Rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell will need all the help he can get in the Utah Jazz's Western Conference semifinal series against the Houston Rockets.
So Mitchell wasn't shying away from the gilded hand of Kobe Bryant, who recently released his latest film-breakdown episode of "Detail."
In it, he puts his focus on Mitchell.
"I've watched it twice already," Mitchell said of Bryant's Granity Studios-produced segment that airs on ESPN and ESPN+.
After averaging 20.5 points in 33.4 minutes per game in the regular season, Mitchell has stepped up his game in the playoffs, in which he has scored 27.4 points per game and is averaging 38.6 minutes.
"There were times when he was basically saying, 'That can't happen. This can't happen,'" Mitchell said. "And I was laughing because he was right; they can't push me off my spot. The way he broke it down made so much sense."
Bryant, an 18-time All-Star who won five NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, had previously broken down film of Toronto Raptors star DeMar DeRozan in Episode 2 and of himself against Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets from the 2009 playoffs in the series' first episode.
Jazz coach Quin Snyder said such analysis "depends on who the voice is." But if it has the caliber of Kobe behind it, the more help the better, Snyder said.
"So the fact Kobe's breaking the game down is a good thing," Snyder said. "It's a compliment to Donovan. And there's probably a lot of things he's suggesting that we need to look at doing, some of which we probably are. But again, I have to watch it.
"You know, obviously, anytime you play against a team that plays you well, and you play against a guy like Trevor Ariza ... there's things you have to recognize and adjust to. A lot of times players do that on their own to a certain degree, and as coaches, it's my job to put him in a position to be successful."
