Evan Mobley: 2023 All Defensive 1st Team

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Is Evan Mobley the Greatest Player of All Time?

  • Yes

    Votes: 49 38.0%

  • Yes

    Votes: 22 17.1%

  • Yes

    Votes: 8 6.2%

  • YAAASSS!!!

    Votes: 37 28.7%

  • Jim Chones

    Votes: 29 22.5%
  • Total voters
    129
MattyIce8 said:
This is very basic but the Cavs turnaround started with him. I know there are other factors (Lauri trade, DG getting better, etc) but ever since this kid has been a Cav, we’ve been a good team.

It’s no coincidence that we have become a GREAT team with Evan taking a massive leap this year. Thank you Houston for taking Jalen Green over him instead!
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And there were a bunch of people on here that wanted to trade down with Orlando for more picks rather than standing firm for whichever of the top 3 was left for Cleveland.
 
Havent seen it talked about elsewhere but one specific play that stood out to me from last night was when Mobley took a 14 footer off the curl. Clean catch and shoot out of motion? even in the long 2 range thats a development I never expected from Evan
 
Yea Mobley is becoming prime Shaq right before our eyes...

Look at this sweet bastard... Such a handsome young man...

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-Akronite- said:
Going into the game I was really worried that the Thunder would get steals off of Ev when he handled the ball in the paint. Just didn’t happen really, he made good plays and finished strong all night.
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Within the first few possessions of the opening game I asked in the game thread why Mobley was bringing the ball up. It made no sense to me.

That‘s the first and last time I questioned Kenny.

Thirty years ago in Terry Pluto’s book Bob Cousy said the modern NBA made no sense. Players were faster and far more athletic yet the game was slowing down into a boring half court contest. Plus, back then, shooting was awful. He said the coaches were strangling the game. He particularly deplored walking the ball up the court and allowing the defense to get set.

Our team played the same way as recently as two years ago. Coaches like Fratello and JBB are “bad team coaches” - they can take a team without talent and get them playing better with low pace, defense, and messing up opponents offense. The double OT win over the first Big 3 Nets when Sexton wrecked Durant, Harden and Kyrie was fantastic. Sexton’s Players Tribune article was premature but it was a harbinger of great future days for us.

JBB just took the Pistons over 500.

The problem is that his approached strangled our guys. He liked limited roles. He liked the slow pace. He liked caveman offense and tough defense. Great recipe for building a solid floor but at the price of a low ceiling and strangling our guys.

Last season he could see it and tried to speed up the pace but it was too late. Garland and others were still set on what JBB taught them and his voice wasn’t enough. He’s still a controlling type and was unable to understand how to get the best use of his guys.

Enter Kenny with his fresh Ph. D from Kerr University. He learned from Kenny and Steph and Dray. Kenny looked at our team and saw we had two deer as bigs. He saw the potential.

But the most important insight was that he viewed our players as basketball players. He demands that all of his guys pass, defend, shoot when open, move to open space etc. It’s not positionless basketball. It’s total basketball. Like total football (soccer), total basketball means you have roles but you move all over the court (field), looking for open space, and dribbling / passing / shooting / rebounding etc based on opportunities in the moment. Simple concepts but tough to do. You need skilled players with high BBIQ willing to do whatever is needed in the moment. Bigs passing to each other or to a baseline cutter are pure gold.

Every one of our guys qualifies. No selfish players, no BB dummies, no players that can’t pass or dribble, no lack of effort.

But the secret sauce is we are relentless and waste no time. If a frontcourt player grabs a rebound and there’s no quick outlet then dribble the ball up immediately. Do NOT let the defense get set. Find the mismatch (common in transition) and exploit it. Defenses have no chance to get set.

Our half court offense isn’t bad either. We can run plays, make cuts or play iso (not too much). We’re extremely versatile.

On defense, Kenny tells DG for example that you have to get stronger and battle the likes of Tatum on switches. He actually demands more of his players than JBB but plays them fewer minutes. Guys like Niang and Merrill are defensive liabilities but even they have played better on defense this year.

Savor every game. Having a team like this in the NBA is sweet, and it’s our team.
 
2 For The Brew said:
Within the first few possessions of the opening game I asked in the game thread why Mobley was bringing the ball up. It made no sense to me.

That‘s the first and last time I questioned Kenny.

Thirty years ago in Terry Pluto’s book Bob Cousy said the modern NBA made no sense. Players were faster and far more athletic yet the game was slowing down into a boring half court contest. Plus, back then, shooting was awful. He said the coaches were strangling the game. He particularly deplored walking the ball up the court and allowing the defense to get set.

Our team played the same way as recently as two years ago. Coaches like Fratello and JBB are “bad team coaches” - they can take a team without talent and get them playing better with low pace, defense, and messing up opponents offense. The double OT win over the first Big 3 Nets when Sexton wrecked Durant, Harden and Kyrie was fantastic. Sexton’s Players Tribune article was premature but it was a harbinger of great future days for us.

JBB just took the Pistons over 500.

The problem is that his approached strangled our guys. He liked limited roles. He liked the slow pace. He liked caveman offense and tough defense. Great recipe for building a solid floor but at the price of a low ceiling and strangling our guys.

Last season he could see it and tried to speed up the pace but it was too late. Garland and others were still set on what JBB taught them and his voice wasn’t enough. He’s still a controlling type and was unable to understand how to get the best use of his guys.

Enter Kenny with his fresh Ph. D from Kerr University. He learned from Kenny and Steph and Dray. Kenny looked at our team and saw we had two deer as bigs. He saw the potential.

But the most important insight was that he viewed our players as basketball players. He demands that all of his guys pass, defend, shoot when open, move to open space etc. It’s not positionless basketball. It’s total basketball. Like total football (soccer), total basketball means you have roles but you move all over the court (field), looking for open space, and dribbling / passing / shooting / rebounding etc based on opportunities in the moment. Simple concepts but tough to do. You need skilled players with high BBIQ willing to do whatever is needed in the moment. Bigs passing to each other or to a baseline cutter are pure gold.

Every one of our guys qualifies. No selfish players, no BB dummies, no players that can’t pass or dribble, no lack of effort.

But the secret sauce is we are relentless and waste no time. If a frontcourt player grabs a rebound and there’s no quick outlet then dribble the ball up immediately. Do NOT let the defense get set. Find the mismatch (common in transition) and exploit it. Defenses have no chance to get set.

Our half court offense isn’t bad either. We can run plays, make cuts or play iso (not too much). We’re extremely versatile.

On defense, Kenny tells DG for example that you have to get stronger and battle the likes of Tatum on switches. He actually demands more of his players than JBB but plays them fewer minutes. Guys like Niang and Merrill are defensive liabilities but even they have played better on defense this year.

Savor every game. Having a team like this in the NBA is sweet, and it’s our team.
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Awesome post, Two 4 Da Broo.
 
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