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Can Marquette's Stevie Mitchell win Big East defensive player of the year? His case is strong
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- Can Marquette's Stevie Mitchell win Big East defensive player of the year? His case is strong
Kam Jones is clearly biased when it comes to who he thinks is the best defensive player in the Big East.
Stevie Mitchell isn't just Jones' close friend and teammate on the Marquette men's basketball team. They are also podcast co-hosts . But Jones is also an explosive offensive player, just look at his 68 points over the Golden Eagles' last two games , and he knows how annoying it is being guarded by the 6-foot-3 Mitchell in practice and in one-on-one battles at the Al McGuire Center .
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So if it was up to Jones, the Big East should start engraving Mitchell's name on the trophy.
"I didn't know I had to make a case for that," Jones said. "We see what he do every night, man. His deflection interval is insane. He just gets his hands on the basketball. He flies around. He had a block (against Xavier) just swinging his arms around.
"Yes, please. Yes, defensive player of the year. For sure."
There's plenty of competition in the rugged conference. The fifth-ranked Golden Eagles (21-6, 12-4 Big East) will get an up-close look at another pesky guard in Devin Carter when MU takes on Providence (18-9, 9-7) on Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum.
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But Mitchell is definitely a strong candidate.
Marquette's Stevie Mitchell has 45 steals this season, including 33 in Big East games.
Creighton big man Ryan Kalkbrenner has won last two awards and is candidate again
Xavier head coach Sean Miller is a more impartial judge. He is also an admirer of Mitchell's work.
"I thought Stevie was a huge part to their great season a year ago," Miller said. "He really accepts his role, it seems like.
"He leads them in steals. He seems to take on the challenge. Whatever that challenge is. Guarding the team's best player. Trapping the low post. He does a lot of great things for Marquette. He's a consummate team guy, it seems like.
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"I'm not his coach, but just reading it and watching it, he does a lot of the dirty work that helps a team win. But in our league, man, the bar is high for these player of the year awards."
There can often feel like a big-man bias when it comes to defensive awards in basketball. An intimidating 7-footer swatting away shots at the basket can leave a strong impression.
The Big East started awarding defensive player of the year in the 1981-82 season, and Georgetown center Patrick Ewing won the first four trophies. Among the 48 awards over 42 seasons, including four times it was shared by multiple players, a player who could be classified as a power forward or center won it 27 times.
That includes the last two seasons in which Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner was the winner. The 7-foot-1 center had 89 blocks in the 2021-22 season and 72 last season. He has 81 swats this season. Connecticut's Donovan Clingan and Seton Hall's Jaden Bediako have higher block percentages in Big East games, which measures the percentage of opponents' attempts blocked by a player while he is on the court, but Kalkbrenner plays 33.4 minutes per game while Clingan is at 21 and Bediako at 24.9.
Marquette's Stevie Mitchell puts defensive pressure on Xavier guard Dayvion McKnight during their game Sunday at Fiserv Forum.
Shaka Smart makes case for Stevie Mitchell
The Big East coaches vote for postseason awards, and MU's Shaka Smart sounded wistful that he couldn't cast his ballot for Mitchell.
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"I'm biased because I'm his coach," Smart said. "He would get my vote if you could vote for your own players. You can't. So since he can't, I'd probably vote for another guy."
Steals are often seen the defensive statistical indicator for perimeter players. Mitchell has 45 steals this season, including 33 over the 14 Big East games that he has played in. He missed two league matchups with a hamstring injury.
Posh Alexander was the last guard to win Big East player of the year, sharing the honor with Connecticut big man Isaiah Whaley in the 2020-21 season when Alexander played for St. John's. Alexander is now at Butler and he has 59 steals this season, including 38 in 16 Big East games. Carter has 41 steals for the Friars, with 28 coming in Big East play.
Mitchell's steal percentage, calculated like block percentage, is 4.79 and leads the conference ahead of Alexander's 3.96. Mitchell has a chance to finish with the Big East's highest steal percentage in league games since Providence's Kris Dunn had a 4.88 in the 2014-15 season. Dunn shared the Big East defensive player of the year award that season.
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As MU fans know, Smart prizes deflections . Mitchell is second on MU in deflections with 142, just behind Oso Ighodaro's 144 ,though Ighodaro has played four more games because of Mitchell's injury. Smart also likes to track deflection intervals, with deflections tracked per four minutes played. As Jones noted, Mitchell's deflection interval is impressive with a team-best 3.94.
As Smart often notes, it's more than just statistics with Mitchell.
"You can't really quantify it," Smart said. "Just his energy. The way he impacts his teammates. The winning plays that he makes."
So how would Smart build a case for Mitchell as Big East defensive player of the year? Jerel McNeal in the 2006-07 season is the only MU player to win the award.
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"What we need to do, I guess, is make a long highlight tape of all the defensive possessions that he saves for us," Smart said. "Or creates stops for us and send that to anyone that's voting on this type of thing."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette's Stevie Mitchell is one of the Big East best defenders
