It's quite interesting how the narrative has changed on Rudy...at least in online circles. It feels like Don is getting more heat than ever for his defense and people are giving Rudy somewhat of a pass. Don deserves a ton of heat for his lack of defense, and obviously Gobert is not the problem....but I think Gobert played awfully against DAL and because people have come around on the discourse he kind of got away scott free. He's attracted to the paint like a magnet. I think he's more than capable of being a great defender in the playoffs, but like other's under Quin his instincts are completely off. I believe that he would be the best playoff defender in the league if he had better coaching. It's similar to my thoughts on Don's defense. Don is more than capable of being a good defender, but he's picked up poor habits from playing the same way year after year. While it is a product of Quin's system, the players have also got to be better themselves.
I think it's nearly impossible for Gobert to be the RS player he has been in the playoffs. Definitely not because he's exposed and I wouldn't even go as far to say limited (although I understand the sentiment). We just turbo funnel Gobert in the RS, and that's how he's able to have an unmatched defensive presence. It's the defensive version of having prime Harden iso every single play. You're force feeding the action to a great player, and it works because they're great....but in the playoffs teams will not let you get away with that. It's simply not possible for a single defensive player to have the same RS impact Rudy as in the playoffs. Teams are going to attack weaknesses and stress test the overall team defense. It's something to think about because so much of our RS success is predicated on Rudy doing something that's simply not possible in the playoffs.
Offensively, Gobert was really up and down. His teammates did a terrible job of getting him the ball, as always, but he did not do himself favors. He wasn't consistent on the glass, and he dropped so many passes. He's a much better player than what he showed, but he was in his head. You could tell the whole team was facing mental issues and Rudy was not above that. He's got to play better, his teammates got to play with him better, but the offensive criticisms do have validity.