SALT LAKE CITY – Joe Ingles has a theory as to why the more / less numbers of Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert were so ridiculous in the Utah Jazz ‘112-89 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday at the Toyota Center.
“I think they play harder when I’m out,” Ingles said. “They told me they were trying to get their plus / minus when I’m out, so I look bad, which is incredibly selfish for our guys.”
Undoubtedly, the most matched game is more or less inconvenient. But sometimes the numbers appear so large that it’s hard to ignore them. That’s what happened Wednesday in Utah’s easy win over the Rockets.
Gobert played 26 minutes and was over 44 years old. Conley played 25 minutes and was over 46 years old.
The Jazz (44-15) have been deploying the Conley-Gobert combo throughout the season and have been inciting opponents. Gobert leads the league in plus-minus in plus-611 and Conley is second in plus-516. This discrepancy is due to the fact that Conley has lost some time due to injury, but for the most part the tandem is united. They dive together and dive together.
What has been the secret to this success?
“Well, it starts with the fact that they’re both very good players,” said Jazz coach Quin Snyder. “And I think one of the things, that goes back to last year, is that the guys need time to find synergy by playing.”
Conley and Gobert figured out how to play each other. They spent time training out of season as a duo to block each other’s movements and time.
“I think we’ve learned the games, so well in the time we’ve had over the last year and a half,” said Conley, who scored 11 points and 13 assists in Utah’s win.
Gobert finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds.
Conley and Gobert pushed the Jazz to a 9-point position in the first six minutes before heading to the bench. When they returned, the lead was down to 2. On their next break, five minutes later, Utah’s lead had grown back to 12.
That’s how the first half went: if Conley and Gobert didn’t participate, the Rockets seemed to have a chance to punch. If they were, they were curtains.
“Obviously, it shows the impact these guys have on the game,” said Ingles, who scored 21 points, six rebounds and four assists, but only a weak plus-15. “I don’t know if it’s a useless statistic or not; that’s for the world of Twitter to hold a conversation. But I mean, if you told me something like that and the number it is, it’s a pretty ridiculously high number, so it shows the impact these guys have on safety. “
Gobert and Conley are very good players, yes, but Wednesday’s “ridiculously high” plus / minus may also have been pretty predictable.
Snyder has staggered his rotations all season, meaning Conley and Gobert leave before the middle of the first quarter and then return near the end of the quarter. They take a break for more than four minutes or so in the second quarter and then close the half again. It’s more or less the same in the second half. This means they face many banking units, especially at the end of the first and third quarters.
The famous 10-0 races that the Jazz have had continuity this season? They often occur as second units of Gobert and Conley.
It’s no secret, the Rockets are not very good. They have won 15 games this season as they have changed several major trades, suffered numerous injuries and managed to get a player assaulted outside a club on Monday morning.
It hasn’t been a fantastic season, to say the least.
His Wednesday starting lineup of Jae’Sean Tate, Kelly Olynyk, Christian Wood, Armoni Brooks and John Wall is made up of several players who would not have a rotation spot on competing teams. Or in other words: it is a slightly glorified bank unit.
So Conley and Gobert positioning themselves with a large number against should not have been a big surprise (and maybe even a concern, as these lineups won’t be played as much in the postseason).
That said, seeing really plus-44 and plus-46 on a cash marker (especially in such short minutes) is certainly impressive.
“With my comfort a little more on the offensive and defensively frankly that I can give a little more for that reason, I think (Rudy) really likes that and makes it possible to go on the offensive. it makes you run harder, ”Conley said.“ It makes you put on harder screens and roll, knowing I’m looking to do a play, I look for it every time I go down and I look to throw a lobe …. It just feeds off the selfless nature that we have together “.
Although English would argue (at least jokingly) that in the end everything is out of selfishness.
“I couldn’t care less about mine, but if they talked about trying to keep me low and that’s really selfish for them.”