Evan Mobley: 2023 All Defensive 1st Team

[cavsfever]

I think people who don't watch Mobley play every possession don't understand his offensive limitations.

Obviously he has a lot of offensive limitations. It’s just that some of us were afraid he would be basically missing on the offensive end his rookie year, and it’s a very positive surprise to see he has some capacity already there

 

[weepinwillow]

Honestly. I've seen everyone throw out Bosh, Duncan, AD. Defensively Mobley reminds me of Andrei Kirilenko when he first came into the league. Both players were incredibly long (Both have 7-4 Wingspans but Mobley is a few inches taller).

Both players used their length to alter shots and could guard Guards, Wings, Bigs. AK couldn't guard centers back in his day but if he was playing in today's NBA I wouldn't be shocked if he could switch 1-5 like Mobley can. Both players also don't foul alot for the amount of turnovers they cause. As a defensive player Mobley has the upside to be a supercharged jumbo Andrei Kirilenko.

Also back in the day AK47 was a 5-5-5-5-5 threat. Which is a fun thing that I think in a couple years Mobley will be able to become.

interesting comp, AK felt more rigid athletically to me.. but it's been a minute since I've watched him.. might have to YT that shit.

 

[Heat Check]

Mobley, like Lauri, needs to receive the ball on the move as much as possible. Whatever advantage he has due to his footspeed and length disappears when he gets bogged down in static post-ups.

 

[MD13]

I couldn't disagree with you and most specifically this part, more.

And I just spent 24 hours railing against the other extreme, which was primarily running the offense through Mobley. So now it's your extreme's turn to get some too.

You have a blank canvas of a versatile player and you are armed with the highest quality paints and brushes which are his core intangibles that you would never expect a 19/20yr old to have: Really High Offensive IQ, Really High Defensive IQ, Very good coordination and agility (guard like for a 7footer), Elite anticipation and patience for contesting shots and making quick reads for passing, Elite Measureables for defending in space, Great hands

And your solution is because he's a 7footer without automatic 25ft jump shot, to make him a center, which is developmental "paint by number"

He's 225 lbs (if he really added 10lbs since draft measurements) and last game we played the current MVP who weighs 285 lbs and knows how to use it while sporting a usage rate of about 99% for Denver. There is also this guy in Philly who weighs the same and would rather lean on defenders even more than Jokic. The first night of the season, Memphis had a 260lbs Kiwi running around with the sole purpose of setting bone setting picks and leaning on the guy he was defending at the other end of the floor. No thanks.

I give JBB credit for pushing for the starting 5 that I believe has the most balance and gives the most matchup problems while creating significant advantage for our bench unit, though he compromised on that vision for now with Sexton still starting over Okoro. It's not always about matching up man to man and letting that determine who should be at what position in your lineup. Lauri is a matchup advantage if he's fed early and often with the starting lineup. He scrambles defensive matchups because you cant leave most 3's on him and 5's dont want to be out there in space, he causes defensive coaches to concede somewhere on someone usually resulting on a 6'7 wing guarding one of Allen, Mobley or Mark. Allen and Mobley are above average to very good passers, so we're not talking about three 7footers who cant move in space and need to be spoonfed the ball in post ups to be threats or win their matchups on the offensive end. Offensively, Mark is more advanced and skilled as a scorer with range than Mobley, for now. Cool. Play him as a Gallo/Young Dirk 3 and offensively play Mobley as a high post 4 with Allen screening and rolling as a agile Capella like 5

The reason Mobley lasted until the 3rd pick instead of going 1st overall is the same reason Giannis lasted until the 14th pick: GM's and basketball minds who aren't courageous enough to think outside of the box with a blank canvass and use the high quality paints and brushes in his toolbox to push the conventional thought envelop and create something that other teams have to adjust to.

I dont want a paint by numbers piece with Mobley's tools

Do you know why he leads the league in shots contested? Because for the last two games, he has played SMALL FORWARD in a 3-2 matchup zone. He's been Scottie Pippen... AND he can rotate and become Kevin Garnett. If he's challenged 72 shots, I'm willing to bet that a good 35-40% of those have been outside the paint. He's Paul George turning lights out on the perimeter and then he rotates inside when the ball moves and becomes Roy goddamn Hibbert on the same possession

Don't limit Mobley's versatility and ability to switch around and freelance as a roaming defensive terrorist who is patient and smart enough with hip fluidity and length to redefine defensive big men for the next generation.

The term Unicorn wouldnt even apply to him anymore and then what in the hell would I call him?

Mobes? Ev? Emo?

Those all are terrible alternatives to Unicorn.

Which he is, because they exist. /EndRant

Can’t agree enough with this view of Mobleys development. I think as soon as next year we could probably even play him at SF for stretches actually.

That said, the one offensive skill he needs to master that all elite face up bigs have is the ability to punish smaller guys on switches. We’re already seeing that teams can’t blitz the pnr because he’s too good of a passer, and hopefully Garland/Sexton can punish the drops with pull up 3s consistently. Pretty soon we’ll see teams start to switch and beg Mobley to iso on guards, and he’s got to get to the Dirk/KG level where he can score or force the double every single time in that position. That will open up the entire floor for us and really help vault him to superstar level.

 

[The Oi]

My TD troll didnt go as far as I hoped.

 

[Kouki]

In the end it doesn't matter...until a better nickname than Slim Duncan comes around, the Duncan comparison sticks.

 

[adam81king]

They were just talking about on Stephen Jackson’s podcast how similar Mobley is to Duncan. Kwame Brown came on and agreed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Did you get a contact high listening to that podcast?

 

[adam81king]

Ugh.

I don't think anyone is claiming that Mobley is Young Duncan. Just right off the bat, Duncan had a far more developed low post game than Mobley has ever dreamed of. Nor could Duncan dream of moving on the perimeter defensively that way Mobley does.

But one of the...let's just call it a nuance of the game -- is footwork. Especially for big men. Duncan had as good footwork as any big who has ever played, and it enabled him to play his style of game with extraordinary effectiveness. Mobley's footwork - at least to me - is the best I've seen from a young big entering the league in a very long time.

As a result, both of their games as young players seemed unusually sound fundamentally even though their games are different.

Then why not say that? Why not compare their footwork or uncanny fundamentals as bigs instead of the blanket "he reminds me of Duncan"? I don't know who made the comparisons, and I'm not interested in pointing fingers or starting RCF beef, but a Duncan and Mobley comparison is lazy.

 

[weepinwillow]

he's like if Tim Duncan's personality merged with Kevin Garnett's style of play (you know: minus the punching smaller teammates)

 

[cavsfever]

Before this thread is over Mobley will get compared to every tall player in the history of the NBA. Personally he reminds me of Shawn Bradley if Bradley was much quicker, moved better, and had a higher basketball IQ

 

[weepinwillow]

Before this thread is over Mobley will get compared to every tall player in the history of the NBA. Personally he reminds me of Shawn Bradley if Bradley was much quicker, moved better, and had a higher basketball IQ

little known fact: Mobley saw the Book of Mormon on Broadway, so the comp is pretty good if you ask me.

 

[buzzdog]

Mobley doesnt have the strength to guard about half the centers in the league and he might never really have that strength. His shot is developing, and I agree PF need a good 3 point shot these days typically. But Giannis, Zion, Draymond, all PF who shoot about the same from 3 right now and are top 10 PF's.

Mobley shot 30% last year from 3, and is working on the shot, he will be fine in a couple of years from distance. But I just dont see him being able to guard the Jokic, Vucevic, Valacunas, Lopez, Adams, Nurkic, Howard, Kanter, Bam, Towns, Gobert, Embiid and so on of the world. Maybe I am wrong and he can guard them some day, but i just see his shot developing being more likely than him adding enough size and strength to guard those guys.

Maybe both happens, we will see.

I think you're wrong already about Mobley not being able to guard stronger players. He bothered the fuck out of Jokic and of course JA had the primary assignment. Mobley was not a lost cause against Adams either, he used his assets and countered Adams nicely. Mobley bothers EVERYBODY'S shots. I think Mobley will learn to deny the ball to guys who can muscle him out of position.

 

[The Oi]

Did you get a contact high listening to that podcast?

Hard to tell. I was smoking some Blue Dream at the time.

 

[The Oi]

After all these shitty comparisons, Mobley be like:

 

[Lee]

I think you're wrong already about Mobley not being able to guard stronger players. He bothered the fuck out of Jokic and of course JA had the primary assignment. Mobley was not a lost cause against Adams either, he used his assets and countered Adams nicely. Mobley bothers EVERYBODY'S shots. I think Mobley will learn to deny the ball to guys who can muscle him out of position.

He did ok when switched on Zubac too. I might be wrong for sure. But still dont want him banging 30 minutes a night if can avoid it.