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what are our odds if DM becomes an elite facilitator?

I mean, it would help but it's not some guarantee as Mitchell is a 'meh' defender. Look at James Harden - he's great at getting teammates the ball and always has been - now he does so even more now that he's getting older and is less of a scorer than he once was. And we all know how well Harden plays defense so he's comparable to DM in a lot of ways - if DM became an assist machine it would be cool but he's still a defensive liability.
 
I don’t think don is an elite distributor, but judging him solely by his assist total is futile while he’s playing within this offense.

Ricky Rubio, the 3 seasons prior to Utah, averaged 9 apg. That dropped to about 5 and a half in 2 seasons with Utah. (Also about what Don is averaging)

Beyond assists, Don plays too out of control in crunch time to be an elite facilitator. That could be a major improvement for us if that somehow changed.
 
More than a facilitator, he needs to become a better decision-maker. That is the crux of it. I do not trust his decision-making, especially in crunch time, when he tends to get blinders on. He has done better recently with this, but this is where he can take a jump in his impact on the game. If he gets better at making the right call in the situation he will automatically become a better facilitator, and a better scorer. I think about Jordan or even LBJ, and this is part of what makes them great, their ability to know when to set others up, the right play to make in the moment based on the situation, and the right time to just take a game over. This is more a part of their greatness than just scoring a lot. Mitchell needs to take that step, and he has the ability at that point to be truly great.
 
KqWIN said:
We all know assist numbers are muted in Quin's system and we should all know that assists is not the only thing to measure facilitating. There are things Don can improve on. He needs to get better at hitting the role man and dealing with high traps in particular....but as an offensive engine (yes I know not the same thing as facilitator), Don is absolutely elite and has been in the playoffs 2 years in a row. We've pushed the boundaries of just how good an offense can be, but unfortunately we're not playing ourselves on defense so we've still lost. The best offenses have basically been the Jazz and whoever they are playing. The Jazz own the highest combined offensive rating over the past two playoffs combined and it's not particularly close either.

I know I'm not really answering the question line directly, but my point is that Don has been about as good as possible and we've still gotten beaten. I don't think his facilitating is holding us back and it wouldn't make a huge difference because him shooting it 25+ times has already produced super elite offense. Whether he's passing or shooting, it would be incredibly difficult to top what he's already done. It really comes down to defense. I'm confident that Don will produce another elite offense come playoff time, he's done it twice in a row. I'm concerned that the Jazz will have a historically bad defensive performance that results in a series loss anyways, it's happened twice in a row.
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I agree that don is an awesome amazing offensive player. And not an elite facilitator. Thats ok. There are not many of them. Hence the word elite.
I love donovan mitchell. Hope he retires here.


Sent from my iPad using JazzFanz mobile app
 
fishonjazz said:
I agree that don is an awesome amazing offensive player. And not an elite facilitator. Thats ok. There are not many of them. Hence the word elite.
I love donovan mitchell. Hope he retires here.


Sent from my iPad using JazzFanz mobile app
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Yeah, I understand that. But I do think he is undersold by his raw assist total and I don't think it's really possible for him to be better than he has in the playoffs offensively. To me, it doesn't matter if he's the one shooting or if he's facilitating. It's about the offense he's producing and he's been as good as anyone in the league. So to answer the question, I don't actually think it changes our outlook much if he's an elite "facilitator" because he's already been a super elite offensive player in the playoffs and it hasn't led to much playoff success because the defense has been so horrific.
 
Don has so much offensive gravity at the end of the game he could become an elite facilitator at that point. He generally draws a triple team and just needs to be more aware of where the help is coming from and get the ball to the open man. It would make him even more dangerous with teams knowing they can't just collapse on him when he drives. The trick is convincing him he can be a hero assisting the game winner instead of shooting it.
 
DM becoming an elite facilitator is the Jazz only hope of doing anything of note in the post season. Unfortunately he has Conley as a crutch, detrimental to his development, and any team defense.
 
fishonjazz said:
You think he already is an elite facilitator?
2017: 3.7 assists per game
2018: 4.1
2019: 4.4
2020: 5.2
2021: 5.5
If less than 6 assists per game (while playing lots of minutes and having a high usage) is now considered elite facilitating then basically every player in the league is an elite facilitator.
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5.5 apg is already a team high this season. Conley only averages 5.3 a game, and has never averaged more than 6.5 a game in his career.
 
Should've made Donovan the PG this entire time, especially when we had the prime Jingles on the floor as the secondary facilitator the last couple of seasons. That's plenty of playmaking to make your offense flow.

The only case to not make DM our main playmaker/facilitator is if we've gotten a true elite floor general who can give you 10+ assists any given night, like CP3 or Jrue Holiday.
 
jom2003 said:
5.5 apg is already a team high this season. Conley only averages 5.3 a game, and has never averaged more than 6.5 a game in his career.
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Exactly. We dont have an elite facilitator on our team.
 
jom2003 said:
Should've made Donovan the PG this entire time, especially when we had the prime Jingles on the floor as the secondary facilitator the last couple of seasons. That's plenty of playmaking to make your offense flow.

The only case to not make DM our main playmaker/facilitator is if we've gotten a true elite floor general who can give you 10+ assists any given night, like CP3 or Jrue Holiday.
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This is why I was against the conley trade. I have always wanted DM to play the point. Well that and the fact that conley is old, undersized, overpaid, and injury prone.
 
fishonjazz said:
This is why I was against the conley trade. I have always wanted DM to play the point. Well that and the fact that conley is old, undersized, overpaid, and injury prone.
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Conley averages less assists per game in his career than Kyrie Irving, who's alway known as a scoring first PG
 
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