Robinson projected as top talent in 2012. What changed?

I'm still really excited about this. I see a slew of folks on the board with the confused "isn't he a bust" line on repeat, but I can't believe many of them watched this guy play in Kansas last year.

Relentless near the basket, with the ball or crashing the glass.

Unlike the PJIII types, there's no questioning his drive or passion: Robinson brought it every night.

His jumper will come around. He was dropping 3s far too well in college with fair mechanics to think that he has no offense outside of the paint.

Robinson's game is similar enough to Cousins (prefers to hammer guys in the paint) that he's probably suffering from Next In Line syndrome. Cousins can't even get the ball as much as he should.

As many folks noted - if you double his 16 mpg averages to start minutes, you would see that he projects to a 10-10 type.

I'm taking the toxic waste dump that is the Kings franchise as meaningless. Cousins is obviously playing below his potential thanks to the trifecta of junk coaching, the Tyreke Evans Experience, and the Maloofs Saga.

Maybe he's here for less than 24 hrs, but if he's here longterm, I'm exceptionally happy.

 

there are always a lot of busts like thabeet or Flynn. it is surprising they got rid of him so fast.

 

Marcus Morris was a better college player than him. I am not saying he won't work out, but college and pros are two separate things.

 

i'd say quickness tbh, he's super quick for his weight and size. and i'd say he's very athletic too. maybe not the most amazing athlete in the NBA but definitely way above average.

and he's one mean tough SOB who wants to crush everyone on both ends. In a bad environment in Sacramento that meant trying to do too much, sadly. On a team with someone to set him up and good coaching, it could mean great things, we'll see.

either way, any time you can trade a role player who's a marginal starter and who's going to expire in over a year......... for a rookie who was considered a possible no.2 pick just a year ago and who got 3.5 years relatively cheap with two team options......
it's a huge win in assets.

 

Huh? I couldn't stand the guy in college, but he is an absolute freak of an athlete for a big man.

 

True, I cant remember who said this, but if TRob can't replace the Morris Twins who are not exactly tearing the league apart during his Kanses days, not that high on his ceiling.

 

Off course if Robinson shows some marked improvement since the trade, his value could jump a great deal as people attribute his underperforming to being in Sac-Town.

 

Really?

Jimmer Fredette was arguably the best player in college basketball. He's not a good NBA player. The NBA and NCAA are two totally different leagues, and sometimes a player that's good at one isn't at the other. Hundreds of examples through the years. Fact is, the Morris twins were great college basketball players. I hated them with a passion in college because I went to Mizzou, but they were terrific players. Marcus, in particular, was POY in the Big 12 and one of the best in the country. The fact that Robinson as a sophomore couldn't beat out one of the top players in the nation (an upperclassman, at that) for a starting role is not at all an indictment. Morris lacks the upper body strength to consistently compete at PF in the NBA, but that wasn't typically the case in college, and he took advantage.

Then, when the spot cleared for Robinson to start a year ago, he only developed beyond Bill Self's wildest dreams -- into a Big 12 POY, national POY finalist and the star player on a team that advanced to the national title game.

For anyone that cares to know my thoughts on Robinson, I outlined them last April in his Draft forum thread. Basically, he needs to develop a reliable post move, and for that, he'll have the perfect mentor in McHale in Houston. Everything else -- athleticism, power and motor -- is off the charts for a PF. You're really talking about an upside of pre-injury McDyess, imo, if McHale can develop his fundamentals.

 

They play differently, so it's not fair to make such a simple comparison. Morris had the skills for a faceup PF with the body of a SF. No real chance of ever being a great rebounder or defender.

Robinson is a big man's big man. He pounds opponents down low and also is already a better rebounder and defender. He also has the potential for an inside game if he is developed properly, which he can be in Houston. His jumper isn't on par with Morris but his shot isn't broken, so theoretically he could improve quite a bit in that respect.

In short, Robinson's game was always better suited for the NBA than Morris.

 

With Robinson, the Rockets open up a can of possibilities. Especially with teams not even aware he was available.

If Robinson develops or plays better just because he's no longer in Sacramento, he immediately becomes a high upside trade bait (either for a star, or for a 1st round pick much like Lowry netted) that can be the centerpiece of a trade for a team that has a star/superstar that wants out and is desperate to get young high-upside players/assets in return.

And the players we traded for him, while being serviceable, were not game-changers nor part of the team's long-term plans.

Now if we can get a 1st round pick for Jones, we suddenly have a former #5 pick (only 1/2 season into his career), a 1st round pick, 2 second round picks to play with.

Can the Lakers get a better deal than Asik, Robinson, a 1st round pick, and 2 second round picks + fillers for Dwight Howard?

 

The Kings lacked guys that could create for others. Robinson is a finisher. He needs these guys as I don't think he is ready top best NBA guys one on one.

Rockets usually have two playmakers on court. PFs help out a lot when Asik is used in PnR. Robinson I'd going to be hard for opposing teams to keep of the offensive glass. He'll do a lot better on Houston.will it be enough for him to justify high pick, I don't know. For Patterson and others,yes.

 

Robinson is actually a very good prospect who has the potential to be an allstar. And he has a pretty good flooring as well(rotation player at least, and quality starter very likely).

His pace adjusted rebounding rate ranked #1 last year in college, while he's playing against high level competition. This stat is widely regarded as the best indicator of successful translation into the NBA. His number is on similar level of Faried in college.

He's got a great motor, good lower body strength and very good speed. All of these are indicating a promising NBA career. Basically he has better lower body strenghth and speed than Ppat, and it allows him to rebound well and defend the post/perimeter effectively.

Potential wise, he's a better version of Faried/Millsap. And he's got a good chance to develop here. We should keep him and he'd be our Faried/Millsap in a few years if not earlier.

 

Who's the last Kansas 1st rounder (or any rounder, I guess) who was really good in the NBA? Paul Pierce?

I guess Hinrich is ok, but he's sure bounced around a lot.

I don't know about how this compares with other schools, but for some reason I think of Kansas as being a bust factory.

 

He's a perfectly fine banger. He just needs to become more efficient, which I'm confident will come with time.

Using Patterson and Morris as a reference point, Robinson has a higher assist rate, steal rate, block rate, and a MASSIVELY higher rebound rate than either. He's just a really, really bad scorer and has a lot of turnovers compared to those two.

 

The thing about his offense is that coming off the bench on a bad team is absolutely the worst role for Robinson as a rookie. As you said, he's just not efficient because he lacks fundamentals in the post, and the Kings giving him limited minutes in high-volume situations is pretty much the worst thing for his development.

He's best suited as a Faried-esque role player, allowing him to build confidence by doing the things he's best suited to do now (rebound, run floor, energy) while letting his offense gradually develop in leveraged situations. Much better fit here.

 

i thought this guy was a legit 6'10" but he's shorter than 6'8".

 

Not flaming, but I have to question anyone that posts along these lines. They smack of very casual NCAA fans (or non-fans) that did not watch those teams play much/closely.

Quite frankly, Robinson dwarfed either one of the Morris twins during his Jan-March stretch in 2012. Those two NEVER had the determination or ability to flat out take over games the way he did. And he didn't do so the way Reddick (had to call plays for him and send him off multiple screens because he couldn't create) or Morrison (just garbage ball where he flung himself into the paint and threw up chuckers) did.

Robinson took last year's Jayhawks and tossed them on his back, and he killed it. Relentless near the basket, nailed half his 3s, and cleaned the glass, leader, came every night with passion, you name it. He really strikes me as a Glenn Robinson....but with real attitude and work ethic.

The year prior, Kansas had a much deeper team (including Robinson off the bench). Morris was good, but he often coasted and absolutely didn't show uphalf the time on the glass or on D. The offense never went through him the way it did Robinson.

I've even seen some people post-trade trying to say Robinson is a poor man's Josh Smith. Their games are nothing alike. At all.

It seems most of the BBS ran to check Robinson's stats for the season and dashed back to talk out of their rear ends about him. It's okay if he wasn't on your radar until last night, but seriously....

SSSHHHHHHHHHHH