Rip City Project: Bring Back Thomas Robinson

Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
dviss1

dviss1

Emcee Referee
Joined
Aug 10, 2011
Messages
29,761
Likes
27,782
Points
113
http://ripcityproject.com/2013/12/31/terry-stotts-bring-back-thomas-robinson/

Thomas Robinson has not played since December 18th, when the Trail Blazers lost to the Timberwolves on the road. Coincidentally, Portland’s interior defense has slipped from sub-standard to egregious of late. Last night, the Trail Blazers conceded an unacceptable 62 points in the paint (13.4 points more than their already atrocious 48.6 season average) to the New Orleans Pelicans. They lost the game by just two points.

Head coach Terry Stotts stuck with Meyers Leonard for his offensive capabilities, but Leonard went scoreless in five minutes of play. In fact, Leonard’s only contributions to the game were a missed field goal, a turnover, and a personal foul. Both he and Robinson need court time to develop, but the onus is on Stotts to know when to play which without impeding the team’s success.

It’s not as if the warning signs weren’t there. Terry Stotts is a man of statistics, so I’m sure he knew that the Trail Blazers have allowed 58 points in the paint per game since officially replacing Robinson with Leonard (including 56 against the Pelicans the first time they met). Each of the four games were won or lost by the slimmest of margins:



December 21st – The Trail Blazers beat the Pelicans 110-107 after trailing 103-105 with 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.
December 26th – The Trail Blazers beat the Clippers 116-112 after a miracle 3-pointer from Nicolas Batum forced overtime.
December 28th – The Trail Blazers lost to the Heat 107-108 after Chris Bosh drilled a 26-footer to beat the buzzer.
December 30th – The Trail Blazers lost to the Pelicans 108-110 after Tyreke Evans sunk a fade-away with 1.2 seconds remaining.



Now, Thomas Robinson is by no means a defensive stalwart, but he’s a reasonable upgrade from Meyers Leonard. There’s only so much a 7’1” “presence” can do without any real defensive skills. Despite Robinson’s tendency to occasionally appear lost on defense, I don’t believe he would concede more baskets than Leonard. If he is able to affect just one or two shots in limited minutes, our last several nail-biters are whole different ball games.

Terry Stotts likes to play Meyers Leonard because he spaces the floor. His unique size and range theoretically open up the lane just enough for potential drives to the basket from other players, whereas Robinson’s hammer method shrinks the court. I am unconvinced that this is the right tradeoff for every situation. Sometimes a little more defense outweighs the benefits of experimental offense.

Thomas Robinson isn’t even a step back offensively either. He averages more than double Leonard’s points per game, but, much more importantly, 6.2 more points per 36 minutes of play. Meaning that if Robinson and Leonard were to play the same number of minutes, hypothetically Robinson would score 16.7 points to Leonard’s 10.5. It’s time to bring Thomas Robinson back—at least some of the time.

Terry Stotts has received a lot of criticism this year for the rigidity of his rotation. I appreciate that he’s warmed to experimenting, but there is a time and place for it. He has the incredibly difficult task of finding developmental minutes for one of the youngest and deepest teams in the NBA, and I have no desire to see Meyers Leonard fade away just as he’s beginning to grow. I suggest that adjustments are made when it makes sense to make them.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Boy, that's some deep insight right there. I noticed that our defense has slipped and Victor Claver and Earl Watson haven't gotten any minutes either. Damn that Meyers Leonard!
 
I say trade them both and try and find a way to get Asik or Sanders here.
 
magnifier661 said:
I honestly think we are showcasing Leonard.
Click to expand...

Probably not but I really hope so I liked Meyers initially but the dude just seems stuck to me I am just not sure he will ever be a lottery worthy big.
 
Rip City Project is always more analytical, or as some would say, critical. Good articles.

We already know that Stotts favors offense over defense:

Terry Stotts likes to play Meyers Leonard because he spaces the floor. His unique size and range theoretically open up the lane just enough for potential drives to the basket from other players, whereas Robinson’s hammer method shrinks the court. I am unconvinced that this is the right tradeoff for every situation. Sometimes a little more defense outweighs the benefits of experimental offense.
Click to expand...
 
TRob will get some more playing time once we stopped showcasing Leonard so someone will give us .50 on the dollar for him.
 
Both TRob and Meyers are projects to varying degrees. TRob had how many games to show the team what he can and can't do, how he fits into the offense and defense, and what he needs to work on? I don't think it's effective to yank young guys in and out of the lineup. I think Meyers needs and deserves a certain number of consecutive games for the team to evaluate him the same way they have TRob. At the end of that time, they will have a better idea of how and when to use each player and which player should get the majority of minutes leading to the playoffs.
 
So basically it says Leonar_ sucks and we should play Robinson instead.

That is some great thinking by that author. Wish we had that here
 
Last edited:
Trob needs burn. He is a beast on the inside, and the argument why he is not playing is that we cannot spread the floor with him in. What's a more glaring hole right now, interior toughness or one of the four guys on the floor that can't shoot from range?
 
T-ROB has obviously never been coached on to actually play basketball. He has talent but has no clue how to play team basketball, it's up the Blazers staff to coach him up.
 
It would have been nice if the author could have provided some statistics on points in the paint per minute when Leonard and is in and is out. Same for Robinson. I will say this; if Leonard is gonna be in there he needs to look for his shot; again tonight he seemed to have passed up a couple.
 
I still have a lot of hope for this kid. He's got all the tools to be something special. I would love Aldridge to try and take Aldridge under his wing and show him how to work on his game.
 
magnifier661 said:
I still have a lot of hope for this kid. He's got all the tools to be something special. I would love Aldridge to try and take Aldridge under his wing and show him how to work on his game.
Click to expand...

That's tough to do. I wonder if Aldridge can do that....
 
We need an actual big man coach, not just LA showing him the ropes.
 
Terry Stotts has received a lot of criticism this year for the rigidity of his rotation.
Click to expand...

Is that true? I don't live in Portland, so maybe I just missed the memo?

Go Blazers
 
My sense is that Leonard may indeed be a contributor to the Blazers and in a big time way. They sure need him to come through.
Robinson is not likely to fill that role.

But it seems like a strange take on a team that is playing well enough to lose a game to NO and turn around and beat OKC at home. Now that is a ball team with a little moxie, much more than has been the norm the past 10 plus years.

I don't think I will bitch about a damn thing, especially who Stotts decides to play.
 
magnifier661 said:
I still have a lot of hope for this kid. He's got all the tools to be something special. I would love Aldridge to try and take Aldridge under his wing and show him how to work on his game.
Click to expand...

LaMarcus has the wingspan, but does he really want to sniff Aldridge's armpits?
 
MarAzul said:
My sense is that Leonard may indeed be a contributor to the Blazers and in a big time way. They sure need him to come through.
Robinson is not likely to fill that role.

But it seems like a strange take on a team that is playing well enough to lose a game to NO and turn around and beat OKC at home. Now that is a ball team with a little moxie, much more than has been the norm the past 10 plus years.

I don't think I will bitch about a damn thing, especially who Stotts decides to play.
Click to expand...

Damn, Deep Blue, sage shit

repped
 
oh, damn, here come the wookee war stories... ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

GrandpaBlaze
Current Blazers on All-Time List (as of 2-13-26)
Replies
0
Views
71
GrandpaBlaze
GrandpaBlaze
SlyPokerDog
Led by Splitter, Blazers earn win day after Billups' arrest
Replies
4
Views
315
julius
julius
GrandpaBlaze
Current Blazers on All-Time List (as of 12-1-25)
Replies
0
Views
85
GrandpaBlaze
GrandpaBlaze
SlyPokerDog
Brian Grant and Terry Porter have joined Blazer staff
Replies
21
Views
1K
barfo
barfo
GrandpaBlaze
Current Blazers on All-Time List (as of 10-25-25)
Replies
1
Views
104
SlyPokerDog
SlyPokerDog

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top