Windhorst: Timberwolves teammates, fans frustrated on Rudy Gobert’s turnover tendencies

The woes of Minnesota Timberwolves on Rudy Gobert has been stacking up, with fans also expressing their concern for the big man.

Per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst in his Hoop Collective podcast (h/t HoopsHype), fans and teammates of Gobert have been frustrated on how the center handles the ball and compiling numbers on the turnover field.

“They knew that Gobert had limitations,” Windhorst said. “They didn’t expect him to walk in and everything would be perfect. They knew it was going to take some time. But he has really frustrated the fans there and frustrated his teammates because earlier this season, he kept having turnovers. They would run plays, pick-and-rolls for him and the ball would go through his hands. I don’t have the number in front of me to tell you how many of those turnovers he had, but for the Wolves and their fans, it felt like 100. There was some frustration there and then his defense was good, but wasn’t game-changing like they thought.”

Throughout his career, Gobert is never acknowledged to be a significant offensive threat – a major opposition to his towering presence under the rim. 

In his first year with the Wolves, he is just averaging 13.6 points, 11.9 boards and 1.3 boards while having 1.7 turnovers throughout 31 games played. As such, he remains passive in contributing to the team’s defensive rating (113.7) that stands 16th in league ranking. While these are low if compared to his days back as a Utah Jazzman, Minnesota can only be optimistic that his slow start is just a product of the ongoing adjustment being made by the team collectively.

With murmurs already buzzing around, Wolves can only hope that Gobert and the whole Twin City troop will be able to complement well and reach their eyed potential as a Western Conference power immediately.