That night the Cavaliers suffocated Joel Embiidand Evan Mobley notably proved that he was a formidable “two-player”, capable of weighing on both sides of the field. Despite a rather light physique, he stood up to Embiid, and the latter promises him a great future in the NBA, to the point of sticking his name to the references of the genre. Words reminiscent of those of Giannis Antetokounmpo a few days ago.
“He has the opportunity” believes Joel Embiidlimited to 19 points on 6 of 16 on shots. “I like him a lot and I think he has a lot of potential. I think he can be one of the best interiors in the NBA. Who are we talking about in this case? By (Nikola) Jokic. From Towns. I think it can be just as good. (…) It’s a question of opportunities. If he’s given the chance to keep making mistakes and learn from them and keep improving, I think he can reach that level. But he is already very good”.
When Joel Embiid talks about opportunities, he means opportunities to show up, take ownership and be a leader. For now, Evan Mobley is a lieutenant, behind Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. But in Cleveland, we assure that he has the green light to express himself as he wishes.
“He’s always told he can do whatever he wants offensively because he needs to be rewarded for what he does defensively.” explains Darius Garland. “When he finds himself in isolation and he shoots after his dribble, we love it. I think we see him doing it all the time in training and we want him to be more aggressive and assertive in attack. It’s just a matter of believing it because his arsenal is crazy! »
“We don’t want it to be categorized and its playing volume to be reduced”
Same story with JB Bickerstaff who is lucky enough to be able to use it in 4 or 5, as the Heat used Chris Bosh before. Evan Mobley is a mobile, technical and versatile interior. He has everything to become one of the best.
“His potential is unlimited” summarizes the coach. “I think we’ve seen it many times. There’s not much on the pitch that he can’t do. The more you observe it, and I think we have seen it, the more it asserts itself. He looks for opportunities. If we combine his qualities with his hunter mentality, he will be difficult to manage. We don’t want it to be categorized and reduced in play volume. On the contrary, we want him to flourish because we think he can. »
One thing is certain, Evan Mobley wants to challenge the greatest, and his duel against Joel Embiid proves it. “He’s a competitor! I sometimes think his calmness is deceiving, when I don’t know anyone else with such a passion for competition.” concludes his coach. ” He is not scared. He is ready to take on any challenge thrown at him. Embiid is an MVP level player, one of the best pivots, and Evan rose to the challenge. »
| Evan Mobley | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2021-22 | KEY | 69 | 34 | 50.8 | 25.0 | 66.3 | 2.1 | 6.2 | 8.3 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 15.0 |
| 2022-23 | KEY | 21 | 34 | 54.5 | 21.1 | 68.4 | 2.8 | 6.2 | 9.1 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 15.0 |
| Total | 90 | 34 | 51.6 | 24.3 | 66.8 | 2.2 | 6.2 | 8.4 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 15.0 | |
