Mitchell Robinson’s pregame meal was interrupted. It had been a while since that happened — and since he had a pregame meal.
The visitors locker room inside downtown Memphis’ FedEx Forum opened for the media around 5:45 p.m. local time. Reporters entered hoping to talk to the New York Knicks center, who was preparing to make his season debut after undergoing multiple ankle surgeries over the past year and not playing since May. A small crowd circled Robinson’s locker. He sarcastically made it known he wasn’t going to answer questions until afterward. Robinson sat there continuing to eat his salmon and green beans and playfully taunt the media he knew. Robinson was talking but not talking.
Mitch is back.
The return of the big man is the Knicks’ midseason acquisition. A team that has been really good this year but needed reinforcements, particularly defensively, got back one of the league’s better traditional defensive centers.
How Robinson will have an impact on a defense that has been toggling between average and below average is the question everyone wants answered. For many, getting clarity on that will determine New York’s seriousness as a title contender.
It’s still way too early to make any sweeping conclusions, as Robinson is still on a minutes restriction, not yet fully in game shape and, maybe most interestingly, has yet to share the floor with Karl-Anthony Towns in his two games back. However, there are some things to look into now and monitor.
Let’s get into it.
Mikal Bridges has endured a tremendous physical toll this season, having to defend pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll night in and night out. Those results have come with mixed reviews. And though Bridges hasn’t been perfect as a point-of-attack defender this season, he’s been good. A lot of his shortcomings people have identified are due in part to Towns’ struggles as a drop defender in the pick-and-roll.
When Bridges shares the floor with Robinson, his life should get easier, as the above clip shows.
Robinson had a lot of rust to knock off in his first game, but his drop coverage in the pick-and-roll picked up where it left off. It was like riding a bike. In the play above, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant doesn’t have room to enter turbo mode after receiving a screen. It’s because Robinson doesn’t drop too deep, moves his feet well and opens up his hip. Morant is never able to gain an advantage. In turn, even though Bridges gets held up on the Jaren Jackson Jr. screen, he’s able to recover and get a block. This happens because Robinson makes his presence felt as soon as Morant turns the corner and can move his feet and body quickly. Towns has often dropped too deep in this coverage and just doesn’t have the foot quickness and fluid body movement in tight spaces.
The Knicks’ success on this possession is because Grizzlies center Zach Edey did not make any real contact with Bridges on the screen. Bridges barely has to get skinny to stay attached to Morant. However, Robinson does a good job of meeting the Memphis guard at the free-throw line. Any deeper and Morant might have the opportunity to get off a floater. Morant doesn’t have much wiggle room because Bridges can stay connected to him on the right and Robinson is high enough in the drop and moves his feet well enough that there isn’t any room for him to rise.
Robinson’s effort to contest Morant’s shot attempt detours the Grizzlies star from trying to score. Towns has not always put up a contest hand.
It’s nothing flashy. It’s textbook drop coverage. The issue for the Knicks is that they haven’t always successfully pulled off the bare minimum in drop coverage this year with Robinson out.
This play is another example of how Robinson’s being engaged and active allows Bridges to recover. Now, it ends with a lob dunk, and that is where we see Robinson struggling a bit in his return.
This isn’t the easiest defensive play for a big to make, first and foremost. However, Robinson is lacking burst in tight spaces. He’s not quite as explosive as we remember him. In fairness, this could be due to his still needing to work his way into game shape. It takes time to get your legs under you when you miss this much time. Conversely, this could be a product of a 7-footer having multiple lower-body injuries in his career. We won’t know until more time has passed.
Robinson does everything right here. He shows enough to make Davion Mitchell second-guess the drive, allow Josh Hart to recover and still make sure he’s defending the lob. However, this is another example of how Robinson’s explosiveness and anticipation are just a tad slow right now.
If you pause the video at three seconds, it appears as if Robinson and his 7-foot-4 wingspan can get to Mitchell before he gets the ball onto the glass. Obviously, that’s not how this plays out. Robinson is just a split second too slow in reacting and seriously contesting Mitchell’s shot. Again, Robinson does everything right, but he’s either just a step too slow in anticipating the shot or doesn’t have the burst to go get it. That could be because he’s getting his legs under him or he has lost a little juice. We’ll know in time.
Ultimately, Robinson’s return to play has been encouraging. The fact he knows what to do in drop coverage and is consistent in his actions should make New York better defensively off that alone. If his lack of burst and anticipation is due to just getting his legs under him, the Knicks might have added an elite rim protector at the perfect time. If all of that is due to his dealing with lower-body injuries and a part of who he now is, New York will be better defensively, but will it be enough to change its fortunes this season? I’m not sure.
With Robinson’s return, it’s OK to feel encouraged about the Knicks’ improvement on that end of the floor as basketball prepares to enter its most intense stage. He has played only 25 minutes over two games and has enough good film to suggest this is sustainable. With that said, we should wait to see if a big man with a long injury history can get back to a near-elite level of protecting the rim.
New York has waited a long time to get Robinson back. It’ll have to wait a little longer to know what version of him it is getting.
(Photo: Lynne Sladky / Associated Press)
