MORGANTOWN -
Former West Virginia University Guard Casey Mitchell is
having a solid season in the NBA Development League. He is leading the Sioux
Falls Skyforce averaging nearly 20 points per game. Mitchell is also averaging
more than three rebounds per game and about two assists per game.
"I started the first couple of games," Mitchell said. "Then
my coach told me he didn't have any scorers to come off the bench and help us.
I told him I would come off the bench and I would come in and try to score and
get the guys some more energy when I come off the bench."
Mitchell has done just that. At West Virginia, Mitchell was
strictly a jump shooter. Now he has added the ability to drive to the hole to
his game.
"It's easier (to drive to the basket)," Mitchell said. "It's
basically because we don't have help defense in the NBA. You can't sit in the
paint like you can in college, so it is hard to pass the ball off when you have
someone sitting there the whole game. In the NBA you have to get out of the
paint and touch a man and get back on that man the whole time, so it is easier
to make plays."
Mitchell was given a brief shot at cracking an NBA roster
during the preseason. He was with the Houston Rockets in training camp before
the Rockets released him. It was a shortened preseason following a long NBA
lockout.
"It affected me a little bit, but I still don't let me get
it down," Mitchell stated. "I don't know if I would have made an NBA team if
there wasn't a lockout, but I think I would have had a better chance of making
a team."
D-League teams are affiliated with NBA teams, but not all D-League players are affiliated with those teams. Casey Mitchell is a free agent,
so on any given day he could get a call to join an NBA roster.
"I heard a few things from my agent," Mitchell said. "A lot
of teams are interested, but it is not a good time right now because the 10-day
contract doesn't start until February. I got a lot of offers overseas because
of how well I have been playing, so I may look into that too."
While he waits for the call, Mitchell insists he will
continue working on the parts of his game that need improvement, and that
includes consistency in all parts of the game.
"When I get hot I tend to settle for my jump shot because it
is going down," Mitchell said. "They also see that I have a big strong body
when I go to the basket, so they want me to go to the cup more."
Mitchell spent two seasons at West Virginia following a
great junior college career. Those two seasons under Bob Huggins helped
Mitchell prepare for the next level.
"It's definitely made me stronger for coaches in the
future," Mitchell said. "When coaches talk to me now, it doesn't get to me and
doesn't bother me because of what I have been through in the past and how Coach
Huggins has made me more mature. I just listen to the coaches now and listen to
what they tell me to do and it has made me better as a result."
Mitchell keeps a close eye on his former college team. In
fact, he shared his thoughts on what he saw in the West Virginia at Syracuse game
last weekend.
"I hit them up on twitter and say good game or give out a
shout to them every now and then," Mitchell said. "I actually watched the game
today (against Syracuse). I thought it was a goaltending at the end of the
game."
Mitchell will continue to follow the Mountaineers and
continue working towards an opportunity in the NBA. He believes his best chance
to get there is by proving himself in the D-League.
"I think it is a great way for the NBA guys to watch me
every night and be closer to the NBA and around the game," Mitchell stated. "A
lot of the players in the D-League have experience in the NBA so I think I get
a lot of experience from being a rookie in this league."
The Skyforce are 7-19 with 24 games remaining in the season.
That includes a return trip to Erie, Pennsylvania in March.
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