The importance of Rudy

[FNG]

There are two things we mostly agree on here with respect to Rudy:

1) He is still an elite defender, and our defense really suffers when he is on the bench.
2) He is a terrible shooter and has hands of stone...it can be painful at times to watch him on offense.

But I also think we mostly agree that while losing Ant, Ju or Jaden to injury would be quite challenging, we would really flounder if Rudy went down with an injury.

Q posted in the GDT last night that it was good that Mike was looking to feed Rudy, because he was being ignored by Ju and Ant. And I have been keeping track of how we fare when Rudy gets 7 or more shot attempts compared to when he doesn't. He got 8 attempts against Dallas, and we are now 5-1 when he gets at least 7 shots, and 4-4 when he doesn't. Two early to conclude, but the eye test tells me he is more active on defense (and more willing to set elite screens on offense) when his teammates try to get him involved.

[Coolbreeze44]

Replace him with any good defensive center and we would hardly miss a beat.

[FNG]

Replace him with any good defensive center and we would hardly miss a beat.

You might be right if we were to replace him with a great defensive center, or a good defensive center who also was a positive on offense. But I don't know that for sure...I only know how we play when he's not on the court. You gotta dance with the one who brung you, and right now there are no other options at center to dance with.

[D-Loser25]

Rudy is not an elite defensive center in 2025. Of course his on/off numbers are gonna be insane…. He’s our only actual center. When your comparison is Naz, you’d damn well better look good.

[FNG]

Rudy is not an elite defensive center in 2025. Of course his on/off numbers are gonna be insane…. He’s our only actual center. When your comparison is Naz, you’d damn well better look good.

D Loser, I get that there is a big difference between Rudy and Naz, but I'm interested in the metrics you follow to conclude he is not an elite defensive center this year. I'm not as detailed a stat guy as kekgeek, but he has shared some rim protection data that would lead anyone to conclude he is still an elite defensive center.

[Wolvesfan21]

Replace him with any good defensive center and we would hardly miss a beat.

You don't realize what you're watching, just to be honest or you could be trolling I suppose since you are kind of the only one on this "Rudy sucks" brigade. He's the Steph Curry of defense. Can GSW just replace Curry with anyone who can shoot 40%? No of course not. It's how he plays that makes the difference.

Curry can get shots off quicker and deeper then anyone we've ever seen. Not just "shoot". Of course he can drive and score from inside a bit too. But you really need to pay attention to the details. How he comes off screens, etc...

Likewise Rudy doesn't even need to block a shot, he just has to be on the floor and players turn around from the paint and go the other way. No stats really to measure, you just have to watch. No other defensive centers can't do it as well besides probably Wemby now.

I like what Connelly has done because defense is underpaid in the NBA compared to offensive superstars. Rudy is a superstar and it's not debatable.

[Wolvesfan21]

Rudy is not an elite defensive center in 2025. Of course his on/off numbers are gonna be insane…. He’s our only actual center. When your comparison is Naz, you’d damn well better look good.

Maybe it should be the other way, Naz can completely dominate on offense and should and against backups! He has the matchup advantage that dictates he should cook on most nights. Why not make up for his subpar defense with elite offense?

You have to realize that saying Rudy isn't good means Naz is super trash. Thats not true.

[rapsuperstar31]

Replace him with any good defensive center and we would hardly miss a beat.

Which ones? Lively, always hurt, Gafford always hurt, AD, always hurt. Kessler, yes he's sure helped Utah win.

[AussieWolf3]

Great topic FNG

I would encourage us all to not let it devolve in a discussion about whether Rudy is or is not an elite defender. Let's work from the premise that FNGs two points are correct, and if they are what does that imply about the team's overall trajectory this season?

Because while I agree that Rudy is an elite or near elite defender, and the void of any replicable backup on the roster makes him extremely valuable to the team- I would like to interrogate what it is that makes him good on defense and why those strengths consistently present problems against good teams even going back to last year.

I'm not smart enough to have good answers to this questions myself, but I do have some observations.

1) Rudy is a really smart defender and that plus his size and instincts make it very tough for even good offenses to score on the wolves when he's on his game.

2) Rudy is no longer as reliable to always be on his game. Two years ago he just didn't have a bad games. Lately that's isn't the case. He still moves well for someone at his size and age, but that quarter step he's lost is evident.

3) while he's an exceptional team defender and rim protector, and even still a good isolation defender when he gets switched out on the perimeter- he can get eaten by high level centers. This is a bewildering reality to me, but Rudy just isn't that good one on one against skilled bigs.

4) I just want to restate this because I think it's a very big problem- his efficacy nose dives against really good teams.

I like Rudy and admire that he has taken on unconventional path to being a really good NBA player, and I actually have a soft spot for him cause I was also a clumsy player who's strengths were undervalued on the teams I played on. That said, I do not think this team can win a championship or even get to the finals if he's their starting center. This is a problem they need to address either this year if they believe they have a real shot this year or next, but I can't get it out of my head how he was mostly bad during the playoffs last year.

This won't happen, and it might even be a bad idea but I really wonder if the team wouldn't be better if he came off the bench with Conley and Jaden was the nominal center in a five out offense. Either Naz or Jaylen would replace him the starting lineup, but this won't happen

[Q-is-here]

Great topic FNG

I would encourage us all to not let it devolve in a discussion about whether Rudy is or is not an elite defender. Let's work from the premise that FNGs two points are correct, and if they are what does that imply about the team's overall trajectory this season?

Because while I agree that Rudy is an elite or near elite defender, and the void of any replicable backup on the roster makes him extremely valuable to the team- I would like to interrogate what it is that makes him good on defense and why those strengths consistently present problems against good teams even going back to last year.

I'm not smart enough to have good answers to this questions myself, but I do have some observations.

1) Rudy is a really smart defender and that plus his size and instincts make it very tough for even good offenses to score on the wolves when he's on his game.

2) Rudy is no longer as reliable to always be on his game. Two years ago he just didn't have a bad games. Lately that's isn't the case. He still moves well for someone at his size and age, but that quarter step he's lost is evident.

3) while he's an exceptional team defender and rim protector, and even still a good isolation defender when he gets switched out on the perimeter- he can get eaten by high level centers. This is a bewildering reality to me, but Rudy just isn't that good one on one against skilled bigs.

4) I just want to restate this because I think it's a very big problem- his efficacy nose dives against really good teams.

I like Rudy and admire that he has taken on unconventional path to being a really good NBA player, and I actually have a soft spot for him cause I was also a clumsy player who's strengths were undervalued on the teams I played on. That said, I do not think this team can win a championship or even get to the finals if he's their starting center. This is a problem they need to address either this year if they believe they have a real shot this year or next, but I can't get it out of my head how he was mostly bad during the playoffs last year.

This won't happen, and it might even be a bad idea but I really wonder if the team wouldn't be better if he came off the bench with Conley and Jaden was the nominal center in a five out offense. Either Naz or Jaylen would replace him the starting lineup, but this won't happen

Good analysis Aussie.

On #1, I agree.

On #2, keep in mind he's no longer paid like the perennial DPOY he was in Utah and first couple years in Minnesota (as a % of the overall salary cap).

On #3, he's always struggled at times with certain one-on-one matchups. He's not an individual "stopper" per se, but just an elite team defender that helps cover for others.

On #4, yes, he has to do better against better teams. That has been more of an issue this season so far.

On not winning a title or getting to the Finals with Rudy as the starting Center, I think that's true so long as we are so dependent on him to play competent team defense. But that's not a Rudy problem, that's a Connelly/Finch problem!

Fix the non-Rudy defense so Finch has more options versus having to "survive" those minutes and always being forced to get Rudy back in the game!