Officially a Minnesota Timberwolves player for a few days, Rudy Gobert was passing through RMC Sport last night to discuss this new adventure.
“A lot has happened in the last few days, but frankly it’s been a positive experience. After spending nine great years in Utah, where I enjoyed myself, discovering a new franchise, a new challenge, I think it was the right timing for me. Frankly, I have a lot of excitement about joining this team and trying to take them to the top. »
The good timing no doubt because at the Jazz the team had arrived at the end of the cycle.
“Was it time I don’t know, but again, it’s a challenge. We know that in the NBA, the windows to win are quite short and with the resignation of Quin Snyder, we felt that it was time for renewal in Utah. I have a new opportunity in a new franchise, and I can’t wait to get started.
At Wolves he thinks he can play the leading roles in the West and even get out of the conference.
We had a very, very good team at Jazz, but here I think our way of playing will be different. It will be up to me, my teammates and our coach to put ourselves in a position to be the best team possible. I think we really have weapons, that we can be a unique team. There will be a lot of work to do, but we will have the opportunity to be one of the best teams in the NBA. I know we have a group that is capable of doing it. It’s going to be up to us to do the necessary work, put ourselves in the best possible position and have a dominant season.
The West is going to be very strong, even more than last season, I think. We can’t predict injuries, but there are teams like the Clippers, the Nuggets, New Orleans, Dallas, the Warriors will always be there, there are really a lot of good teams. And there will also be teams that will be better than last year and we know it will be a good challenge, but despite all that we think we have what it takes to be one of the best teams in the West.
And the goal is clear, it’s the NBA title.
“Clearly we are armed, after that we will have to install good winning habits, “championship clothes”, and progress over the season. I will arrive in a new system, it will change a lot of things in the way the team plays, in defense and in attack. We will have to step up, I hope we will be one of the best teams in the west, and after that the goal is to go to the NBA finals and play for the title. »
The key will of course be the complementarity of the duo he will form with Karl-Anthony Towns. He thinks this duo can be dominant.
“Of course it is possible, there are so many things that are going to be possible in this team. It’s up to us to work together and Coach Finch is very good. I ate and talked with him, I really like his philosophy. It’s exciting for me, we’re going to be unique, I’ve used that word a lot, but we’re already unique players, and the fact that we join together can be very interesting. »
He thinks he will have greater responsibilities in attack.
“I want to continue to progress, to be the best Rudy that I can. I will have the opportunity to develop myself even more offensively, and I want to ensure that we are one of the best defenses in the League. And on an individual level, I want to continue to be the best defender in the world, quite simply. »