Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has yet another detractor — this time an NBA head coach in Chauncey Billups of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Billups, a former 17-year NBA veteran who has been the Trail Blazers’ head coach since 2021, was asked about Gobert’s defense on “The Sheed & Tyler Show” an NBA-centric podcast that features former NBA player Rasheed Wallace. Billups acknowledged that Gobert is a “great defensive player,” but criticized his propensity to get attacked by good teams in the playoffs.
Billups, who led the Trail Blazers to a Western Conference-worst 21-61 record last season, said that when he was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2020-21, the Clippers made a point of attacking Gobert — then with the Utah Jazz — during their second-round playoff series.
The Clippers beat the Jazz in six games to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
“(Gobert is) a great defensive player, don’t get me wrong, but you don’t just attack great defensive players. You get away from them,” Billups said on the podcast last week. “… That’s kind of the difference in today’s game, it’s like, yeah, he’s great around the rim, he plays hard, he can block shots and all that, but space is an issue, and pick-and-rolls just attack you — you can just get after him.”
Billups said he has a hard time accepting Gobert winning the Defensive Player of the Year award — Gobert won the fourth of his career last season — when teams are able to attack him in the playoffs.
Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks have had some success creating imbalances, most notably when Doncic hit a game-winning shot over Gobert in their 4-1 series win over the Wolves in this year’s Western Conference Finals.
“In the regular season, I can see why he won Defensive Player of the Year,” Billups said. “Going further in the playoffs, it’s tricky.”
It gets a little less complicated when you realize that Defensive Player of the Year is a regular-season award.
