Knicks center Mitchell Robinson is generating early buzz for Defensive Player of the Year, according to Steve Popper of Newsday (subscriber link).
As Popper writes, the 25-year-old effectively stymied No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama on national TV earlier this week, with the French phenom going 0-of-6 with Robinson as his closest defender. Robinson also made a strong national impression in last season’s playoffs, dominating the paint in New York’s first-round series against the Cavs, who feature a “heavily hyped” two-big lineup.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau is always eager to discuss how well Robinson has been playing, specifically pointing to his net rating, Popper adds. The Knicks are plus-7.6 when Robinson is on the court vs. minus-1.3 when he’s off, for a net rating differential of plus-8.9 — the second-best mark on the team among rotation regulars.
“His defense is incredible,” Thibodeau said. “Excellent pick-and-roll defender. Rim protection. Defensive rebounding. Multiple effort guy. Really come a long way.
“It’s been steady growth. I think when you look at it, to me, probably the most important statistic there is net rating. Scoring margin, net rating tells you impact on winning. So when you look at where he was four years ago to where he is today, it’s been great strides that have been made, and the impact on winning is the most important thing.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- Payton Pritchard signed a four-year, $30MM rookie scale extension just before the season started. The Celtics guard has been struggling to make shots early on in 2023/24, but head coach Joe Mazzulla assured him that he’ll continue to receive minutes as long as he’s impacting the game in other ways, and Pritchard finally had a breakthrough performance in Friday’s win against Brooklyn, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “He’s found a way to make a big impact the whole year, and to me, he changed the game for us tonight,” Mazzulla said. “And what we see is, like, it’s easy to look at the scoring of the bench and be like, ‘We’re not producing.’ But there’s so much other stuff that those guys do for us on a daily basis.”
- Backup point guard Malachi Flynn struggled to find minutes under former head coach Nick Nurse, but that has changed under Darko Rajakovic, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Flynn, who could be a restricted free agent in 2024 if the Raptors give him qualifying offer, admits he was pressing his first handful of games as a rotation regular, but Rajakovic’s patience in him appears to be paying off, Grange notes. “I think the first couple of games I was still kind of like hesitant, not being assertive,” Flynn said. “But I feel like the last maybe three or four games — and not even going off makes or misses, just going off how I’m feeling and how I’m playing — I think I’m a lot more comfortable and playing confident.”
- Sixers wing Kelly Oubre made a strong defensive impression in last night’s win over Detroit, limiting Cade Cunningham to a subpar second half after he started the game strong, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “That’s what I bring to the game,” Oubre said of his defense. “That’s my bread and butter, so just trying to impact the game, and Cade definitely got off to a good start. I started on Ausar [Thompson], but Coach made that change to start the second half. Me guarding Cade and just wanted to pick him up full court, kind of make him uncomfortable a little bit because he’s such a talented player.” Oubre will be a free agent again next summer after signing a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the 76ers.
Oubre is a super duper athlete and I had no idea his defense was any good. He has been a pleasant surprise
Honestly, until this season, it largely hasn’t been. The only positive defensive season Oubre has had before was in the 20-21 season with Golden State, something that was largely disregarded or thought of as a product of the system, as his defensive numbers and effectiveness slipped back to career norms afterwards.
Like I said when they signed him. Oubre at the minimum is an excellent pickup. Definitely will bring scoring. He’s a hot and cold guy. But it seems he’s finally Woke. Playing both ways. Playing for that contract. At 27 yrs old. Maybe he’s finally getting it. He always had offense. I think playing in GS taught him a lot. Just look at Wiggins.
“It’s been steady growth. I think when you look at it, to me, probably the most important statistic there is net rating. Scoring margin, net rating tells you impact on winning. So when you look at where he was four years ago to where he is today, it’s been great strides that have been made, and the impact on winning is the most important thing.”
25 yrs old —— this is what growing into a productive player looks like. And why CENTERS will never go away. Rim protection and rebounding. Are two of the most important things you need to win. 2way sport. Something most here don’t understand. And something the media doesn’t want to write about.
Stay the course Big Fella ……..
Don’t you just love Pops ….
Spurs’ Gregg Popovich: MSG is ‘the best place to play in the world’
Finally, something we agree on. Mitch is the bomb.
Oubre and Tobias are playing their way into LT deals with the Sixers.
Morey is likely going to have to change his offseason approach, instead of renouncing everyone to free up cap space, he may need to trade for that guy he wants like OG, and then reup Tobias and Oubre.
Melton is playing terribly offensively. His defense is very good, but they may need to think about adding a ball handler that can shoot 3s and has a low USG rate like Tyus Jones.
Sixers can sign their own FA and go over cap. Larry Bird rule. Both can sign decent deals. And still go get a big time FA.
To get that 50 or 60M in cap space that Morey keeps talking about pretty sure they have to renounce everyone. Cap Holds for Tobias 45m and Oubre 2M. Oubre obviously easier to resign.
Wonder if Pat Bev could crack the starts job. Just as capable defensively, great leadership and similes a good floor spacer on low usage. We have a bunch of vets like Batum and Morris to provide experience and help be leaders for that second unit ….