Donovan Mitchell breaks down why Donovan Mitchell is a cornerstone player for the Jazz. His elite pick-and-roll game, quick three-point release, and athleticism let him attack drop coverage and exploit switches. The video analyzes his signature moves: snatch-betweens, step-backs, and hesitation dribbles.
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At a very young age, Donovan Mitchell has proven himself to be a household name in the NBA. He's shown his ability to put up big time numbers in big time situations and he's become a player that the Utah Jazz are going to build their future around. In this video we're going to break down what exactly makes him so difficult to stop and we're going to break down why the future isn't just bright for him, but also for the Utah Jazz and the NBA as a whole. Let's get into it One of the most promising parts of Donovan Mitchell game is the fact that despite being so young, he's absolutely phenomenal using ball screens and he can score in a variety of different ways. This past season he was fourth in possessions per game and points per game using the pick and roll and in a ball screen heavy league, that makes him one of the most valuable players you can have. It all starts with the fact that Donovan Mitchell can shoot the basketball and because of this, defenses cannot go under ball screens or else he's going to make them pay with that three point shot. This is why I always talk about shooting being the most important skill in basketball. Because Donovan Mitchell is able to hit this shot consistently, the defense has to play over ball screens giving him a ton of options going downhill, even going over the ball screen if you get caught. Donovan Mitchell is quick enough with his shot that he can hit that three as well, which completely changes the way that the defender has to play him. His shot making ability alone is difficult to stop, but then when you add in the fact that he's one of the best athletes in the NBA, trying to contain him becomes a nightmare for any def. Sometimes defenses will try and hedge this ball screen to add that screeners defender as a way to contain Donovan Mitchell, but he's so quick that he's able to split those hedges a lot of times and either get to the basket or get to a pull up. Doing this completely exposes the defense and typically doesn't give the help defender coming across the paint enough time to recover. The coverage that Donovan sees a lot coming off of ball screens is this drop coverage where essentially the screener's man is going to drop into the paint to be able to help off of Donovan Mitchell and ideally be able to take him away from scoring at the basket. But he's really really good at attacking this drop coverage in a couple of different ways. It's a very simple read for Donovan as well. When he comes around this screen if he sees that that drop defender is hanging at the free throw line to try and take away that mid range jump shot, he's going to use his athleticism to blow by that defender. And because of his elite level athleticism, he's able to finish in a variety of different ways around bigger defenders. Like I said, the read he has to make coming off the screen is very, very simple. If now he sees that that drop defender is all the way down, guarding the basket, he he's going to snake the ball screen and he's going to shoot the shot. All that snaking the ball screen means is that he's going to push the ball across his body to go across the screen, which is going to make it harder for his defender to recover and contest the jump shot. And if the defense decides to switch the ball screen, Donovan Miguel is great at exploiting those mismatches that are created. And it's to a point where switching on a ball screen is something that you almost never want to do when you're facing him. So no matter what the defense does to try and guard that ball screen, Donovan Mitchell has the ability to beat them no matter what the defense is. And now we can take a look at an even more minute detail, which is how Donovan Mitchell sets up these screens. Gobert is going to come over and set this screen going to the left. So Donovan Mitchell goes from this closed stance to an open stance to sell that he's going to drive to the right, causing his defender to jump that way. And then when he attacks to the left, he gets hit by Gobert's screen and Donovan Minto gets that shot off. This clip right here shows us Donovan Mitchell's elite basketball iq as well as his extremely mature understanding of how to move defenders to create ideal angles. By Donovan Mitchell pointing right here, it's almost as if he's telling Ruda Gobert to switch the side he's screening on. Therefore, that causes defender to jump towards that right side, setting him up perfectly to get hit by that screen. When Donovan Mitchell explodes to the left side for the wide open layup. Having elite level quickness is one thing, but understanding when and how to use it and is what allows him to really dominate in these one on one situations. After this switch, this little look off Donovan Mitchell Gibbs right here freezes that defender and allows him to explode forward and beat him and get to the rim. In this clip right here, you can see his ability to go from a start to a stop to an explosive start again is all he needs to be able to use that quickness to Beat his guy. Let's talk about one of Donovan Mitchell's go tos right here, which is the snatch between dribble. And this is something he goes to often because it allows him to really use his quickness to get his defender to move downhill. And then he's able to stop on a dime with his snatch between and get his shot off. Part of the reason Donovan Mitchell is such a great athlete is because of his ability to get his hips really, really low on these stops. Donovan Mitchell gets Jamal Murray going with this explosive drive downhill. Then he's able to get low and drop his hips as he pulls the ball between his legs, which creates a little bit of separation and and allows him to rise up into a shot. And really the icing on the cake with all of this stuff is that he's able to hit very, very tough shots consistently. This step back is a great example of that. He starts off coming off of the screen slow, raised up, then he explodes forward with one dribble to get his defender on his heels. Then he goes into that step back and is able to hit that shot. Being able to change directions going at a speed like this is very, very difficult and, but that's why he's one of the hardest players in the league to guard. Another shot he likes to take is this between the legs, hesitation going to his strong hands where he's going to dip his shoulder to sell the drive. This is one of the toughest shots in basketball to hit, especially going to your strong hand. And a lot of times because of this, he's going to catch defenders with their hands down and he's able to knock it down. And right here he really sells it with that wide hesitation dribble. Keep his defender's hands down, rises up, hits that shot right over him. If you guys like this video, make sure you check the link in my description to get my free elite perimeter score workout. We're going to target a lot of the skills that you need to develop. If you want to be a great scorer from the perimeter, go ahead and check it out. It's completely free. I'll send it right to you. If you guys like this, make sure you drop a like and subscribe and leave a comment for what you want to see next. That's it, guys. Peace. Sam.
