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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
Or Jermain O'Neil. Came out of high school I believe. Raw, skinny, showed not much outside of athleticism and blocking shots, went to Indiana and polished his mud range on the block.
 
Time and hard work will make Mobley a better player. There is not doubt that he is nowhere near a finished product. He will gain skill and polish with repetition. He will get mentally and physically stronger with age. He will make better decisions with experience. He is a pretty good NBA player right now. He will be considerably better by the time he's 25. What none of us know is how much better. I think his floor is really high. I think worst case scenario (beyond a career changing injury) is a just below all-star caliber power forward, which still makes him a very good player. More likely is a player that reaches some all-star games before its all over. And if it all comes together, if he has that unique drive, personality, and good fortune, that allows someone to be special, he may have the physical gifts to do it.
 
Evan had a 30 point game in his rookie year against the Clippers.

He's had a 29 point game against the Rockets in his rookie year.

He's had a 26 point game against the Knicks last season.

He's had a 26 point game this year against the Clippers.

He had a seven game stretch after Jarrett Allen went down late last season (March 6th until March 18th) where he was averaging 21+ points and 12+ rebounds. He was starting at center because JBB didn't want to pair him and Moses Brown (when he was brought aboard) to start games for whatever reason. Eventually, inevitably, he ran out of gas, but it was an important stretch of offensive production for the team (team was 4-3 for those games and on the downspiral to end the year).

Evan's had plenty of Future+ Potential Indicator type games from a scoring/boxscore standpoint, much more so when you start observing things that don't appear in the box score (offenses/players literally changing what they want to do because he's in their path). He has plenty of room to hone his game. Even beyond physical aspects, sometimes he sags just 'slightly' too far from a perimeter shooter when they attempt a shot. His length and contest ability is very good and makes up a ton of ground but if he were to be in position just a little closer on players, some of those contested shots become passes or are more likely to miss. With more iterations around the league, these smaller things will be honed.

The work in progress aspect isn't always going to yield great results, he will have subpar games from time to time, but the foundation is there to become a foundational player not just for this team, but for the entire league.

In any case, I love the discussion and the various viewpoints! I think folks are making fair points and the expression has merit!

The Year Two season isn't even in the books yet. It's a page turner, that's for damn sure.
 
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Weird to think a fan base that watched Darius Garland develop would have such a lack of patience.
 
Weird to think a fan base that watched Darius Garland develop would have such a lack of patience.
I found year 2 Garland more impressive. Just my opinion though. At the conclusion of Garlands sophmore season...wasn't he projected to be likeliest to have a breakout 3rd year? - And did he ever. I would like to see a big game from Mobley tonight- maybe 20 & 10- sprinkled with 2 blocks and maybe only one traveling violation.
 
Exactly if he isnt Giannis in 10 years, he was a waste of a pick.
All jokes aside- if he doesn't become top 3 of his draft class would you be disappointed? I would. Not devastated obviously- but I mean-our chance at a ring lies on his shoulders. DG & Spida, while not completely finished products, seem to be pretty close to their peaks. Mobley is the wild card. It is for this reason I am the most emotionally invested in his progress and why I loiter around on this thread.
 
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I found year 2 Garland more impressive. Just my opinion though. At the conclusion of Garlands sophmore season...wasn't he projected to be likeliest to have a breakout 3rd year? - And did he ever. I would like to see a big game from Mobley tonight- maybe 20 & 10- sprinkled with 2 blocks and maybe only one traveling violation.

Then it's just my opinion you aren't seeing the entire game at all, and only one side of the ball.

There's a reason that as soon as Mobley stepped on the court in his rookie year the Cavs went from a bottom 10 defense to a top 10 defense and an awful 25 win team to an above .500 team and there's a reason that in Garland's second year they sucked ass.

The difference was Evan Mobley.

People can see different things, but if you thought Garland in his 2nd year was better than Mobley is right now, it's wrong...
 
All jokes aside- if he doesn't become top 3 of his draft class would you be disappointed? I would. Not devastated obviously- but I mean-our chance at a ring lies on his shoulders. DG & Spida, while not completely finished products, seem to be pretty close to their peaks. Mobley is the wild card. It is for this reason I am the most emotionally invested in his progress and why I loiter around on this thread.

He is a top 3 player from his draft class, right now.
 
Then it's just my opinion you aren't seeing the entire game at all, and only one side of the ball.

There's a reason that as soon as Mobley stepped on the court in his rookie year the Cavs went from a bottom 10 defense to a top 10 defense and an awful 25 win team to an above .500 team and there's a reason that in Garland's second year they sucked ass.

The difference was Evan Mobley.

People can see different things, but if you thought Garland in his 2nd year was better than Mobley is right now, it's wrong...
Fair enough. I recognize Garlands limitations on D. He is about as inept defensively as Mobley is offensively and that is not hyperbole. With that said, I still maintain that Garland>Mobley year 2. Garland also seems to be a leader. Ya i know-intangibles are silly to rate but there is something to be said for leadership aptitude. Mitchell also has this trait. Frankly, Mobley looks scared, passive,& indifferent at times.
 
Fair enough. I recognize Garlands limitations on D. He is about as inept defensively as Mobley is offensively and that is not hyperbole. With that said, I still maintain that Garland>Mobley year 2. Garland also seems to be a leader. Ya i know-intangibles are silly to rate but there is something to be said for leadership aptitude. Mitchell also has this trait. Frankly, Mobley looks scared, passive,& indifferent at times.

Garland is most definitely not a leader in the way Mitchell is and is prone to falling apart when the rest of the team does, compounding the issues with some awful TOs right when the team needs him to settle them down.


But that's neither here nor there.


For three straight years they were bottom 5 defensive team. For three straight years, they were a sub 30 win team and over those three years they had the worst cumulative record in the entire NBA.

And mind you, early on in one of those years they acquired Jarrett Allen and that made roughly zero difference on the team W/L record.


And then Mobley joined the team and transformed the defense.

There was no such transformation with Garland. Not in his rookie year. Not in his second year. Just looked like a rudderless team with little hope for the future and no star level prospect on the roster.


Garland is a good player today, but if he's leading your team, you're in trouble.

I think of Detroit. Cunningham has a lot of pretty stats and has an aesthetic game but his impact on winning and losing right now is downright negative.

As soon as he got hurt, Detroit starting playing better ball, and it's not coincidence.
 
Garland is most definitely not a leader in the way Mitchell is and is prone to falling apart when the rest of the team does, compounding the issues with some awful TOs right when the team needs him to settle them down.


But that's neither here nor there.


For three straight years they were bottom 5 defensive team. For three straight years, they were a sub 30 win team and over those three years they had the worst cumulative record in the entire NBA.

And mind you, early on in one of those years they acquired Jarrett Allen and that made roughly zero difference on the team W/L record.


And then Mobley joined the team and transformed the defense.

There was no such transformation with Garland. Not in his rookie year. Not in his second year. Just looked like a rudderless team with little hope for the future and no star level prospect on the roster.


Garland is a good player today, but if he's leading your team, you're in trouble.

I think of Detroit. Cunningham has a lot of pretty stats and has an aesthetic game but his impact on winning and losing right now is downright negative.

As soon as he got hurt, Detroit starting playing better ball, and it's not coincidence.
Mitchell is a leader amongst men...that we can agree with. Yes, Mobley has anchored the defense, alongside his sidekick Allen. I am probably in the minority when I say this but...I would choose Garland over Mobley for the next 10 years. I just love the kid and everything he brings to the table as a young point guard. But Mobley should breakout anytime now...and I will be thrilled.
 
Mitchell is a leader amongst men...that we can agree with. Yes, Mobley has anchored the defense, alongside his sidekick Allen. I am probably in the minority when I say this but...I would choose Garland over Mobley for the next 10 years. I just love the kid and everything he brings to the table as a young point guard. But Mobley should breakout anytime now...and I will be thrilled.
I feel like this is a wild take. Garland is awesome but his skillset is way more common and replaceable.

How many mobile weakside defenders that can switch out and anchor a defense are there? How many of those guys perfectly read offensive flow and are 21? How many guys are there that can both drop and attack the screen? How many of those guys show legitimate passing vision and tremendous instinct on the other side of the floor?

Also think its ridiculous to say Mobley isn't a leader. Everyone on the team says he is the leader of the defense. There are multiple ways to lead. Timmy did it quietly . Mobley does it that way too. Not everyone has to be an asshole like MJ or Kobe
 
The strikes against Mobley are that 1) He's a big and 2) He's young. With most young bigs coming out of college these days, nobody is coming into the league a finished product. No 20-10 seasons, no playoff runs, and no dominance. But he compensates for that with his elite defense, sharing the offense with some amazing shot-makers, and great b-ball IQ.

Many guys started out the same way, but I think there's one guy we can start a comparison with: Kevin Garnett.
  1. KG was a rook at 19 years old, giving him an extra year over Mobley.
  2. He also played 11 more games.
So why did the stats look like this?

KG28 minutes10 points6 rebounds2 assists
Mobley33 minutes15 points8 rebounds2 assists

The reason for these stats is because of a discrepancy between KG's pre-all star break numbers versus after the break:
  1. He first only started 6 of 43 games.
  2. Just 21 minutes a game, barely 6 points and 4 boards.
  3. And only had double-digit points in 6 games.
After the break, there was a complete transformation:
  1. Garnett broke out in 37 games.
  2. He averaged 37 minutes a game, 15 points, 8 rebounds, among other key stats.
  3. I wonder which player did this in HIS rookie season (does it rhyme with "Drobley")?
Garnett started to emerge a star his 2nd year. By January of 1997, he was scoring a then-best 19 points a game that month. At the end, he took a team-2nd best of 14 shots attempted/game. Tom Gugliotta was the leader in points and shots taken. And Stephon Marbury, a rookie, was the only other major shot maker.

So what about Mobley? He's virtually the same so far in 2 months. But he also shares the load with 2 amazing scorers in Mitchell and Garland and in the paint with Allen. Mobley barely takes 11 shots a game...

Using stats, Garnett and Mobley's games are very similar (especially by minute basis). And remember that KG played more minutes a game (+4) and took more shots (2).

Per 36 MinutesEvan MobleyKevin Garnett
PTS/G15.415.7
TRB/G97.4
AST/G2.62.8
STL/G1.11.3
BLK/G1.42

He had a terrible game against the Bucks, but there's plenty of time to see what he'll do. And it's promising. I'm going to just watch and see, for now.
 
I feel like this is a wild take. Garland is awesome but his skillset is way more common and replaceable.

How many mobile weakside defenders that can switch out and anchor a defense are there? How many of those guys perfectly read offensive flow and are 21? How many guys are there that can both drop and attack the screen? How many of those guys show legitimate passing vision and tremendous instinct on the other side of the floor?

Also think its ridiculous to say Mobley isn't a leader. Everyone on the team says he is the leader of the defense. There are multiple ways to lead. Timmy did it quietly . Mobley does it that way too. Not everyone has to be an asshole like MJ or Kobe
I am glad we can disagree and still discuss this in a civil manner. I agree with many of your points. I am still taking Garland. Is that really that wild? I would venture to think that there are others on this board who would take Garland over Mobley. They must exist.
 

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