The Two Things Holding the Jazz Back from Being Elite

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Donovan Mitchell's lack of free throw drawing ability and Don's lack of defensive effort.

So far Mitchell is at a career low .140% FTR. His peak % was .26% (his 2nd year). If he wants to be a consistently impactful offensive force (like a Lillard), and not just a microwave scorer, he will have to get much better in this department. There are enough examples of star players improving in this area in their mid to late 20's, so I'm not super concerned about it, but it is worrisome that he has come out the gate with signs at a regression.

And his defensive is putrid. It's gotten worse every year, which is inexplicable because his offensive load has gotten smaller each year. So far he's off to a terrible start on this end as well. At worst Donovan should be a neutral defender, but with his talent he should be an impactful defender. The excuse of playing next to Conley is complete and utter *********, especially when Conley is playing solid defense.

For the Jazz to be true contenders Mitchell has to be a clear cut top 20 player, at bare minimum, not just a guy who gets hot enough to masquerade as a top 20 player. That starts with getting easier points and being engaged defensively.

Overall I do believe Mitchell will eventually reach that ability level at drawing fouls, at least to the point where he is consistently in the low 30% for FTR, but I'm less sure on the defensive end. Both are equally as important and just arent things he can flip a switch on.

 

[mellow]

Oh, you had a basketball answer, and I thought it was geography and demographics.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Without reading at all I hope its *********.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Get ready for a Lopo vs. Cy internet slap fight.

 

[NUMBERICA]

Without looking it up and without doing an eye-test analysis on his defense, I think Rudy getting pulled early and then playing with the bench unit is exposing Donovan in a serious way.

 

[campaignist]

Mitch does have to get to Damians level to contend. I also think the offense needs to have him get to the line more-I feel like the new all 3s all the time is restricting him there.

I think they need a third “star” to contend. Someone better than Bojan. There are enough scorers now, but the #3 has to bring something else-perimeter D, rebounding, something. If they could combine bojan and ingles or Royce in to one player, that would work. Sadly science hasn’t gotten us there yet.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

DM has to be better. He already is a better player than he's showed early this year but he needs to be better than he was last year. He is the major upside on this roster but I'm not sure he can be as good as we will need to win a title.

In addition to DM picking up his defense I think we need solid two-way wing. A poor man's Jaylen Brown type. SUPER hard to find obvi but that is what I think we really need to be a legit contender. I think we are a "puncher's chance" contender now.

 

[SoUjazzfan]

I agree but I also hope he settles in the next few games and gets back to defending to at least some degree. He needs to slow down a bit on offense and let the game come to him. Stop forcing so much, especially when everyone is collapsing on him. Don't make up your mind to shoot until you see what options are there for a pass.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Mitch does have to get to Damians level to contend. I also think the offense needs to have him get to the line more-I feel like the new all 3s all the time is restricting him there.

I think they need a third “star” to contend. Someone better than Bojan. There are enough scorers now, but the #3 has to bring something else-perimeter D, rebounding, something. If they could combine bojan and ingles or Royce in to one player, that would work. Sadly science hasn’t gotten us there yet.

That was my thought too... I went with Royce and Bojan... you got greedy and mixed in Ingles.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Without looking it up and without doing an eye-test analysis on his defense, I think Rudy getting pulled early and then playing with the bench unit is exposing Donovan in a serious way.

Some of it is with Rudy on the floor too... I remember Rudy and him kinda giving each other a look after he got beat backdoor once this year.

Its the losing focus thing that kills me. Sometimes when he was doubling the post in the clips game I think it was part of the game plan but it was driving me nuts. I think he gets a little ADD on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[Bawse Dawg]

Hard to disagree with anything I guess the only dissenting opinion would be ‘can we really put it on the shoulders of the 13th overall pick who was a revelation and better than any of us ever imagined?’

BUT

At this point he is a max player and considered a star. It IS on him, to figure it out and elevate his game to the next level. Hopefully he can do that.

One note: He scored about 40+ in the playoffs last year. Is this thread saying that we had issues last year that we now don’t have? Or are you saying we lost that series because Mitchell’s defense wasn’t good enough?

 

[NUMBERICA]

Some of it is with Rudy on the floor too... I remember Rudy and him kinda giving each other a look after he got beat backdoor once this year.

Its the losing focus thing that kills me. Sometimes when he was doubling the post in the clips game I think it was part of the game plan but it was driving me nuts. I think he gets a little ADD on the defensive side of the ball.

Oh, to be clear, I am not saying this is a one-or-the-other thing. If I was doing eye-test analysis and some advanced stats skimming, he looks like chucker garbage if I'm being frank. I was trying my hand at moderating myself. Either way, not having Rudy there to clean up his haphazard play whether it's better or worse does expose him.

I think he's better than that and than he's been, but he HAS to be if this team is ever going to be a legit contender. I'm not pushing the eject button but the early returns have been very frustrating, especially since he just inked the damn deal.