Rudy Gobert Makes Huge Impression as France Shocks Spain

Gobert dunks in a regular season game in 2013-14. Will he get more playing time this season? (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert won game MVP honors from ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla after a 5 point, 13 rebound performance as France shocked FIBA World Cup hosts Spain. Gobert played the entirety of the 4th quarter for France, and was a big factor in holding Spain to just 9 points in the 4th quarter, garnering 7 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal in that quarter alone.

Overall, Gobert played 23 minutes, the most action he’s seen in any game of the tournament thus far. Previously, Gobert had been averaging just 14 minutes per game, but his defensive performance as France went on the game-defining run forced French coach Vincent Collet to keep Gobert out on the floor.

Like his fellow countrymen, Gobert was proud to upset Spain, saying after the game “Spain had everything to lose. They have great players, but they are still humans.” Impressively, Gobert’s performance came against FIBA’s best backcourt, featuring NBA stars Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka.

Here’s Gobert’s 4th quarter block on Pau Gasol:

And here’s some reaction from around the internet on Gobert’s great game:

In other news, Rudy Gobert has morphed into FIBA Bill Russell. — Rob Mahoney (@RobMahoney) September 10, 2014

So the World Cup has come down to whether the U.S. can stop . . . Rudy Gobert? — Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) September 10, 2014

Rudy Gobert: 13 rebounds. Pau & Marc: 12 rebounds. France outrebounded Spain, 50-28. — John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) September 10, 2014

Rudy Gobert is the KING of the paint tonight #Spain2014 — Sportando (@sportando) September 10, 2014

We’ll have more a more detailed breakdown of Gobert’s game coming soon on Salt City Hoops.