Pantone287
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has committed to Duke.
Player Mark Mitchell
- Thread starter Pantone287
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All 80 minutes at C/PF are taken for next year now. Still wouldn’t hurt to get another Theo John for competition and in case of injury or an unplayable freshman, each of which happens regularly.
Pantone287
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I feel like Amile will work really well with him. He really reminds me of Amile in how he gets really low with his dribble and pokes and prods around with it. Just a little more perimeter oriented and bulkier.
deepdarkblue
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We'll probably still have Stanley Borden on the team next year. He's tall and European so surely he will be playable in the post.
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Duke is extremely consistent about having at least one 5-star recruit be a bust and/or negative overall player as a freshman.
2022: AJ Griffin, Trevor Keels
2021: Jeremy Roach, Jalen Johnson
2020: Wendell Moore
2019: Cam Reddish
2018: Trevon Duval
2017: Harry Giles, Marques Bolden
2016: Derryck Thornton, Chase Jeter
2015: Jahlil Okafor
2014: Jabari Parker, Semi Ojeleye
2013: Alex Murphy
2012: Michael Gbinije
2011: Kyrie Irving
With about a 100% chance that one or more of these elite guys (Lively, Whitehead, Filipowski, Mitchell) will have zero or negative value to Duke in March, I wonder who it will be. Most people would predict Mitchell if one of them must be a bust, but the obvious pick is usually wrong.
I guess I would go with Lively. There’s more freak injury risk, and there’s a chance he thinks of himself as a 30% usage player for Duke, with lots of midrange jumpers and low-30s 3s.
2022: AJ Griffin, Trevor Keels
2021: Jeremy Roach, Jalen Johnson
2020: Wendell Moore
2019: Cam Reddish
2018: Trevon Duval
2017: Harry Giles, Marques Bolden
2016: Derryck Thornton, Chase Jeter
2015: Jahlil Okafor
2014: Jabari Parker, Semi Ojeleye
2013: Alex Murphy
2012: Michael Gbinije
2011: Kyrie Irving
With about a 100% chance that one or more of these elite guys (Lively, Whitehead, Filipowski, Mitchell) will have zero or negative value to Duke in March, I wonder who it will be. Most people would predict Mitchell if one of them must be a bust, but the obvious pick is usually wrong.
I guess I would go with Lively. There’s more freak injury risk, and there’s a chance he thinks of himself as a 30% usage player for Duke, with lots of midrange jumpers and low-30s 3s.
Slap the Floor
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I watched some of the MCDAA scrimmages and made YouTube clips and wrote some notes on Mark Mitchell. This is my first time watching him, and I didn't know he was a lefty, which caught me by surprise. He has great length and is a very good athlete, but he's much more than that. He's not just an incredible athlete with minimal basketball skills. He has good defensive positioning, reacts quickly to what is occurring on the court, and is not wreckless when driving into the paint.
This clip below is a very good left-handed drive from Mark Mitchell. His first dribble opens his man hips and gives Mark the advantage on the drive. He gets into the paint with a nice jump-stop. The pass is deflected, but this is the right read from Mark and the blame is more properly placed on the player he's passing to who doesn't move with the drive to the corner to get into a passing window for Mark.
www.youtube.com
In the previous clip, he used a jump-stop, highlighting that he is the skill and basketball IQ to get under control on drives into the paint. In this clip below, he uses a barkley move to maintain his dribble and keep pressure on the defense before kicking the ball out and relocating. What the jump-stop and barkley display is that Mark Mitchell is not a player solely relying on his strength and athleticism to blow by defenders. He's already using skills and possesses an understanding of the game that I believe will translate into positive contributions early at Duke. In the second half of this clip, he sets a screen, rolls, catches the pocket pass, and goes up with a nice high, one-motion shot.
www.youtube.com
Again, below is another example of Mark Mitchell getting under control on a drive. This isn't anything necessarily special, but it will translate right away at Duke. A lot of players (and it happened a bunch in this scrimmage) will put up a bad shot here, turn the ball over, or maybe bully their way to the rim by using their size and athletic advantages. Mark Mitchell doesn't have a favorable driving opportunity so he comes to a full-stop as opposed to the many gross alternatives.
www.youtube.com
This clip is encouraging. A lot of times you'll see players in this scenario not seeing both. This is happening quick and out of transition and Mark just gets to his man when the drive occurs. Mark slides right off his man and walls off the drive outside of the paint. Good positional awareness.
www.youtube.com
This clip below is a very good left-handed drive from Mark Mitchell. His first dribble opens his man hips and gives Mark the advantage on the drive. He gets into the paint with a nice jump-stop. The pass is deflected, but this is the right read from Mark and the blame is more properly placed on the player he's passing to who doesn't move with the drive to the corner to get into a passing window for Mark.
âï¸ Mark Mitchell pt
9 seconds · Clipped by MrCoolguy234 · Original video "McDonald's All American Boys Scrimmage: East vs West | 2022.3.27 | HS Game" by The Draftmatic
www.youtube.com
In the previous clip, he used a jump-stop, highlighting that he is the skill and basketball IQ to get under control on drives into the paint. In this clip below, he uses a barkley move to maintain his dribble and keep pressure on the defense before kicking the ball out and relocating. What the jump-stop and barkley display is that Mark Mitchell is not a player solely relying on his strength and athleticism to blow by defenders. He's already using skills and possesses an understanding of the game that I believe will translate into positive contributions early at Duke. In the second half of this clip, he sets a screen, rolls, catches the pocket pass, and goes up with a nice high, one-motion shot.
âï¸ Mark Mitchell- barkley / PnR
15 seconds · Clipped by MrCoolguy234 · Original video "McDonald's All American Boys Scrimmage: East vs West | 2022.3.27 | HS Game" by The Draftmatic
www.youtube.com
Again, below is another example of Mark Mitchell getting under control on a drive. This isn't anything necessarily special, but it will translate right away at Duke. A lot of players (and it happened a bunch in this scrimmage) will put up a bad shot here, turn the ball over, or maybe bully their way to the rim by using their size and athletic advantages. Mark Mitchell doesn't have a favorable driving opportunity so he comes to a full-stop as opposed to the many gross alternatives.
âï¸ Mitchell js
8 seconds · Clipped by MrCoolguy234 · Original video "McDonald's All American Boys Scrimmage: East vs West | 2022.3.27 | HS Game" by The Draftmatic
www.youtube.com
This clip is encouraging. A lot of times you'll see players in this scenario not seeing both. This is happening quick and out of transition and Mark just gets to his man when the drive occurs. Mark slides right off his man and walls off the drive outside of the paint. Good positional awareness.
âï¸ Mark Mitchell help defense
8 seconds · Clipped by MrCoolguy234 · Original video "McDonald's All American Boys Scrimmage: East vs West | 2022.3.27 | HS Game" by The Draftmatic
www.youtube.com
TyusStones5
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His hustle reminds me of Montrezl Harrell but with a better outside shot.
Slap the Floor
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I just found a 13 minute video of Mark Mitchell highlights from this year:
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Did some light digging on Mitchell, since it appears he could be the key to everything. Based on what we've seen lately, he could be one of those excellent overall freshmen who doesn't have any one outstanding skill but can't be kept off the court, due to surprisingly great awareness/IQ/always-in-the-right-place quality, plus the athleticism to make it all work.
If Mitchell can shoot like freshman Justise Winslow, even just as a fluky result of his circumstances at Duke (having two great passers in the backcourt to get him the ball in the right spots would help), it would make the potential Duke clutch lineup the best in the country, possibly on par with the best death lineups we've seen over the years.
Pack (45% 3pt)
Roach (40% 3pt)
Whitehead (???? 3pt)
Mitchell (40% 3pt)
Lively/Filipowski (35% 3pt)
would be the inevitable clutch lineup if Duke can get Pack onboard, as I don't think Lively and Filipowski on the court together is going to prove to be viable in high leverage defensive situations against decent coaching. I also don't think that combo is going to be very good offensively, but that's more arguable/LIPO.
Anyway, this all led me to look at Mitchell's HS stats, which look much more promising from the shooting perspective than I was expecting. His HS stats from last season are here: https://kchighschoolhoops.com/player.php?player=2377&season=7
Accuracy
78% 2pt
44% 3pt
80% ft
Selection
18% 3pt attempt rate
31% ft attempt rate
Obviously it's difficult to gauge anything without having a full understanding of the level of competition, usage rate, etc., but 80% ft accuracy translates no matter what, and it was on good volume.
I couldn't find his current season HS stats in less than two minutes, so I stopped trying. I did find this article which gave partial season stats: https://www.theseasonticket.com/news_article/show/1198163
The 46% from the field is much lower than his 71% fg the prior year (granted, at a different school), which may raise concerns, but it's actually encouraging to me in that maybe it reflects more volume from 3. Who knows. Anyway, 85% ft continues to look great and should translate to Duke.
Mitchell seems likely to force his way into the starting lineup and get all the important minutes by season end. My hope is that it wouldn't be part of a big lineup that also includes both Lively and Filipowski. I believe landing Pack would preclude the big lineup from entering Scheyer's mind.
If Mitchell can shoot like freshman Justise Winslow, even just as a fluky result of his circumstances at Duke (having two great passers in the backcourt to get him the ball in the right spots would help), it would make the potential Duke clutch lineup the best in the country, possibly on par with the best death lineups we've seen over the years.
Pack (45% 3pt)
Roach (40% 3pt)
Whitehead (???? 3pt)
Mitchell (40% 3pt)
Lively/Filipowski (35% 3pt)
would be the inevitable clutch lineup if Duke can get Pack onboard, as I don't think Lively and Filipowski on the court together is going to prove to be viable in high leverage defensive situations against decent coaching. I also don't think that combo is going to be very good offensively, but that's more arguable/LIPO.
Anyway, this all led me to look at Mitchell's HS stats, which look much more promising from the shooting perspective than I was expecting. His HS stats from last season are here: https://kchighschoolhoops.com/player.php?player=2377&season=7
Accuracy
78% 2pt
44% 3pt
80% ft
Selection
18% 3pt attempt rate
31% ft attempt rate
Obviously it's difficult to gauge anything without having a full understanding of the level of competition, usage rate, etc., but 80% ft accuracy translates no matter what, and it was on good volume.
I couldn't find his current season HS stats in less than two minutes, so I stopped trying. I did find this article which gave partial season stats: https://www.theseasonticket.com/news_article/show/1198163
The 46% from the field is much lower than his 71% fg the prior year (granted, at a different school), which may raise concerns, but it's actually encouraging to me in that maybe it reflects more volume from 3. Who knows. Anyway, 85% ft continues to look great and should translate to Duke.
Mitchell seems likely to force his way into the starting lineup and get all the important minutes by season end. My hope is that it wouldn't be part of a big lineup that also includes both Lively and Filipowski. I believe landing Pack would preclude the big lineup from entering Scheyer's mind.
deeyoukayeee
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I'm trying to think of the last time we had a freshman far surpass expectations. Obviously, that is pretty hard when so many of our guys have such huge expectations coming in. We've definitely had moments - Mark at the end of last year, FF Grayson, 1st/last game Keels - but the only one I can really think of that did it for more than a handful of games was Cassius. Zion was better than a lot of stupid TDF guys thought he'd be, but Axes knew it all along.
Mitchell at #15ish should certainly be expected to contribute, but seeing him twice it seems to me like he could be the darkhorse most productive player on the team. The Mitchell/Lively/Flip rotation should be fantastic at the 4/5, but I wouldn't be surprised if Mark led the trio in minutes.
Mitchell at #15ish should certainly be expected to contribute, but seeing him twice it seems to me like he could be the darkhorse most productive player on the team. The Mitchell/Lively/Flip rotation should be fantastic at the 4/5, but I wouldn't be surprised if Mark led the trio in minutes.
LastHearth
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Vernon Carey, Gary Trent Jr, two off the top of my head exceed expectations recently.
I was really impressed with Carey. I also just enjoyed watching him play.
deeyoukayeee
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Carey and Trent definitely maxxed out, but Carey had been a top-5 recruit for years, often #1 in his class. He should have been good. Trent was top-15ish and a name for years. He probably slightly exceeded reasonable expectations but was probably the 4th best player on his team.
Stanley was a top-40ish afterthought, solidly behind Carey, Hurt and Moore in his own class. He significantly outperformed expectations.
Stanley was a top-40ish afterthought, solidly behind Carey, Hurt and Moore in his own class. He significantly outperformed expectations.
rome8180
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Freshman Sulaimon was better than expected, imo. And I would argue that no one thought Zion would be the greatest CBB player ever. Winslow's offense was way better than expected. While people thought Tyus would be good, I'm not sure anyone thought he'd have statistically the most clutch Duke season of all time. And then there's Carey and Cassius as mentioned.
Point being, I think there's plenty of examples.
Point being, I think there's plenty of examples.
According to https://www.theseasonticket.com/roster_players/48018979, Mitchell is 5/17 from three in 18 games at Sunrise Christian this year. I would be surprised if he's a 40% shooter as a freshman at Duke, and I assume his FG% drop is due to better competition. Roach was 31% last year and 32% this year, and even with his "breakout" tournament performance his moving average is 32% so I wouldn't bet on him being 40%. I doubt Lively will be 35% next year; hopefully Filipowski will be but I tend to just lean towards the pessimistic side for freshman. Whitehead is definitely multiple question marks.
Pack should be phenomenal for UNC. A huge efficiency gain over Love.
rome8180
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Mitchell was also injured and had a readjustment period after returning. He's been phenomenal recently. His shooting form is ugly, so he probably won't be 40%, but the FTs are encouraging.
SMTTEM's post is tongue-in-cheek anyway. But it's worth noting that while plenty of freshmen have struggled to shoot, we've had a bunch outperform our shooting expectations.
SMTTEM's post is tongue-in-cheek anyway. But it's worth noting that while plenty of freshmen have struggled to shoot, we've had a bunch outperform our shooting expectations.
childress22
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Just a note: I think that's 5/17 in the 9 games they have FG attempts for. There are 9 other games on there for which they have his total points scored, but all the FG info is missing (0 FGA, 0 FGM 0 3FGA, etc)