There's some cruel irony in the Boston Celtics adding Mitchell Robinson this summer. That's not just because he had previously played his entire NBA career for the New York Knicks, but because Joe Mazzulla tried to gain an edge on the Knicks by resorting to "Hack-a-Mitch."
In a nutshell, he would try to disrupt the Knicks' flow by fouling Robinson, one of the NBA's worst free throw shooters, to put him at the charity stripe. Now, he's inherited that problem. Robinson may very well be one of the offseason's biggest steals, but that doesn't erase his laughable free throw shooting.
However, Mazzulla could use this to the Celtics' advantage. His style of play is all about exploiting specific areas to give Boston the best possible odds of winning, including the three-point battle, the rebounding battle, and the turnover battle. He could make the Celtics' offense thrive even more if he could turn the Robinson disadvantage against their opponents.
He can do that by putting an emphasis on drawing fouls this season. That could be a bit tough, as Boston was dead last in free throw attempts last season. That is sure to go up this season with Robinson on the team, but Boston's fail-safe when the threes don't fall could be going to the free throw line.
They found a fail-safe with offensive rebounding last season, which is how their offense stayed among the elites last season. Boston wants to have all their bases covered this season. Teams will foul Robinson to get in the way of that, but Mazzulla just might be clever enough to flip that plan on their head.
If New York can work around it, so can Boston
Despite Robinson's flaw sticking out like a sore thumb, the Knicks have been able to persevere. If it truly was an issue for them, they wouldn't be the NBA champions. The only reason why they didn't keep him was because they wanted to avoid the NBA's tax aprons.
The Celtics paid good, long-term money for Robinson, regardless of whether he'll start or come off the bench, because they believe he will help a lot more than he will hurt.
It's already been established that Robinson's presence on the boards will be a game-changer for the Celtics this coming season. If his shortcomings at the free throw line actually prove to be an advantage for Boston, then not only is he worth every penny, but Mazzulla Ball could reach a whole new level.
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