Tre Mitchell is due for a big game in the SEC Tournament

We’ve seen every iteration of Tre Mitchell this season. The West Virginia transfer has put the team on his back, he’s spent time on the sidelines with an injury, and as of late, he’s been seemingly nonexistent in the box score. Which version will we get in the postseason?

Mitchell shouldered all of the frontcourt responsibilities to start the season. With three seven-footers sidelined, he had to be the guy in the paint, despite playing out of his natural position at the stretch-four. It worked out well for the Cats.

For a time, John Calipari couldn’t play him enough. Over a five-game stretch, he averaged north of 35 minutes per game and totaled double-digit rebounds in each contest.

The wear and tear finally caught up with Mitchell. Production in the paint waned as the 7-footers emerged. He was sent to the sidelines for four games in February with a shoulder injury.

Mitchell returned against Arkansas and logged 16 minutes. That number has declined in the two games since, making only one shot in 11 attempts. Once around a 35% three-point shooter, he has not knocked down an attempt from long-range since Jan. 27.

“You can tell he’s a little behind,” Kentucky’s head coach said on last night’s John Calipari Show. “When you don’t play as long as we played, the action and speed of the game, the toughness of the game. You weren’t doing any of that for weeks. Let’s see where he goes.”

A Good Time to Play Tre Mitchell out of a Slump

Coach Cal isn’t wrong. The most difficult thing for a player in the paint to rediscover after a prolonged absence is touch around the rim. He made a few nice moves against Tennessee, but failed to finish through physicality.

DJ Wagner went through something similar following his ankle injury absence. It took the point guard five games before the light bulb finally turned back on and over a three-game stretch he knocked down 9 of 14 three-point attempts.

Thanks to Justin Edwards‘ emergence, Tre Mitchell’s lack of production has not killed the Cats, but Kentucky will need him to perform well during an NCAA Tournament game. Turn back the clock 12 years, and you may recall Darius Miller undergoing similar struggles.

Kentucky’s sixth man just couldn’t shake a funk, held scoreless in the first two games of the SEC Tournament. John Calipari subbed Miller into the starting lineup to force the issue. Even though the Cats lost the game to Vanderbilt, the plan worked to perfection. The former Mason County star scored 16 points in the SEC Tournament Championship. He went on to score in double figures three more times, including a 19-point performance in a Sweet 16 revenge spot vs. Indiana.

John Calipari may force the issue at times this weekend in Nashville to get the old Tre Mitchell back. Even if it does not work right away, it should pay dividends before the season ends, hopefully at the Final Four in Phoenix.