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How much should we be talking about Donovan?

oneye said:
Speaking of Dame. I noticed he shot 7/20 last night against the Warriors. It’s just kind of what you get with a shooter I think. We may be expecting too much efficiency. Still could make better decisions, but lots of stars are inefficient.
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Dame is money off the dribble and bends the whole defense though... gets to the line. Guys that rely on shooting as much as he does will be susceptible to bad nights though.
 
Spinoza said:
At some point he'll start to understand the game and himself better.
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I’ve already seen this start to happen. It’s not perfect, and he’s not a finished product. Right now players are going under screens because the stats say to let him shoot outside. Once he has had time to develop his shot %’s then teams will try to go through screens to take the 3pt shot away which will allow him to be more effective in pick’n roll and driving for lay ins and kick outs, and will open up his passing game as well as get to the line more.

One thing I liked last night was his ability to take and hit the mid range shot instead of going all the way all out of control.
 
Thee jazz fan said:
I’ve already seen this start to happen. It’s not perfect, and he’s not a finished product. Right now players are going under screens because the stats say to let him shoot outside. Once he has had time to develop his shot %’s then teams will try to go through screens to take the 3pt shot away which will allow him to be more effective in pick’n roll and driving for lay ins and kick outs, and will open up his passing game as well as get to the line more.

One thing I liked last night was his ability to take and hit the mid range shot instead of going all the way all out of control.
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Also learning to jump off one foot will help as well. How easily is this skill learned anyways?
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
Dame is money off the dribble and bends the whole defense though... gets to the line. Guys that rely on shooting as much as he does will be susceptible to bad nights though.
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Agreed, finding his way to the free throw line is going to be one of the most important things he does. Dame has terrible shooting nights pretty often. A couple weeks ago he shot like 3/17, he just adds free throws that compensate for the inefficiency. Donovan may never be very efficient, but the point:shots ratio just needs to get better with free throws. Which is fine, kid has plenty of time to grow.
 
I've been talking about him for awhile now. I'm very, very concerned with him. And I'm confused as to why he gets a free pass while everyone else gets dogged on, save for Rudy of course. Sure, he's a very likable person, but basketball comes first for me, not how much you interact with fans and get signature shoes.
 
If you're dogging on Rudy, you're barking up the wrong tree. Sure, he isn't an offensive threat on post ups or drives but he offsets that exponentially on the defensive end. He flat shuts the paint down 90% of the time. Even when he gets beat, or pulled out he recovers at a very high rate. With all the problems this team has, Rudy doesn't figure into many of them. You get exactly what you expect from him every game with very few exceptions.
 
Here’s a nice article on Mitchell’s struggles and how he’s felt with them

For the record. I’m not worried about him at all. It’s only his second year, and he carries this team offensively. He has the drive and determination of a star player, and not many young players have his drive and determination to get better while also being a pillar in his community. No doubt in my mind he’ll get there. It’s a forgone conclusion. It’s a ****ing shame people here want to give up on him and criticize a guy in his second year with the responsibility he owns on this team. Hayward didn’t have this kind of responsibility till his third or Fourth year. Our expectations were way too high for him, we deemed him an allstar this year and put unreal expectations he couldn’t have possibly lived up to considering the type of responsibility he holds on this team at such a young age.

Just keep grinding Spida!! Don’t listen to the idiots.

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2018/12/28/donovan-mitchells-second/

Couple paragraphs I liked.

DWade talking

"We was on the phone for two hours,” Wade said. “I don’t talk to nobody for two hours no more, but he wanted to pick my brain. He had a lot of great questions and we just talked about the game. We talked about my first year to my second year, how did I make the jump, and he had a lot of great questions.”



So yes, at times last year, everything seemed easy for Mitchell. But now he’s learned that true greatness, lasting greatness, isn’t about climbing the mountain once. “It’s easier said than done, and I’ve figured that out this year,” Mitchell said. “Now it’s here, and I have to work, and I have to prove myself over and over again.”
“I’m good now. I’m smiles, and there’s no sad moments. I’m good.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
According to Locke, Donovan took 26% of his shots at the rim last year, this year so far he's taking 19% at the rim. It also seems like when he does shoot at the rim he's getting his shot blocked way more often this season than he did last year.
 
kash said:
I've been talking about him for awhile now. I'm very, very concerned with him. And I'm confused as to why he gets a free pass while everyone else gets dogged on, save for Rudy of course. Sure, he's a very likable person, but basketball comes first for me, not how much you interact with fans and get signature shoes.
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Sorry....then you have it all wrong IMO. Who he is as a man and what he does in the community is more important than what % he shoots from 3. I’m a fan of the Jazz, always have been, I’m also a fan of Donovan and who he is. He gets more of a pass because he’s a second year player being asked to do a lot and he’s really not having that bad of a year. He’s playing decent by a normal players standard. Also yes, who Donovan is, and how much he’s embraced being here absolutely should give fans more loyalty to him. How many guys do you see do what he does? You treat him with that love back IMO and that includes him getting more of a pass. Some of you being ridiculous and overly critical of a 2nd year dude trying to figure out what he’s trying to figure out will feel awful dumb in a few years as you sweat hoping he doesn’t leave.

Another reason is because he cares, he works extremely hard and it’s not due to a lack of commitment to being great. He wants to be great, he will be great. And the kid has earned all the patience in the world.
 
Jingled said:
According to Locke, Donovan took 26% of his shots at the rim last year, this year so far he's taking 19% at the rim. It also seems like when he does shoot at the rim he's getting his shot blocked way more often this season than he did last year.
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Opposing teams have essentially erased his dunks and those scoop layups. He’s trying to figure it out and adjust. Having such a crowded paint doesn’t help him.
 
Mitchell is only going to be a star if he develops a reliable 3pt shot. Defenses don't have to respect him. Play off him and have help defense cut off his drives to the basket. He'll still get 20 pts/per, but he'll do so at an inefficient rate. Even last season, he was not all that efficient. Sure he set the record for 3pt makes by a rookie. But he also smashed the record for 3pt attempts and misses.

He also tries to do too much, IMO. Probably the pressure of being the face of Adidas. I'll give him last summer. But it sure seemed like he embarked on a summer-long victory tour. How long does it take a foot to heal? A month, maybe two? Just doesn't look like he worked on his game, tbh. He needs to learn to say "no." Cut down on the appearances and work on his shooting.
 
Jack Strop said:
Mitchell is only going to be a star if he develops a reliable 3pt shot. Defenses don't have to respect him. Play off him and have help defense cut off his drives to the basket. He'll still get 20 pts/per, but he'll do so at an inefficient rate. Even last season, he was not all that efficient. Sure he set the record for 3pt makes by a rookie. But he also smashed the record for 3pt attempts and misses.

He also tries to do too much, IMO. Probably the pressure of being the face of Adidas. I'll give him last summer. But it sure seemed like he embarked on a summer-long victory tour. How long does it take a foot to heal? A month, maybe two? Just doesn't look like he worked on his game, tbh. He needs to learn to say "no." Cut down on the appearances and work on his shooting.
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Absolutely unfair. IT WAS THE JAZZ WHO WOULDNT CLEAR HIM! This is the kids 2nd season. He’s 22 years old, and has a ton he’s trying to adjust to and figure out. It doesn’t matter how long you think a foot takes to heal, the Jazz sat him down and made him rest and stay off it. Some of you are beyond ridiculous in what you expect this early on from him. If nothings changed by season 4 or 5 then you can gripe, until then, just shutup. You’re gnoring facts, and the fact is Donovan was not cleared to play basketball by the team he plays for the entire time he was doing all those appearances you speak of so yes that’s exactly when you want him doing those appearances. My goodness. Questioning his work ethic IMO due to everything every single person who’s ever come in contact with him says about him, discredits you right off the start. Donovan doesn’t lack work ethic or care in the least and if you’re going to question that you’re a joke.
 
So he was immobile for 5 months?
I'm not sure not being cleared for full contact basketball, 3-on-3, etc. is the same as not being cleared for ANY basketball activities. I've never heard of a toe injury taking so long to heal. And while he was taking his personal victory lap around the world, there were many times he wasn't wearing his boot. If he can't walk enough to get on the court and practice his shooting, maybe he should stay off the foot entirely, not walking through airports and making appearances all over the world. A month, six weeks? Yes, I can give you that as a reasonable time for a boot. And I can give you another 4-6 weeks of rehab without any basketball activities. But that still leaves a couple of months to simply practice his shooting.

Look, I'm not saying Mitchell is a bad guy. I'm saying the pressure and demands of being the Adidas spokesman may have outweighed his bball work ethic. He needed more time in the gym. His game didn't improve one iota from last year to this one. That's alarming and needs to be a point of concern going forward. Because a one-year boy wonder will soon fade in popularity, especially in a small market for a losing team.
 
I'm not even sure how much of his apparent regression is due to the offseason foot injury, his efficiency numbers for October are extremely similar to his rookie season numbers (44.6% from the field, 36% from deep, 77.8% from the line, 54.0TS% in October vs 43.7% from the field, 34% from deep, 80.5% from the line, 54.1TS% in his rookie season.

That bunch of little injuries he picked up early in the season could be the main culprit imo in combination with the absolutely brutal schedule since the decline really started in November and has free falled in December efficiency wise. He might just need the January/Feb stretch before all star break where the Jazz are home for 75% of the 16 or so games in the stretch and/or the all star break to get himself right and find some form.
 
Jack Strop said:
So he was immobile for 5 months?
I'm not sure not being cleared for full contact basketball, 3-on-3, etc. is the same as not being cleared for ANY basketball activities. I've never heard of a toe injury taking so long to heal. And while he was taking his personal victory lap around the world, there were many times he wasn't wearing his boot. If he can't walk enough to get on the court and practice his shooting, maybe he should stay off the foot entirely, not walking through airports and making appearances all over the world. A month, six weeks? Yes, I can give you that as a reasonable time for a boot. And I can give you another 4-6 weeks of rehab without any basketball activities. But that still leaves a couple of months to simply practice his shooting.

Look, I'm not saying Mitchell is a bad guy. I'm saying the pressure and demands of being the Adidas spokesman may have outweighed his bball work ethic. He needed more time in the gym. His game didn't improve one iota from last year to this one. That's alarming and needs to be a point of concern going forward. Because a one-year boy wonder will soon fade in popularity, especially in a small market for a losing team.
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You didn’t pay enough attention. He was not cleared for ANY basketball activity until late July. He even tweeted a couple weeks before they cleared him he just wanted to play basketball. He couldn’t, they wouldn’t let him. He didn’t have to be in a boot media day. The boot was a precautionary measure, not a requirement and he wore it when he felt like he needed to, it was not mandatory to wear it at all times. Just because you want to say his foot didn’t take that long to heal, doesn’t make it true. Tbh I think the Jazz didn’t clear him for so long because they wanted him to take a long break and relax. He wasn’t cleared for 5 on 5 until training camp, he wasn’t cleared for ANY basketball activity until late July. You don’t have to like it, that’s how it was.
 
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