Since Mitchell Robinson returned from his 10-month long injury, he’s given the Knicks all he’s got.
He’s been a presence in the paint while at times sacrificing his body to help his team win. However, there’s still rust in Robinson’s game and it showed in Tuesday’s lackluster loss to the Golden State Warriors at The Garden.
Robinson scored seven points and grabbed five boards in a season-high 15 minutes but was a minus-10 on the court. Some defensive mishaps happened often, allowing the Warriors to get up high-percentage shots, sometimes without opposition.
“For me, I gotta be more talkative,” Robinson said of his play on Tuesday. “Didn’t communicate with the guys as much as I should have. I could be better defensively. Let a guy get behind me too many times, which is something I don’t let happen often.”
“It’s a work in progress,” coach Tom Thibodeau said of Robinson’s defensive effort. “There were some really good plays. It’ll come. It’s about what we anticipated.”
Robinson said his conditioning is good and called it a “work in progress.” As for his defense, the Knicks center is happy with his improvements over his first three games and re-emphasized the need for communication.
“Communication, it helps a lot,” he added. “If I speak, that gets me back to my rhythm quicker.”
In his first two games of the season, Robinson played less than 14 minutes. Against the Grizzlies, Robinson came down with five boards while scoring six points and was a plus-11 on the court.
Sunday against the Heat, Robinson, despite putting in more minutes than his debut, was ineffective. He scored just two points and pulled down two rebounds while being a minus-six on the court. However, he made some crucial plays down the stretch and helped the team win.
Although his play has been inconsistent, there’s no denying what Robinson’s presence brings to the Knicks on defense and his teammates have already seen the difference.
“The intimidation factor. Seeing him at the rim is huge,” Miles McBride said of what difference Robinson makes on the floor. “You have to put two guys on him to box out. We can probably take advantage of that. Corner crashes and things like that.”
The Knicks may need more from Robinson and for him to find his rhythm soon because they may be shorthanded heading into their upcoming five-game West Coast road trip.
Karl-Anthony Towns was out for Tuesday’s game for personal reasons and his status for the trip is unknown. Without Towns, Robinson and Precious Achiuwa are the only big men on the Knicks roster, unless they add a free agent in the coming days.
Not only that, but the road trip will test Robinson’s conditioning, especially on their back-to-back on Thursday and Friday in Los Angeles. When asked about the impending road trip, Thibodeau and the players echoed each other. They’ll approach this stretch of games like they’ve done all season, by focusing on one game at a time.
“We’re not thinking about a five-game trip. Just think about the Lakers and take them one by one,” Thibodeau said. “We know we have to be ready for that game.”
Read the full article here
