Tracy McGrady did not back when letting out his frustration in today’s generation of NBA big men, who could not find a way to dominate smaller defenders at the post. During an episode of ESPN’s The Jump, the former NBA scoring champion singled out Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert for not having the skill or the aggressiveness to take advantages of mismatches on the block during post-up and pick-and-roll plays.
So this was supposed to be a segment on the future of the Utah Jazz but then Tracy McGrady and Scottie Pippen started going at it about big men…and oh boy…you see what happened 😂 #TheJump pic.twitter.com/0QTkFM7ZsS
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 9, 2018
Rudy Gobert may find this diatribe from Tracy McGrady a little bit harsh, especially since his Jazz are not that far removed from getting eliminated in the playoffs thanks to a five-game whipping at the hands of the Houston Rockets, but it’s also hard to argue against T-Mac’s point.
While McGrady acknowledges Scottie Pippen’s point that Gobert has never been a go-to player at the post, he made it clear that it annoys him to see the Jazz’s big man fail to exploit spontaneous opportunities near the rim when he’s got a smaller player guarding him.
The game of basketball has changed a lot since the days of McGrady and Pippen, so it’s also understandable their gripe about today’s big men.
One thing McGrady can’t criticize Gobert about is on defense. Gobert is one of the best defensive bigs in the league, finishing the regular season with 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks to go with 13.5 points per game.
Gobert is only 25 and this offseason should give him enough time to polish his offense at the post, as McGrady clearly hopes he does.
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