<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">You could say Bernard Robinson's sporadic playing time was a chicken-and-egg problem. Except it was less about a chicken and more about a goat. A stubborn old goat, as Charlotte Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff might describe himself. "It's been our policy, with every player but B-Rob, that you get the minutes you earn," Bickerstaff said Tuesday, scolding himself. "He's playing the best of the guys off the bench at his position. So he deserves" to play. Suddenly he is playing; in 171/2 minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers, Robinson had 13 points, four rebounds and three steals. With Kareem Rush (sprained finger) likely out, Robinson can count on more minutes tonight against the New Jersey Nets. Bickerstaff regrets not finding more minutes for Robinson last season. He loves Robinson's energy and versatility (he can play either wing position and occasionally bring the ball up), but the guy's decisions on the court weren't always trustworthy. That issue -- trust -- is where it became a chicken-and-egg problem: If a coach doesn't trust a player's experience and knowledge enough to play him, then how will the guy ever play enough to get that experience and knowledge? Somebody had to take a chance. In a sense, they both did. First Robinson, through his agent, inquired why he wasn't playing. The reasons were pretty much what you'd expect: He had to be more assertive and if he did make mistakes, he needed to make them aggressively, not passively. Then Bickerstaff took a chance, making Robinson the first reserve off the bench in the Seattle game. It wasn't a big risk -- Robinson played only three minutes in the first half -- but he played well at a time when the rest of the reserves stunk it up. So Sunday against the Lakers, with Rush sitting out, Robinson played the most and the best he has this season. "I needed to give him something he could depend on," Robinson said. "He needed to be able to say, `I know he's going to do this for me.' "</div> Source
