Mitchell Robinson is Doing Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Knicks just dragged the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 to advance to the next round of the playoffs. Going into this series, the narrative was that Cleveland had a frontcourt advantage with All-Star Jarrett Allen and Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Evan Mobley. But no one accounted for the Knicks secret weapon: Mitchell Robinson.

PUTBACK 😤

Mitchell Robinson is the first Knick with 10 OREB in a playoff game since Patrick Ewing in 1994 😳 pic.twitter.com/XpE5MVRQ7l

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 27, 2023

Here’s what Mitch Rob did in Game 5:

13 points
18 rebounds (11 offensive)
1 assist
2 steals
3 blocks

When Mitchell Robinson entered the NBA as a 2nd round pick in 2018, he was coming off the bench for current right-wing mouthpiece Enes Kanter. It only took 6 games into the season for Dave Fizdale to replace Kanter in the starting lineup for the rookie and in his first career NBA start, Robinson he scored 7 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and had 2 steals against a Golden State Warriors team that was a Kevin Durant blown achilles away from winning an NBA title.

From day one, Robinson let everyone know what makes him great: rebounding.

Mitchell has struggled thus far in his career with fouling too much and missing long stretches of the year with random injuries but we are finally witnessing him at his apex so far in these playoffs. He’s healthy as hell and has learned how to protect the rim without reaching in and drawing obvious foul calls.

Robinson’s greatest skill is his ability to seemingly always be in the perfect position for an offensive rebound. Whenever a Knicks player shoots, Robinson appears to know exactly where the ball is going to ricochet and always gets at least a fingertip on it.

Then he has the hand-eye coordination and sticky hands to be able to almost tip balls back into his possession. If a ball comes at him and lands anywhere within his wingspan, Robinson can wrestle it away from the defender and juggle it into his own hands.

It also doesn’t matter if he’s being boxed out, he is still able to time his jump to completely nullify any physicality he’s facing under the rim. While someone is boxing him out, Robinson’s eyes are lighting up and he’s perfectly timing his jump to leap right over anyone and everyone.

Offensive rebounding is the most underrated part of basketball. A quick putback saves an offensive possession. You can also dish it to the perimeter where there will always be open shooters because all of their defenders were watching to see if the ball went in. And it can be completely demoralizing for an opposing team when they think they made a defensive stop and then immediately give up a Robinson putback dunk.

Mitchell Robinson’s overall existence on the court often goes unnoticed but there’s a reason Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland were chucking up those perimeter jumpers. No one feels safe driving to the paint when Mitch is down there waiting to send their shots into the faces of the NBA camera operators sitting under the basket.

Remember when the Knicks played the Hawks in the first round of the playoffs two seasons ago and Trae Young did whatever he wanted against the Knicks defense because they had no idea how to defend the pick-and-roll and were eaten alive by lob passes?

Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen combined for a total of 10 points in Game 5. It’s safe to say, Mitch Rob has learned how to properly defend those pick-and-rolls without giving his defensive assignment easy dunks behind his back.

He also just seems like an all-time positive vibes guy. From everything he posts on social media to the way he handles himself in post-game press conferences, Mitch Robinson is the funniest guy in the room—a room that has Julius Randle sitting in the corner mean-mugging and pissed because someone fouled him in November and the refs didn’t call it.

Mitchell Robinson reacts to his 11 offensive rebounds 😂

Says he and Josh Hart motivated each other on the boards:@23savage____ x @joshhart pic.twitter.com/SmT8jqH1Ox

— x – KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) April 27, 2023

The vibes are radiant in New York.

Jalen Brunson will get all of the national coverage and he certainly deserves it. As long as Randle is wearing a Knicks jersey and committing the most egregious mistakes you’ve ever seen, he will continue to be the focus of Knicks fans.

But Mitchell Robinson does EVERYTHING for this team all game long and deserves far more spotlight. Evan Mobley disappeared in the playoffs after the media tried to tell us he was the next Tim Duncan. Mitchell Robinson is in the midst of a historic playoff run. It’s time to treat him like the budding star he is.

Just wait until Robinson starts hitting 3’s. It’s over for you hoes.

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