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Evan Mobley: 2023 All Defensive 1st Team

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Is Evan Mobley the Greatest Player of All Time?

  • Yes

    Votes: 48 39.0%
  • Yes

    Votes: 21 17.1%
  • Yes

    Votes: 7 5.7%
  • YAAASSS!!!

    Votes: 36 29.3%
  • Jim Chones

    Votes: 25 20.3%

  • Total voters
    123
It's funny how much, even with an elite defensive prospect, we don't see it as an equal part of the game as offensive "stats". Just like the All Star game and MVP voting, which often completely ignore any defense. And perhaps offense is worth more in the NBA? Something tells me the 40th best O player is much more well known than the 3rd best defender.
 
Cmon- Bron was already showing GOAT potential in the 1st 5 minutes of his Kings debut. Remember? That shit was showtime. He made about 5 plays in his first 10 minutes that Mobley will probably never duplicate in his entire career. Thats not a knock on Mobley...I am just illustrating it was a lot easier to be patient with Bron as he offset his mistakes with jaw dropping plays.

Thanks for making my point for me, bud. It’s why I’ve said comparing Mobley to guys like Duncan is setting yourself up for disappointment and disaster. It’s also why everyone’s been stressing patience with Mobley. LeBron had to be a GOAT level player to make those Cavs teams any good. The team was total dog shit without LeBron so it was easy to let things slide, even though they were the same age.

Mobley just has to be a great defender, finish his opportunities, and let the rest come to him. It’s impressive in its own right as most top 3 picks his age are unable to do that at a top 5 level so quickly. The Cavs have a top 5 defense in the league and Mobley is one of the primary reasons why. Mobley is doing things on defense that are just as impressive as what LeBron was doing offensively. He’s going to fuck up a lot, and he’s going to do some showtime stuff like LeBron. If he was playing on a team devoid of other talent, he’d score more, standout more, and have more “showtime” offensive plays.

Right now Mobley is doing what the team needs him to do to win games. I frankly don’t care if he ever becomes as complete player as Tim Duncan, because only like 10 total players in league history has. He doesn’t have to be like anyone else. He just has to maximize his skills in the context of what this team needs, which I’m not convinced at this point the Cavs need Mobley to be a #1 option who can handle the ball, break guys down, and be a plus 3pt shooter to be a championship caliber team.
 
Thanks for making my point for me, bud. It’s why I’ve said comparing Mobley to guys like Duncan is setting yourself up for disappointment and disaster. It’s also why everyone’s been stressing patience with Mobley. LeBron had to be a GOAT level player to make those Cavs teams any good. The team was total dog shit without LeBron so it was easy to let things slide, even though they were the same age.

Mobley just has to be a great defender, finish his opportunities, and let the rest come to him. It’s impressive in its own right as most top 3 picks his age are unable to do that at a top 5 level so quickly. The Cavs have a top 5 defense in the league and Mobley is one of the primary reasons why. Mobley is doing things on defense that are just as impressive as what LeBron was doing offensively. He’s going to fuck up a lot, and he’s going to do some showtime stuff like LeBron. If he was playing on a team devoid of other talent, he’d score more, standout more, and have more “showtime” offensive plays.

Right now Mobley is doing what the team needs him to do to win games. I frankly don’t care if he ever becomes as complete player as Tim Duncan, because only like 10 total players in league history has. He doesn’t have to be like anyone else. He just has to maximize his skills in the context of what this team needs, which I’m not convinced at this point the Cavs need Mobley to be a #1 option who can handle the ball, break guys down, and be a plus 3pt shooter to be a championship caliber team.
Glad im you're bud.
 
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Cmon- Bron was already showing GOAT potential in the 1st 5 minutes of his Kings debut. Remember? That shit was showtime. He made about 5 plays in his first 10 minutes that Mobley will probably never duplicate in his entire career. Thats not a knock on Mobley...I am just illustrating it was a lot easier to be patient with Bron as he offset his mistakes with jaw dropping plays.

Do you know what opponents are shooting against Mobley in ISO? Pretty jaw dropping. I dunno, watching him stay with guards better than smaller wings pops for me.

My Cavs memory doesn't go back into the 90's too much. I wasn't a sophisticated fan back then, but Mobley is clearly #2 behind Lebron for me as far as how good a guy was as a rook
 
Do you know what opponents are shooting against Mobley in ISO? Pretty jaw dropping. I dunno, watching him stay with guards better than smaller wings pops for me.

My Cavs memory doesn't go back into the 90's too much. I wasn't a sophisticated fan back then, but Mobley is clearly #2 behind Lebron for me as far as how good a guy was as a rook
I think Kyrie was a pretty solid rookie. I found his rookie campaign more impressive. However, thats just my opinion.
 
What stands out to me about Evan is that he is becoming more team oriented in the month of November.

In October, he spent more time on the perimeter, trying to prove he learned some new tricks over the summer. This led to higher three point attempts and more dribble drives. Down the line, great show what you can do as an isolation player... but the Cavs as a team need Mobley playing like a big man.

He has been getting the ball in the high post and elbow more often in November. It's led to his rebounding numbers and put back points to skyrocket.

His shooting percentage increased from 55% to 58%. His overall rebounding went from 6 per game to 9.6 per game. His offensive and defensive rating also ratcheted up so far in November.

So he can be more like oversized guards like KD or Giannis someday... but I'll take a freakish bigman like KG right now.
 
He is already showing better judgement with his passing in
the painted area.

I like how he seems to be tapping more rebounds out when he can't get
a grip for himself.

Next breakthrough should be quicker up with his shots and at least one
go to move to free space for himself to get the shot off clean.

He should be the least of any worries.
 
Listen partner...I want giraffe to develop a holistic skillset as much as you do-but a man must know his limitations...
I'd argue a man doesn't know his limitations until he earnestly tries over an extensive period of time. Totally different discipline, but I'm a professional touring/studio musician and producer and I've spent a LOT of time around extremely high level musicians. What mostly makes them extremely high level? A SHIT ton of work and experience going head on AT the thing they aren't good at. Attack your weaknesses. If the dude was 27, fine, but he's a kid, let him grow.
 
I'd argue a man doesn't know his limitations until he earnestly tries over an extensive period of time. Totally different discipline, but I'm a professional touring/studio musician and producer and I've spent a LOT time around extremely high level musicians. What mostly makes them extremely high level? A SHIT ton of work and experience going head on AT the thing they aren't good at. Attack your weaknesses. If the dude was 27, fine, but he's a kid, let him grow.
Solid point. My only counter to this is this...I believe once he establishes his core arsenal on the offensive end, he can then expand off of those strengths. Being a threat on 3 moves opens up the door to keep fine tuning. For example...right now he is struggling to even execute basic dribbling movements- hence, his attempts to get creative on more advanced footwork is a lost cause. There are levels to his growth. A turnover machine shouldn't be dribbling between the legs during crunchtime
of games versus conference rivals. He for damn sure shouldn't be leading fast breaks. I just think he needs to cover the basics first.
 
Solid point. My only counter to this is this...I believe once he establishes his core arsenal on the offensive end, he can then expand off of those strengths. Being a threat on 3 moves opens up the door to keep fine tuning. For example...right now he is struggling to even execute basic dribbling movements- hence, his attempts to get creative on more advanced footwork is a lost cause. There are levels to his growth. A turnover machine shouldn't be dribbling between the legs during crunchtime
of games versus conference rivals. He for damn sure shouldn't be leading fast breaks. I just think he needs to cover the basics first.
I think thats fair, but as a coaching staff I'm not sure I'd muzzle him TOO much. I LOVE when he gets the rebound and brings the ball up the court. You can see the defense kinda panic with how to react to that. Does that mean I think he should ISO from the 3 point line? No, but I do think its effective even if he just gets the matchups out of whack and then passes out.
 
I think thats fair, but as a coaching staff I'm not sure I'd muzzle him TOO much. I LOVE when he gets the rebound and brings the ball up the court. You can see the defense kinda panic with how to react to that. Does that mean I think he should ISO from the 3 point line? No, but I do think its effective even if he just gets the matchups out of whack and then passes out.
Yea- I mean...if he becomes effective at leading the fast break its lights out for the league. Thats for sure.
 
I really don't think the dude is gonna be Giannis or KD, but that doesn't mean he won't be effective with the ball in his hands.
 
I'll take the generic "the answer lies somewhere in the middle" approach - I'm OK with him making mistakes and trying new things as long as it doesn't cost us too many games. At the same time I think he would benefit from further developing his go-to moves to increase his confidence - and having his teammates get him in the right spots where he can execute those go-to moves.

Ultimately I think the right approach just depends on the individual. Some might get discouraged at repeated failure and hide in their shell. Don't want that happening to Mobley. So I don't think "be more aggressive!!!!!" is always appropriate blanket advice.

That being said, the team knows Mobley more than I do and everything points to them encouraging him to be more aggressive, impose himself etc etc. So they must think he can handle it.
 

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