Can Donovan be a Good Defender

[Saint Cy of JFC]

CP3 for one. It's not some grand unicorn to find a guard that is elite offensively and at least passable on defense. And right now Mitchell is not elite offensively. His efficiency is bad right now. He can score in bunches but it doesn't mean he's elite.

Kyle Lowry and Conley as well. A lot of small guards make up for being small by getting into guys and being pesky. Mitchell plays D like he's 6'8 and has the vertical length to contest by playing off, which he doesn't.

 

[KqWIN]

There is a a ton of room between an all NBA defender like Lowry/CP3 and where Donovan is right now. If he wanted to be an all NBA defender, I think he could. That's how highly I think of his talent. But I don't think anyone is asking him to be that type of defender. Being average would be a really nice contribution to this team and he's already done that in his career.

 

[NAOS]

I’ve really soured on the phrase “all the right tools” when discussing defense. Most of the time, the tools people are talking about are various athletic metrics. That’s rubbish. If you’re biting on the wrong moves and can’t see the floor through the team’s defensive scheme, then you lose all those athletic advantages pretty much instantly.

Don is biting on the wrong stuff.

Don isn’t seeing the floor through the schema.

Stuff your “tools” in a sack.

 

[NUMBERICA]

This is another consequence of giving him the keys to the franchise from the tip. It is to at least this point impossible for me to believe that Donovan’s ****** defense is anything but a series of choices of his.

 

[NUMBERICA]

If he played the best defense he possibly could we wouldn't need heroics in the last 90 seconds.

And took better shots.

 

[LogGrad98]

I’ve really soured on the phrase “all the right tools” when discussing defense. Most of the time, the tools people are talking about are various athletic metrics. That’s rubbish. If you’re biting on the wrong moves and can’t see the floor through the team’s defensive scheme, then you lose all those athletic advantages pretty much instantly.

Don is biting on the wrong stuff.

Don isn’t seeing the floor through the schema.

Stuff your “tools” in a sack.

Yeah I think defense is a product of 3 things:

1) the "tools", as in is there enough athletic ability and size, strength, etc. To become a good defender. Some people just don't have the abilities, like bogey. He has short arms, he's not quick laterally, he doesn't move his feet well. These are largely physical attributes, which can be improved upon but you cannot overcome these limitations entirely.

2) skills/bball IQ. Have you worked to develop the skills necessary, have you practiced staying in front of your man. Have you learned how to stay down at pump fakes, do you know how and when to swipe, do you understand the flow of the game, etc.

3) effort/desire. These are tandem because one informs the other. If you have the desire you will put forth the effort. If you are putting forth the effort it shows you have the desire.

Frankly being high-level in any One of these will help you be an average defender, but by far the most important is #3. The first 2 don't matter one whit if you don't have any desire. Look at jabari. He absolutely has 1 and 2 in spades, but #3 is basically negative so he is a terribly defender.

If I could rank these all on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being barely NBA level, 5 being DPOY potential I'd rank Mitchell as follows:

#1 = 4 (for his size. He could be a 5 except due to height but he makes up for it in wingspan and athleticism largely)

#2 = 3 (here I really think his bball IQ isn't where we want it to be, while he has shown he has the skills he so often makes a bad read or gets lost, even on offense, that it brings his bball IQ into question)

#3 = 1 (just don't see the consistent effort. I think he pays lip service to defense, and I do think he wants to want to be a good defender, but I think in his heart it just isn't any kind of priority. Could argue this as a 2, but the eye test says no higher than that)

So on this scale he is about a 2.5 or barely adequate defender, imo, even though he absolutely has the tools and the skill, the defense IQ and effort are just so lacking it brings everything else down.

 

[NUMBERICA]

I’ve really soured on the phrase “all the right tools” when discussing defense. Most of the time, the tools people are talking about are various athletic metrics. That’s rubbish. If you’re biting on the wrong moves and can’t see the floor through the team’s defensive scheme, then you lose all those athletic advantages pretty much instantly.

Don is biting on the wrong stuff.

Don isn’t seeing the floor through the schema.

Stuff your “tools” in a sack.

I agree to an extent. Without knowing how to use tools or caring to learn, they just gather dust.

Kyle Korver survived and thrived in this league because despite looking like a chump on defense, he put in effort, played the scheme, and could read what the other team were doing.

Having all the tools on earth but being an aloof dunce makes you worse than Niang or Kyle Korver.

Mitchell could be Marcus Smart lite and instead just drifts around.

 

[NAOS]

Yeah, I definitely don’t mean to imply that size and athleticism don’t matter. They do. But why size and athleticism seem to be all anyone is talking about when they say “tools” is annoying.

 

[fishonjazz]

But those are either some of the best players ever or some of the best players now. What I mean is it’s rare, even more so for a guard his size. I’m trying to think of a player in the league right now who is his size that is elite offensively and defensively, I know they are out there but it’s much easier to think of bigger guys who are better in that regard. It’s also possible it’s a little harder to gauge great defense from smaller players. They aren’t exactly blocking shots.

Chris paul comes to mind

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app

 

[Just Ted]

No

 

[LoPo]

Lebron average on D? The guy has a career 1.8 DBPM. Even at 36 he's still a 1.7. This is another pathetic post that you should be embarrassed to write.

Does he take it easy on D during the regular season? But he's still incredibly smart and engaged mentally. Don is just out there doing stupid ****. They arent comparable.

Same goes with Durant to a lesser extent.

Curry is not a good defender, but he's mentally engaged and is a smart defensive player.

It'd be one thing if Don could just turn on elite D like those guys can, but he has demonstrated little ability to do so. He seems to be low IQ on defense. He takes his "Mamba Mentality" to the defensive end at times and just overplays everything in an effort to look like he's trying.

He looks like a guy who puts ZERO work in the off-season on defense then just shows up and tries to figure it out on the fly, like the kid in class who think he's so smart he doesnt have to study.

You are making a ton of excuses for Mitchell. HE PLAYS WITH ONE OF THE GREATEST DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF ALL TIME! He needs to be better point blank end of story. He has the tools. Making any excuse for him just makes you look like a blatant homer, especially when you are so quick to extend critiques to other players for much less flagrant offenses.

So my post is an embarrassment but then you agree with it. I love your attempts to Cyber bully.

LeBron is now an average regular season defender. I'm a massive LBJ guy but its simply the truth.

Outside of CP3, their ain't many NBA guys around 6 foot who are really good at defense while leading everything on the offensive end. Thats not the work their coaches ask them to do.

You can use all caps all you want. Steph Curry and AD only looked like solid defenders when they got to play with Klay and Draymond. We don't have a perimeter defender in the same area code as good as those guys. Probably ends up being our downfall.

The NBA is a perimeter defense driven league. It's been that way for decades now.

Don could and should do more on defense. Stop acting like I haven't said it. Just stop crying that our coaching staff needs him to be the best offensive player possible to be a contender.

Sent from my SM-G970U using JazzFanz mobile app

 

[LoPo]

Kyle Lowry and Conley as well. A lot of small guards make up for being small by getting into guys and being pesky. Mitchell plays D like he's 6'8 and has the vertical length to contest by playing off, which he doesn't.

So now Conley is a great defender?

You are such a blowhard I don't know why I waste my time. If these conversations were made in real life, you would get destroyed in a debate and likely get your butt kicked often as well with all your insulting comments you make towards people all over this forum.

Such a weasel on a keyboard.

Sent from my SM-G970U using JazzFanz mobile app