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The Raptors may look to blow it up, with FVV and Anunoby on the block.

Anunoby is out with a wrist injury.

We should win... but his year every game could be a win or loss

Man, Kessler is a beast. He ended first quarters with 4-6 blocks several times. I wonder if we'll see a 10 block triple-double this season.

There Raptors are feisty defensively and went hard for offensive boards. We had them on the ropes in the first half and should have increase the lead to a blowout but we let them come back.

Kessler with a double double and 7 blocks.....he is the man, better than Rudy.....his offense within 5 feet of the rim is unstoppable....he shoots 70%.

Hoops Addict wrote:Kessler with a double double and 7 blocks.....he is the man, better than Rudy.....his offense within 5 feet of the rim is unstoppable....he shoots 70%.

Watch on YouTube

Since Kessler has been starting the Jazz defense at the rim has basically been the same as with a prime Gobert.....

red4hf wrote:

Hoops Addict wrote:Kessler with a double double and 7 blocks.....he is the man, better than Rudy.....his offense within 5 feet of the rim is unstoppable....he shoots 70%.

Watch on YouTube

Since Kessler has been starting the Jazz defense at the rim has basically been the same as with a prime Gobert.....

Yeah. Both Lauri and Kessler are gd animals out there.

You wonder it's anything player-development-by-the-coach related... (rhetorical question)

FranchisePlayer wrote:

red4hf wrote:

Hoops Addict wrote:Kessler with a double double and 7 blocks.....he is the man, better than Rudy.....his offense within 5 feet of the rim is unstoppable....he shoots 70%.

Watch on YouTube

Since Kessler has been starting the Jazz defense at the rim has basically been the same as with a prime Gobert.....

Yeah. Both Lauri and Kessler are gd animals out there.

You wonder it's anything player-development-by-the-coach related... (rhetorical question)

Assistant coach Alex Jensen has a great reputation as a big man coach, and he was there for Rudy's progression to winning multiple DPOYs. But some folks were disappointed that Rudy didn't add more moves to his offensive repertoire.

Regarding the blocks comparison between Rudy and Kessler, I will be interested to see how this pans out next year. Everyone is going at the rookie whereas tons of NBA players don't even try to challenge Gobert. At this point, I am sure Rudy alters a lot more shot attempts than Kessler does.

Crunch 99 wrote:Assistant coach Alex Jensen has a great reputation as a big man coach, and he was there for Rudy's progression to multiple DPOYs. But some folks were a bit disappointed that Rudy didn't add more moves to his offensive repertoire.

The fact that Gobert entered the league with zero offensive moves and still to this day has zero offensive moves is a huge mark on anyone who supposedly has a great reputation as a big man coach (and obviously, a huge mark on Gobert himself). I'm optimistic about Kessler, though. He has a much better touch and shows some flashes of offensive moves once every few games, and doesn't look as awkward trying them. I think he'll be a better offensive player.

Crunch 99 wrote:I am sure Rudy alters a lot more shot attempts than Kessler does.

I don't have time to search for these stats right now but actually the stats show that Kessler defends the rim better than Gobert and that opponents are shooting worse against him than they are against Gobert.

Found them:
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/opponent-shooting?DistanceRange=By%20Zone&PlayerPosition=C&TeamID=0&dir=A&sort=In%20The%20Paint%20(Non-RA

Defended Field Goals Attempted
Gobert: 18
Kessler: 13.1

If I understand this stat correctly, it means that players actually attack Gobert more (attempt more shots against him than against Kessler). It should probably be adjusted per 36 minutes so we'll have the same baseline (because Gobert plays more minutes so he'll log more attempts against him), so if anyone wants to post what the numbers are, that'd be cool.

Defended Field Goals Percentage (this margin was previously larger in Kessler's favor)
Gobert: 46.4
Kessler: 46.3

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/opponent-shooting?DistanceRange=By%20Zone&PlayerPosition=C&TeamID=0&dir=A&sort=In%20The%20Paint%20(Non-RA)%20FG%20PCT

Provides some info.......

red4hf wrote:https://www.nba.com/stats/players/opponent-shooting?DistanceRange=By%20Zone&PlayerPosition=C&TeamID=0&dir=A&sort=In%20The%20Paint%20(Non-RA)%20FG%20PCT

Provides some info.......

Yep.

Opponent shooting

Restricted Area - FG%
Gobert: 62.5%
Kessler: 61.5%

In the Paint (non RA) - FG%
Gobert: 46.1%
Kessler: 41%

Kessler's numbers are better.