cupcakesnake wrote:this news SUCKS.
If you were just following the stats, you probably thought Robinson was stagnant in his development (career low scoring and shot blocking). But man was he ever night and day in terms of defensive focus and discipline. His blocks are down because he's finally stopped leaping at everything. He's been better defending at the level (look at those steal numbers), and just an absolute anchor in drop. It was cool to see a player really find his role and excel at it. (Even if I still hate how he's used in Thibs' offense).
Knicks will survive with Hartenstein, but this lowers their ceiling big time, imo.
That's a great summary. I'll add that he also stopped fouling like crazy. Mitch was just great on defense this year all around. iHart is a more natural fit in the offense but, as you say, drops the defense from what Mitch provided. What we need is both though and that's where this news really hurts. Teams have been going on runs on us with Taj or Sims in the game.