Mitchell Robinson's foul free throw shooting an issue
New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson in Game 3 goes over Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Mitchell Robinson has a skill set like few others in the NBA.
The 7-footer is a tenacious offensive rebounder. He can guard elite shooters such as Boston’s Jayson Tatum out on the perimeter. And he is one of the best rim protectors in the game.
Robinson, however, is a terrible free throw shooter — so bad that his shot often falls short of the rim. Multiple observers — including Hall of Famer Rick Barry — have come out with advice on how the Knicks center can improve upon his 28.9% free throw shooting this postseason (11-for-38 in nine games entering Monday night's Game 4 against the Celtics).
Robinson’s struggle at the line isn’t the reason the Knicks were up 2-1 instead of 3-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. There are plenty of other reasons the Knicks lost Game 3, including a poor start and an inability to guard Boston's three-point shooters.
Robinson’s foul shooting, however, is a problem that is threatening to become a large distraction. So much so that he took to social media Sunday, the day after going 4-for-12, in an attempt to clap back at his critics.
“So, I know y’all commenting and doing all the stupid stuff, thinking that I really care. I really don’t. Y’all know what I care about: this [expletive],” Robinson said while pointing to his truck, “playing basketball and my daughter. All the other stuff, I really don’t care for . . . Y’all should know me by now. Been here seven years . . . Anyway, Happy Mother’s Day. Y’all enjoy yourselves.”
The weird thing is that when athletes take the time on an off day to go on social media to say they don’t care about something, they usually do. After Robinson threw up an air ball late in the first quarter of Saturday's loss, he covered his head in disbelief.
Robinson shot a career-best 68.4% in the regular season (13-for-19) after coming back from ankle surgery but has struggled since then. In the first round against Detroit, Robinson made only 26.7% of his free throw attempts (4-for-15), though it took a while for the Pistons to exploit this. In the first three games against the Celtics, he went 7-for-23 (30.4%).
In Game 3, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla went full-out hack-a-Mitch. In a weird way, this is a sign of respect bordering on fear. The point of fouling Robinson is not just to have the Knicks come up empty on a possession, though that is a definite plus; it’s to get Robinson out of the game. That’s just how important the Celtics think he is.
In their two wins in Boston, Robinson posted a plus-13 and a plus-19. In his less than 19 minutes on the floor in Saturday’s blowout, he was a minus-3.
All this leaves Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau with the challenge of balancing the plus of Robinson’s disruptive defensive presence with the negative of having him being intentionally fouled repeatedly. In 2016, the NBA made rule changes to prevent teams from going full-on Hack-a-Shaq late in games. Away-from-the-ball fouls during that window result in free throws and possession for the fouled team — creating a narrower window for exploiting poor free throw shooters earlier in each quarter.
“Well, there’s a lot of thoughts that you put into it,” Thibodeau said Monday before Game 4. “Again, the strategy of what are they doing? Are they in the bonus? Do they get us to the bonus? And then how many is he making? You’re basing it on points per possession and it does allow you to set your defense, so there’s pluses with it, and then what’s he creating with the offensive rebounding. All the things he does well. And we’ve gotta make decisions between five and two [minutes left in a quarter].”
For many fans, Robinson’s struggles are a weird thing to watch. While they can’t dream of doing 99% of the stuff that Robinson does on the court, many observers have made a free throw. Few, however, have done it in front of 20,000 fans with so much on the line.
“I think that’s any job you do,” Mikal Bridges said Monday morning. “It’s easier to do something when you’re by yourself than with 1,000 people yelling at you . . . I know that Mitch works hard and he stays confident.”
Said Brunson, “It’s a tough position to be in, especially mentally. But you’ve got to encourage. Everyone has each other’s back regardless. No matter what happens, we’re going to win together, we’re going to lose together.
“We’re going to go through that together.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
