MILWAUKEE — Maybe it was his version of Jordan’s Flu Game. Mitchell Robinson was questionable heading into the Boston Celtics’ Sunday night contest against the Milwaukee Bucks. Listed on the injury report with an illness, Robinson ended up playing. A decision he doesn’t regret, but one that didn’t come without consequences.
“I was fighting for my life,” Robinson said with a smile. “I was fighting for my life. But as the game went on, I felt a little better. I thought probably playing, running that out, would help a lot, and it did. I feel a lot better now. So I’m happy I played.”
The Celtics were happy he played, too. Robinson enjoyed some of his best minutes as a Celtic on Sunday night. Though calling it a Flu Game wouldn’t be fair. Because he’s been tending upward for the past three. “I think my last three games have been the best I’ve had so far,” Robinson said. “So, I’m just gonna build off those.”
On Sunday night, Robinson ended the game with 12 points, seven rebounds (four offensive boards), two assists, four steals, and a block. He shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the field.
At the beginning of the year, Robinson looked out of shape. That’s because he was. By his own admission. He wasn’t meeting his own standard, nor the team’s, in that category.
“I don’t really play too much five-on-five in the summertime,” Robinson said. “So, if you ain’t playing ball, it’s kind of hard to just get back in playing shape.”
But that issue is slowly fading away. And Robinson’s comfortability within the flow of this Celtics group is improving as well. “I feel like it’s getting better,” Robinson said. “What’s helping a lot is getting in shape. I think that’s a big part of it. And then also paying attention to detail.”
Boston has won three in a row. Bucks, Charlotte Hornets, then Bucks again. Not exactly the cream of the crop, but taking care of business is important. That’s what the Celtics have done.
Along the way, Robinson has begun to round into form. To show off the skills Boston paid him $48 million to bring to the table.
Take this play, for example. On one end of the court, Robinson helps in the paint and then recovers using his length to pick up a block. He even tiptoes the out-of-bounds line to secure the rebound.
Then, on the very next play, he hustles down the court to get himself into offensive rebounding positioning. He corrals that board, finds Payton Pritchard, and then picks on a mismatch with AJ Green, who has to foul him.
**Sorry about the video quality. The NBA hasn’t been producing clips, so it’s very hard to find reliable, recordable game tape until the next day. And even then, it’s spotty.**
It’s the little things. The extra efforts. The spurts of energy. The positioning. The instincts. Robinson is learning a completely new style of basketball this year, and moments like this are when you can see the fruits of that labor.
“I don’t think people realize, a guy coming from a different team, playing a completely different style, having to do things differently, just takes a little bit of time,” Joe Mazzulla said.
Here’s some more hustle from Robinson. First, he waves his hand to take away a Tyler Herro pass to Myles Turner on the roll. Then, when Jaime Jaquez Jr. comes into the action, he gets ready to defend a drive.
Jaquez dumps it into Turner, but Robinson recovers. He sticks with Turner stride for stride, eventually getting a great contest and pulling down a tough rebound.
Fast forward to the other side of the ball, and Robinson once again puts himself in perfect offensive rebounding positioning. Paul George misses a jumper, but Robinson is right there to get the tip-in.
Offensive rebounding is an art. An art that all three Boston bigs have gotten close to perfecting. But none quite like Robinson. During his time with the New York Knicks, he became one of the greatest offensive rebounders of all time.
But now, he’s playing in a new system. With new teammates. A whole new shot profile. He has to figure out when his new teammates like to shoot, where on the floor they like to shoot from, and where the rebounds usually fall. That’s not an easy process.
“Gotta learn how our guys shoot,” Robinson said. “Back in New York, I kind of can tell where the ball is gonna go depending on the player that’s shooting. Got to learn that here. I’ve with this team for like what a month and a couple weeks, probably, or something like that. So, just got to build off that and learn and just absorb.”
And rebounding 3-point shots is a whole different animal. “They shoot a lot of threes, and a lot of [the rebounds] go long,” Robinson said. “So, when I notice that, I kind of just try to get in position to get a long rebound.”
Everything is an adjustment for Robinson. Especially on the offensive end, where Boston is asking him to do more than he ever has.
“I mean, what are we, 8-2? Ten games. It’s a learning curve,” Jayson Tatum said. “New system, new teammates. Taking more ownership. Just understanding that we really want him involved in the things we’re doing, especially on the offensive bench, so just kind of getting comfortable in that role.”
The pick-and-roll hasn’t been perfect. Robinson has dropped some passes, and the Celtics have thrown some well out of his reach. “We working on that. JT be throwing it to the moon sometimes, but we’re working on it,” Robinson said jokingly with Tatum just a few feet away.
But on Sunday, there was progress. The Robinson lobs flashed potential. It’s all about learning the timing, and from there, it’s easy money.
The Celtics were never worried about Robinson. Mazzulla was never worried. He’s seeing the same things out of Robinson these last three games that he’s seen all season.
“I’ve seen the same as I [saw] at the beginning of the season,” Mazzulla said. “Never worried about his production. Never worried about his play.”
Obviously, it was a jarring sight when Robinson came into the year out of shape. Expectations of an offensive rebounding machine were met with underwhelming production.
Saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ is far too much of a cliché, but it applies. Robinson’s Celtics tenure wasn’t built in a day. It wasn’t perfected immediately. It still hasn’t been. That’s okay.
“The ceiling’s really high for him,” Mazzulla said. “He can just continue to get better and better as a player. He has a high-level personality that he plays with. His defensive communication, his offensive communication. I think he’s picking up the system faster offensively, which allows the timing of some things. Defensively, he has a connective personality, and when he’s out there, when he’s talking, it just makes our team better. And I think him and Neemi take a ton of pride in just being important for our team.”
There are going to be rough games. Bad rebounding nights. Games when the lob passes aren’t connecting. But as the year rolls on, these types of performances — the one Robinson churned out in Milwaukee — are going to become all the more common.
“It’s just a process. It’s ongoing every single day,” Mazzulla said. “It’s both. Like I said, we gotta meet in the middle. Need to meet him where he’s at, [and] he’s gotta do what we need him to do, and he takes pride in doing that. Works hard at it.
