M
Mychal Lowman
Guest
Donovan Mitchell returns to the game a year older and year wiser.
Donovan Mitchell will be representing the Utah Jazz tonight in what could be the only event Jazz fans watch this entire All-Star Weekend. Donovan Mitchell will be on the USA side of the rising stars challenge. His team of US born NBA players will be facing off against the World team highlighted by the likes of Luka Doncic, DeAndre Ayton, and Ben Simmons???
Donovan Mitchell and Jaysom Tatum headline the young USA roster that also features De’Aaron Fox, Jaren Jackson Jr., Trae Young, and University of Utah native, Kyle Kuzma.
This will be a game that features absolutely ZERO defense, a ton of highlights, neverending turnovers, and 100% pure alpha mentality. So buckle up for a game that sends basketball back 20 years.
Donovan Mitchell is a sure fire favorite for being the MVP of this game. He is one of only a handful of players—OG Anunoby, Jayson Tatum, and Ben Simmons—who actually have playoff experience. Only two of those guys have had to shoulder big responsibilities for their teams. Donovan Mitchell arguably the largest as he carried Utah offensively against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Donovan Mitchell has been struggling going into the All-Star game. His amazing January is now behind him. Since Ricky Rubio returned to the starting lineup, Donovan Mitchell’s scoring efficiency has dropped and his decision making at times has looked the same as it was back in November/December. Hopefully hooping in his brand new signature shoe in a game that is more like a game at the Y except with All-Star talent can get him back in the groove.
Game Info
When: Friday, Feb. 15, 2019 • 7:00 PM MT
Where: Spectrum Center • Charlotte, NC
TV: TNT
Radio: 97.5 FM | 1280 AM The Zone
Injuries:
USA Team:
Lonzo Ball - Ankle - OUT
World Team:
None
What to watch for
Ahead of tonight's #MTNDEWICERisingStars (9:00pm/et @NBAonTNT)... the POINTS leaders! pic.twitter.com/oplYobcEiW
— 2019 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) February 15, 2019
The Utah Jazz are without an All-Star because of a terrible voting model that probably can’t figure out when a team’s players are splitting votes. The real reason why Gobert didn’t get in was most likely not because coaches think he’s terrible, but other coaches value his offensively gifted teammate a little bit more. It still shows their bias of offense vs defense, but coach’s most likely felt Utah deserved a representative in the game. Instead the Jazz are without anybody.
So instead, Jazz fans will watch tonight’s game as if it means something, and there’s a good chance they don’t even do that. To be honest, I’m not really amped for All-Star Weekend due to the Jazz getting snubbed in the game—it always happens—and for the idiotic fallout by other players in the league when Rudy Gobert showed a fraction of a percent of real emotion about it.
Could Donovan Mitchell have an amazing game? He definitely could. But that doesn’t mean he could get selected due to fans being fans. Hopefully, he goes full Mitchell and takes the game over and clowns Simmons. That’s the best we can hope for.
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