The defense for the New York Knicks this season has not been on par with what you would normally see from a Tom Thibodeau-coached team. After being one of the best defensive teams in the NBA last season, the Knicks are very mediocre on that end of the court this season. Can Mitchell Robinson be a solution?
Replacing two good defenders in Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock with underwhelming defenders in Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, it was bound to happen that the Knicks’ effectiveness would slip a little bit. But, the team likely wasn’t ready for Mitchell Robinson to see his performance regress defensively.
Robinson is in his fourth season in the NBA. A slow start was expected after injuries ended his 2020-21 season early. He put on a lot of weight in the offseason, a majority of which was muscle, and it looked to be impacting him.
He wasn’t as agile moving around and looked sluggish at times. The New York Knicks were constantly being beat in pick-and-roll situations, as Robinson wouldn’t come out to contest opponents on the perimeter, allowing an alarming number of wide-open 3-point attempts. Even inside the paint, Robinson wasn’t having as much of an impact as people had become accustomed to.
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As a result, Thibodeau decided to make a change. Robinson was removed from the starting lineup, replaced by Nerlens Noel. There are issues beyond Robinson in the starting five, but he was not playing at a level that warranted keeping the starting spot.
The move to the second unit seems to have done the trick. Robinson has come off the bench for eight straight games and has looked like a more motivated, engaged player since. Someone that looks like they want their starting job back.
On a few occasions, despite not starting the game, Mitchell Robinson was inserted into the lineup to start the second half and close the game. He has put up some excellent performances, and the most recent game against the Detroit Pistons could have easily been his best game of the season.
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Robinson scored 17 points to go along with 14 rebounds, six of which were of the offensive variety, one steal, and three blocks in 24:36 minutes of play. He looked more spry, even getting one of his patented 3-point attempt blocks.
Robinson was a force in the middle, being credited with three blocks but altering plenty more. Pistons acting head coach Rex Kalamian said after the game that his team just had no answer for the New York Knicks big man.
“Mitchell Robinson was just too big for us tonight,” Kalamian said. “Everything he caught seemed so high up over the rim. We had no answer for him tonight, unfortunately.”
Detroit is far from the first team to feel the impact that Robinson can have when playing at the peak of his abilities and assuredly won’t be the last. As the anchor of the defense, Robinson’s performance is key in the Knicks finding success on that end of the court.
“We’re trying to change this thing around before the break, really,” Robinson said.
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The Knicks had lost five straight at home before defeating the Pistons, with their last win coming over the Los Angeles Lakers on November 23rd. Hopefully, this will kickstart the team and help them get things back on track.
Reinforcements should be on the way soon for the Knicks as well. They currently have six players sidelined in the league’s health and safety protocols, but they should start getting players back in the fold as early as Thursday’s game against the Washington Wizards.
