Utah Jazz: Rudy Gobert making a case for more playing time

Necessity forced a jump in Rudy Gobert's playing time.

Keeping his minutes up might be the necessity now.

The Jazz are 4-4 over their past eight games, and Gobert's emergence has played no small part in that success.

But Gobert's recent opportunities have been due to absences. First, there was an ankle injury that kept starting center Derrick Favors out of the lineup for two contests. Then there was a minor medical procedure that caused backup big man Trevor Booker to miss Monday's game in Memphis. With both players back healthy, Jazz head coach Quin Snyder has decisions to make.

Does he continue to play Gobert, the defensive dynamo, at the expense of more offense? Does he play Enes Kaner, a polished scorer, sacrificing defense in exchange for low-post footwork and a sweet midrange jumper? Or does he cut back playing time for Booker, one of his spark plugs off the bench?

It seems the answer, for now, is that it will just depend.

"It worked well for us, particularly against this team," Snyder said after the Jazz went big with Gobert and Favors and topped the Memphis Grizzles on Monday. "The NBA is all about matchups, and we needed to match up to their size."

The Jazz matched the Grizzlies with 32 points in the paint and outrebounded Memphis by a margin of 49-34.

"It's one thing to be big, and another to be big and go after the ball," Snyder said. "We're big, and those guys are all good rebounders. That helps a lot when guys are playing hard."

That certainly applies to Gobert's play of late; he had 16 rebounds in the game.

Going back to the Jazz's home win over the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 9, he has averaged about 25 minutes a night, up from his season average of 18.

In that stretch, he's putting up 6.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. And with the 7-foot-1 Frenchman on the court, the defensively challenged Jazz are defending like a top-10 team.

"I think with him," Snyder said, "getting more and more experience is going to help."

At this point in his career, however, Gobert represents a trade-off. Look at all the pairings of the Jazz's four rotation big men, and Gobert is part of the best defensive combinations. He's also part of the three worst offensive combos.

If there were concerns last year about Kanter and Favors being able to play together on the offensive end of the floor (something they've certainly availed themselves of this season), Gobert and Favors truly provide some spacing issues on the court.

Their offensive rating, an estimated 95.3 points scored per 100 possessions, is the worst of the Jazz's big-man duos.

But Gobert is showing himself to be an elite rim protector and a game-changer on the other end of the floor.

The sample size is small (just 37 minutes playing tighter over eight games), but Gobert and Favors look to have the potential to be an impressive defensive duo. In their admittedly limited time on the floor together, their defensive rating, an estimated 96.2 points allowed per 100 possessions, is roughly 20 points better than the pairing of Kanter and Favors.

So for now, matchups will most heavily influence Snyder's rotation.

But Gobert is starting to make a case for himself.

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz