Cavs Mailbag: How To Keep Evan Mobley Aggressive

Welcome to Cavs Mailbag! In this daily mailbag, Spencer Davies will respond to fans’ curiosities surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout the duration of the 2023-24 season. In order to submit yours, simply send your questions on X to @SpinDavies or via email at spindavies22@gmail.com.

The Cavs are coming off a solid 118-110 redemption victory over the Golden State Warriors in the Bay Area and their first regular-season sweep of the Dubs since the 2009-10 campaign.

The wine-and-gold have the Sacramento Kings next. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, All-Star point guard De’Aaron Fox went through morning shootaround and is expected to return to the court tonight after missing five games with a sprained ankle.

It should be a speedy affair at the Golden 1 Center, as Cleveland looks to capitalize on its momentum from Saturday.

With that said, and the weekend behind us, let’s get to your questions.

How should the Cavs plan to keep Mobley more aggressive throughout a game? - @qshironalbertie

Thanks for asking the first question, Quenton! Glad to see you're doing well and doing your thing man.

It appears Evan Mobley is at his most comfortable in the triple-threat position on the block. He has solid footwork and is better off using his finesse and evasion skills than trying to go through bigger players at this juncture. His counter moves when he’s under control are advantageous in getting defenders to prematurely jump. If the Cavs can get him the ball that way, and try to find mismatches, it should work out in his favor. Attempting seven free throws vs. a smaller Warriors team is a good sign.

Mobley is also tough to handle when he is in the dunker spot, moving around the baseline. You’ll see more of that as Jarrett Allen continues to draw attention as a roller. It appears Cleveland likes to get Allen going early first, but that’ll turn into big-to-big action soon enough where Mobley will be on the receiving end. Try to limit his work in isolation until he shows more consistency that way.

What do you expect the Cavs will do or think they should do tonight to limit Sabonis? - @WillSD3V

Since his days with the Indiana Pacers, Domantas Sabonis has given the Cavs so many headaches. He’s an elite rolling threat and a terrific dribble handoff hub. He and Fox truly have a synergy that Cleveland will have its hands full with. He is a physical player who loves to operate back-to-basket, so the further away from his spots the Cavs can keep him, the better.

You’ve got to keep him off the offensive glass too, an area where Cleveland has struggled early this year.

Has Caris LeVert been the Cavs best player this season? - @mprugh

It’s hard to take that title away from Donovan Mitchell and it’s not just the scoring that makes me say that. Mitchell’s been outstanding defensively with his timing and big-play ability. However, I’m glad that people’s eyes are finally opening up to how invaluable Caris LeVert is on a nightly basis. He just does so many things, and defensively, he’s been Cleveland’s best on the perimeter. That’s especially key with Isaac Okoro being out of action.

I wrote at length about LeVert's consistency a couple of days ago in more detail. The team covets him for a reason.

Do you think the last Golden State game could be a blueprint for better team success in terms of balanced scoring? It was nice to not have to rely on Garland and Mitchell to HAVE to make a play. - @FuznFancy

Yes. That is exactly how it should be. Everybody needs to touch the ball and everybody needs to eat. There are moments where guys have to step up in less-than-ideal situations because basketball can’t always be perfect, but when you take care of the basketball, share it with your teammates and trust one another, there’s nothing better.

Multiple efforts in single possessions stand out too, and we’ve seen a lot of those moments from guys like LeVert and Max Strus.

What does Dean gotta do to get called for fouls less? - @qleveland

It has not been Dean Wade’s best season so far. For the most part, the foul calls have looked correct. It is a shame that some simple box outs get whistled for too much contact. Still, Wade has to be better shuffling his feet and staying in front. He’s being overaggressive on the perimeter with his closeouts and when opponents swing it around. He’s been a little handsy too.

Wade just has to stay more disciplined, that’s all. He is giving them life on the boards at least.