ESPN Dallas T. Mitchell Article

UNTcrazy727 · March 2, 2012

Freshman is bound to be Mean Green's first NBA player, it's just a matter of when

Mitchell, a first-team All-Sun Belt selection and the league's freshman of the year after averaging 15.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game, hasn't made a decision about the draft. However, he's leaning toward returning to school, spending much more time talking about the Mean Green's potential next season than the NBA..."We have the potential to be a top 25 team in the nation," Mitchell said. "We talk about that like every day. I'm very excited. & The league is not going nowhere no time soon."

Dr. Seuss · March 2, 2012

Gotta love the home love by Tim MacMahon... Great Read

Green Jackal · March 2, 2012

Great article. Interesting comments from Tony's mother.

gksmith · March 2, 2012

Mitchell said. "We talk about that like every day. I'm very excited. & The league is not going nowhere no time soon."

Tony needs to work on his grammar but other than that...got to love the kid.

Top 25 next year... :blink:

That is rather ambitious and I hope UNT can be a top 25 team. I'd pay money to see that.

Cooley · March 2, 2012

Tony needs at least 2 more years. The money will be there. No guarantees for 2nd rounders. Odoh should help his development and better outside shooting from Overlander/Pye???

Ok, ok, Overlander has impressed me more of late!

UNTcrazy727 · March 2, 2012

Tony needs at least 2 more years. The money will be there. No guarantees for 2nd rounders. Odoh should help his development and better outside shooting from Overlander/Pye???

Ok, ok, Overlander has impressed me more of late!

He'll be gone after next year. If he plays well he'll be a lottery pick. That'd be too much cash to leave on the table and risk another year in college

adman · March 2, 2012

He'll be gone after next year. If he plays well he'll be a lottery pick. That'd be too much cash to leave on the table and risk another year in college

I understand what you are saying but the way you said it sure looks odd when you step back.

cl_1_2008 · March 2, 2012

Tony needs at least 2 more years. The money will be there. No guarantees for 2nd rounders. Odoh should help his development and better outside shooting from Overlander/Pye???

Ok, ok, Overlander has impressed me more of late!

First of all, he doesn't NEED any more years. His game is good enough as is that he would probably be a top 20 pick. I'd love to see him stay but to say he NEEDS to stay one more year, much less 2, is ridiculous. I'd love to have him back, and it sounds like he's certainly entertaining the possibility. His mother doesn't sound nearly as enthused about the idea of him staying here another year. Also, I would bet you any amount of money you'd like that if he goes pro, he doesn't fall to the second round. I do agree that having Odoh will help him out, because like McMahon stated, he'll get to play a little more out on the perimeter and improve his outside game and ball-handling. And he wouldn't be the only guy protecting the rim for our defense. IF he does come back, and CJ and Jordan get eligible, then the sky is the limit for next year's team. All that being said, I'm looking forward to the conference tourney, and I think the Mean Green may just win the thing. Can't wait to see what happens.

Go Mean Green!

risinggreen · March 2, 2012

"It's all but certain that Mitchell, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward with a 41-inch vertical leap and 7-foot-4 wingspan, will become the first North Texas product to play in the NBA. It's a matter of when."

Don't think so Tim. Lee Winfield (RIP) had a pretty nice NBA career. According to this, Tony will be our second in the NBA, unless of course he stays a few more years and one of our other roster guys beats him to it. :thumbsu: Pretty nice ABA career there for Joe Hamilton as well.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/colleges.cgi?college=ntexas

FireFightnJoey · March 2, 2012

I really think it comes down to what potential he thinks the team has next year to make some real noise. Don't discount how much these kids dream of the tourney. If he feels they will have a chance to make some noise next year at the tourney, coupled with some of the assessments he's hearing from the scouts, it might be the right combo to come back!

Might be some peer pressure there too. lol They talk everyday, I bet some of those conversations are about him coming back for his buddies!

Green Jackal · March 2, 2012

Mitchell said. "We talk about that like every day. I'm very excited. & The league is not going nowhere no time soon."

Tony needs to work on his grammar

Tony has been too focused on double doubles to worry about double negatives.

Ibleedgreen · March 2, 2012

"It's all but certain that Mitchell, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward with a 41-inch vertical leap and 7-foot-4 wingspan, will become the first North Texas product to play in the NBA. It's a matter of when."
Don't think so Tim. Lee Winfield (RIP) had a pretty nice NBA career. According to this, Tony will be our second in the NBA, unless of course he stays a few more years and one of our other roster guys beats him to it. Pretty nice ABA career there for Joe Hamilton as well.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/colleges.cgi?college=ntexas

Joe Hamilton was incredibly fun to watch play. Not real big, but he could scamper...and what a great shooter!

forevereagle · March 2, 2012

First of all, he doesn't NEED any more years. His game is good enough as is that he would probably be a top 20 pick. I'd love to see him stay but to say he NEEDS to stay one more year, much less 2, is ridiculous. I'd love to have him back, and it sounds like he's certainly entertaining the possibility. His mother doesn't sound nearly as enthused about the idea of him staying here another year. Also, I would bet you any amount of money you'd like that if he goes pro, he doesn't fall to the second round. I do agree that having Odoh will help him out, because like McMahon stated, he'll get to play a little more out on the perimeter and improve his outside game and ball-handling. And he wouldn't be the only guy protecting the rim for our defense. IF he does come back, and CJ and Jordan get eligible, then the sky is the limit for next year's team. All that being said, I'm looking forward to the conference tourney, and I think the Mean Green may just win the thing. Can't wait to see what happens.

Go Mean Green!

You're probably right, need is a little strong. Can we agree that he would benefit from staying another year?

MeanMag · March 2, 2012

Tony needs at least 2 more years. The money will be there. No guarantees for 2nd rounders. Odoh should help his development and better outside shooting from Overlander/Pye???

Ok, ok, Overlander has impressed me more of late!

Pye had a couple nice games recently. I'm excited about him joining the team next year. There was a stretch against Marcus where he absolutely could not miss.

cl_1_2008 · March 2, 2012

You're probably right, need is a little strong. Can we agree that he would benefit from staying another year?

Yes, I can agree that him staying could benefit him in some ways, as long as he doesn't log very many minutes playing center. We need to get him isolated on the wing more often(not just for him, but for team success). It's a lot harder to double a guy on the perimeter, and him going one-on-one will create our best oppurtunity for easy buckets. His ballhandling may not be NBA-ready, but it is plenty good enough that he can take Sun Belt players off the dribble. As a result of getting the ball more out on the win, I think his turnovers would decrease. When he catches the ball in the post, there's two, and sometimes three guys, going at him. When you double and triple-team, you're going to cause turnovers, no matter how good the player is. And his passing is very underrated, so when guys come to help, he can get everyone else open shots. I feel we should have gotten him the ball outside more often THIS YEAR, but that's okay. Also, his fouls will go down if he's not having to guard centers. The only real negatives to staying are the possibility of injury, and the fact that you're not getting a fat check every week. The are pro's and con's both ways, but I'm sure he'll make the right decision for him and his family whatever that may be. With CJ, Al, Brandan, Overlander, Jordan, Holmen, Patton, Roger, Tony, Niko, and Odoh, that's 11 guys that can flat out play. I know we haven't seen Overlander yet, but a knockdown shooter is something this team needs badly. Even if he does nothing else, I think he can make a difference with just his shooting. If Trey and Forrest improve in the offseason, then Johnny might find himself in a tough spot in figuring out who gets how many minutes. But that, my friends, is certainly not a bad problem to have.

Go Mean Green!

All About UNT · March 2, 2012

Tony has been too focused on double doubles to worry about double negatives.

MeanMag · March 3, 2012

Yes, I can agree that him staying could benefit him in some ways, as long as he doesn't log very many minutes playing center. We need to get him isolated on the wing more often(not just for him, but for team success). It's a lot harder to double a guy on the perimeter, and him going one-on-one will create our best oppurtunity for easy buckets. His ballhandling may not be NBA-ready, but it is plenty good enough that he can take Sun Belt players off the dribble. As a result of getting the ball more out on the win, I think his turnovers would decrease. When he catches the ball in the post, there's two, and sometimes three guys, going at him. When you double and triple-team, you're going to cause turnovers, no matter how good the player is. And his passing is very underrated, so when guys come to help, he can get everyone else open shots. I feel we should have gotten him the ball outside more often THIS YEAR, but that's okay. Also, his fouls will go down if he's not having to guard centers. The only real negatives to staying are the possibility of injury, and the fact that you're not getting a fat check every week. The are pro's and con's both ways, but I'm sure he'll make the right decision for him and his family whatever that may be. With CJ, Al, Brandan, Overlander, Jordan, Holmen, Patton, Roger, Tony, Niko, and Odoh, that's 11 guys that can flat out play. I know we haven't seen Overlander yet, but a knockdown shooter is something this team needs badly. Even if he does nothing else, I think he can make a difference with just his shooting. If Trey and Forrest improve in the offseason, then Johnny might find himself in a tough spot in figuring out who gets how many minutes. But that, my friends, is certainly not a bad problem to have.

Go Mean Green!

I like Tony Mitchell. A lot. His ball handling on the wing does not pass muster in the Sun Belt. In fact, neither does Jordan Williams'. It's an aspect that they both need to work on. But, alas, they are only freshmen. They will have plenty of time to work on it.

Wanna know the result of getting Tony ISO on the wing? We did it at least 3 times at the end of games where we needed a bucket to tie or win. And everyone thinks that it was a drawn up 3 point shot. I'm fairly certain it wasn't.

Other than ball handling and patience, I agree, you might be hard pressed to find a flaw in Tony's game. He's so wildly talented and very athletic, it makes me wonder if sometimes I'm not used to seeing guys like him in the college game play in the Sun Belt. You have to take a step back and ask yourself, is his bounciness and raw talent masking or making up for the skill/patience parts of his game? I think at this point, it may be. Reading the scouts' comments lead me to believe they think the same.

cl_1_2008 · March 3, 2012

Seriously? I think if Lala can shut him down, he isn't ready.

And Lafayette was sending THREE guys his direction when he caught the ball in the post. It wasn't one guy that shut him down.

UNTLifer · March 3, 2012

Then he needs to work on his passing game out of the post also.

cdizzle86 · March 3, 2012

What position is projected to play in the NBA?

cl_1_2008 · March 3, 2012

What position is projected to play in the NBA?

Small Forward

UNT90 · March 4, 2012

Small Forward

Tony's got a lot of work to do to play small forward in the NBA. He needs a much quicker release on his outside jumper, needs to improve ball handling , and really needs to improve his perimeter defense to play at the next level.

Very talented, but very raw (NBA-wise). Might a team in the bottom of the 1st round take a flyer on his athleticism? Maybe, but that is a big risk to take.

Hopefully Tony and his Mom have learned a hard lesson from the Florida experience and will listen to people who want the best for Tony when making this decision.

Edited March 4, 2012 by UNT90