Rudy Gobert's big performance against Nuggets can give Timberwolves fans hope

When it comes to the Minnesota Timberwolves' troubles this season, one player that has been a disappointment as of late has been Rudy Gobert. After such a strong season last year where he earned his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, Gobert has had a tough time putting it all together in 2024-25.

Of particular concern has been Rudy's rebounding and performances on offense. After these issues became particularly prevalent in the last several weeks, Gobert put up a performance in the Timberwolves' win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday that served to give the fanbase some optimism about his play going forward.

In that game, Gobert put up 14 points and 14 rebounds, while looking much more effective on offense as a whole. One big key to this being the case? The frequency at which Minnesota used Rudy in the middle of the floor area as a scorer and passer.

When asked about this, Chris Finch emphasized how important using Gobert in this way is to punishing opposing defenses. "We've gone away from it," he said. "We haven't found Rudy enough in different situations, and we now feel like we're finding these things. Something we have to do to make sure teams pay for some of the matchups that they're trying to do against us."

Gobert had a strong showing against Denver

We saw the Timberwolves use Gobert in this area of the floor in multiple ways on Saturday, as shown in the clips provided by Dane Moore above. There were multiple instances where Rudy was just better at catching the ball in the mid-post and simply punishing a smaller defender one-on-one. In other situations, he was highly effective in making a quick decision to throw up a push shot off the pass or in catching the ball and passing to an open cutter.

Seeing Gobert thriving offensively is a great thing for Minnesota's attack, and his teammates know it. "For Rudy, it's just about making the right reads early, not trying to do too much," said Mike Conley. "Because when we can make the right reads, we're really tough. And our offense is not so much a stagnant offense, it's very much a move, body move, ball move kind of offense."

Having played with Gobert long before their time together in Minnesota, Conley also noted that one of the keys to empowering Rudy in these kinds of situations is just to reinforce the positive thoughts in his head. Gobert himself said that he realizes the importance of having his own confidence - that when he can be decisive in his decision-making, his teammates are going to be more empowered to find him.

This kind of performance was a fantastic development for not only Gobert, but the Timberwolves' offensive direction as a whole. They will only continue to improve the more Rudy can contribute at that end of the floor.