NBA – After the elimination, Draymond Green’s shock opinion on Rudy Gobert: “He was excellent at this level”

Par Guillaume Kagni | Journaliste sportif

After the elimination, Draymond Green’s shock opinion on Rudy Gobert: “He’s been excellent at this level ”It’s no secret that Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert don’t exactly love each other. However, following the Warriors’ elimination, the interior had some rather kind words for his rival, which is very surprising with their past history.

You’d have thought that the history between Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert would resurface in this conference semi-final between the Warriors and Timberwolves. As a reminder, the four-time NBA champion has repeatedly explained that he doesn’t understand all the four-time DPOY’s accolades, and incidentally strangled him on the court during an altercation.

But in the absence of Stephen Curry, injured in the first game of the series, Draymond had other things to worry about. The last representative of the dynasty, he tried to keep alive the style of play that made his franchise so successful. He did what he could defensively to contain Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid, while finishing as his team’s second-best passer. But it wasn’t enough.

Draymond Green compliments Rudy Gobert!

Now on vacation, No.23 took time out to record a podcast to look back on the series and give his opinion on important turning points. He mentioned the Rudy Gobert case, without any real surprise, contrary to the content of his speech. For the first time in a long time, or even in his career, Draymond was full of praise for the Frenchman:

What I noticed defensively with the Timberwolves on the defensive end, and it might have been different with Steph Curry on the court, but they did a good job of moving Rudy Gobert around and taking advantage of his qualities. I think Chris Finch studied their last playoff campaign to make the right adjustments. Last year, I saw how Dallas exploited Rudy Gobert in the conference finals.

Playing them this year, I thought Minnesota did an excellent job of putting Gobert in positions where he could shine. It’s a coach’s job to figure out how to put his players at ease, even if you never think about it when you talk about defense. Rudy has undeniable qualities on defense, so his opponents want to put him in a place where he can’t use them. Chris Finch has been great at countering this.

In fact, sometimes, when we were attacking the circle, he didn’t even come to help. Usually he’d come on the counter, which would free up a shooter, and that’s how we took advantage of him. He was excellent in that respect.

Draymond Green found Rudy Gobert excellent in this series between the Warriors and Timberwolves, something rare enough to be highlighted. The hardest part remains for the Frenchman: reaching the Finals.