Sure, Mitchell Robinson is main the NBA in offensive rebounds but once more.
And no, Mike Brown hasn’t seen something fairly like him in his soon-to-be 30-year NBA teaching profession.
It shouldn’t be a shock at this level, however by some means Robinson’s relentless work on the glass continues to amaze each teammates and his new head coach.
The Knicks’ beginning middle is averaging 8.7 rebounds per sport — 6.3 of them approaching the offensive finish.
“I don’t know if there’s anyone that has the combination of athleticism, length, nose for the ball and all that that Mitch does,” Brown mentioned after apply on the staff’s Tarrytown facility on Friday. “I’ve been around some great offensive rebounders, but I don’t think anybody like Mitch.”
The kicker? Robinson is doing this whereas taking part in underneath a load administration protocol that’s restricted him to only 16.4 minutes per sport.
For context, Moses Malone — the gold normal of offensive rebounding — had two seasons averaging seven or extra offensive boards and 5 extra averaging no less than 5. However Malone logged 35-plus minutes per night time in all however a kind of campaigns. The identical goes for Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, and most names atop the NBA’s single-season offensive rebounding leaderboard.
Robinson’s manufacturing is defying logic — and, apparently, it’s knocked some sense into New York’s glass magnet Josh Hart.
“I always went back and forth with Mitch, saying I was the best rebounder on the team. I don’t think I was correct on that one,” Hart mentioned, smiling after apply on Friday. “I’m man enough to say I was wrong. But man, Mitch… Mitch is just a freak.”
It’s a small pattern dimension — Robinson has appeared in simply three video games since coming back from his left ankle load administration protocol — however the numbers are staggering. No NBA participant is inside 1.3 offensive boards per sport of the Knicks’ huge man, regardless of the subsequent six names on the record (Luke Kornet, Steven Adams, Jalen Duren, Walker Kessler, Donovan Clingan, Giannis Antetokounmpo) all averaging greater than 22 minutes an evening.
When adjusted for taking part in time, Robinson is knocking down 13.9 offensive rebounds per 36 minutes.
“Dude is just a monster, honestly. I saw the stat,” mentioned staff captain Jalen Brunson. “He affects the game in so many different ways. When shots are going up, he needs two people boxing him out. Then you’ve got Josh flying in, Mikal flying in, OG flying in, KAT flying in — we’re getting another crack at it because of Mitch’s gravity. What he does on both sides of the ball is huge for us.”
ROOM TO IMPROVE
Three-point protection has been a weak spot for the Knicks early on.
“We’re getting a little better with it,” Brown mentioned after apply on Friday. “There’s a few issues technique-wise that we might do higher. Even if you happen to don’t really feel like you may get an important contest, nonetheless put a hand up and contest — that’s the very first thing.
“The second thing is we were doing a great job of protecting one another and scrambling and trying to close out. But sometimes, we’re closing out so hard we’re overrunning guys, and then that side-step dribble three is available.”
The numbers paint an unpleasant image: Opponents are hitting practically 16 threes per sport in opposition to New York on higher than 40 % capturing, rating the Knicks second-worst within the NBA in each classes.
“We have to close out better, obviously,” mentioned Brunson. “Being able to contain the ball better is definitely gonna help our group on defense. We’ve gotta stick to our technique and get better at it, and obviously limit the disadvantages on defense.”
Hart mentioned generally you’ll be able to play good protection and photographs will nonetheless fall — or you’ll be able to play horrible protection and opponents miss open seems.
“Teams are making shots. It’s the NBA, man — it goes in flows,” he mentioned. “Eight video games from now, we might have one of the best three-point protection and our protection may not even be nice, however groups simply miss photographs.
“As long as we’re flying around, contesting, doing all we can — we’ll live with the outcome, whatever it is.”
