Utah does exactly that lmao, their entire defensive scheme is funnel everything towards Gobert.
Instead, they try to put their opponents in “situations that are low percentage,” like shots with Gobert around, or contested mid-range efforts with Gobert down low set to rebound. Sometimes, the Jazz will allow a player to go into the paint in order to prevent him from taking a pull-up 3-pointer, something that wouldn’t have been encouraged in Memphis.
“I have to get used to just funneling guys in the paint,” Conley said after the game. "If you get beat, just stay on their hip and funnel them to the big fella [Gobert] and let him do what he does,” Conley said. “I’m so used to trying to stop everybody.”
Second Spectrum keeps a team-level metric called “blowby frequency,” tracking how often a driving offensive player gets both shoulders past his defender before reaching the rim. When Jazz perimeter defenders get “blown by” with Gobert on the court behind them, they allow just 0.92 points per chance, per a source familiar with the data, which would rank among the NBA’s five stingiest teams.
When Gobert sits? That number balloons to 1.05 points per chance, a borderline top-10 highest figure among teams.