Special evening for Donovan Mitchell this Wednesday, since he was setting foot at the American Airlines Center. The place where his career changed because, last spring, it was none other than the Mavericks who had put an end to the course of the Jazz, from the first round of the playoffs…
Nearly eight months later, “Spida” found this room for a (single) regular season game, this time being a member of the Riders. It must be said that this premature elimination against the Mavs is in some way at the origin of his recent change of team…
” Finally, [les Mavericks] are kind of the reason I’m in Cleveland today », he conceded precisely, at a press conference. ” So I’m grateful to them, because I’m here now and because I’m happy to be. [L’échec de la saison dernière] made me a better player. You take lessons from them, you learn them and you put them into practice. »
A revenge to take
Author of 34 points last night, 13/20 on shots and 6/9 from 3-pts, Donovan Mitchell has apparently learned the lesson given to him by Dallas last April. He who, remember, had been limited to only 40% shooting success and 21% success at 3-pts throughout this first round (for 25.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists on average)…
” There are always advantages, benefits to be gained in adversity, hardships “, he continued on this subject. ” [Cette série face aux Mavericks] allowed me to grow as a player and as a man. I had one of my worst career playoff series against them, they did a great job against me, so they got me to work on some things in the offseason to improve. And I’m not even talking about the defensive aspect. It’s all just a matter of effort and there are other factors that come into play anyway.. »
Then Donovan Mitchell to add, still about this painful elimination against the Mavericks.
” When you know such a series, you come home, you watch the games and you feel [cette douleur], again and again. But I feel grateful to have been there, to have had this opportunity. It had to be to get where I am. I’m not going to give Dallas full credit because I think I worked on myself as well, but at the same time you learn things throughout your career at different times and this episode just happens to be the last. But of course there will be more to come. »
The trigger he needed?
Precisely, to what extent the failure of last spring had repercussions on the way of playing of Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers version?
” I have to be able to score and defend, to do both at the same time “, he admitted as well. ” I was tired in this series and I thought: ‘I must be in better physical shape’. Offensively, I had the necessary tools, but I just had to perfect them. It’s just about being able to do as much as possible in attack and defense, even when you’re tired. To think and play well despite fatigue. I think that’s the biggest lesson I learned. And I can’t say that I felt comfortable in this series. »
For the time being, Donovan Mitchell seems to have rebounded rather well since he was in Cleveland, since he is simply on the basis of his career best season: 29.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals on average, 50% on shots, 43% on 3-pts and 89% on throws! All within a group that squats the podium of the Eastern Conference…
A nice response sent to his detractors, who taxed him as a soloist, a sieve in defense or a player unable to win his team, at the end of this elimination. The kind of criticism that goes badly, when you’ve already taken a big hit behind the head…
” This loss is probably the one that hurt me the most, with Houston [au premier tour des playoffs 2019, ndlr] “, insisted the rear of 26 years. ” But this one was probably even more painful, because I just couldn’t play, overall, at the level I wanted, which I think I’m capable of. I let my teammates down and it will eat away at me forever. However, I’m not sitting around thinking about it, because I’m in a different situation, I’m fine and we’re building something. That’s why I can’t say I want to go back, because who knows what this show will have made of me in five years. »
All-Star established for three years, Donovan Mitchell begins by being on track to win his first selection in an All-NBA Team, this season. In addition to being among the underdogs as MVP 2023. A nice revenge on his part, so…
| Donovan Mitchell | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2017-18 | UTH | 79 | 33 | 43.7 | 34.0 | 80.5 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 20.5 |
| 2018-19 | UTH | 77 | 34 | 43.2 | 36.2 | 80.6 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 23.8 |
| 2019-20 | UTH | 69 | 34 | 44.9 | 36.6 | 86.3 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 0.2 | 24.0 |
| 2020-21 | UTH | 53 | 33 | 43.8 | 38.6 | 84.5 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 26.4 |
| 2021-22 | UTH | 67 | 34 | 44.8 | 35.5 | 85.3 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 0.2 | 25.9 |
| 2022-23 | KEY | 24 | 37 | 49.6 | 41.9 | 89.1 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 29.0 |
| Total | 369 | 34 | 44.4 | 36.5 | 83.8 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 24.2 | |
