The Cavaliers need way more from Evan Mobley if they want to be taken seriously as contenders

The Cavaliers need way more from Evan Mobley if they want to be taken seriously as contenders

We do got to talk a little bit of Cavs before we get to our final Browns topic of the day. It’s brought to us by FanDuel. The NBA is back. There’s no better place to get in on the action than with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. And right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when their 1st $5 bet wins. So head over to FanDuel.com/UCSS to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. The Cavs lost to the Raptors last night. It happens. — They were down
— 7 record against good teams, Mike, — this
— year. I don’t, I’ll look that up in a sec. The Raptors have won 8 in a row. They’re 2nd in the East, just like the Hawks gave the Cavs mismatches and nightmares. So in terms of the matchup, the Raptors are built in that same mold. Weird matchup. But I want you guys to see this. If anyone didn’t watch it, you could take this graphic here full. This is the total field goal attempts in the game for some of the Cavs players. Donovan Mitchell, 6 of 20. Al Lonzo Ball went 3 of 15, 2 of 12 from 3. That was not good. Jalen Tyson was 6 of 9. Tyrese Proctor was 2 of 9. Nayquan Tomlin was 6 of 8. Why did I list those guys above Evan Mobley on this list? Because they all took more field goal attempts than Evan Mobley. Evan Mobley was 5 of 6 entering the fourth quarter. Donovan could not find his shot. It felt like the perfect opportunity to Evan to step up and be a focal point of the offense down the stretch because from a skill and size standpoint, he is kind of the one mismatch to how Toronto tries to guard. And instead of stepping up in the moment, Evan ended up taking one field goal attempt in the 4th quarter and was essentially non-existent. The loss is whatever. — Why
— is Lonzo Ball shooting the ball so much? He, — he can’t make a
— shot. Uh, in particular in general? No, he can’t. What did he miss last night. — Last
— night he made some shots. He was 3 for 15. Well, — he made 2 of his 1st 2
— 3s, but then he lost and he missed every shot the rest of the game, to be fair, I, after the, the second quarter, I, I didn’t watch the rest of the. Shout out to Peacock. I like their scoreboard. Dude, I like, I like everything about Peacock, dude. They are killing it with this NBA deal, by the way, and their cameras are better. Wait a minute, it looks sharper. No, it’s been proven. — Didn’t they move that awful
— announcing an article about it. Didn’t they move like NBC stuff back to like regular YouTube TV? Like if it’s on Peacock, like you can also just watch it on NBC. — It was on
— the big 3. Like I was watching it on Peacock, but yeah, — but
— it was on Channel 3, which is cool. For like a weeknight game to be on like, you know, 35 or 8, it never happens, but too many, too many of these, these guys taking shots. By the way, you miss your guy Ty Jerome right now. You, you sold you, you, he was your guy. You all sold him out. — You all said he didn’t matter and
— now you miss him. Well, you know, he’s not, he hasn’t played yet. Who cares? Of course he didn’t play. Here’s, here’s the thing about, what do you mean we sold him out, man. Evan Mobley, Evan Mobley, this is, and, and here’s. — The problem with basketball now the
— same thing. — I just went on this rant is
— the problem is we always is trying to project these leaps, man. Like, bro, some people’s game don’t be like that. Sometimes it’s called he was never like that. Like sometimes like he, he didn’t if you weren’t like that in high school, college, juco, junior high, why you think you’re gonna get to the highest level and be like that? Like he to me still. This is the problem with Evan Mobley. I could tell you every great score. I could tell you every great score, and I could tell you where they get their money off at. I could tell you what their pet move is. I could tell you where they’re gonna get to. I can let you know by it on the floor. When you say Evan Mobley, I want him to be aggressive. What does that mean? Taking just threes? Does that mean he gonna get it on the left? Block turn right, drop step. Does that, does, does that mean he gets it on the left block he throw a jump hook? Do we gotta fade? Do what do we have, what he doesn’t have anything that he can go to to be like, yeah, I’m about to get this off, and he’s not extremely, uh, athletic. Like he’s not gonna just, you know, he’s not DeAndre Jordan where he’s 7 ft and I’m jumping out the gym. He’s not. And even when you talk about defensively, yes, he’s good defensively, but he, he’s not changing the game like no Wimby or nothing. It’s like, yes, — nobody does it like he’s
— good, he’s good, yes, he’s good, great, you know, but he’s not, — he’s not
— great, you know what, it has come to the realization that I’m an NBA expert. Sure we are, we are sponsored by who, who’s sponsored today? FanDuel FanDuel, so FanDuel has this section right when you, when you’re betting on the games it’s called PAR points, assists, rebounds, the new hashtag. Is Faye Mobley’s PAR every time you’re gonna hit it every time. He’s never gonna go over. — What I don’t understand
— is never, he’s never, it’s easy money, Fay, whatever his PAR is, he’s not gonna go over, Mike. What I don’t understand is this you had 3 of your 5 best players out, which is a whole another story for another day because that’s a freaking joke. Uh, but So you had Donovan and a bunch of slappies, and for him not to be aggressive in that situation is pathetic, and it sums up him as a player. He’s a good player. He’s a good, obviously an excellent defensive player. He’ll never win a defensive MVP again unless Wemby gets hurt again, which, although he’s hurt again, — so he’ll
— probably keep getting hurt, and they’re coming next week, and I’m, he’s the one player I haven’t seen in person that I’m dying to see in person. Wendy, I saw, I don’t know, I saw him play be here be healthy next week. I went to a game in San Antonio in his rookie year 23. We, we were down doing the UTSA game and we went to, uh, Fay Mobley, — apparently he’s
— 3 inches taller than he was. He’s not gonna be back by next week, right? — I don’t
— think so. And that’s just, and like I, I don’t understand. You can’t take seven shots when you’re the second best player on the team and the 3rd, 4th, and fifth best guys are not there. You know what happens? You know what happened in this game. Remember I went on that rant last week about what the Cavs do when they play good teams and get to the 4th quarter and it’s just Donovan get the ball and get out of the way. The same thing that happened. Donovan You can, you can literally not watch the game and know how it’s going to go, — especially when they’re going up against a good
— opponent. They got the record against good opponents, Mike. No. Invested in this and, and, and, and, and my thing and my thing is too, McNuggets as a big, here’s the thing if your shot ain’t falling or if you ain’t got an offensive game, the thing that irks me about Jared Allen and Evan Mobley is they’re not, they’re not good enough rebounders for what they, what they should. If you ain’t gonna give me. 22 or 23 points and you got an off night. At least give me 15 points and give me 1213, 14 rebounds, 23 blocks at least bring your energy or bring your, your, your, your, your, your, your helmet to the game, right? So two things with Mobley real quick. One thing that’s unacceptable is when he’s not invested offensively, it feels like his energy defensively and on the glass also sputter. Like if you’re not gonna have a big score night, G, to your point, I need 1213 rebounds. I need you to be an absolute enforcer on the defensive end. When his offense isn’t there, it feels like his overall energy levels dip. On the other hand, with Mobley’s offense, He’s put in a situation in two different roles right now and he’s basically being flip-flopped back and forth. Earlier in the year, those 1st 6 games, they said, hey, Ev, you’re going to be the creator, you’re going to be the facilitator. We’re going to run offense through you. We’re going to start you higher up, you’re going to be the focal point. We’re going to see if you can beat guys off the dribble. We’re going to see what you can do. We understand it’s going to be a process. There’ll be some growing pains, but we want to see if you have that capability, right? In those 6 games didn’t go great. DG comes back, they kind of pull back the reins, put him back into this 3rd scoring option, catch the ball, go downhill, which is where he thrived in last year. But imagine being told all offseason this is your team. We need you to take that leap. We’re gonna play through you. We want to see what you can do. And then 6 games in, it kind of gets pulled back. It feels like he has lost some confidence. And you guys know his 3 former athletes and really 4 if you count both’s Little League accomplishments, which do absolutely count. Thank you for that, by the way. Confidence is half the battle with some of this stuff. And for a guy like Evan who we’ve all said isn’t that aggressive and assertive and vocal and demonstrative already. You can’t have a lacking confidence, Evan, to get the best results. And last night, it’s not the first time that he’s been MIA in the fourth quarter. Go back to their first loss against Boston in the playoffs in the, in the regular season last year. They’re 15-0. Mobley dominated the first three quarters and in the fourth quarter, he took one shot again. Kenny, after the game, Said, hey, that’s on me. I got to make sure we keep them more involved against the Pacers in the playoffs Bowl. You for once made a really good observation about the Cavs and pointed out that Mobley was their only offensive threat in the first half. They get 13 points if my number may be off by a second. You’re just jealous because I’ve made a lot of good observations this year, Mike. You’ve been better. — But better than nothing’s not a
— hyper because but you had you hyped up Mobley and you were wrong. I, it’s been this, I did a whole thing. I do my Bleacher Report is my side gig, and today I had to do something on Mobley and just the reality has been he hasn’t been good this year. Like he hasn’t, and it’s hard to justify and 18 and 8 for Dean Wade’s a career year. Like 18-8 is not. Bad, but we expected so much more from Mobley. He is way too talented to just be pretty good. How’s the defensive metrics? Has his defense tailed off too, — or
— no? No, he’s, if you look at like B ball index and all the advanced analytic stuff, it’s still top-notch. It’s not Wemby, but it goes Wemby. Then there’s a group of like 4 or 5 people that next year and he’s writing that next year. I think it’s faulty because I, I, I think what they was working with him this summer, I think people started to understand like they started to think like, oh, your next evolutionary step is you’re gonna get the ball and you’re gonna create like you Durant. He does. his handle ain’t he. He’s got his handle, his handle ain’t tight enough to be having the ball at the top of the key looking to take somebody off the dribble. He put the ball down 3 times. They’re gonna take that. I, I feel like he’s gonna turn the ball over every time he dribbles more than twice. And, and guess what. Make what, give him the ball where, yay, you’re gonna have two dribbles instead of the defense looking at you and guards helping off on you and taking the ball. How’s about getting him the ball in certain spots? Put it to you like this, if you watch that game, you know who, who gets to the spots? Brandon Ingraham. Ingraham gets to his spots and he’s a stone cold assassin. Range he ain’t that fast. He, but he gets right where he needs to be, and that mid-range jumper is money. What is his, what is his pet move if you give him the ball at the elbow and say, Evan, move. Evan, listen, we, we’re gonna work on your footwork. — He’s not a fluid
— athlete, not a, he’s, it’s not a, he’s not a fluid. He’s very, he, he’s, you’re clumsy. With doppy clumsy, I just, — I just used that word in a
— while. I just, it what, what gets me so infuriated is I always think Evans is gonna play his best against Toronto because he’s going up against Scotty Barnes, and Scotty Barnes beat him for that Rookie of the Year, and it still bothers me. It seems it bothers me more than it bothers him man. The fact that Scotty Barnes outduels him again because — he’s just don’t
— understand. I won the first battle between the two don’t understand. Let me, so y’all, — y’all play basketball
— Scotty Barnes is not that good to me. I don’t care what nobody says. Y’all play basketball and y’all play football. When you was a football player in high school and you was playing basketball. You always felt like if you played just a hooper you had the advantage because you were innately more physical. Uh, you wasn’t scared of contact. You can move, you can rough it up a little bit. Scotty Barnes is built different than Evan Mobley, and he, he’s, he’s a less talented guy, but guess what? He’s, he’s physical. He’s bigger. No way he had 18, but it’s like he’s just, it’s just like Mobley, like when he, when he gets guys that, that is bigger in stature. It’s just like he gets his little stuff nullified. They’re like, No, I’ve seen Kevin Durant switch on him and Durant be like, You’re not posting me up, Mike. You would trade Would you trade Mobley for Barnes right now? I don’t like Scotty Barnes. I hate his game and I hate Scotty Barnes. I don’t like his baby. I’ve been consistent. I, I just don’t like his game, so I would not. — Is
— Evan better at anything besides defense? Better shooter. He is. You sure Scotty Barnes can’t shoot. He’s way more skilled. — Scotty Barnes
— is shooting 40% from 3 this year, my friend, on, on what, like 1.5 attempts a game. Uh, let me, I’ll take a look for you. — I didn’t
— even know Brandon Ingram had 3. He’s shooting 40% from 3, taking 3.33s per game. Yeah, I don’t buy that sticks up. But, but Chet, but I wouldn’t take Barnes. I wouldn’t take Barnes. But look, look who leapfrogged him though. Chet Holmgren leapfrogged him. Uh, uh, Sanguon leaped. Uh, look, — would you take Wagner over
— him? — They all in the same
— draft class. Wagner, the other Wagner, take Eddie Wagner’s. — Any foreign
— player, I really like. They’re all tougher. I, I can’t believe I’ve been thinking about it. Put it that way. Look, I can’t believe I’m even thinking about it. — They’re taking Scotty
— Barnes. — Think about how many people they
— know you. Evan Mobley’s a friend. Why you, why are you on us like that? You troll. Don’t do Scotty Barnes. — Scotty
— Barnes is averaging 19. 8 he averages as many rebounds as Mobley. — I
— don’t like his game. More assists, — more
— points. That’s sad. It’s less points, less rebounds, not less points. — Hold
— on, watch this. He’s averaging 19 a game. Watch this. This is crazy. Scotty Bars. — This is going
— slightly more, slightly more. You’re right. Fox, look at it. Is Evan Mobley better? Than prime Kevin Love. — Kevin
— Love. Are you are you high? — Kevin Love’s a Hall of Famer
— and, and, and nobody ripped Kevin Love more than me here and, and he was, and when he was here, he was fat Kevin Love, he, they, — we
— gave you, — you talking about the 2020 Kevin Love fat
— Kevin Love is good. Kevin Love was great. — He got skinny and
— he stunk. I, I mean, but, but, but like I’m sitting here thinking about it. The skinny Kevin Love, the skinny Kevin Love 2014, 20 like the 2016 skinny Kevin Love. I don’t know if this Mobley is better than that version. No, Kevin Love at his best is way better than Mobley. — Not
— even close. Mobley is the highest. He just needs to play better. — Mobley
— Mobley is a better overall player. Kevin Love was better offensively. That’s probably a good way to put it. All right guys, we got one last topic. Moy’s not a better all-around player than Kevin Love just because he plays better. Hold on, wait a Kevin. — We sit
— here dogging Evan, but we’re not gonna go overboard. — Kevin
— Love is a much better scorer, a much better shooter. Rebounder, a much better passer. — He is
— better at everything but defense. Let me know in the chat, and I hate it. I, I, I killed Kevin Love. Let me know. — Let me
— know that Mike. Don’t be crazy. Evan Molly is not a better basketball player than Kevin Love. That’s crazy. I said prime Kevin Love’s better. Yeah, — of
— course I’m throwing it in there.

Brandon Ingram scored 15 of his season-high 37 points in the third quarter, Scottie Barnes had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-99 on Monday night for their eighth straight win.

Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 12 points and Immanuel Quickley had 11 for Toronto, which has won 12 of 13.

Two of the Raptors’ victories in their streak have come against the Cavaliers. Toronto swept the season series for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell had 17 points but shot 6 of 20, going 3 of 12 from 3-point range.

Jaylon Tyson scored 15 points, and Evan Mobley and Nae’Qwan each had 14 for Cleveland. Lonzo Ball shot 3 for 15, missing 10 of 12 attempts from long range to finish with eight points.

Toronto closed the first half with a 13-2 run to lead 57-54 at the break.

The Raptors played without RJ Barrett, who has a sprained right knee. Barrett left Sunday’s win over Brooklyn in the third quarter after landing awkwardly on a fast-break dunk. Tests did not reveal a serious injury, coach Darko Rajakovic said. | https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401810139

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