Following his return to the Jazz from a left calf strain, All-Star center Rudy Gobert suggested that the mood around the team seems improved, according to Jazz.com. Prior to Utah’s dominant 135-101 Rockets win on Monday, Gobert had missed the team’s previous nine games.
“Our energy is different,” Gobert said. “I feel like something happened within our team. … That slump really sparked something. I feel like we’re a team that’s trying to accomplish something.”
The Jazz have won six straight games since losing 11 of 13 in January, and appear to be focused collectively on improving their hustle and defensive intensity. Their offensive efficiency has also improved of late.
There’s more out of Utah:
- Jazz All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell discussed his relationship with Gobert in a wide-ranging conversation with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports in Haynes’ podcast Posted Up With Chris Haynes. “First of all, we’re good. I just want to go on record with saying that,” Mitchell told Haynes. “I think it’s interesting that stuff happens, and he and I have never played at this high of a level together since we’ve been here. So I make the joke, ‘For a group that hates each other, man, we’re playing pretty well.’”
- In his conversation with Haynes, Mitchell also addressed speculation that he might not want to stay in Utah long-term, dismissing that idea. “I think I’ve reached a point where you’re happy with yourself, first off,” Mitchell said. “… But as far as myself with the franchise, I see the articles, but I really address it with my teammates. I’ve seen it. I’m not too stressed about it. I’m not thinking about it. … There’s going to be talk whether I say something, whether I don’t say something because that’s how I’ve always been. I’ve always been someone that’s like, ‘OK, they’re saying stuff. Let’s go ahead and lock in.’ I haven’t really thought too much about it. I’m happy right now and just continuing to find ways to win.”
- Jazz reserve guard Jordan Clarkson, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, has now entered all-time territory with a recent achievement. Upon nailing his 439th three-pointer during Utah’s lopsided victory over the Rockets, Clarkson has the 10th-most made triples in the team’s history, per Jazz.com. “I feel like I’ve been saying it for a long time, but his care factor, his will, and he’s got a lot of pride, he wants to win,” head coach Quin Snyder said. “He can really score but he wants to win more than he wants to score.”
- The Jazz’s home court, Vivint Arena, is scheduled to roll back most of its coronavirus precautions for Jazz games on February 25, according to Joe Coles of The Deseret News. Vivint Arena currently requires all attendees to either display proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours of tipoff. Masks will still be a requirement for certain areas close to the court. 3,128 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the state yesterday, per The New York Times.
The Gobert Mitchell thing is tiring. Clearly Mitchell is frustrated, but rather than make it work he wants to just move on and get a fresh start and ignore whatever is happening.
Not sure how you praise Quinn when this nonsense is going on. Really bush league business. Smdh…
I didn’t know you were privy to the Jazz locker room or Donovan Mitchell’s inner thoughts Lil D, that’s impressive?!
Clearly they’re winning they’ve won 6 straight including blowing out the title hopeful Warriors since Mitchell came back from his concussion and as we’ve seen past there’s numerous examples of winning fixing a lot of problems. They seem to be making it work for now.
Where did I say anything about a locker room? And yes, I am privy to Spiders thoughts because he is literally telling us via interviews (including the one mentioned on this SAME PAGE).
Winning fixes everything until you lose. In my opinion they don’t have the mental toughness to make it through that adversity.
Tl;dr
You’re wrong; I’m right
I think you misunderstood what he had been saying. He didn’t say he wants to move on. He said it’s water under the bridge. That means it’s not a big deal, moving on to the next game. Not the next team. ;)
You must be from New York. That’s where all these “rumors” are really coming from. There’s nothing there. Just some media or Knicks tampering. They should do an investigation, for real. It’s getting annoying. I agree.
I’m reading between the lines. And like I said it’s my opinion. I don’t buy all the rumors, but things that get mentioned incessantly, which when Gobert has even been playing and still gets talked about makes me think its top of mind, is a Red Flag.
Spider will try to force his way out. Not sure why hed go to the Knicks where he has even less help. He’d probably prefer Brooklyn…
LM’s comments do not support that opinion. The fact it gets brought up all the time is just outsiders being outsiders, just people talking, not players planning… and HR quoting them instead of using something better than counting stats.
lil D tho, frequently bringing up poo, that is not between the lines, but in them!
Too soon for LM to force, if ever.
Hah time will tell who is right and who is just a pile of caca dunkie poo. Doodoo is part of life sorry to break it to you! Sorry if it hurts your feelings!
The noise I keep hearing is from people who have ulterior motives. Donovan is valued so much more by the Jazz and their fans than he’d ever be with any other team and their fanbase.
He’s also said he’s totally comfortable with people saying their minds and then moving to the next subject. That’s how his family works and so he’s used to it. I can relate because that’s how my family is. You always know if there’s a problem because my family isn’t afraid to say something. Gobert and Mitchell have that same relationship, it seems.
I would think he’d prefer that over the Harden and Simmons type environment where you never know until they pull an ultimatum. Playing with guys like that would drive him crazy with anxiety. The more open and honest players are with each other the better. Then they know what to fix.
Donovan has always liked disproving haters for that same reason. He knows the criticism and goes out and fixes it. For example, he has gotten better in every area of his game, including defense.
Of course, that’s not to say he couldn’t change his mind or just flat out want a trade at some point. Every player should always keep an open mind.
However, based on the direction the Jazz are going, I don’t think he could find another team with the same quality people and players that also would have him as their priority.
There are too many egos involved in some of the bigger market team owners, etc. There are also too many distractions and more time wasted on dumb things in the media. This whole “rumor” is the perfect example of big market media trying to generate more content. Has the same feel. Would be harder to ignore if those same media have more in-person contact with him. ;-)
I love it how some fans just have an ability to know what’s going on behind the scenes!
Dude, you’re in the wrong lane. Enough of the Jazz hate.
Boy, I didn’t realize UTA are playing well…
The Jazz recently got much better in the absence of Rudy Gobert, mostly in terms of effort.
Paradoxically (three-time defensive player of the year and all that bs) it took him being absent for them to finally look good, way better. They look far better without him, finally decent-looking basketball.
Gobert without the Jazz is done, not much more than a starter in some of the lower-tier teams and a much much lower contract.
P.S Just read my comment and realized how much of a Gobert-hater I truly am .. can’t stand this guy in a Jazz uniform.
Guess better get used to it/him (he ain’t going anywhere, ever) or pick another team (Cleveland perhaps – love what they’ve got going on, shame they lost Rubio).
If only simply ‘picking another team’ was ever an option ;)
Anyway, peace everyone, I’ll try and chill with the anti-Gobert propaganda :)
Gobert will need a few games to get back into the flow. I hope he gets back to contesting more shots than he has.
Seems like the last year or so he doesn’t take as many risks near the rim. Probably why he hasn’t been injured as much, except for this last one, it’s been a while.
Still, there are so many shots around the rim that, in the past, he would contest and quite often swat. Now, he just pivots and tries to body them as they go on by. That’s what the team was doing before Gobert went down. Then they got more active and went after the passing lanes and caused so many turnovers/steals.
With Gobert back, I’m concerned the team might settle back into that laziness. The loss to the Lakers might just be from missed shots and timidness. We’ll see.
I’m with you man, the Jazz became so much more competitive when he wasn’t around. This guy is spare parts.
Signed: A Deeply Concerned Fan
P.S. Case in point: Wed 17th Feb UTA@LAL; 1 minute left in the third quarter; 6.1 Mike Conley wins the tip against 6.5 opponent, Danuel House dives into the stands and saves the ball!! Oh, wait, there’s this big $%&!$ log in the !$%&!$ way, standing out-of-bounce, getting hit by the ball. Spare parts this guy I tell ‘ya. Please dear god, give me the strength to keep watching Gobert basketball..
@muthuh, that’s not what I said at all. I was concerned with the rest of the team, not Gobert. Gobert may be playing more conservatively, than in the past. However, his consistent effort and defense are top-notch! There are multiple reasons why he and Donovan are all-stars for the past 3 years in a row. They’re both consistent and have a deep drive to want to win! That’s hard to find to go along with talent.
Several years ago the team benched Favors in favor of another combo forward, and told guards to let persistant drivers go by them, let Gobert handle it, and release for early offense. To my surprise it worked, and stats indicated so… maybe bc it took advantage of available talent (Gobert, Ingles, Bojan, Niang, Oneill, and guards not interested in tough defense anyway). Maybe it helped recruit Bojan.
History. But can that strategy win playoff serieses or a ‘ship now?— I think it could have last year with some bench adjusting. Seems like they fixed some flaws this year. But moving on from Gobert is extreme!
The Bulls, I could pick the Bulls!