Rudy Gobert's rebounding roller coaster is going the wrong way

The trend line for Gobert's rebounding numbers this season is sloped the wrong way.

Jan 18, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) shoots as Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) and forward Dean Wade (32) defend during the second quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Can anyone make sense of the Rudy Gobert rebounding roller coaster?

There are nights where Gobert is dominant on the glass, like when he pulled down 18 rebounds in Minnesota's win over the Clippers on Jan. 6. Then there are other nights when Gobert, who is 7-foot-1, finished with fewer than five rebounds.

It's been mind-boggling ride considering Gobert has long been one of the best rebounders in the league. In two games against Memphis in the past week, Gobert totaled four rebounds in both games. Minnesota lost each game by two points.

Gobert has reached 10+ rebounds in 25 of 43 games this season. In those 25 games, he's averaged 12.7 rebounds per game. In the 18 games that he's failed to reach double digits, he's averaged 6.8 rebounds.

You can see in the graph below that the trend line on his rebounding numbers is going in the wrong direction.

Rudy Gobert's 2024-25 rebounding game log. | Google Sheets

The Timberwolves are 6-12 in games that Gobert fails to grab 10+ rebounds and 16-9 when he reaches double digits on the glass.

Last week, head coach Chris Finch was critical of Gobert's rebounding following a loss to Golden State in which Gobert failed to box out Andrew Wiggins late in the game.

"I think Rudy's gotta go get the ball in the air. He's trying to play a hand-to-hand combat game and he gets tied up too much doing that. He does get fouled quite a bit down there doing that, but it's really a hard one because you don't know who's initiated that. I'd like to see him go get the ball in the air, snag it," Finch said.

According to Basketball Reference, Gobert's total rebound percentage — the number of rebounds he gets when he's on the floor — is at 17.2% this season. That's a steep decline from his first two seasons with the Timberwolves when he averaged 21.2% and 21.5% of all rebounds.

Gobert's rebounding isn't the sole reason why the Wolves have struggled, but it's an area of concern that needs to be tightened up if they're going to be taken seriously in the second half of the season.