The Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee hosted Evan Mobley’s Cavs last night, an opportunity to revive the game of comparisons between the young sophomore and the major from Wisconsin, Giannis Antetokounmpo. And at the end of the interview we find the Greek Freak himself praising the qualities of his opponent of the evening, even if the latter was clumsy in the Cleveland defeat (8 points for 2/12 shooting).
Since graduating from high school and entering USC in the NCAA, comparisons between Evan Mobley and the league’s power forwards have multiplied. And more often than not, it’s not to put it into perspective with Aleksej Pokusevski. We already include the young insider in profiles such as Kevin Garnett, or even the most famous Greek on the basketball planet: Giannis Antetokounmpo. If the game of comparisons is often tricky, sometimes it is useful to identify the main axes of progress of a prospect or a young player. But what about the Greek Freak, who passed Mobley last night? Well, and even more.
“He can be better than me. Honestly, I don’t see why he couldn’t. It just depends on him. Personally I will always try to improve myself every day, but he has the qualities to be a very, very good player. He is a 7 footer [2m13, ndlr.], he’s very mobile, he can shoot, he’s smart… As you said, he watches a lot of other players’ videos, which is very good for a young player. If he takes things seriously, he will become excellent. » Giannis Antetokounmpo for Cleveland. com.
We do not doubt the qualities and potential of Evan Mobley, but from there to become better than the Greek Freak himself? We are still talking about a double MVP who weighs seriously in the discussion on the best forwards of all time at “only” 28 years old, and who still runs at the start of the season with 31 points, more than 11 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Could Mobley even dream of this kind of record?
“I didn’t get his averages my sophomore season, so at that level he’s already ahead of me. Her future is in her hands. If he stays humble, keeps working hard, focuses on playing him and loves him, he’s going to be really, really good. »
On this point we cannot contradict Giannis. If we compare the second season of the two interiors, Evan is ahead of his eldest son by almost two points (14.5 for Mobley, 12.7 for Giannis). On rebounding, the gap is the same: 8.5 rebounds in the second season for Mobley, against 6.7 for Antetokounmpo. If the young Cavalier registers slightly fewer assists, he already protects the basket better and his shooting percentages are much higher. However, the Greek has enjoyed steady progress throughout his career and his younger brother will need the same kind of development to hold his own in the long run.
For Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff, when questioned on the matter, it is a comparison that goes far beyond simple statistics. Like a Giannis Antetokounmpo, Mobley is, according to his manager, already one of the most impactful players in the Great League.
“Evan has the opportunity to be the most impactful player on the court every night, regardless of his stats or what anyone else says. There are the intangibles and the overall impact of its presence on making the right choices at the right time. His ability to protect the racket, for example: most of the time when guys see him in, they don’t even try to get in, there’s no stats for that. When he catches the ball and makes a hockey assist [la passe avant la passe décisive, ndlr.], there is no trace of this in the box scores. Its presence in the paint when riding [après les écrans, ndlr.], players have to pick him up and this creates openings for his teammates. They don’t put it in the stats sheet. »
Even there, and even if there are statistics to relate the impact Bickerstaff talks about, we are obliged to validate his observation. Evan Mobley is already among the most deterrent interiors in the League, as is Giannis Antetokounmpo, to whom we like to compare the young Cavalier so much. But the path is still long and full of pitfalls for Evan.
Text source: Cleveland.com
