migya wrote:His numbers didn't look great in 93 v Portland but he was big, especially the last two games, last game had a triple double and Spurs won 3-1.
Of course he was huge all-around, we're talking about top 20 player ever. I'm criticizng his scoring game, not his overall impact here.
He was really good against Phoenix in r2, don't know what your seeing; 26pts, 11rebs, 5blks.
Again, why do you bring up other numbers than scoring when I strictly talk about scoring? He averaged 3.3 bpg, not 5 bpg by the way.
25.7 ppg in 40.8 mpg on 55.3 TS% against Suns that didn't have strong interior defense isn't "really good". It's not bad, but he underperformed considering the context.
His numbers weren't good v Denver in 95 but he pushed Mutombo into a horrible series where he was in foul trouble all the time, probably the most effective aspect of Robinson's offensive game was drawing fouls. The Spurs swept the Nuggets with +15.
Yes, that had an impact. It's by far Robinson's biggest strength offensively. He was excellent at drawing fouls and it actually translated to the playoffs. That's also what defined his style - he always tried to overwhelm his opponents physically.
He again couldn't figure out the Jazz instead of playing strong near the basket where he had no match. Malone shot worse than Robinson as Robinson defended like he does. The backcourt for the Spurs was their usual awful level shooting horribly.
In 1998, Robinson had enough scoring help from their backcourt. They matched Jazz backcourt production scoring-wise:
Johnson: 14.8 ppg on 61.1 TS%
Del Negro: 11.2 ppg on 61.3 TS%
Not to mention that he played next to Duncan who played better than him.
As I said, with bit better teammates, even Olajuwon's early to mid 90s backcourt, who weren't great, he wins alot more.
We have seen Hakeem against the same Jazz team in 1994, the results don't look comparable:
Hakeem vs 1994 Jazz: 27.8 ppg on 56.9 TS%
Robinson vs 1994 Jazz: 20.0 ppg on 47.1 TS%
You can argue that with a better team, Spurs would be able to beat the Jazz but it wouldn't make Robinson a better player. If 1994 Jazz had Smith/Maxwell/Cassell and they'd have won, but Robinson would play the same way, then it doesn't change the criticism of Robinson's scoring game invalid. Players can play well in a loss and can play badly in a win, you know?
It's not a small sample either, Hakeem dominated the Jazz in 1995 and 1997 with his scoring, Robinson never had a good series vs them - even in 1998 when he had enough help.
His shooting wasn't good but he was a monster against the 2000 Suns, again his teammates provided nothing. Was a very low scoring series with Robinson carryint his team like preDuncan.
His shooting wasn't good and it proves my point. Again, I'm not talking about defense, passing or rebounding here.
His shooting goes down but his effect is still large. Can't say that about most stars ever.
That's my point though - Robinson was amazing player who struggled with his scoring against tough competition. It doesn't mean he sucked, he's still top 20 player ever easily. His RS scoring numbers overstate his actual scoring abilities though.
I mean, Hakeem was a monster in 1990 vs Lakers, but he also scored badly. You can say that someone plays very well, while taking into account that he underperformed in some aspects of the game.
