PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - The return of up-and-coming star Rudy Gobert to the Utah Jazz starting lineup has been a relief to a lot of people, starting with himself, because he suffered a pretty nasty knee sprain and he and his club were adamant about not trying to come back too soon.

He patiently went through his rehab while his team lost 11 of the 18 games he missed. With "Stifle Tower" on the court protecting his rim, the Jazz defense is much more potent and aggressive and his teammates feel they can up the pressure in the passing lanes because he's ready to help out behind them.

Last season was a breakout season for Gobert who was the second best rim protector and shot blocker in the league as well as third in voting for best progression. He was highly ranked in most of the advanced stats categories and played in all 82 games.

There's a reason that we so often saw Rudy getting posterized in the NBA's regular Top 10 highlights last season: it's because he is always fearlessly in between the player with the ball and the basket. His progression at such a young age is similar to Tony Parker at the beginning of his NBA career. Both men are very solid mentally as well as confident in their own abilities and willing to work hard to improve their game. They don't go around bragging, they let their on-court performance do the talking.

In his first game back, Rudy played just 15 minutes but he ran normally without favoring too much his knee which was quite important. He played well but Utah lost to the Rockets in Houston. His true impact was felt in his second game, a big win over the Miami Heat. During his absence, Utah's defense let opponents score about six more points a game on average whereas a top-notch Miami team only scored 83 meager points and lost by 15. In 28 minutes, Gobert blocked four shots to go along with 3 for 3 shooting, 5 rebounds and four assists. Miami shot a poor percentage and Utah can start dreaming of the playoffs again just like before Gobert's injury! When Utah's entire roster is available around leading scorer Gordon Hayward, the team has no reason to envy the other contenders in the West for the top 8 spots.

Rudy also had a breakout campaign with the French national team last summer at the EuroBasket as he was the most consistent performer along with Nando De Colo. His coach Vincent Collet is also relieved to know he is under contract and therefore available for the selection in this summer's quest to qualify for the Rio Olympics.

Rudy Gobert with fellow French national team players Nicolas Batum and Tony Parker at EuroBasket 2015

Players without signed contracts for next season like Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum risk to be very expensive to insure in time for FIBA's Qlympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) because they are looking to sign multi-year, mega deals at a very high salary. On the other hand, a player like Ian Mahinmi, who is starting and playing an ever-increasing role with an excellent Indiana Pacers team will be less expensive to insure because his salary will be much lower when he probably re-signs with the Pacers. Ian would be a great replacement center for Gobert this summer. I also see De Colo, Thomas Heurtel and Charles Kahudi taking on a bigger role with the team this summer alongside the eternal stalwarts like Parker and Boris Diaw without forgetting Joffrey Lauvergne who is under contract with the Denver Nuggets for next season.

So, as you can see, a lot of people are happy to see Rudy back on the court including myself because I've gotten to know the giant pretty well in the last four years and he is a really deserving human being.

George Eddy

FIBA

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