But when asked which stat jumped out to him, Mitchell skipped over those positive figures and went straight to a category where point guards tend to be measured. “Turnovers,” he said.
Mitchell had five turnovers in 24 minutes — the fourth time in 11 games he’s had at least that many.
The 6-foot-4 junior probably would be a better fit at small forward. He excels around the basket, ranking fourth in the Horizon League with 7.0 rebounds per game. He also has a team-best 16 steals.
He’s been forced to play out of position because the Raiders don’t have a scholarship point guard, but he’s not inclined to use that as an alibi.
“I’ve got to take care of the ball — especially being a point guard. That’s got to be my main focus,” Mitchell said.
He has 37 turnovers, second on the team to Mark Alstork’s 54. And Mitchell knows first-year coach Scott Nagy is starting to lose patience with that sloppy play.
“He wants me to take care of the ball and run the team,” Mitchell said. “That’s what I’m trying to work on.”
The Raiders are averaging 16 turnovers per game, which ranked 319th out of 351 Division I teams going into the weekend. They were much better with the ball last season, averaging 11.3.
They’re trying to play at a faster tempo this season, but that spike in turnovers can’t all be blamed on the faster pace.
They had 17 against Urbana, a Division II team that was treating its trip to the Nutter Center as an exhibition.
“We’re not cleaning up the turnovers,” a disgusted Nagy said. “We can get away with it here. But when we go on the road, we’re not going to get away with it. We’re not going to win games if we turn it over 20 times.”
Nagy has been harping on turnovers since preseason practice, and he’s wondering if all that preaching is starting to be counterproductive.
“It’s become one of those things like free throws. You start thinking, ‘We can’t make free throws.’ It’s become mental for the whole team,” he said.
“We can’t even catch balls right now because we’re so uptight about turnovers. As a coach, I don’t know how to get them to relax about it but play more under control. You’re going to have some turnovers when you’re aggressive, but you can’t have the careless ones. We have way too many careless ones.”
The Raiders (7-4) begin a four-game road swing at Kent State (7-3) today. They dropped three straight away from home before playing Urbana, getting drubbed by Georgia State, Penn State and Loyola (Ill.).
“I’m not throwing the baby out with the bath water,” Nagy said. “That was a tough stretch. I knew it would be. I was hoping to fare better and compete better because, really, it didn’t feel like we were in any of the three games much at all. That’s a little frustrating for everybody. But the kids are still learning and I’m still learning.”
SportsCenter nod: Steven Davis' monster dunk against Urbana was No. 2 on ESPN SportsCenter's top-10 plays Tuesday. The 6-8 forward "posterized" a helpless defender with the slam, and the contact at the basket seemed to give him extra lift because his eyes were even with the rim.
He drew a foul and completed the three-point play. He also made the SportsCenter top-10 for a dunk against Cedarville earlier this year.
TODAY’S GAME
Who: Wright State (7-4) at Kent State (7-3)
When: 4 p.m.
TV/Radio: TWC Sports Channel, ESPN3/106.5-FM
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