Responding early on Wednesday morning to a fan who asked him about the possibility of working with Amar’e Stoudemire on his post moves, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson replied, “The way we play is not set up for me to do any moves.”
As Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes, Robinson’s tweet could have been read as a simple statement of fact about the Knicks’ system, or it could have been interpreted as a “subliminal complaint” about his role, since the big man has occasionally griped about his lack of involvement on offense in the past.
Robinson answered that question during and after Wednesday’s game against Milwaukee. He scored 15 points and racked up 20 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, then told reporters in his postgame media session that he has no complaints about his role, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post.
“If I was unhappy, I wouldn’t have (done) what I came out here and did today and last game,” Robinson said. “I would’ve just chilled out and just (said), ‘Oh well.'”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- There is “heightened scrutiny” on the Knicks‘ game-by-game performance internally at MSG, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv. There has been some speculation that head coach Tom Thibodeau‘s seat could get hotter if the team doesn’t show signs of taking a step forward, but Begley says “the entire organization is under the microscope” in the wake of an up-and-down 10-12 start.
- With a potentially huge payday looming during the 2023 offseason, it’s a big year for Raptors wing Gary Trent Jr., who put in extra work in an effort to break out of a recent slump, as Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca details. Challenged by head coach Nick Nurse to be more disruptive on defense, Trent has 11 steals in his last four games and poured in a season-high 35 points on 12-of-20 shooting off the bench on Wednesday in New Orleans.
- Celtics sharpshooter Sam Hauser is enjoying a breakout season in Boston, notes Chris Mannix of SI.com. While Hauser’s traditional stats – including 7.5 PPG on .514/.479/.778 shooting – are solid, it’s his advanced stats that really jump off the page. The former undrafted free agent leads the Eastern Conference in offensive rating (124.1) and net rating (+19.1) through his first 22 games. Boston re-signed Hauser to a three-year, minimum-salary contract over the summer, locking him into a team-friendly deal through 2024/25.
I miss the guy that said Hauser was garbage all summer long. He was adorable.
Ha ha you’re so cruel
I remember that post too. Hopefully that arrogant guy will come back on, apologize a bit & then tone down his future predictions a little. Go Hauser! Go Celtics!
I would not read too much into Mitchell’s comments. The league as a whole is less post-oriented since Stat was around. And also, Mitch has shown almost no offensive ability (no jumper, no ball-handling, little passing) aside from hanging around the basket for dunks and putbacks, which is fine because, as he is saying, he’s not asked to do more than that in this offense. There’s already three ball-dominant players sharing the floor with him (Jalen, RJ, Randle). There’s no room for a fourth.
Mitch was just responding to a question posed by someone not familiar with either STAT’s game or the modern NBA game. However, Mitch has indicated in the past he has hidden offensive skills he’d like accommodated more in the offense. I’d be interested in knowing what they are, but only AFTER he’s shooting 75% or better from the FT line.
Mitch is a career 72% FG shooter.
Kareem was .560% for his career.
He should be taught low post moves. Not by STAT, by Patrick or Kareem himself a native NYer.
Mitch shoots 73% because he gets his shots on alley oops and putbacks. If he he became a low post option his percentage would suffer as he’d be taking more shots further from the basket
That’s the point. Get some moves. Learn, it’s what you do to improve.
Robinson and Jabbar are not in the same stratosphere, nor should they be used in the same sentence.
In the unlikely event that either Kareem or Ewing is willing to work with Mitch on his post moves, I’m all for it. The issue here isn’t whether he should be working on any particular skill or not (work on as many as time permits), it’s whether (and at what stage) any such skills should be featured in an NBA team’s offense in games. On that front, it’s extremely difficult to feature a post player who can’t hit his FTs more than 50% of the time. Since better (competent) FT shooting will help him with or without a post game, I’d have him prioritize that.
BTW, post play was the fan’s idea, not Mitch’s.
Mitch has always wanted the ball more. Why wouldn’t Mitch want to improve his gm. I agree he needs to get his FTs up. But Shaq couldn’t shoot FTs, Wilt. You still getting calls. And applying pressure on their D. Don’t agree with not part of gm. In the playoffs you play to win. A contender always plays to win. Low post scoring is just another weapon. Especially if you have the talent to do it. Fact is low post scoring. Opens up the three. They just don’t see that.
I get why we shoot more threes now. And why offenses are also more geared to open looks. But a low post scorer. Who has a 60% FG or better. Is a great scorer. Probably gets fouled 50% of time too. That’s better than a 35% 3PT shooter. So it’s insane to believe we need to shoot threes. The reason teams do it. It opens up the floor. And as long as you shoot 35% . It’s considered great offense. I’ll take a low post 60% shooter all day every day. Cause he puts pressure on their D and gets them in foul trouble.
AND he can always pass out when he is doubled. So wake up Thibs. New offense my Asia. Celtics were shooting and moving gbthe ball around in the 50s and 60s.
Why wouldn’t you want your big able to score on the blocks. It’s asinine to think it won’t help. I’m sure Embiid will start shooting threes only. Any day now. I bet most don’t realize. The Warriors are among the league leaders in layups ??????? You Know why ……
Knicks have started 10-12 true but they’ve beaten all but 1 sub 500 team. And they’ve been in almost every game over everyone else. They have shown a lot of incremental improvement
Knicks are not playing well. I know a trade is coming. I said this was a .500 team at start. But to me the best thing we can do is move Randle. Time for Obi to start. And trade for a real star. It’s coming.