Despite all the hype and a seemingly perfect fit on paper, for whatever reason, Mitchell Robinson simply hasn’t clicked in Boston. In theory, his game should accentuate everything the team wants to do, and he should only be additive to a team that already has most of the pieces in place to be a contender.
But through four games, that hasn’t been the case at all, and something just looks off. Robinson looks like he doesn’t have his timing down at all when he’s on the floor. He’s out of sorts on both ends, and looks a step slow whether he’s jumping for a rebound, getting in position to box out, contesting a shot, or rising to catch a lob.
It has been frustrating and ugly to watch, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Sure, there’s something to be said for chemistry and getting into a rhythm with his new teammates and new role, but he just doesn’t look like the player who routinely dominated stretches for the Knicks in recent years.
Stats show Robinson has been Celtics' worst player by far
And the numbers completely back up the eye test on this one too. Mitch has been on the floor for 81 minutes and off for 108. While on the court, the Celtics have a worse rebounding rate on offense and defense, opponents are shooting a whopping 27% better at the rim, the Celtics’ true shooting percentage is 8% worse, and their opponents’ is 5% better.
He also has the worst plus/minus on the team at -23, and his net rating for the season is -14.1, as the team’s offense is only at 101.8 and the defense is at 116.0.
I know it’s a very small sample size, but those numbers are despicable, and it matches how it looks: really bad. I’m not sure what exactly is going on either. He rolled his ankle early in game one against the Pistons, so perhaps he is trying to play through an injury, but that makes little sense.
Zero reason for Robinson to be playing if he's injured
It’s early in the season, Robinson has an injury history, and the team has two healthy and capable centers in Neemias Queta and Luka Garza. If Mitch needs time off, there’s absolutely no reason he shouldn’t be taking it.
Beyond that, the only hope is that it’ll just take time, and Robinson will soon find his footing, and things will even out. There’s no explanation for his game to drop off like this other than being on a new team for the first time in his nine-year NBA career.
The Celtics are making do even with his poor play, as they're off to a 3-1 start to the season. But they paid Mitch a lot of money to come in and be a difference-maker on both ends for this season and two more. Things better turn around, and hopefully quickly, or this contract is going to start looking extremely questionable.
Add us as a preferred source on Google