If one happens to ask who Utah Jazz rising star center Rudy Gobert would vote for as the 2018 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, his answer comes without hesitation: he would pick himself.
“To me, there's no question right now,” Gobert said, per Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News. “Like I said, my goal is to make my teammates better defensively and to make my team better but yeah there’s no question.”
Gobert and the Jazz continue to win on a consistent basis over the last two months, going from nine games under .500 back on Jan. 22 to nine games above .500 heading into tonight's contest at home against the Sacramento Kings.
Despite being limited to only 43 starts this season because of multiple knee injuries, Gobert has helped lead the Jazz as the NBA's second-best scoring defense at only 99.9 points allowed per game.
“The team had to go through this kind of slump and when I came back the second time I felt I was better,” Gobert said. “I felt like it made everyone better. Everyone got better by going through this moment.”
During the month of March alone, the Stifle Tower is currently averaging 19.0 points on 66.7 percent shooting from the field, 13.8 rebounds, 2.3 blocked shots, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game in roughly 35.9 minutes of action per contest.
“I think I’m way quicker on my feet, also my decision making is better so definitely you can see that,” Gobert said.
Most importantly, Utah is 8-0 so far in March and will look for their ninth consecutive victory tonight at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
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