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How good will Donovan be this season?

str8line

str8line

Well-Known Member
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2019 Award Winner
Donovan said recently his focus was getting in better condition. He had his injury last spring/summer, then he had other nagging injuries. He was really messed up. He barely even dunked.

How good could he be in season three of The Don?
 
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I think he scores 28 ppg. He needs to shoot better from 3. He also needs to kick it out better when the defense collapses on him.
 
I think he can be 25/4.5/4.5 on better shooting splits... something around 45/38/84 and get to the line 6-7 times a game. Raw numbers might not go up a ton but efficiency should. Anything more than that... if he also improves his efficiency... we go to the finals (if relatively healthy).
 
With the ability to not have to try to carry the Jazz during the lulls in offensive performance singlehandedly anymore, his efficiency will go way up. He will get many, many more open looks from 3 which he hits at a good clip. He will also not be the singular focus of the defensive gameplan, which will work wonders for him.

I just hope he can remain healthy, because he plays without abandon.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
I think he can be 25/4.5/4.5 on better shooting splits... something around 45/38/84 and get to the line 6-7 times a game. Raw numbers might not go up a ton but efficiency should. Anything more than that... if he also improves his efficiency... we go to the finals (if relatively healthy).
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This seems right to me. Conley will help Donovan's game a ton in this regard, and Ingles by proxy as well. Main thing is without Donovan and Ingles having to shoulder ball handling as much, Ingles can go back to his natural trolling of sitting in the corner and sniping. Donovan will get more open looks and get more chances to break his defender(s) down in isolation. Rudy benefits as well as Conley is one of the best PnR guys in the business.

If Donovan does better than that, we absolutely steam roll into the Finals (shut up and let me have my homer moments). That said, I would still like some solution for backup PG. I have no faith Rxum can become unded for a significant period of time.
 
He will be a fringe all-star (maybe a replacement if someone gets hurt) and more importantly will be in contention for 3rd team All-NBA.

Raw numbers will be similar, but efficiency will improve (+1.5 FTA, +.013 3FG%, +.04 2FG%). Also, hope to see a nice jump in his defensive contributions as he is asked to cover the best guard during critical times (I expect his defensive reputation will determine if he is All-NBA or not).
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
I think he can be 25/4.5/4.5 on better shooting splits... something around 45/38/84 and get to the line 6-7 times a game. Raw numbers might not go up a ton but efficiency should. Anything more than that... if he also improves his efficiency... we go to the finals (if relatively healthy).
Click to expand...

This is what I'm thinking too. I think efficiency and getting to the line more will be the huge improvements.
 
I'd be fine with him averaging around the same amount of points on better efficiency. Become a consistent 38-40% 3 point shooter and not like 33% in the first half of the year and 45% in the second half. He has shot well on catch and shoot 3s both years, but shot much better from the corners his rookie year. If he can shoot the off the dribble 3 even a bit above average he could be unguardable.
 
str8line said:
Donovan said recently his focus was getting in better condition. He had his injury last spring/summer, then he had other nagging injuries. He was really messed up. He barely even dunked.

How good could he be in season three of The Don?
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Slow and unathletic.
 
zyzz said:
I'd be fine with him averaging around the same amount of points on better efficiency. Become a consistent 38-40% 3 point shooter and not like 33% in the first half of the year and 45% in the second half. He has shot well on catch and shoot 3s both years, but shot much better from the corners his rookie year. If he can shoot the off the dribble 3 even a bit above average he could be unguardable.
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That was a large part of getting Conley. Having a consistent threat to score running with him doesn't allow the opposing guards to double him as much. Donovan gets the luxury of a kick out of a waiting Ingles (who won't need to handle the ball as much) or a Conley moving to a spot. People are going to be surprised how much things open up now.

We still need a backup PG who can shoot that isn't injured when the starter is (Neto) or just in general (Exum). I sure as heck don't mind DM pulling initiation duties when the tactical situation calls for it. But if he's our lone healthy PG, we're ****ed.
 
Thee jazz fan said:
People who are banged up and avoid dunking don’t seek it. Mitchell looked for opportunities and routinely tried to dunk on people.
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Actually he barely ever tried to dunk for the first half of the season. When he did it usually looked labored, like he knew he had to dunk because of the situation but didn't really want to. I'm sure this season he'll dunk a lot more often.
 
TheStormofWar said:
This seems right to me. Conley will help Donovan's game a ton in this regard, and Ingles by proxy as well. Main thing is without Donovan and Ingles having to shoulder ball handling as much, Ingles can go back to his natural trolling of sitting in the corner and sniping. Donovan will get more open looks and get more chances to break his defender(s) down in isolation. Rudy benefits as well as Conley is one of the best PnR guys in the business.

If Donovan does better than that, we absolutely steam roll into the Finals (shut up and let me have my homer moments). That said, I would still like some solution for backup PG. I have no faith Rxum can become unded for a significant period of time.
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Backup PG you say? Que Frankie Ferrari!
 
Thee jazz fan said:
He dunked a lot. Where are you getting that from?

That’s a bit of a stretch, if he improves it’s going to be between 0.5 to 1.5 pts per game more. Let’s not get crazy.
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No way, he'll get more shots now since Conley is less of a ball hog then Rubio was. Plus he'll be more efficient since defenses have to focus on more guys now with Conley. He will make a point jump as big as he did from his rookie year to sophomore year. Plus most guards make their big jump from year 2 to 3.
 
str8line said:
Donovan said recently his focus was getting in better condition. He had his injury last spring/summer, then he had other nagging injuries. He was really messed up. He barely even dunked.

How good could he be in season three of The Don?
Click to expand...

Western Conference All Star, All NBA 2nd Team, and Finals MVP after the Jazz win the championship.
 
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