OKC Thunder: Giddey stays in top 5 of TI’s week 3 rookie ladder

No. 2 – Evan Mobley – Cleveland Cavaliers

Rookie category rankings:

• Blocks: 1.3 – first
• Double-Doubles: four (first)
• Rebounds: 8.0 – second
• Offensive rebounds: 1.9 – second
• Points: 14.9 – third
• Field Goals Made: 6.0 – third
• Assists: 2.5 – sixth
• Steals: 0.9 – ninth
• Field Goal Percent: 51.9%

I grappled with the placement of the top two and it’s not a clear delineation as they both impact winning and their teammates’ ability to succeed.

While I suspect this will be a back and forth battle between these two most of the season I’m perhaps taking a bit of a biased placement given I’ve watched every Raptors game and only half of Mobley’s matches. Albeit mostly due to there only being so many hours in a day.

Two of Evan Mobley‘s games offered plenty of goodies with the Barnes matchup in Toronto and his breakout at the Mecca versus the Knicks. In the latter, Mobley put up an impressive line of 26 points (11 of 15), nine rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block.

Both rookies played well in Toronto with Mobley winning the point battle (+4) but not attempting a field goal after the third quarter and Barnes outrebounding him 9-5 (6-0 offensive boards).

This match influenced my decision the most, as it offered a direct comparison of the two. While Barnes got more aggressive and active as the game progressed Mobley did all his damage prior to the fourth.

In contrast, six of Barnes’ 19 shot attempts came in the final frame, plus an assist and most impressively three critical offensive rebounds against the Cleveland Towers (Mobley/Allen) and sometimes against a trio or quartet of Cavs.

Mobley and Barnes spent ample time defending each other which also offered some intriguing takeaways:

Mobley: 18 points (7 of 14), five rebounds, two assists, block, two turnovers, minus -7:

Barnes guarded Mobley individually six times with Mobley scoring on two of the six, plus once in tandem with VanVleet on a broken play. Of his five defensive rebounds, only one was in direct competition with Barnes.

Barnes: 14 points (7 of 19), nine rebounds (six offensive rebounds), four assists, steal, two blocks, no turnovers, plus +5:

Mobley guarded Barnes on his own six times with Barnes scoring on half and missing half. The difference was the tandem of Mobley and Allen (sometimes joined by a third Cavalier) guarded Barnes on SEVEN of his shots with Barnes scoring just once but again the Cavs needed multiple players to stop the Raptors rookie.

Barnes rebounds and other intangibles:

Also notable was the rebounding effort of the two, Barnes was often the lone Raptors player in the paint battling two to four Cavs for boards.

Of his six offensive boards, only one of the six was facing one other player who happened to be Mobley. The other five Barnes grabbed facing two, three, or four Cavs with Mobley in that mix on four occasions!  In addition, his steal and one of his two blocks were against Mobley.