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CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell is taking four fewer shots per game this season compared to last year. Should the Cleveland Cavaliers be concerned?
“The shot attempt stuff doesn’t bother me in the least,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said when asked that very question.
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Even though Mitchell is taking fewer shots, he’s taking a similar percentage of looks at the rim. A quarter of Mitchell’s attempts have been in the restricted area this season; that’s slightly better than last season when he was taking 24% of his shots at the rim.
If you wanted to point at something more negative, you could say that he’s shooting a lower percentage on shots at the rim and below the free-throw line. Additionally, his free-throw rate is also down slightly, and he’s gone from driving 18.5 times per game to just 15.6.
That said, Mitchell has been slightly more efficient as he’s averaging 1.24 points per shot attempt (88th percentile) and has an effective field-goal percentage of 57.4% (85th percentile).
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Instead of worrying about Mitchell’s shots, Atkinson is looking at something different.
“That’s my theme to him: Can you make others better?” Atkinson said. “That’s important for this group. You have to continue to make others better, make the right play. So I judge it more…I don’t look at field goal attempts.”
The blueprint for what Atkinson wants to see from Mitchell is last season’s Game 7 against the Detroit Pistons. In that game, Mitchell came out with an effort to set up teammates, which led to him finishing with eight assists and no turnovers.
We’ve seen glimpses of this during the season. The first game against the Oklahoma City Thunder (when Mitchell had 11 assists) and the win over the Washington Wizards are both examples of that. He made a concerted effort to get others involved, and the Cavs were better off for it.
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On the flip side, there’s a balance to this. Mitchell’s efforts to set up others need to come from…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kenny-atkinson-isn-t-concerned-001817692.html
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Publish date : 2026-11-07 00:18:00
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