SALT LAKE CITY – Joe Ingles has a theory as to why Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert’s plus / minus numbers were so ridiculous in the Utah Jazz 112-89 win over the Houston Rockets Wednesday at Toyota Center.
“I think they play harder when I’m out,” said Ingles. “They told me they try to get their plus / minus when I’m gone so I look bad, which is incredibly selfish of our guys.”
Game-by-game plus / minus is undoubtedly a fickle stat. But sometimes the numbers jump so big it’s hard to ignore. That’s what happened on Wednesday during Utah’s easy win over the Rockets.
Gobert played 26 minutes and was plus-44. Conley played 25 minutes and he was plus-46.
The Jazz (44-15) have been rolling out the Conley-Gobert combo all season and it has set opponents on fire. Gobert leads the competition with plus-minus on plus-611 and Conley is second on plus-516. That discrepancy is due to the fact that Conley missed some time due to an injury – but for the most part, the tandem is tied together. They go out together and they go in together.
So what’s the secret to that success?
“Well, it starts with the fact that they are both really good players,” said jazz coach Quin Snyder. “And I think one of the things going back to last year is that it takes time for guys to find synergy.”
Conley and Gobert figured out how to play with each other. They spent time in offseason training as a duo recording each other’s movements and timing.
“I think we’ve learned each other’s games so well in the last year and a half,” said Conley, who had 11 points and 13 assists in Utah’s victory.
Gobert finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds.
Conley and Gobert pushed the Jazz to a 9-point lead in the first six minutes before they both went to the bench. When they came back, the lead was reduced to 2. At their next break, five minutes later, Utah’s lead had grown back to 12.
That’s how the first half went: When Conley and Gobert weren’t in the game, the Rockets looked like they had a puncher’s chance. If they were, it was curtains.
“It clearly shows the impact those guys are having on the game,” said Ingles, who had 21 points, six rebounds and four assists – but only a weak plus-15. “I don’t know if it’s a pointless stat or not – that’s for the Twitter world to talk about. But I mean if you told me something like this and the number that is, that’s a pretty ridiculously high number, so it certainly shows the impact those guys have. “
Gobert and Conley are very good players, yes, but Wednesday’s “ridiculously high” plus / minus may have been quite predictable too.
Snyder has staggered its rotations throughout the season, meaning Conley and Gobert go out before halfway through the first quarter and then return towards the end of the quarter. They take another break of about four minutes in the second quarter and then return to close the half. It is also more or less the same in the second half. That means they have to compete against many bench units, especially at the end of the first and third quarters.
The famous 10-0 runs that the Jazz has consistently gone through this season? That often happens when Gobert and Conley flash second units.
It’s no secret that the missiles aren’t very good. They’ve won 15 games this season as they’ve made multiple major trades, handled numerous injuries, and just had a player assaulted outside a club early Monday morning.
It hasn’t been a great season to say the least.
Their Wednesday starting line-up of Jae’Sean Tate, Kelly Olynyk, Christian Wood, Armoni Brooks and John Wall consists of multiple players who would not have a rotation spot in the competing teams. In other words: it is a somewhat glorified banking unit.
So Conley and Gobert opposing it in massive numbers shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise (and maybe even a concern, given that those lineups won’t be played that often in the postseason).
That said, actually seeing plus-44 and plus-46 on a box score – especially in such short minutes – is unquestionably impressive.
“Now that I feel a little bit comfortable on the offense, and defensively, frankly, that I can give a little more to that goal, I think (Rudy) is really enjoying that and that it kind of put him in the spotlight. and it makes him run faster, “said Conley” Makes him turn screens up and roll knowing I want to make a play, I look for him every time I come down and throw a lob He just feeds very well on just the selfless nature we have together. “
Although Ingles would claim – at least jokingly – that it all comes from selfishness in the end.
“I don’t care about mine, but if they talked about keeping mine in and that’s really selfish of them.”