Search the Community

Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/nba/2013/09/20/tony-mitchell-will-have-least-impact-of-all-detroit-pistons-rookies/?dQc2rdqq60shTa1w.99

http://www.nba.com/pistons/video/players_lounge

There were a whole lot of questions about Tony Mitchell heading into the NBA summer pro league season: None were bigger than if Mitchell would have the right attitude and play with 100 percent effort. I never really had much of a doubt. He played lights out in his short time at UNT as a freshman. One can argue he checked out a bit in a disaster of a season last year, a time in which he admitted he coasted, but he has a lot to play for now. The reviews coming in on Mitchell since the end of the Orlando pro league have been nothing but positive. The latest example came in a story in USA Today about the value of players selected later in the draft who come cheap, relatively speaking. Many of them are on display in the summer pro leagues. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/positive-comments-on-tony-mitchell-from-pistons-assistant.html/

t isn't like that's a terrible thing, choosing between a three-time All-Star and a first-round draft pick who can shoot and defend on the perimeter. But Billups as the starting point guard certainly wouldn't do much to alter the diminishing perception of Knight at that position, with the alternative being to start the less-accomplished Knight at point with the rookie Caldwell-Pope. That brings us to the third reality, that some individual veterans inevitably will come to camp in October questioning their roles, such as Jonas Jerebko, Khris Middleton, Kyle Singler and Stuckey. Stuckey seems squeezed out of the starting lineup because of the need for perimeter shooting, which he won't mind. He also may be squeezed out of much point-guard play at all, which he would mind greatly. Jerebko becomes redundant with Villanueva as the floor-stretching power forward, Monroe and Smith gobbling up most of the minutes in front of them, and tough-guy rookie Tony Mitchell also at the position. Read more: http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2013/07/column_detroit_pistons_have_th.html

After reading comments on their websites and some of their fans it doesn't seem to be an impossibility. This story could have a very happy ending because Detroit is a team that could use his talent now.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Decide which of these two game-winning plays from Thursday's Orlando Summer League action was better, cooler, fitter, happier and more productive. First up, this game-sealing putback slam by Detroit Pistons second-round pick Tony Mitchell, which gave Detroit a 78-77 win over the Miami Heat: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/better-summer-league-game-winner-tony-mitchell-putback-154634511.html

Dunking Tony Second-round pick Tony Mitchell, a forward, is raw. But he is athletic and made an impact playing above the rim and on the offensive glass. It is hard to see him cracking the rotation next season, however. Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20130714/SPORTS03/307140089/What-we-learned-about-Detroit-Pistons-in-Summer-League

Mitchell bright spot in blowout loss to Celtics ORLANDO — It’s only two summer-league games, but the Pistons might have found a player in Tony Mitchell. His energy and athleticism were one of the few bright spots in a 93-63 blowout loss to the Celtics on Monday in the second day of summer-league action at the Orlando Magic practice floor. Mitchell contributed six points and 10 rebounds. He also sparked a brief run in the second quarter when the Pistons trimmed a 21-point deficit to 11. It was another solid effort after seven points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in the opener Sunday. And he has competed, an encouraging sign for a player who was labeled as lazy coming out of North Texas. And he wants to get better. Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20130708/SPORTS03/307080109/tony-mitchell-detroit-pistons-summer-league

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Detroit Pistons, two days after giving away a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, mounted their own rally from a 16-point deficit and Tony Mitchell's dunk with 1.7 seconds left gave them a 78-77 win over the Miami Heat today at the Orlando Pro Summer League. Ian Clark's forced 3-pointer at the buzzer came up short for Miami. The victory squared the Pistons at 2-2 through four games and likely guaranteed them one of the two early games, either 8 or 10 a.m., in Friday's playoff round. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope spurred the Pistons' rally in the third quarter before Kim English, who very well could be jobless by Friday because his contract for 2013-14 is not guaranteed, played a key role in the fourth. English had seven points during a 19-5 Pistons run to begin the fourth quarter, staking them to a 70-64 lead. Miami immediately responded with a 7-0 run to restore a 71-70 lead, after which Peyton Siva, who along with Caldwell-Pope helped change the game's tone with defensive pressure, suffered what appeared to be a sprained left ankle. The teams traded buckets the rest of the way, with a key third-chance putback by James Ennis giving Miami a 77-76 lead with 18.9 seconds left. Mitchell's game-winner came when he rebounded and slammed a short airball by Korie Lucious, who replaced the injured Siva Read more: http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2013/07/detroit_pistons_rally_from_16.html This post has been promoted to an article

Tony Mitchell will be in action with the Detroit Pistons summer league team again today. Detroit plays the Miami Heat at noon CST. Here’s a link to today’s games on NBA.com Mitchell is averaging 5.3 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. He didn’t start or play a whole lot in the Pistons last game. We will see if he gets more of an opportunity today. I will likely post some thoughts on UNT’s new look roster later in the day. I ran through the basic who’s who following an overhaul of nearly the entire roster yesterday if one looks a litter further down on the blog. On the football front, we are getting closer to the start of fall practice. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/thursday-morning-notes-mitchell-playing-again-today-unt-wr-ready-to-go.html/

Tony Mitchell will continue his run in the NBA summer league with Detroit at noon today when the Pistons face the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mitchell has played well so far, averaging 6.5 points and 8.0 rebounds a game. Here is a link to today’s game information. And in a side note, one of the top prospects with a UNT offer still on the board will announce his college destination today. What makes the announcement interesting his how McKinney wide receiver T.V. Williams is going about it. Williams is going to announce his five finalists on his Twitter account throughout the day and then announce where he is headed tonight. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/tuesday-morning-notes-mitchell-plays-at-noon-unt-target-to-announce.html/

UNT product Tony Mitchell had his first chance to show what he can do on the NBA level today when he made his debut with the Detroit Pistons’ summer league team. So far, so good. Mitchell finished with seven points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in the Pistons’ 76-67 win over the Brooklyn Nets. He went 3-for-3 from the floor. The hope was that Mitchell would show in the summer pro league that he can contribute right away as a backup forward as he continues to develop. That’s just what he did, according to the people who know: Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/solid-summer-league-debut-for-tony-mitchell.html/

Former North Texas standout Tony Mitchell sat in the seats at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday night, waiting to carve out a niche in Mean Green history at the NBA draft. Mitchell did just that. He just had to wait a lot longer than most analysts projected. Mitchell was expected to be selected in the first round, but he slid all the way to the seventh pick of the second round, where the Detroit Pistons snapped him up. Despite dropping into the second round, Mitchell, a 6-9 forward, was selected higher than any player in UNT history. Kenneth Lyons was the 23rd pick of the second round in the 1983 draft and was UNT’s highest selection before Mitchell. John Horrocks was picked by the Mavericks in the fourth round of the 1984 draft and was the last UNT player selected before Mitchell, who was accompanied to the draft by head coach Tony Benford. Mitchell’s teammates, UNT fans and the team’s assistant coaches gathered at Treehouse Bar & Grill in Denton to watch the draft on television. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130628-men-s-basketball-pistons-draft-mitchell.ece

For the first time in 37 years, a player who attended the University of North Texas will join an NBA roster. With the 37th overall pick in the NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons selected UNT's own Tony Mitchell. Mitchell was a standout forward for the Mean Green in his two seasons in Denton and was arguably the best player to take the court in the history of the mens basketball program. Lee Winfield, who played from 1969-1976 with several organizations, was North Texas last NBA player. Mitchell was a top prospect coming out of Dallas Pinkston High School and was initially set to attend Missouri. However, academic eligibility issues led him to North Texas. Mitchell was predicted to flourish against the competition he faced in the Sun Belt, and in his first season he showed signs of doing just that. Yet, his second season was not as successful. His numbers dropped across the board and he finished the season with per game averages of 13 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks. These struggles this can somewhat be attributed to new Head Coach Tony Benford and his staff being brought in. Injuries across the roster also factored into the dip in Mitchell's play as he became the primary focus of opposing defenses. Mitchell remained one of the most athletically gifted players in the Draft, however. His performance at the draft combine especially stood out and many drew comparisons between him and the likes of Paul George and Shawn Marion. Due to this, Mitchell was projected by many analysts to be taken late in the first round. This would not be the case, though. Read more: http://www.wfaa.com/sports/Mitchell-213603221.html

With $22 million in cap space, and the ability to create more by using the amnesty clause on Charlie Villanueva, Dumars plans to reinvent the Pistons as the kind of athletic, fast team that has worked so well in Miami and Oklahoma City, among other places. Caldwell-Pope, Siva and second-round pick Tony Mitchell (North Texas State) were all picked to help that process along. “We need to get more athletic, we need to get faster, and we need shooters,” Dumars said. “All three of these young men help us in those three categories, at one level or another.” Caldwell-Pope was considered one of the fastest guards in the draft, trailing only Miami’s Shane Larkin, and Mitchell might have been the best pure athlete. In fact, he has already built enough of a reputation to draw a challenge from the new face of the franchise. “Andre Drummond already told me that he needed to know which one of us could jump higher,” said Mitchell. “We’re going to be figuring that out in a little while.” Read more: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/viewart/20130629/SPORTS/306290009/Dumars-makes-hard-quiet-draft-decisions-Pistons

Read more: http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1258774&start=45

"Freak athlete" was the phrase out of Jay Bilas' mouth. "Upside pick" said Bill Simmons. What the ESPN analysts were alluding to Thursday night after the Detroit Pistons selected North Texas' Tony Mitchell in the second round also is ringing true with others today: Detroit may have ended up with one of the steals of the NBA Draft at No. 37. That's certainly an opinion of CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish, who listed Mitchell among the players "picked too low" in the draft. Read more: http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2013/06/detroit_pistons_grabbed_a_lott.html

I love the Tony Mitchell pick. I really hope Kentavious Caldwell-Pope pans out, but I have a feeling Mitchell could have an overall greater impact on the Pistons. I'll admit, while I follow college basketball, I didn't know much about Mitchell until May when Vince Ellis wrote about how the Pistons grilled the athletic forward regarding his supposed "motor" issues. His numbers were so good his freshman year, the significant drop off had to be attributed to more than the proverbial sophomore slump. Mitchell admitted he lost interest and couldn't get up for games. That won't fly in the NBA, but obviously the Pistons don't think it'll be a problem. If you remember Kevin's first round big board, he had Mitchell No. 11 overall. It's not crazy, because Mitchell was long projected as a lottery pick this year and may have been one in last year's draft. Here's what Kevin said about Mitchell earlier this month: A roll of the dice? You bet. One of the most intriguing prospects in the country after a stellar freshman campaign, Mitchell struggled in every aspect of his game last year. So what do you believe? Did he regress or was it something else? I'm inclined to chalk it up to an immature player (he lost a season of eligibility to academic issues) dealing poorly with a coaching change. That is, in and of itself, a genuine concern, but Mitchell has also shown that he can be a top five talent. I would have had him at this spot last year in a much deeper draft. Given the available options, I'll give him a mulligan, but he's the biggest boom or bust pick in the draft. Read more: http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2013/6/28/4473364/2013-nba-draft-results-grades-detroit-pistons-tony-mitchell

Here is the package I put together on Tony Mitchell and UNT’s draft party last night. A video interview with UNT assistant coach Rob Evans and Matt Walsh is above. Walsh, one of UNT’s managers, is a good friend of Mitchell. CLICK HERE TO LINK TO VIDEO

Congrats to Tony Mitchell!

AUBURN HILLS – The Detroit Pistons might have found another shot blocker to complement Andre Drummond. Tony Mitchell, a sophomore forward from North Texas who averaged 2.7 blocks per game last season, was selected by the Pistons in the second round (37th overall) of Thursday night's NBA Draft. Mitchell was projected a possible late first-round pick. Mitchell (6-8, 235) was 14th in the nation in blocked shots last season while also averaging 13.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and shooting 44 percent from the field. His 87 blocks last season are a North Texas record as are his 157 career blocks. He's considered an excellent athlete who is quick off the floor, runs well in transition and can play either forward spot. "[He's] a kid that can be your hybrid forward that can play outside," NBA senior director of scouting Ryan Blake said in a story on NJ.com. "Athletically he's off the charts. Long wingspan, versatile, can face up, creates opportunities for himself." Read more: http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2013/06/detroit_pistons_take_athletic.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mlive_sports+%28MLive.com+Sports%29

Most years, there are top-10 draft surprises. This year, no one knows what to expect in the first place, with every player seemingly harboring his own unique flaw or red flag. Ricky Ledo went to Providence College for a year but never played as a partial qualifier. He practiced with the Friars and NBA scouts flocked to watch, but several analysts thought he might go undrafted when he declared for the draft without playing a second of college basketball. Most projections have Ledo going late in the first round. "A lot of these players, they have a body of work, they have a couple years of college," Ledo said. "Me, I'm basically coming out of high school." Tony Mitchell was lauded as a possible lottery pick after his freshman season at North Texas, then decided to stay for a second year, under a new coach, and with more time to evaluate, scouts detected a spitting motor. Mitchell is a borderline first-rounder tonight. Staying in college cost him millions. "I think it tremendously hurt," Mitchell said. "But I really can't talk about it anymore. I've just got to show it." Read more: http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2013/06/2013_nba_draft_begins_joe_duma.html

“I didn't even think I was going to be selected by the Pistons but everything happens for a reason and I'm blessed to even be in this position,” Mitchell said tonight in New York. After the Pistons took shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the first round, Joe Dumars said the team helped address its needs on the perimeter. He also said he still wanted more athletes out there. “I decided to come (to the draft) because of my family,” Mitchell said. “ My family wanted to get away from home just to get the draft experience and be able to walk on stage.” Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20130627/SPORTS03/306270150/detroit-pistons-second-round-nba-draft