The main reason why Mitchell Robinson has largely been relegated to a part-time player over the course of his career has been durability. Mitch has been in a constant, never-ending battle with his own body, fighting through injuries to stay on the court as much as possible. It’s definitely going to be a major concern for the Celtics, and something they’ll likely have to manage, whether Robinson wants them to or not.
But another issue that has plagued Robinson, when he is healthy, has been his free-throw shooting. For his career, Mitch is a 50.8% free-throw shooter, and he has been under 50% in five of his last six seasons.
We’ve seen teams like the Celtics employ the hack-a-Mitch strategy, intentionally fouling Robinson and forcing him to go to the line every trip, often forcing the Knicks to remove him from the game.
It became a strategic element for New York as they had to think twice about playing him when the team was in the bonus, and he could be considered a liability at the end of quarters as well, as teams could foul him any time he grabbed a rebound in the final two minutes, sending him to the stripe and neutralizing one of the biggest advantages he creates.
But hopefully, this year, with a change of scenery and increased focus, Robinson can at least neutralize the weakness somewhat. The Celtics have a great developmental staff and have had success turning bad shooters into average shooters, average shooters into good shooters, and good shooters into great shooters.
If there’s a glimmer of hope, Robinson did shoot 68.4% in the 2024-25 season, so perhaps the mechanics are already in there somewhere. With enough work on the right things, maybe he and the Celtics can find a way to turn this around somewhat. Even to the point that it’s not a liability and teams aren’t intentionally fouling him would be a huge win.
Robinson looking to turn around free throw shooting this season
Robinson has talked all summer about how he’s working on his shooting and his range in general, and posts videos of him burying outside shots. At media day, he spoke about free-throw shooting specifically and couldn’t help but smile.
"I’ve been shooting a lot of free throws. A LOT of free throws … I’m ready to rock out."
Now, this isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve seen my share of offseason hype videos and quotes about player improvements, new skills, changes to bodies, and everything in between. More often than not, it’s nothing but noise. So, maybe I’m a naive Celtics optimist, but with this one, I actually tend to give Mitch the benefit of the doubt.
And if he can raise his shooting to just below average instead of devastatingly bad, that would be a game-changer for Joe Mazzulla. This would give him much more freedom with his lineups and rotations. He won’t have to factor in a potential strategy that teams could use against Robinson; he’ll be able to deploy his big men however he wants and at any part of the game.
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