Above all else basketball is about three things: running, jumping and shooting. The ultra quick, the dead eye shooters and the high flyers thrill the crowd and pack the highlight reels. Of all the players outside of John Wall that can potentially fill up Sportscenter, Stanley Robinson leads the way. Go to the Texas footage and look at the vertical of his “goaltending” at 0:26. Yes, that’s Robinson smacking away a shot at the top of the box (pause it at 0:42). He brings that kind of big play potential.
He is not a complete player in a dominating sense. He will not blow past people off his dribble, he will not score at will (he’s surprisingly unimpressive in lane traffic), he will not turn a team completely around. But what he will do is play above the rim more than any other rookie and present matchup issues for small forwards and big guards around the league. This means blocked shots, backdoor alley-oop dunks (2:54, 3:40 Syr) and surprising out of nowhere rebounds (0:50 Syr, 0:57 TX). Listen to how the announcers discuss his threat on the offensive glass if he’s not fully accounted for in the Syracuse footage (1:40)
The impact of his explosiveness and his wingspan simply can’t be overstated. In Syracuse footage we see how his super springiness allows him to make a brilliant, leaping steal at halfcourt (2:05, and a tipped ball at 1:10) or save an errant pass (1:19). Versus Texas he gets up above the defenders to throw down a half court alley-oop pass (1:05). Even his low key plays can be impressive, like his sneaky reverse layup play in the Texas game (2:40) and a carbon copy later (3:47).
He’s actually a pretty effective defender and gets to show it against Wesley Johnson, typically getting the better of him throughout their game. He rides him out of bounds for the turnover at one point (1:54). His lateral speed is solid and again he can go up and deny or disrupt shots on his own man. Because he is so explosive he can catch up to jumpers which allows him to avoid fakes by waiting for a full commitment and then chasing up after them. This gives Wesley a lot of problems when he goes to his shot fake moves and doesn’t get the bite he was expecting.
For offense he has two main weapons, his dunking, especially on back door or offensive rebound chances, and his three point shot. He’s not lighting it up in the Syracuse game, but his season 3P% was 34.2%. His misses aren’t way off and he looks like he could be taught to dial in that long jumper which would go a long way to moving him out of the 9th man role for teams. He needs to develop a move for in-traffic in the lane because his double clutch shot doesn’t cut it. But he does’t make outright awful choices and typically shows a willingness to give up on a play and move the ball when things aren’t shaping up for him.
Another one of the things I love about Robinson is his attitude. He was famously asked to take a semester away from the team, get his home life worked out (he had a baby), and to earn his way back to the team by working a pretty rough blue collar job sorting scrap metal. Stanley followed through as asked and in his final season Calhoun has nothing but raves for his star. This was not a kid with criminal issues, just a young man wondering where he was going with his life.
For me his hustle and the anecdotes I heard throughout the season told me this kid loved the sport and had a good heart. I left in an outstanding reaction clip after Rautins and he get tangled and he goes down pretty hard on a breakaway. Stan finds him and pats him on the head as they walk back, just great spotaneous sportsmanship. I don’t recall seeing him lose his temper or chirp at the refs.
Ultimately Robinson is coming off the bench for you, but unlike a lot of guys drafted past 20th he actually has at least one NBA ready talent, his hops and reach. His bag of tricks might be limited when he first joins the league, but the few he brings will make an impact and excite your fanbase.
Let’s take a closer look at the Robinson high wire act…
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