My basic paraphrase of his rant just now: "Russell Westbrook is the kind of player the media loves--hyper-athletic, very effective over the regular season, flashy, entertaining, great at attacking the rim, but not a great shooter. Then when the playoffs come around, defenses begin to lock down the paint, offense has to be further out on the perimeter, and they become less effective. Derrick Rose was this, John Wall is this, and I think we have a new Westbrook: Donovan Mitchell. He's exciting--'OMG, he won the dunk contest!!'--he's athletic, but he's what, a 34% 3-point shooter? Wasn't a great shooter in college, isn't a great shooter now...I think he's the next Russell Westbrook." Ready, set...discuss!
I need to see conclusive evidence that Donovan Mitchell is a stat padding, hero ball playing, ballhog that freezes out his better shooting teammates in the 4th quarter of close games before I'm willing to accept that comparison. BNM
He made it further in the playoffs this year than WB did. 34% 3 point shooter rookie year isn’t that bad... WB in his entire career has had only one year he shot 34 or better, and his rookie year shot 27, for his career is at 31. If Mitchel raises his percentage to 38, he’s going to be just fine. I say 38 because WB raised his by 4% so if Mitchell does the same, he's actually a good 3 point shooter.
Colin knows the media. He always has a hero and a villain. Right now, the hero is LeBron. The villains are Carmelo and Westbrook, and now maybe Mitchell.
I don't agree. I find Westbrook to be uniquely moronic, which is all that is holding him back. Unfortunately for him, the condition is terminal. I don't see this from Mitchell, or anyone else.
I was going to say the same thing that Mitchell reminds me of a young Wade. Westbrook is an extremely talented and dynamic player but with a $.10 brain.
But Skimming is cheating! lol. I ain't got time to read right now. Just pull a word or two out and assume. You know everything most media outlets do now that confirms today's news.
Actually, rookie Mitchell reminds me a lot of rookie Lillard. Here's their advanced stats from their rookie years: Dame was more efficient offensively, but Mitchell was better defensively. Still, very similar overall. BNM
Cowherd is like Canzano in that a lot of what he says is to be edgy and see who he can get riled up because that’s what gets ratings. Canzano is a few notches down, but they are the same type...
I don’t get the point about shooting. 34% isn’t that bad when you are shooting as many difficult threes as he is. He’s probably going to jump to 37-38% next season with some additional training and he has beaten Dame’s record for the amount of threes made in his first season I think. He’s an incredible talent.
