Atkinson considers Mobley a ‘wing/big’
Cavs news and links for Wednesday, Nov. 6.
The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the New Orleans Pelicans later tonight.
The first sip
Evan Mobley put together likely the best three-minute stretch of his career in the second quarter of Monday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Before the game, Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson talked about why he doesn’t consider Mobley a traditional center.
“When you look at bigs in this league, it’s just evolved,” Atkinson said. “Your traditional big [would be put] down on the block or playing in pick-and-rolls all the time. [Evan] is more of a hybrid.
“He’s kind of a wing/big. Is that possible? Because he’s handling the ball a lot more. So to me, that means you [have] wing characteristics. I think that’s a good thing when you play wing.”
Mobley has shown that versatility on defense throughout his career. The offensive side of the court is less clear, although he’s making progress.
While Mobley does have wing skills, he hasn’t consistently shown he can operate at his best when sharing the floor with another center like wings can consistently do. He’s done a much better job of attacking offensively when Jarrett Allen is on the court as well, but most of his damage comes when he’s the only big.
Still, it’s difficult to argue with Atkinson’s overall point. Mobley does have some of the skillsets needed to play both vastly different roles.
“He can play pick-and-roll,” Atkinson said. “He can roll without it and he can also handle it. That’s a lot of things in his bag. That [makes him] kind of a big slash wing or wing slash big. He fits that category.”
Mobley has one of the most unique skill sets in the league. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers called Mobley “a version of Giannis [Antetokounmpo]” before the game. While you can see some of the similarities, that comparison falls short for several reasons.
It’s difficult to picture something you can’t properly contextualize. The lack of comparisons to Mobley makes it tough to figure out what the best version of his game looks like. Describing him as a wing/big may be the best description anyone has used to describe his game, but it isn’t perfect.
Join us for the Cavs game on Playback
Join me and Tony Pesta for our live stream watch party on Playback of the Cavs and Pelicans game tonight. You can do so at this link here.
Watch this
Tony did a great job of breaking down what Darius Garland did well in Monday’s showdown with Damian Lillard.
NBA schedule today
- Cavs at Pelicans - 8 PM
- Pistons vs. Hornets - 7 PM
- Magic vs. Pacers - 7 PM
- Knicks vs. Hawks - 7:30 PM
- Warriors vs. Celtics - 7:30 PM, ESPN
- Spurs vs. Rockets - 8 PM
- Lakers vs. Grizzlies - 8 PM
- Bulls vs. Mavs - 8:30 PM
- Thunder vs. Nuggets - 9 PM
- Heat vs. Suns - 9 PM
- 76ers vs. Clippers - 10 PM, ESPN
- Raptors vs. Kings - 10 PM