• Rudy Gobert got in touch with his offensive struggles at the FIBA World Cup
• Gobert admitted it’s harder to score under FIBA rules
• France failed to make the second round of the World Cup despite being medal favorites
Rudy Gobert had a series of disappointing performances in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, as France was eliminated in the group stages after being pegged to make a run at the medals. Gobert got real about his struggles as France bowed out early, claiming that it is harder to score in FIBA.
“In FIBA game, you have to think even more, look around you more… It’s still harder to score in the FIBA game.”
Rudy Gobert offered his thoughts on the FIBA style of play 💭 pic.twitter.com/FI63tEWA96
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) September 3, 2023
We have seen other players say similar things before, as Luka Doncic once openly said that the NBA rule-set makes scoring much easier. Gobert isn’t saying the quality of defense or players is superior in FIBA, but the rule-set makes it far more challenging to get consistent buckets.
Gobert averaged 10.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks over the 2023 FIBA World Cup as France finished with an 18th-place finish.
The 2023 FIBA World Cup Is Exhilarating
The 2023 FIBA World Cup is entering its final rounds, as we are in the quarter-finals with only eight teams still in the competition. The USA are still favorites to win Gold but took a big loss at the hands of Lithuania in their final second-round game. Thankfully, they had already secured qualification to the quarter-finals before that loss.
The USA will face Italy in their quarterfinals matchup. Other teams with hopes of upsetting Team USA still in the tournament are the dangerous Canada led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dennis Schroder’s Germany, Luka Doncic’s Slovenia, and the Lithuanians, who would love to add another win over Team USA.
This is one of the most exciting World Cups in recent memory, with a whole host of upsets leading us into the final rounds of the tournament. Are more upsets brewing? We will have to wait and see.
Do The Timberwolves Need To Move On From Rudy Gobert?
Rudy Gobert has been openly admitting that he cannot compete on the offensive end of the ball like he used to. While Gobert will likely lead the league in dunks, I don’t see how he will improve on his 13.4 points per game average from last season. Even though he’s been working on his three-pointer, it seems pretty late in Gobert’s career for him to try and pivot toward being a stretch big.
The Timberwolves have minimal assets left after trading everything they had to acquire Gobert. This move marginally improved their defense, but they’re still a long way from title contention.
Moving Gobert may be the only direction left for a team that needs to build around a superstar-level talent in Anthony Edwards. If Gobert continues eating up over $40 million in salary space while giving role-player production, the Timberwolves have to part with him.
The trade market for Gobert will be slim, but the Wolves have to scan the market consistently and see what level of interest the market has in Gobert and possibly even Karl-Anthony Towns.
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