Key #1 – Give the ball to Donovan Mitchell
For better or for worse, like it or not, the Utah Jazz’s best offensive player and scoring threat is rookie Donovan Mitchell. That just so happens to be why he leads the team in scoring despite having played just 39 games as a pro.
However, I was absolutely stunned how in the game against the Denver Nuggets on Friday, it seemed as if he hardly got the ball in the second half. When he had it, he was shooting quite well – 6-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep – and he was also distributing with ease. He finished the game with five assists which should have been much more if his often offensively-challenged teammates would have been able to find the bottom of the net.
Nevertheless, Mitchell still just so happened to post his fourth-lowest usage percentage of the season in that game at just 18.6 percent, despite playing a hearty 36 minutes.
https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/949518144841879552
For reference, the other three games where he had a lower usage rate were the blowout win over the Orlando Magic where he played just 26 minutes due to sitting out in garbage time, the loss at Houston where he played just 21 minutes likely due to an ailing toe and the sole win against the Oklahoma City Thunder which was back in October before Mitchell had really forced himself into major playing time.
In other words, in a meaningful game in which Mitchell saw significant minutes, this was about the most under-utilized he’s been all season long. That’s even more disturbing when considering that Ricky Rubio, who was a pathetic -25 on the night, logged a usage percentage of 22.4 percent and Joe Johnson and Alec Burks who couldn’t find their shot whatsoever were at 20.8 and 26 percent, respectively. Quite frankly, that’s disgraceful.
So, in short, if the Jazz want to take the first step to reversing their recent woes and to figure out a way to beat the Heat on the road, then the number one thing they need to do is pretty simple – give Donovan Mitchell the ball! Early and often! Let the rookie go to work and do his thing. Regardless of what other players believe about the hierarchy of the team, Mitchell has been the most effective, so he deserves the ball and to be placed in more scoring opportunities.
I'm becoming increasingly convinced that Donovan Mitchell has point guard vision and passing ability, and they've finally found their answer at that position.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) January 6, 2018
Honestly, I think it’s time that Mitchell took over as full-time point guard since, as KSL’s Andy Larsen pointed out in the tweet above, he seems to have developed the court vision and decision-making to do just that. That would be a quick and easy step to ensuring that his usage was high, that he had the ball in his hands more often and that he was in a situation to generate more offense via scoring or passing.
And on more time, just in case I wasn’t clear with this key – GIVE THE BALL TO DONOVAN MITCHELL!