After another frustrating loss, this one to the Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert voiced what many players in the locker room might be thinking.
It was smooth sailing for the Jazz for most of the season, but they now find themselves in a stretch where they have won only three times in their last eight games. While nobody expected the Jazz to avoid the choppy waters all season, this current skid has players like Gobert a tad more frustrated than what may have been anticipated.
The Jazz big man didn't hold back after the loss to the Wizards:
Gobert – "We have to realize we haven't accomplished s***. We get upset when people laugh at us on TV and disrespect us but it's on us to have respect for ourselves and understand that we're not the not the champions. We are not a team that can just cruise."
— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) March 19, 2021
Maybe this will fire up the Jazz? The only way for them to go out and flip things back to the good vibes they had earlier in the season is to just go out an execute better and back up the words with the play on the floor. It's fine for Gobert to say this, and each team and player finds motivation through different channels. It's possible the Jazz as a unit feed off of what Gobert says. While anything can be said by any of these dudes on Utah, it won't matter unless they get control back on the court.
If you want to view this through a better lens for Utah, zoom out the microscope and consider this: Even with this recent go at it where the Jazz have lost five of eight, they still sit at 29-11 overall and are 1.5 games clear of the next best team in the West, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Gobert's comments might be the shot in the arm and the reality check Quin Snyder's team needs.