Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert rarely lacks confidence. After a dominant performance against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, in which he had 21 points on 9-for-9 shooting, 12 rebounds, three blocks, one steal and held Marc Gasol to eight points on 4-for-22 shooting, Gobert told ESPN's Tim MacMahon he doesn't believe there's a center better than him:
Gobert has a pretty good idea of how well he has been playing for the sizzling Jazz, who have won 11 of 13 games despite playing without point guard George Hill for most of that stretch. If you don't believe me, just ask Gobert who he believes is the best center in the NBA.
"To be honest, right now, I think it's me," Gobert told ESPN, before following up in a fashion his coach would approve of. "But it's a long season. I just try to take every game as a challenge. The hardest thing is to do it [for] the full season."
During Utah's 11-2 run, Gobert has averaged 15.1 points, 12.9 rebounds and 3.2 blocks while shooting 76.5 percent from the floor and 71 percent from the line. The Jazz have outscored opponents by 130 points with Gobert on the floor in those 13 games.
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Miami's Hassan Whiteside, Atlanta's Dwight Howard, Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns, Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins and Gasol have averaged 11.2 points on 30.1 percent shooting in their matchups with Gobert over the last month. Gobert's numbers in those five games, four of which Utah won: averages of 14 points, 13.2 rebounds and 4.0 blocks, hitting 77.4 percent of his field goal attempts. Utah was plus-66 with him on the floor.
The numbers above are a fine argument for Gobert as the league's premier center over the past few weeks, and you have to wonder if this would be more conventional thinking if people generally cared more about defense. Unlike Gasol, he's not the hub of his team's offense. Unlike Cousins, you wouldn't give him the ball on the block and expect a bucket or a double-team. Unlike Towns, defenders are not chasing him out to the 3-point line. Gobert has improved significantly as a screener and a finisher, though, and nobody is more imposing than him around the basket.
If you value versatility -- or simply think the "best" at a position should have a usage rate above 15.1 percent -- then you're probably having a hard time with this. I tend to think of Gasol, who is a brilliant defender and has both expanded his range and increased his aggressiveness this season, as the best all-around player at the position. Gobert just thoroughly outplayed him, though, and that counts for something.
