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Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland brought up on his own several times that Evan Mobley should be the Defensive Player of the Year during his postgame press conference after their win over the Chicago Bulls.<\/p>\n
So, I asked him to make the case for his teammate. Garland didn\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n
First, he picked up the stat sheet, as if he was reading off of a script he\u2019d been working on for days.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvan Mobley,\u201d Garland said as he dramatically scrolled his finger from one end of the stat sheet to the other. \u201cHmmm. One personal foul tonight. That\u2019s good. He doesn\u2019t hack. He doesn\u2019t scream at the refs. He goes and blocks shots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s pause Garland\u2019s argument there to underline a few things.<\/p>\n
Bringing up Mobley\u2019s lack of fouling is a key point that is often overlooked in this conversation.<\/p>\n
Mobley\u2019s ability to contest shots without fouling is remarkable. He\u2019s in the 90th percentile for bigs in foul percentage. That\u2019s while being second in the league in contested shots per game (10.4) among players who would be eligible for the award. He does this while being in the 81st percentile for block percentage.<\/p>\n
Both of these are clear advantages over Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, the player who is currently the favorite for the award according to most sports books<\/p>\n
Green is in the 31st percentile for foul percentage while contesting nearly one and a half less shots a game and being in just the 60th percentile for block percentage.<\/p>\n
Mobley\u2019s defensive instincts and quick jumping ability allow for this to happen. He doesn\u2019t need to over-commit to blow up a play. He can allow the offensive player to make the first move and still put a contest or block on the shot.<\/p>\n
Being able to stay on the court more for your team because you aren\u2019t in foul trouble while not needlessly sending the other team to the line is incredibly valuable. It\u2019s one of the things that instantly sets Mobley apart from other great defensive bigs like Green and Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/p>\n
As Garland says, Mobley doesn\u2019t hack.<\/p>\n
Now let\u2019s get back to Garland\u2019s argument.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlocks, deflections, switching out one through five when on elite guards,\u201d Garland said. \u201cIt\u2019s really a guard\u2019s league right now, and he\u2019s switching out on the top guards in the league and really holding his own. We all stay home when he gets the switch. That\u2019s how much confidence we have in him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mobley has not only survived in these situations, he\u2019s thrived.<\/p>\n
Guards have a difficult time getting anything against Mobley due to his incredible lateral quickness and his size. Typically, a guard will try to create space for their jump shot or blow by the big due to their quickness advantage.<\/p>\n
You simply can\u2019t do that against Mobley.<\/p>\n
That skill extends to being able to hang with other bigger forwards like Kevin Durant on the perimeter as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean what doesn\u2019t he do?\u201d Garland asked.<\/p>\n
The answer is not much on the defensive end given that he\u2019s also an impactful rebounder. The raw rebounding numbers show this as Mobley is grabbing 3.6 missed shots per game than Green is.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s also the conversation about defensive on\/off numbers, which is what Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson recently pointed to as support for Mobley\u2019s DPOY case.<\/p>\n
This also favors Mobley. The Cavs are 4.8 points per 100 possessions better on defense with Mobley on while the Warriors are 2.8 points better with Green on compared to when he\u2019s off.<\/p>\n
So why isn\u2019t Mobley the favorite in the race again?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just doesn\u2019t express it how other people express it. … I can go on Twitter and go on a podcast and do the same thing for my boy, but I\u2019m gonna let him talk his talk,\u201d Garland said.<\/p>\n
Garland then dramatically picked up the microphone from the podium in front of him and moved it over to Mobley so that he could tell everyone why he should be Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n
Mobley doesn\u2019t always seem comfortable promoting himself like Green, but Garland\u2019s argument for him seemed to give him some confidence to state his case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, what he said is a lot of it,\u201d Mobley said, before fully diving into why he deserves the recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing is a guy my size, my wingspan, my agility, you don\u2019t really see that in the contenders. There\u2019s nobody even close to that. And also the stats as well speak for itself. The blocks, the fouls, I mean, I don\u2019t foul. Steals, deflections. Also, people don\u2019t even go up against me in the paint. So that\u2019s not even a stat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe defense is kind of run so I\u2019m involved in a lot of the actions. Me and J.A. (Jarrett Allen) are protecting the paint that is based around us. So that\u2019s a factor as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he averages 1.6 blocks a game,\u201d Garland interjected. \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of blocks. So I\u2019m just saying.\u201d<\/p>\n
These are all points in favor of Mobley. This isn\u2019t to say that Green isn\u2019t a great defender. It\u2019s just that Mobley is better and has done so on a far and away more successful team this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on bro, this shouldn\u2019t be a question,\u201d Garland said before exiting the stage.<\/p>\n
And really, it shouldn\u2019t be a question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“I could go on Twitter, or go on a podcast and do the same thing for my boy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":51063,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n