schedules are ultimately designed to create leaguewide exposure for teams and players rather than focus on player health. Back-to-backs and road trips continue to be the largest contributors to player inconsistencies and wear and tear.<\/p>\n

Rudy Gobert has likely been a victim of this landscape, and much of it stems from his play style. Gobert is fighting Father Time. The Wolves rely on them to single-handedly anchor their defense in his age-33 season. Therefore, he has some excuses for the fluctuation in his performance.<\/p>\n

Usually, at the beginning of the season, Gobert begins to look like a shell of his prior self. His defense is not as impactful, his offensive shortcomings are loud, and people question his future fit. However, like clockwork, Gobert has eventually found his stride and again proves to doubters that he is one of the league\u2019s most impactful players.<\/p>\n

Still, as the Timberwolves have begun to string together some of their most dominant, professional wins of the season, Gobert has found his elite form. He has once again proved that he is one of the NBA\u2019s best floor raisers. Gobert has always been an advanced analytics darling, and his ON\/OFF data has consistently proven how impactful he is as a rim protector.<\/p>\n

Year after year, Gobert\u2019s teams are statistically better per 100 possessions when he\u2019s on the court, and are worse when he\u2019s off it.<\/p>\n

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According to Basketball Reference, this season the Timberwolves are winning by 8.8 points per 100 possessions with Rudy Gobert on the court, and there is an 8.4-point difference when he is on the court compared to when he is off it. However, it is purely based on the difference in defensive rating (DRTG).<\/p>\n

Cleaning the Glass, which sorts out garbage time and blowouts, paints a better picture of Gobert\u2019s defensive dominance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

According to Cleaning the Glass, Gobert holds an ON\/OFF differential of 7.6 points per 100 possessions. The Timberwolves have a better offense when Gobert is off the floor, scoring 8.5 points per 100 possessions more than when he is on the court, which ranks Gobert in the 9th percentile.<\/p>\n

The key component is that Minnesota\u2019s defense allows 16.1 fewer points per 100 possessions when Gobert is on the court than when he is off. That mark ranks in the 100th percentile. Visualizing how Gobert single-handedly anchors the Timberwolves\u2019 top ten-ranked defense.<\/p>\n

The context of Gobert\u2019s defense is only exacerbated when the Timberwolves elect to play Naz Reid<\/a> and Julius Randle<\/a> in the frontcourt while Gobert sits.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the 664 minutes with Gobert-Randle lineups, Minnesota has a DRTG of 110. Similarly, in the 404 minutes with Gobert-Reid lineups, Minnesota has a DRTG of 101.3.<\/p>\n

The key is that the Timberwolves have a DRTG of 122.7 with Randle-Reid lineups when Gobert is on the bench.<\/p>\n

An argument can be made that much of the reason Gobert\u2019s ON\/OFF DRTG data is among the best in the league is the continued defensive struggles of Minnesota\u2019s Randle-Reid lineups.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the eye test of Gobert\u2019s impact paints a clearer picture of why his dominance is real.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The question that remains with Gobert is how far his defensive prowess pushes the Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

The trend with Gobert is that his offensive acumen cannot sustain when the Timberwolves have made it deep into the playoffs, and it has continued into this year\u2019s regular-season data. Gobert is too impactful to be considered a specialist, and while his offensive game is minimal, he still leads the league in FG% this season at 72%.<\/p>\n

However, when playoff defenses dial in their coverages away from Gobert and force others, like Anthony Edwards<\/a> and Julius Randle, to beat them through multiple defenders and increased pressure, it\u2019s not going to result in many series wins against elite opponents. Whenever the Wolves have taken Gobert off the floor, it has been because his offense has held him down.<\/p>\n

Part of the reason why the Rudy Gobert paradox is so strong is that his defense is truly elite. Not many players can find a way to pull their team down, despite being a lead driver of success in terms of winning. It\u2019s why Gobert is such a difficult player to understand. Even if critics grow to appreciate his impact, there is a hard-capped ceiling.<\/p>\n

In the grand scheme of winning a championship, Gobert\u2019s ultimate impact is hard to fully understand. Ultimately, Gobert deserves utmost respect for his impact on Minnesota\u2019s winning through his elite defensive prowess.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rudy Gobert is one of basketball\u2019s most misunderstood players. The four-time Defensive Player of the Year doesn\u2019t have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3782],"tags":[7,307,152,3954,6,373,308],"class_list":{"0":"post-525688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-timberwolves","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","11":"tag-minnesotatimberwolves","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-rudy-gobert","14":"tag-timberwolves"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115861432956296223","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}