No Ceilings

Have really liked what I’ve seen out of Darius Ratliff early on during his freshman campaign. Between the exhibitions and USC’s first official contest, the 7’ freshman has looked the part of a modern stretch big, who can both space the floor and protect the rim on the other end.

From the moment I watched the ball leave his fingertips at Wasatch for the first time, I became a John Mobley Jr. believer. When it comes to John Mobley’s junior season NBA prospect campaign, I have a ton of questions–but those questions have little to do with my belief in him. The questions I do have? Is a NPOY season on the table? If Christian Anderson could be a top 20 pick in a loaded draft, why can’t John Mobley Jr. in a quote-unquote “weaker” draft? Is this just a Markus Howard redux? Or…is Juni Mobley the next Wardell Curry? Well, obviously that is a bat shit crazy question…BUT! Nobody is going to be the next Steph Curry. He is an outlier of outliers. But what if Mobley sees a big bump in creation responsibilities this season, raising his usage AND his assist percentage balloons above 30 percent? What happens if you give the best shooting prospect in the world an upgraded engine? Steph Curry didn’t carry a crazy offensive load until his junior season, when he nearly doubled his assists per game. Christian Anderson went from an AST% of just 12% during his freshman season to 35% in his sophomore season once he took the keys to the offense. Now that Bruce Thornton has moved on it isn’t completely off the table that we see a similar scenario with Juni. It’s looking good after one game! Now, the small guard tax is real. No longer can a small guard be a one-trick pony, even if said small guard is best in the world at that one trick. Where Anderson and Steph separated themselves offensively in their pre-draft seasons was not only in their floor spacing specialty, but in the volume in which they were able to leverage their gravity to make plays for others. I believe we’re going to see Mobley make plays for his teammates at a higher clip this season, as he has shown comfortability in operating ball screens and making reactionary reads when he does touch paint. In ball screens, Mobley plays with good pace, using creative set-ups through a series of crossovers and in-and-outs to try to get the defense on their heels a bit. Mobley’s logo range means that those defenses are going to hard hedge at best or play at the level at worst. When teams blitz to get the ball out of his hands, Mobley does a good job staying calm and getting the ball out quickly. When he can retreat out of a hard hedge, Mobley uses his creative handle to maneuver around the floor, with all eyes on him. Survey enough to sling the ball wherever the open man may be. He slips pocket passes in catchable spots to the big, can throw over the top leading his roller to the rim, and has shown intriguing passes skipping the ball to the weak side. If Mobley shows more manipulative passing, reading the backside early as he shifts the defense by simply choosing a side, we’re cooking with gas. I know at this point you may be reading this and wonder how I’ve merely mentioned Mobley’s all-world shooting in passing, so let’s get to the fun part. I believe that John Mobley Jr. is the best shooting prospect in the world. I think whether you want to eye test the beauty within the aesthetics or look at the metrics, this is an all-time shooter. As a sophomore, Mobley connected on 41.1% of his 236 total threes–good for a whopping 14.5 3P/100. These are tough looks, not just stand-in-the-corner spot-ups–though he knocked down 45.3% of his spot-ups, including 50% of his unguarded attempts–Mobley is an audacious shooter, with parking lot range. Mobley also knocked down 38.3% of his 115 dribble jumpers as a sophomore that he created by utilizing his tight creative handle and ability to play high-to-low. Mobley can also marry his on-ball shooting with elite off-ball creation. If Mobley gets a clean look out of a spot-up, you may as well start running back the other way, but he also flies off screens and uses his lightning-quick release and ability to stay balanced off-platform to connect on movement threes.