I was visiting with my brother last week, and while discussing the Blazers he mentioned that there is a rumor that Thomas Robinson is really, very dumb. That he has trouble remembering plays, and they just do pick and rolls for him. Now my brother is a HS assistant BBall coach, and reads a lot of BEdge. I'm not sure where he heard this rumor. I was just curious if anyone else has heard this from a non-BlazersEdge source. It wouldn't come as a surprise if true.
I haven't noticed that's he's particularly dumb. He actually throws a few nifty passes from time to time. I've noticed that he's just not terribly dexterous. He's got the most lead hands of any good rebounder I've seen in a long time. Watch him play underneath and just pretend it's Z-bo playing in the same spot. They both get the hard-fought offensive rebound against taller players, but Zach throws up these incredibly nifty little shots, sometime it seems like they are popping off his substantial waist, and they go in a ridiculous amount of the time over outstretched centers' arms. Robinson is the exact opposite--he uses his hops to get up much higher and more often than not pukes up something that bounces off the iron. Robinson really needs to sit down with whomever convinced Freeland he'll never be an NBA star and have nearly the exact same damned conversation. Grab the rebound, give it to somebody who can do something with it, defend by staying vertical. Rinse and repeat, and you'll stick in the league. Three years from now when you're on your second contract and people trust you, you'll have your chance to expand your game.
It was from the BS Report with Bill Simmons talking to Chad Ford Chad Ford: "I still think he can play. The talk around the league is, well Thomas Robinson, what they found about about Thomas Robinson, was that he couldn't remember a play. And number two, that he wanted to do more on the offensive end than he's really capable of doing. We saw a little bit of this at Kansas and Bill Self did a really nice job of reigning him in, where he wants to handle the ball and shoot it a little bit, thought he had more abilities than perhaps maybe that he really had. http://blogs.trailblazers.com/Default.aspx?TabId=188&EntryID=5045&BroadcasterID=4 http://www.blazersedge.com/2013/7/1...praise-blazers-2013-offseason-thomas-robinson
Maybe he should talk to Chris Kaman. He used to have difficulty remembering plays but it turned out it was just meds.
When TRob was traded to us there was an article that had McHale saying he couldn't crack the rotation because he was slow to pick up plays and remember schemes on offense. I think that translated to....he's not the sharpest pencil in the box, but Stotts is a player development coach and I think with the chemistry on the roster he's got a better support system here to teach him than he had in Sac or Houston. TRob is a keeper! He's learning the power forward position from the best power forward on the planet and you can see he's LaMarcus' biggest fan. He'll be fine here.
Most definitely. Unless we are getting a win now piece back for him I hope he is with the team for a long time to come. He could be an excellent third big one day. Maybe even a starter if LMA ever decides to play center
Not a big deal. He just needs to stay with the same team so the plays all become second nature to him. 4 teams including Kansas in a 12 month span did not help. I would say he should be fine in a few months. Some guys it just takes longer.
If Travis Outlaw learned to thrive here in Portland under McMillan, I am not willing to write T-Rob off at this time. Just sayin'.
I completely agree. When he tries to do too much ("play like a SF" I call it), not so good. Coach needs to reel him in, get him to focus on defense, rebound, garbage baskets, pass out, keep it simple, and work on what we need from him. Trob is a great energy guy and a good banger, and he can really contribute if he doesn't try to do too much.
I refereed him in a city league (right after we re-signed him for 21 Mil so that should tell you a little about his intelligence level) and he was at the top of the key when the Defense was in a 2-3 Zone. This MF was calling for ISO plays at the top of the key to drive from there... Now that cat was NOT smart at all.
Exactly my point. And he had McMillan as his coach and still put together some good seasons here. So I ain't even worried about T-Rob (who, as someone else pointed out, had been on 4 teams in 12 months - it's going to take time to learn and adjust) at this time.
Well he's on the right team then. Looks like we have a coaching staff that can help him out and a roster full of guys that can direct him to go where he needs to. I've seen LA/Robin/Mo/Nic/Wes/Dame/and even CJ and Joel pointing and screaming out instructions directly to TRob. He's pretty damn impactful now playing just off energy-- just wait until he gets the plays.
I've noticed Robinson likes to set screens...when someone else is already setting a screen! So often he's up top while Lopez/Freeland is already there and there's an awkward double-screen going on with 6 of the 10 players all bunched up around the ball. So yeah, he doesn't know where he's suppose to be in offensive sets. But I've also noticed that CJ doesn't know where he's suppose to be either. I like Robinson - he's a keeper. Definitely not someone you throw in just to make a trade work.
double screens can be very effective if they are supposed to happen. Maybe Stotts should implement some more
wait am i reading this right? you are calling him dumb because he was calling for iso plays against a zone in...A CITY LEAGUE GAME? travis outlaw is probably the least intelligent player we have had in portland in a long time but saying hes stupid because he is running iso plays against a zone IN A CITY LEAGUE game is....i dont know i want to use words i probably should considering blazer fanatic just got banned. if travis outlaw is in a city league game he can run whatever the hell he wants. shoot it from half court for all i care. haha city league...getta load a this guy
