<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Congrats to the 76ers for reaching the 2014-15 salary cap floor.</p>— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/570346463823155200" data-datetime="2015-02-24T22:16:08+00:00">February 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Bill Simmons is the anti-Kobe. For everything Kobe hates, Bill Simmons finds something to be happy about!
His numbers look good in limited minutes. I think he actually does have a place in the NBA (albeit deep on a bench). Lots of energy. Isn't afraid to do the dirty work. Athletic.
Thomas Robinson has nobody to blame but himself. If you get traded that often in a short time span, that's a clear sign that your value in the NBA is bleh, and teams don't think much of you. You are an easily transferable asset. You have enough value to stay in the league (although I think Robinson won't last much longer in the NBA) but not enough to stick with one team for at least a few seasons.
Thabeet, of course. Not even close. The dude was a 2nd pick and can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Thomas Robinson has limited skills. But at least he is athletic and is a good rebounder.
All these young guys with natural talent but don't put in the work to improve their game. FG% < 50%, FT% 53%, decent rebounder, but high TOV rate @ 2.8 per 36. Probably tries to do too much when he gets on the floor. Should be concentrating on D and rebounding to get more minutes.
I've seen TRob come in and change some games for Portland. I was wrong about him, he has a place in this league. He just needs an ideal situation
he does try to do too much. once he realizes he needs to stick with what hes good at and only that, then he can find his place in the league. foul trouble is also a problem of his playing with high energy. being such a high pick he still thinks he may need to do more than what he can really do in the NBA. I was a fan of him at Kansas but his game has not easily translated over. unfortunately, some guys adjust and some don't and ultimately they will keep jumping from team to team or will just be out of the league soon
It will be interesting to see what free agent offers TRob gets this summer. This guy has Tony Allen type energy. I think he's definitely got a place as a role player in this league.
Thabeet. Thabeet over Harden (and Steph Curry) is a Bowie over Jordan (and Barkley, Stockton, etc) moment. Robinson is an NBA journeyman, obviously Lillard is a much better player but he's the only all-star caliber guy picked after him in what was a pretty weak-ass draft. But Thabeet is just a far more epic bust in-context.
He has good per-36 rebounding numbers and he's willing to hustle. That might be worth something. But other than that... He's never really played quality minutes in meaningful NBA games Can't shoot FTs Turns the ball over Ineffective outside of 3 feet on offense Poor defender and shot blocker I'll admit to not seeing a whole lot of games of his when he wasn't on the Rockets or playing against the Rockets and as such not being the most informed, but he never really impressed me. He'd have occasional glimpses of something good (when he does that spin move on offense and it actually works, for example), but mainly just mediocre to less-than-mediocre. Personally, I look forward to when he's on the court when he's playing against the Rockets. It means easy layups for us and usually bad shots or turnovers for the opponent. Maybe he's worth a second contract because of his previously mentioned rebounding ability and hustle, but I hope we're not the team paying him to do that. IF he got some sort of midrange jumper and could hit FTs, that would be huge for him. But I don't see it happening.
Robinson has the ability to have a role in the league he needs to still find his niche. You can see the talent is there but his identity is not. Can he become a player like Udonis Haslem? I think he has it in him but its going to take a few seasons for him to develop that and that is assuming he will be a gym rat every off season. I am not sure if a team will give him that chance and keep him roster past this contract though.
As a huge Kansas fan, Thomas Robinson is one of my favorite players. Disappointing how his career has gone so far but hopefully he finds a consistent role for somebody.
One big issue for him is that he is not very good with 3 feet of the basket, either, being a career 59.3% shooter from that range. By contrast, Terrence Jones is a career 72.4% shooter from within 3 feet and Kenneth Faried is a 66.6% shooter from that distance (only 61.6% this year, a part of the reason why Faried and his team have been so bad this year). Even weak finisher DMo shoots 64.2% from within 3 feet for his career. If you are going to ineffective outside of the immediate basket area, you have to at least be good within that range.
I don't know why he keeps saying he hasn't gotten a chance. Portland gladly gave him a chance. He's an ok player, not great, not horrible.
