"Why NBA Teams Missed Out On Duncan Robinson"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWxUXW6UhGA
Good watch from BBallBreakdown on youtube. Analyzes his usage in college against the sets ran for him in the pros. I'll try to figure out how to embed this.
November 14th, 2020 at 12:33 PM ^
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AWxUXW6UhGA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Okay, so after playing with it, I don't know how to embed.
November 14th, 2020 at 12:40 PM ^
NBA teams "missed out" on Duncan Robinson because the Miami Heat developed him into a completely different player than he was in college. There is no conspiracy here or failed scouting imo. I find these types of videos weird because they always seem to insinuate that Robinson was somehow misused or underutilized at Michigan, but he's objectively become a better shooter in the NBA than he was in college. Just really great development by an organization that continues to prove they have some of the best coaching in the league
November 14th, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
At the top of the comment box, there's a string of icons. Near the center are two that look like chain links; the first of which is highlighted---tap on that one once to open another smaller window, and paste your link there.
Profit!
November 14th, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
It is surprising that many missed out on him when they should know by now that we're a basketball school.
November 14th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
Seems like a backhanded video on how he was misused at Michigan thus causing NBA teams to overlook him when in actuality he was given the grand stage to showcase his abilities coming from D3 to play for a D1 offensive genius in Beilein. This ultimately set the stage for him to showcase his abilities as a free agent. I think you have to give credit to Beilein and staff, Spoelstra and staff and ultimately Duncan himself for the hard work.
November 14th, 2020 at 1:13 PM ^
Agreed, this video seems really backhanded. Robinson has become objectively a better player and shooter in the NBA
November 14th, 2020 at 1:20 PM ^
The only thing I will agree with is that there was a lot of time spent standing in the corner. I remember Poole's Dad complaining about this as well.
November 14th, 2020 at 1:56 PM ^
Robinson even spoke about this. Said something like, "they never ran a play for me at Michigan, but we were really, really good, so no knock on Beilein".
November 14th, 2020 at 1:23 PM ^
I think a lot of folks are overthinking this. It's quite simple, Duncan Robinson was an outstanding catch and shoot threat as a stationary shooter at Michigan as a third/fourth option, but had physical limitations that manifested on the defensive end (those issues still exist) that made it really tough to project him as anything other than a liability on that end of court at the NBA level.
The improvement at the NBA level has really come in the form of shooting on the move. DR is now hitting shots coming off down screens and DHOs. He didn't necessarily show those attributes at Michigan with any sort of consistency, but I don't think you can fault any college coach (Beilein) or GM for the failure to project that.
The truth is he's going to be a guy that is challenged defensively every night because he's simply a sub-par athlete when facing legit starters in the NBA. Faulting John Beilein/Michigan for that is ridiculous in my opinion. DR had an elite regular season as a specialist, but in the playoffs his value diminished a bit because the opposition dialed up the defensive intensity. Historically guys like DR (Ryan Anderson, Kyle Korver types) have a certain cap as spark plugs off the bench after starting for a few years, and I don't think DR is any different. You can't fault John Beilein for the inherent physical traits of Duncan Robinson.
November 14th, 2020 at 1:48 PM ^
Matt, I agree. I think the person in the video is the one who was overthinking it. I give Beilein a lot of credit for seeing what DR could be for his program. What I cant figure out is how Stauskas flamed out though.
November 14th, 2020 at 2:01 PM ^
I can't say for sure, but I suspect DR's work ethic in the NBA has been outstanding, and maybe Stauskas' was less so. This is just my general impression, not really based on much.
November 14th, 2020 at 2:05 PM ^
I cant figure out is how Stauskas flamed out though
He was misused and the Kings are a terrible organization that ruined him like every other player they draft minus Boogie
November 14th, 2020 at 2:13 PM ^
I can buy that but why not get picked up by another team and work your tail off. Seems like Nik had the natural ability where DR had to work for it more and maybe thats the difference. Guy above said it pretty much the same way.
November 14th, 2020 at 2:49 PM ^
Stauskas is a couple inches shorter than Robinson, which probably doesn't help when you're a below average athlete for the NBA. Got traded around a bunch. Per Wikipedia, he had some injury issues with the 76ers, best year was his 2nd there, but only averaged 9.5ppg. Then got traded to the Nets, where he didn't play much. Then signed with Portland & got traded to the Cavs that season. Last with Baskonia (Spain), contract terminated by mutual agreement in Feb 2020, then 2020.
Not sure how hard he worked, but if you're not a team's draft pick and not really excelling or fitting into what a team wants, how much are they going to be invested in you? How many teams have the Heat's ability to identify talent and develop it?
November 14th, 2020 at 2:31 PM ^
I'm going to oversimplify things here a bit, otherwise this will get far too long. In a nutshell, if a given player's skillset isn't doesn't project as a first or second option at the NBA level, your job as a perimeter player is to be an above average defender that can knock down shots at a solid clip while being an adequate finisher.
So for instance, Trae Young can be an incompetent defender (he is), because his skillset is such that he's going to be a first or second option at the NBA level.
With that said, athleticism/physical ability coupled with positional size has an extreme amount of value attached to it.
Stauskas' skillset wasn't such that he was going to be a 1st or 2nd option (in large part because he simply lacked the requisite level of acceleration/quickness), and while he was a solid shooter from distance, he was atrocious as a finisher and a sub-par defender. Basically, his ability to consistently hit 3s couldn't compensate for his physical limitations.
For a lot of casual fans, I think Golden State may have falsely inflated the value of shooting in general though. Positional size/athleticism are still the primary factors that win basketball games IMO. Win at the rim consistently, and you're likely to win a lot of games/make deep playoff runs.
I always use Alex Caruso as the example, because no college fan would've objectively projected him to be a more valuable guy than Stauskas at the NBA level because college fans tend to value shooting. Caruso was only a 33% shooter from distance this year, but he has good positional size at 6'5, is a very good athlete that moves well and his defense is approaching All-NBA level. He's going to likely command a 10mill + salary per year at some point. But looking at the stats, a guy like Duncan Robinson would seemingly hold more value. But I think you have to ask yourself, which type of player helps a ball club win more games in the playoffs as a role player.
November 14th, 2020 at 3:29 PM ^
Sauce Castillo couldn't hit wide open shots in the NBA and it's simple as that. When you're a shooting specialist but you shoot in the 20's you're not going to stick in the NBA.
November 14th, 2020 at 2:36 PM ^
Duncan was the definition of a late bloomer...
he was underestimated at every level...his quote wasn't that he never had a play run for him at Michigan, it was ever...even HS.
DR is a class act; he still loves coach Beilein, Michigan and i think he'd be the first to admit that its taken a while for him to overcome 'imposter syndrome'.
JB was a guy that has been successful within a structured system (which is why he and Poole butted heads), so Robinson played within that framework.
the NBA is a 'make or miss' league - it took a while for Duncan to get over that aspect and once he became a volume shooter, his value and usage went up
Duncan has received progressively better coaching throughout his career, but ultimately its Duncan that has been able to get the most out of himself.
November 14th, 2020 at 2:50 PM ^
This seems like more of a criticism of his time at Michigan than anything. However, what they seem to be omitting (I have no idea how with how many times it is said by announcers) is that he was a D3 player that was given a shot at Michigan. It took quite a bit of development to make him into what he is today, and that credit should absolutely be given to Michigan and Beilein. No other p5 school was even looking at him, let alone debating bringing him in. The transformation he made from when he first transferred to when he was drafted was huge.
I will say that I think more pin downs and actual sets should have been run for him coming from off ball screens especially in his last year though. I thought it during the season and how well he is doing in the Pros now just reinforces that thought. Overall though, you couldn't really have asked for more improvement from a player coming from D3 ball and Beilein really set him up for that improvement.