A few days ago, Anthony Edwards blurted out: “There would be two things: screen delays and the start of matches. The major five. We are terrible. Every game. We arrive on the pitch without energy and it is the substitutes who come in and give us energy. The starters must enter the field with energy. They have to come in like they want to play basketball, like they love basketball. And we have to go for the rebound. On offense, we have to throw ourselves into it, and on defense, we have to control our players.”
And it's true that the Wolves have lost their rebounding splendor this season. While they recovered 58.4% of missed shots last season, placing themselves in 6th place in the league, this percentage dropped to 55.2% for the current season, which makes Minnesota the 22nd team in the field…
A fall partly linked to the drop in efficiency of Rudy Gobert in the area. The Frenchman no longer captures “only” 11.1 rebounds per game this season, his worst average since his second season in the Great League.
Rudy Gobert's worst rebounding season
If we weight in relation to playing time, it is even his worst career season in rebounding, with only 15.3 rebounds per 100 possessions, compared to 22.6 in his best campaign, in 2021/22 in Utah!
“I have to do better. Stop overthinking » replies the Frenchmanwhile his coach publicly asked him to move. “I just have to throw myself into it. Sometimes I think too much, and it takes me out of things. I get distracted, with people telling me what I should do on the rebound. I need to trust my instincts again. »
Even if the tricolor pivot explains that the current style in the NBA tends to modify the usual trajectories.
“We are distracted and sometimes a little late, even though they are important to us. The teams shoot a lot of 3-pointers, and that results in long rebounds. This is a subject of improvement for us, because we have to recover them. It's an important part of our defense, and if we improve it, it will also improve our defense. »
| Rudy Gobert | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2013-14 | UTH | 45 | 10 | 48.6 | 0.0 | 49.2 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 2.3 |
| 2014-15 | UTH | 82 | 26 | 60.4 | 0.0 | 62.3 | 3.2 | 6.2 | 9.5 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 8.4 |
| 2015-16 | UTH | 61 | 32 | 55.9 | 0.0 | 56.9 | 3.4 | 7.5 | 11.0 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 9.1 |
| 2016-17 | UTH | 81 | 34 | 66.1 | 0.0 | 65.3 | 3.9 | 8.9 | 12.8 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 14.0 |
| 2017-18 | UTH | 56 | 32 | 62.2 | 0.0 | 68.2 | 2.9 | 7.8 | 10.7 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 13.5 |
| 2018-19 | UTH | 81 | 32 | 66.9 | 0.0 | 63.6 | 3.8 | 9.0 | 12.9 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 15.9 |
| 2019-20 | UTH | 68 | 34 | 69.3 | 0.0 | 63.0 | 3.4 | 10.1 | 13.5 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 15.1 |
| 2020-21 | UTH | 71 | 31 | 67.5 | 0.0 | 62.3 | 3.4 | 10.1 | 13.5 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 14.3 |
| 2021-22 | UTH | 66 | 32 | 71.3 | 0.0 | 69.0 | 3.7 | 11.0 | 14.7 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 15.6 |
| 2022-23 | MIN | 70 | 31 | 65.9 | 0.0 | 64.4 | 3.3 | 8.3 | 11.6 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 13.4 |
| 2023-24 | MIN | 76 | 34 | 66.1 | 0.0 | 63.8 | 3.8 | 9.2 | 12.9 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 14.0 |
| 2024-25 | MIN | 44 | 33 | 64.2 | 0.0 | 68.7 | 3.2 | 6.9 | 10.2 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 10.2 |
| Total | 801 | 31 | 65.4 | 0.0 | 64.1 | 3.3 | 8.3 | 11.7 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 12.5 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
