Robinson -He may be on his third team but last year his per 36 stats were already a double double. 11.4/10.7, and that's on teams not trying to use him. Crabbe- second round.
I was just pointing out the semantics the the term "dark horse". I thought it was a stretch of BBert to try and invalidate those who picked Robinson, because he's bounced around the league already, and almost seems like a lost cause.
It does appear two or more teams have given up on him, so that's fair if that's what you want to use as a yard stick. As for Crabbe, like Robinson, he wasn't unknown (but certainly less known). The fact he was overlooked until the second round says that at least several teams didn't see him as a first rounder. Second rounders statistically have little chance of success. I hope he proves them wrong, of course. Still, Robinson was a top 5 lottery pick in a very good draft. The fact that one team screwed the pooch with him and the next team had to trade him for peanuts to make room for a future hall of famer doesn't diminish my expectations for him one bit. I expect him to come out with something to prove. So, in my mind, I was unable to consider him for this "honor".
That's reasonable enough for me! Bottom line for me is I'm actually looking forward to watching some of these bench players. Wright is a solid 14-15 PER player, Robinson was underused, Crabbe can stroke it, and McCollum should be at the very least a solid NBA contributor.
Ha, ha. OTOH: Most here have already labeled Freeland garbage after a year of watching him on the court, so if he were to contribute in any significant way he'd qualify. I look at it like your first job out of college. Once you get your first job, in your next job interview nobody cares what you did in college, now that you have a track record.
Just want to add that I get that the example I just gave for Freeland also could apply equally to TRob, considering he did not much in his first year, either. But he still looked better than Freeland while he was doing it.
I just hope, as has been speculated, that TRob's first (two) jobs out of college were shit jobs. Now, this Blazers job, as primary backup to two-time All Star LaMarcus Aldridge, that's a plum job right there!
For those of us who never went to college (shoot, nor graduated from high school for that matter), it's the last job that's so important.
Robinson failed in Sacramento because they expected a polished player and a shooter. He is neither. He plays gangbusters out of control. Do not tell him to shoot or you'll be sorry. He will have highlight plays each game until they get him to become elegant about a year from now when he learns manners. Dark horse? Some will love him this year and some will hate him, like Hickson.
I know plenty of successful people who didn't go to college. I was only following BBert's example, where when you're right out of college, your academic record and school seems to matter. 5 years later, nobody cares about your college years!
