Rudy Gobert (Photo : Twitter)
Another vogue term in the NBA today is "rim protection" and having a big man who possesses that skill gives a clear advantage. That's what made DeAndre Jordan a prime target last summer.
Jordan was a defensive player of the year candidate as he used his athleticism to block or alter the shots of opposing teams. Jordan made up for the much-maligned defense of Blake Griffin and the rest of the Clippers, which is why the team's chances would have plummeted if he had left.
The best centers in the West are Defensive Players first except for DeMarcus Cousins. Marc Gasol and Dwight Howard are both Defensive Player of the Year awardees and DeAndre is on their heels. But not too far from the pecking order is a young, emerging name: Rudy Gobert.
In last year's DPOY race, the Utah Jazz sophomore center placed 5th behind Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Jordan and Anthony Davis.
Since they were the two young centers in that list, it was inevitable to compare DeAndre Jordan with Rudy Gobert. Clearly, with more experience, Jordan is the better player now. But with Gobert's high progress rate, some experts predict he can be better than DeAndre as early as this coming season.
A head-to-head between the two was conducted by Today's Fastbreak, and they tackled four categories. Rudy Gobert bested Jordan in two categories: Defense and Rim Protection and Offense. DeAndre Jordan was better in Finishing and Rebounding.
While each had two categories, Gobert is better in the more important categories. Also, Jordan benefits from having two Top 10 teammates in CP3 and Blake Griffin.
It was a very close match but they had to make a verdict:
"What it comes down to is the degree to which each won his category," they explain. "On defense, it's really not close. Gobert was a significantly better defender last season and figures to improve over the course of 2015-16."
"On that point, and with everything else essentially falling within the margin of error, Gobert is the winner."
Gobert is bound for a breakthrough year as he will now be the starting center. Last season, he was still a back-up for Enes Kanter, who has been traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Another factor is their free throw percentage. "The Stifle Tower" is not really lighting it up at 62.3 % but DJ's paltry 39.7% makes him a liability especially in the end game. The Clippers have actually lost games through the "Hack a DJ" strategy. That's not too much of a problem with Gobert.
