NBA Finals

‘Persistent’ Duncan Robinson gets recognition he long deserved

Joe Viray

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

‘Persistent’ Duncan Robinson gets recognition he long deserved
It’s hard to look at Duncan Robinson now as an undrafted player, knowing the kind of skill set this former NCAA Division III player can bring to any NBA team

The mark of a great shooter isn’t just the numbers that show up on the stat sheet. It isn’t just the fact that, with the ball in one’s hands, odds are that the ball will swish through the nylon and not bounce off the rim. Empirical data and the eye test are both equally important.

But a great shooter is often marked by possessions like this one:

‘Persistent’ Duncan Robinson gets recognition he long deserved

You may be thinking to yourself: No one shot the ball from three-point range in that possession. And you’re right, no one did! But even if that was the case, it still proved that a great shooter was present on the floor.

That great shooter — Duncan Robinson, in particular — didn’t need to touch the ball to provide impact. It was the mere fact that he was on the floor that made it possible for Bam Adebayo to roll to the rim uncontested and catch the lob.

Furthermore, it was where Robinson was stationed that was of particular note: parked on the weak side corner, ready to catch the ball should his defender help off him.

If you were the defender on that possession and saw Adebayo rolling to the rim uncontested, your natural instinct would be to rotate over to prevent that lob. But any defender would be absolutely insane to help off him; Kentavious Caldwell-Pope certainly thought the same thing.

Why? Because Robinson, during the 2019-2020 regular season, shot 44.6% on threes on 8.3 three-point attempts per game.

Because Robinson, during these NBA playoffs, is currently shooting 39.6% on threes while attempting 7.5 per game.

Because Robinson shot 46% on catch-and-shoot threes during the regular season, breaking the previous record of 44.4% which was set by Klay Thompson – one of the greatest shooters in NBA history.

Simply put, you don’t give Robinson even an inch of space to get open, catch the ball, and go up for a shot. 

Kyle Kuzma learned this the hard way:

‘Persistent’ Duncan Robinson gets recognition he long deserved

It was this four-point play — along with 6 other three-point shots he made out of 13 attempts — that will be talked about after the Miami Heat’s Game 5 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers to stay alive in the NBA Finals.

It tied the mark for third-most threes made in an NBA Finals game. Only Stephen Curry (9) and Ray Allen (8) have made more.

Robinson finally had the performance he wanted on the grandest basketball stage there is. While the Heat pride themselves on getting everyone going on offense, it was of utmost importance for Robinson in particular to get going early and to get hot.

There’s a certain correlation between Robinson’s ability to establish a shooting groove and the Heat’s probability of winning a game.

Robinson is an extremely important cog in the Heat’s motion-based, equal-opportunity offense. Once the shots start falling, the defense on him gets tighter. The tighter the attention is on him, the more that his teammates get open and cause damage themselves. 

Look no further than when Jimmy Butler, during a crucial stretch in the 4th quarter of Game 5, drew a foul and got himself to the line:

‘Persistent’ Duncan Robinson gets recognition he long deserved

A casual glance at that sequence may have led one to the conclusion that it was all due to Butler’s ability to get downhill at an instant, as well as Jae Crowder flipping the screen at the last minute, that led to the foul.

But the huge amount of space left wide open for Butler wouldn’t have been there if not for the silent threat that Robinson posed on the opposite corner.

Such is the gravitas and importance that Robinson has on the Heat’s overall offense, especially throughout the course of Game 5. When the shots start falling, you can have a monumental effect on the game even if you aren’t involved in the on-ball shenanigans – action through inaction.

“Everybody’s going to react to him probably more so than they’re gonna react to me,” Butler said after the game. “A three is worth more than a two.”

Butler had a phenomenal performance, but he couldn’t do it all by himself; no one, not even the greatest players in the history of the game, can successfully pull off a solo act.

So it was important for Robinson to get open often. The Lakers cooperated in that aspect:

‘Persistent’ Duncan Robinson gets recognition he long deserved

Possessions such as the one above – where Danny Green lost sight of Robinson, wrongfully guessing that Robinson would lift to the wing instead of run to the corner – were a common sight.

The Lakers defense, normally covering their bases and plugging holes with near spotless efficiency, failed to plug the ones that Robinson was creating all night long.

‘Persistent’ Duncan Robinson gets recognition he long deserved

The importance of moving without the ball is not lost on Robinson. The recipe behind what makes a great shooter almost always involves the ingredient of effective and efficient off-ball movement.

The list of great shooters in the league who have that ability is short: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Ray Allen, and Reggie Miller, to name a few.

Robinson may find himself in that list one day, if he isn’t already in it.

‘Persistent’ Duncan Robinson gets recognition he long deserved

It’s hard to look at Robinson now as an undrafted player, knowing the kind of skill set he can bring to any team in the NBA, especially in today’s modern game of pace-and-space and wanton gunslinging from behind the arc. 

Despite his ability to shoot the ball, Robinson – a former US NCAA Division III player – had been largely left off several draft boards in 2018 despite transferring to a renowned Division I program in the University of Michigan.

But Erik Spoelstra and the Heat took a chance on Robinson and signed him to a Summer League contract. Through his consistently strong play, he was eventually signed to a two-way contract, which in turn eventually became a permanent roster spot.

The faith in him, which started all the way from the front office and spread throughout the coaching staff and among his fellow teammates, is strong. Robinson is currently repaying that faith in him in spades.

“I thought he was just so persistent,” Spoelstra said. “Their level of physicality on him as well was nothing like the regular season or nothing like the first 3 rounds. He just dusts himself off and continues to run his routes with great force. 

“He broke free a few times and he didn’t break free a few times and still was able to put some pressure on them.”

The key word Spoelstra said in that quote – persistent – just might be the most important ingredient in the great shooter’s recipe. There will be days when the ball won’t fall in the hoop. The stroke might be there, but for some inexplicable reason, the line isn’t pristine and the arc is either too high or too flat.

It all can make even the most confident of sharpshooters lose faith in themselves. Robinson has had a couple of bad shooting games in the Finals, and it has often made him second-guess himself whenever the ball comes his way.

But the key for Robinson has always been to keep on shooting, to keep doing what he does best no matter what.

“(I told him) to stop running from the basketball,” Butler said. “Can’t shoot the ball if you don’t have the ball… As long as he’s coming to the ball, shooting the ball when he’s open or when he’s not open, that’s the Duncan Robinson that we need (and) we want because that’s how he’s been playing all year long.”

Shoot the ball, he did. More importantly, the ball went in more times than it didn’t.

That’s the Duncan Robinson the Heat wanted. That’s the Duncan Robinson the Heat will absolutely need if they want to achieve the impossible.

For a while, it seemed like Robinson was succumbing to the bright lights and pressure that the biggest stage will place upon anyone experiencing it for the first time.

Instead, his brilliance beyond the three-point line placed enormous pressure on the Lakers defense. Without the proper adjustments, it could become the kind that is impossible to stop. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!