Rudy in the playoffs

[Sundog]

Just saw this posted on X:

“According to Cleaning The Glass (no garbage time), in the playoffs:
• OffRtg w/ Rudy ON: 121.1
• OffRtg w/ Rudy OFF: 107.1

Why is that the case despite the awkwardness and below-average touch around the rim?

It's the screening.

Gobert is one of the best at creating space and time for his teammates to get free for buckets. Which is why him being on the floor is key for the Wolves' offense to function.”

[Q-is-here]

It's the screening and the fact he seems to draw a lot of fouls, which means he gets to the line, but so do his team mates if the Wolves get in the penalty early.

He is the poster child of the eye test not telling the whole story of his value.

[Sundog]

And this:

“Biggest on/off swings among bigs in the playoffs this season (minimum 200 minutes played)

Joel Embiid: +46.6
Rudy Gobert: +25.9
Dereck Lively: +20.3
Chet Holmgren: +18.2
Al Horford: +16.8”

[Sundog]

Agree, Q… he looks so freaking awkward way too often!

[Q-is-here]

Agree, Q… he looks so freaking awkward way too often!

Indeed, and he literally gets in the way of Ant on his drives sometimes. It's nuts, but the stats don't lie. He is a net positive and by a good margin.

By the way, Boston is going to have an advantage over the Wolves or Mavs. They can play five out, which drags Gafford/Lively or Gobert out of the paint since Horford and Porzingas can both make the 3 along with everyone else on their roster. There is no Josh Giddey or Aaron Gordon on Boston.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Yep, yep, and yep. And I think there may also be some help to having him for offensive rebounds.

The crazy thing is, watching the Mavs get so many dunks makes me realize that despite his terrible hands, we should be able to get more lob dunks out of Rudy, but the connection just isn't there. There are multiple times in these games where he is down low without a defender between him and the basket, and well-timed soft lob would very likely lead to a dunk. Instead, guys seem to pass it to him in sub-optimal situations a bit too much--when he's moving to the basket and would need to dribble (or at least sidestep a defender), or when his back is to the basket and he's got a big defending him, or when he's got his back to the basket with a small on his back but there's a second defender in the paint who will collapse onto him. The Mavs don't really give Gafford and Lively the ball in those situations, and that makes sense because they're pretty similar to Rudy. It's like it's easier for those big guys to just catch the ball in the air and dunk it on the way down than it is for them to catch it and generate some kind of a shot, even if they don't have to dribble. Maybe because it's easier to jump without a ball than to jump with one? If the ball is thrown in the right place, softly and not too fast, it seems pretty easy to just jump, catch, and your hands are almost automatically coming down with the ball for a dunk. We should be able to get more of that from Rudy.

[Q-is-here]

Yep, yep, and yep. And I think there may also be some help to having him for offensive rebounds.

The crazy thing is, watching the Mavs get so many dunks makes me realize that despite his terrible hands, we should be able to get more lob dunks out of Rudy, but the connection just isn't there. There are multiple times in these games where he is down low without a defender between him and the basket, and well-timed soft lob would very likely lead to a dunk. Instead, guys seem to pass it to him in sub-optimal situations a bit too much--when he's moving to the basket and would need to dribble (or at least sidestep a defender), or when his back is to the basket and he's got a big defending him, or when he's got his back to the basket with a small on his back but there's a second defender in the paint who will collapse onto him. The Mavs don't really give Gafford and Lively the ball in those situations, and that makes sense because they're pretty similar to Rudy. It's like it's easier for those big guys to just catch the ball in the air and dunk it on the way down than it is for them to catch it and generate some kind of a shot, even if they don't have to dribble. Maybe because it's easier to jump without a ball than to jump with one? If the ball is thrown in the right place, softly and not too fast, it seems pretty easy to just jump, catch, and your hands are almost automatically coming down with the ball for a dunk. We should be able to get more of that from Rudy.

Unfortunately, our best player isn't good at throwing lobs. Conley along with SloMo and KAT to a lesser degree can do it, but I could probably count on my two hands the number of times Ant has thrown Rudy a lob over the course of two seasons.

It's hard to swallow the fact that Conley and Rudy made up 2/5ths of the starting 5 of the NBA's best offense a couple years ago in Utah. Yet despite those two plus Ant plus KAT, we could do no better than the #17 offense during the regular season. I don't know if it's coaching or just poor synergy amongst the individual parts, but we just aren't a good offensive team.

[Wolvesfan21]

Yep, yep, and yep. And I think there may also be some help to having him for offensive rebounds.

The crazy thing is, watching the Mavs get so many dunks makes me realize that despite his terrible hands, we should be able to get more lob dunks out of Rudy, but the connection just isn't there. There are multiple times in these games where he is down low without a defender between him and the basket, and well-timed soft lob would very likely lead to a dunk. Instead, guys seem to pass it to him in sub-optimal situations a bit too much--when he's moving to the basket and would need to dribble (or at least sidestep a defender), or when his back is to the basket and he's got a big defending him, or when he's got his back to the basket with a small on his back but there's a second defender in the paint who will collapse onto him. The Mavs don't really give Gafford and Lively the ball in those situations, and that makes sense because they're pretty similar to Rudy. It's like it's easier for those big guys to just catch the ball in the air and dunk it on the way down than it is for them to catch it and generate some kind of a shot, even if they don't have to dribble. Maybe because it's easier to jump without a ball than to jump with one? If the ball is thrown in the right place, softly and not too fast, it seems pretty easy to just jump, catch, and your hands are almost automatically coming down with the ball for a dunk. We should be able to get more of that from Rudy.

I agree just float it up high by the rim, let him go get it. Even Conley doesn't seem to have the right chemistry. I would think since they don't attempt it it doesn't seem to work well in practice. Kyrie and Doncic make it look easy, but maybe it's not.

Also agree about the offensive rebounding. He is excellent at rebounding. It's all the non flashy things he does well. Not every guy can rebound and screen at an elite level. It matters.

[Wolvesfan21]

Yep, yep, and yep. And I think there may also be some help to having him for offensive rebounds.

The crazy thing is, watching the Mavs get so many dunks makes me realize that despite his terrible hands, we should be able to get more lob dunks out of Rudy, but the connection just isn't there. There are multiple times in these games where he is down low without a defender between him and the basket, and well-timed soft lob would very likely lead to a dunk. Instead, guys seem to pass it to him in sub-optimal situations a bit too much--when he's moving to the basket and would need to dribble (or at least sidestep a defender), or when his back is to the basket and he's got a big defending him, or when he's got his back to the basket with a small on his back but there's a second defender in the paint who will collapse onto him. The Mavs don't really give Gafford and Lively the ball in those situations, and that makes sense because they're pretty similar to Rudy. It's like it's easier for those big guys to just catch the ball in the air and dunk it on the way down than it is for them to catch it and generate some kind of a shot, even if they don't have to dribble. Maybe because it's easier to jump without a ball than to jump with one? If the ball is thrown in the right place, softly and not too fast, it seems pretty easy to just jump, catch, and your hands are almost automatically coming down with the ball for a dunk. We should be able to get more of that from Rudy.

Unfortunately, our best player isn't good at throwing lobs. Conley along with SloMo and KAT to a lesser degree can do it, but I could probably count on my two hands the number of times Ant has thrown Rudy a lob over the course of two seasons.

It's hard to swallow the fact that Conley and Rudy made up 2/5ths of the starting 5 of the NBA's best offense a couple years ago in Utah. Yet despite those two plus Ant plus KAT, we could do no better than the #17 offense during the regular season. I don't know if it's coaching or just poor synergy amongst the individual parts, but we just aren't a good offensive team.

I think the lob dunk is easy points if the guys could do it. They just don't or can't. I think that is part of it for sure which I thought would be unlocked with more time. I would have bet money they would be top 10 this year considering everything you pointed out. Though just maybe if Slo Mo and Jaden were both hitting 3's like last year we could have been right around 10th-ish. Jaden is coming around in the playoffs now so that is helping though for sure with our playoff run.

[FNG]

The other way Rudy helps the offense is by keeping possessions going by offensive rebounds or tap outs. He’s one of the best I’ve seen in tapping a rebound he can’t corral to a teammate. More often than not, it seems those possessions result in points. So Rudy helps our offense through dunks, free throws, incredible screens and seals, and keeping possessions alive.