On Jan. 5, 2018, Rudy Gobert made a prediction.
His team was struggling. Before the end of the month, the Utah Jazz would be nine games below .500, their playoff hopes in grave danger. Gobert was not worried.
“We will be fine,” the Jazz center wrote on Twitter.
Nearly one year later, Gobert is once again sending a message of positivity and hope. The Jazz are 18-19 and sitting in 11th place in the Western Conference as 2018 comes to a close. So, of course, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year isn’t worried.
“I’ve got that same vibe that I had last year at the end of the season,” he said.
There are some good reason’s for Gobert’s optimism:
• Strength of Schedule — The Jazz have had the toughest schedule in the NBA in 2018, according to ESPN. The team has already played 21 games on the road. But after a four-game road trip to start the new year, things start to look easier for the Jazz.
“The schedule was not the easiest,” Gobert admitted. “We had a lot of road trips. We lost some games we should have won. But we fought through it and we got better.”
• Defensive Identity — Gobert himself may have benefited from a change in league rules, allowing for more freedom of movement for offensive players. The rule change, however, forced every team to adjust on the defensive end of the court. The Jazz seem to have figured it out. Utah has moved back into the league’s top 5 in terms of defensive rating (105.0). The Jazz were the second best defensive team in December (100.5).
“You’ve got to be more focused,” Gobert said. “We learned how to still be physical but be disciplined.”
• All-Star Play — Gobert wants to lead by example, on both ends of the floor. Despite the Jazz’s struggles, he is having perhaps his best year in terms of statistics. Gobert is averaging a career-high 15 points through 37 games, to go along with 12.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks.
Is Gobert an All-Star?
“I know he is,” Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell said. “I don’t talk to him about it. I don’t want to get in his head. But if he’s not in the All-Star game, I don’t know what to say.”
“I think it’s about winning,” Gobert said when asked the same question. “I definitely think I’m one of the players that should be in the conversation. But it’s about the team and how you help your team win. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”
Gobert and his teammates know there is much work left.
“I don’t want to say we’re back to where we were last year,” Mitchell said. “I don’t want to say that at all. We’re taking it game by game. But I think we’re getting there.”
“We’re definitely in a better place,” Thabo Sefolosha added. “But we’re not exactly where we want to be. Still there are too many ups and downs. We need to find our identity and stick to it and be able to bring it every night.”
But Gobert feels confident his team’s season will be fine.
“I felt it a few weeks ago,” he said. “We felt like it was clicking. I kind of had the same feeling I had last year when we made that big run. I feel that same way, that same energy. I feel like everyone’s coming with a defensive mindset. When we do that we’re a good team.”
Can they find their footing? Can they be as good as they were in the second half of last season?
“Even better,” Gobert said.