“It’s still harder to score” – Rudy Gobert weighs scoring struggles in FIBA over NBA

Heading into the FIBA World Cup, Rudy Gobert and France were expected to be a major contender. In a shocking turn of events, they ended up getting eliminated in the group stage.

As the lone NBA All-Star on the roster, Rudy Gobert was a focal point of this year's team. However, the Minnesota Timberwolves big man struggled greatly. In France's first two games, he scored a total of 17 points.

Recently, Gobert opened up on his play in the World Cup. He doubled down on a take he's said before, that it is harder to score in FIBA competition then it is in the NBA.

"In FIBA game, you have to think even more, look around even more," Gobert said. "It's still harder to score in the FIBA game."

Following their shocking elimination in the group stage, Gobert and France are competing in the classifications rounds with the goal of securing a spot in the Olympics.

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What are Rudy Gobert's scoring numbers in the FIBA World Cup?

For the past seven years, Rudy Gobert has been an average double-digit scorer in the NBA. Last season, he scored 13.4 points per game for the Minnesota Timberwolves. His career-high came with the Utah Jazz in 2019, when he averaged 15.9 points.

Through four FIBA World Cup games, Gobert has only managed to break double-digits once. In France's opening matchup against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Canada, he only mustered eight points.

The former Defensive Player of the Year followed that up with nine points in a shocking upset against Latvia. To make matters worse, he only attempted one shot in that game.

Gobert was scratched in France's third game, and made a return to the lineup against Iran in their first classification round matchup. He played 21 minutes and finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

It wasn't until their most recent game against Cote d'Ivoire that Gobert broke the double-digit threshold. He finished with 17 points on stellar 8-for-9 shooting from the field.

While Gobert isn't known for his offensive prowess, he should have been able to produce more for France in the World Cup. His fellow NBA teammate, Evan Fournier was one of the tournament's leading scorers after back-to-back 20+ outings.

Gobert might think the FIBA game is harder, but a strong argument can be made against that. At the end of the day, the NBA is still the most competitive basketball league in the world.