Two games into the season, it's clear that Paul George has made a stronger impression for the Boston Celtics than Mitchell Robinson. In all fairness, it's because George has looked downright awesome, despite how different his two games in Celtics green have been. Robinson, by contrast, has been unremarkable.
That's not to say he's been bad, but for someone who was supposed to be brought in for what he can bring to Mazzulla Ball, i.e., elite offensive rebounding and defensive playmaking, Robinson hasn't been great, despite the fact that he's got the starting nod. Averaging four points and 3.5 rebounds (1.5 offensive) is pretty pedestrian.
Luckily, it appears as though Robinson is aware of this, as he shared a slideshow on his personal Instagram of him in his Celtics gear, which included a picture of him and Joe Mazzulla, in which he wrote the caption, "Just the beginning, it’ll get better. Just trust the process", with a green heart and magic wand emojis.
It's an ironic message because that's the one Philadelphia once used back in the 2010s. However, they used "Trust the process" in reference to the process of accumulating talent. Robinson is using it to let fans know that he's a work in progress, but progress is coming, even if it may not be right away.
Robinson's got time to figure this out
Robinson is playing for a new team. In fact, he's playing for the team he basically swung a playoff series against two years ago. In a somewhat surprising twist, they elected to start him over Neemias Queta after the latter had an undeniable Most Improved Player campaign last season.
There's no telling if it will stay that way as the season progresses, but even the most novice fan knows that the sample size is far too small for anyone to come to any major conclusions. In the early season, the players who struggle the most deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Remember when Anfernee Simons looked a little out of place in Boston when he first started? And it stayed that way for a while before he actually figured out his place in the Celtics rotation. By the time he was traded, many were heartbroken, even if it was because they knew Jayson Tatum's return was going to eat into Ant's minutes.
Anyway, if the Celtics can be patient about Simons, they can extend the same leeway to Robinson. The only difference of course being that it would be a whole lot more shocking if they traded him mid-season than it was when they got rid of Simons.
We also need to cut Robinson some slack as Boston just went up against two of the Eastern Conference's best teams. Against lesser competition, he can start to get his feet wet.
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