Robinson minutes & shots

[JonathanW]

This may not be popular.
But I think Pope needs to trim back on Robinson's minutes, (although without Kerr, and with Chandler struggling, there may be some limit to how much he can), and need to reign in his shot attempts.

41%, 48%, 51%, 51%, 55%, 56%, 57%
Which one stands out?
Those are the shooting %'s of our top 7 guys currently (averaging >13mpg) excluding the injured KK.
And yes, his is pulled down by how many 3's he is shooting, but that 30% (29.8%) is not good. His actual 2pt% is 57% which is pretty good, I'm sure mostly layups.

Now let's look at volume:
He is 2nd in shot attempts per minute (0.38), and 2nd (not counting Noah) in 3pt attempts per minute (0.23, Brea is at 0.24). That is a lot of 3's for a guy making < 30% of them.

And his minutes:
Robinson is 1st in minutes (28.1), whereas Oweh (25.9) and Butler (24.0) are our best 2 overall perimeter players, and Brea (24.2) is obviously by far our best 3pt shooter, yet they all 3 play 2-4 mpg less than Robinson.
His defense, while not bad, is not at the level of Oweh or Butler. He's only a tiny bit better rebounder than those 3.
So, the production simply does not justify his minutes.

I'm not talking about cutting his minutes in half. Just give a couple more to each of those other 3, which would put Oweh at 28, and Butler & Brea both at 26, and Robinson down to 22.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Robinson is gonna get his attempts every game. I've been saying that all season. Good attempts. Bad attempts. Ugly attempts. It doesn't matter to him but he's jacking up shots.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

He only took four threes in Kentucky's last game. Maybe Pope is working to correct the problem.

 

[Fox2monk]

He only took four threes in Kentucky's last game. Maybe Pope is working to correct the problem.

He needs to take better 3’s and we need to set him up better. He’s a good set shooter, but his percentages are down because he shots off one pass from a pick and roll when a guy is in his face all the time. He also shoots fade away 3’s too much. If he would just shoot in the flow of the offense his % would rise greatly.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

He needs to take better 3’s and we need to set him up better. He’s a good set shooter, but his percentages are down because he shots off one pass from a pick and roll when a guy is in his face all the time. He also shoots fade away 3’s too much. If he would just shoot in the flow of the offense his % would rise greatly.

Good points. It feels like it's been over a month since he made a corner three. Often, as you noted, he's taking contested corner threes. It's frustrating because you know they're going to miss.

I really wish Chandler would start making some threes as well. His three-point percentage is down to 20% for the season.

 

[K_TIME]

He needs to take better 3’s and we need to set him up better. He’s a good set shooter, but his percentages are down because he shots off one pass from a pick and roll when a guy is in his face all the time. He also shoots fade away 3’s too much. If he would just shoot in the flow of the offense his % would rise greatly.

Agreed…his shot selection has something to do with his percentage…but we also need to be realistic….he’s not an above average shooter…but looks like a guy that think because he’s made a tight shot..he can hit then all

I’d suggest Pope lamenting for more 3s each game has given guys reasons to hoist away

It’s a complex issue as Chandler and Perry have been very unplayable off bench…so that puts more minutes on Robinson to play the wing and ball handler when Butler needs a blow

 

[Wonky]

I wish folks would just trust Pope. He isn’t Cal. He doesn’t have blind allegiance to players over the goals of the program. He, and his staff, will do what is necessary to put us in the best position to win. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

 

[Fox2monk]

Good points. It feels like it's been over a month since he made a corner three. Often, as you noted, he's taking contested corner threes. It's frustrating because you know they're going to miss.

I really wish Chandler would start making some threes as well. His three-point percentage is down to 20% for the season.

Chandler looks like he has no idea what to do on the court, he is timid and plays with no aggression.

 

[Wonky]

Chandler looks like he has no idea what to do on the court, he is timid and plays with no aggression.

Which is weird to me because he definitely showed some aggression in the blue/white game. Something has shaken his confidence.

 

[mcnicKY91]

I wish folks would just trust Pope. He isn’t Cal. He doesn’t have blind allegiance to players over the goals of the program. He, and his staff, will do what is necessary to put us in the best position to win. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

I mostly agree...but let's be real, and I said this in another thread as well, but every single coach has "their guys", that for whatever reason seem to have a much longer rope then other players.

We all know the litany of Cal players who fit this mold, and it appears Robinson is the same guy for Pope. Some coaches are just better at concealing this then others.

Pope constantly speaks glowlingly about Robinson in almost every press conference. Sometimes I sit back and think "did I watch the same game?" I think his shot selection sucks, and he gets beat defensively way too often. Yet if you listen to Pope, you would think this guy is a lottery pick.

If I were you guys, don't anticipate anything changing this season with Robinson.

 

[RondoBaller21]

Get off Robinson back. He’s a great player who will have some breakthrough games like the one against Gonzaga.

 

[JonathanW]

Get off Robinson back. He’s a great player who will have some breakthrough games like the one against Gonzaga.

"great player" that's a bit of an exaggeration.
The numbers don't lie:
40.7% FG% (only KK is worse)
29.7% 3pt% (only KK & Garrison are worse)
only 1.5 FTA/gm, 1 every 18.25min (only Brea is worse)
He's made 50%+ in only 4 of 13 games, >50% in just 2 games
He's made 40%+ of his 3's in just 5 of 13 games, >40% only 1 game
He played good, but not great vs Gonzaga. He absolutely sucked vs Duke (although he played good defense 2nd half)

If you toss out the cupcake games, how did he do vs legit schools (Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio St, Clemson, UL)?
10.6 pts, 4.0 reb, 1.4 ast, 19-54= 35.1% FG, 8-27= 29.6% 3pt%, in 32.0 mpg
So even where the Gonzaga game is weighted more (1 of 5 instead of 1 of 13 games, he was worse vs "real" teams)

Exactly why do you think he is "great"?
Regardless, however "great" he is, Oweh, Butler & Brea have all been GREATER.

 

[K_TIME]

Get off Robinson back. He’s a great player who will have some breakthrough games like the one against Gonzaga.

Nobody is on Jaxon's back....he is starting to shoot like DJ Wagner....the bigger difference is we are lacking offensive options this year vs. Dilly/Reed/Reeves were elite options last year.

 

[bigbluedon]

Robinson needs to exert more effort. Looks lazy out there. Getting beat to a lot of loose balls and rebounds. Shooting too much and watching the ball on defense instead of his man.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Robinson has been the focus of the defenses for teams well coached enough to focus their defenses. Cut his minutes back and good defenses will concentrate on taking someone or something else away. Go back to the Duke game to see this in action. I don't think he had a single field goal but if he wasn't in the game Kentucky probably loses -- Oweh would have drawn much more of the defensive energy.

If teams decide he doesn't warrant being the defensive focus it'll shift -- to someone else and Robinson's numbers will improve while theirs suffer.

 

[Wonky]

Pope constantly speaks glowlingly about Robinson in almost every press conference..

Pope speaks glowingly about all his players. Have you ever heard him say a negative thing about any of them? That’s just his personality.

I’m not trying to say Robinson doesn’t have his shortcomings. But people are acting like we have some other piece we can just replace him with. We’re already shorthanded without Kerr. Perry and Noah are green as hell. Fact is Pope swung and missed on Lanier, so we have to ride with Robinson. I just don’t get the reduced minutes angle. In favor of who?

 

[KYFOSSIL]

I wish folks would just trust Pope. He isn’t Cal. He doesn’t have blind allegiance to players over the goals of the program. He, and his staff, will do what is necessary to put us in the best position to win. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Agreed we don’t beat Gonzaga without him, and Pope has been very pleased with his rebounding and his defense

 

[The_Answer1313]

I wish folks would just trust Pope. He isn’t Cal. He doesn’t have blind allegiance to players over the goals of the program. He, and his staff, will do what is necessary to put us in the best position to win. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

We are halfway through the season. It’s not as if this is something recent.

Yes. He is not Cal. He’s also not above criticism either. I think the OP has some valid points.

 

[The_Answer1313]

The thing tho that I don’t agree with is I’m not sure it’s as easy as this guy shoots a higher % they need to shoot more than the other guy.

I don’t think these things exist in a vacuum. Lots of times when players take on more, the efficiency goes down.

Say someone is shooting 40% from three. We want them taking 3-5 more threes a game. They do so and their % goes down to 30%. That’s obviously not ideal.

It’s about finding the right mix.

 

[Kybluedude]

Let it ride.

He’s trying to play with a group that is still learning the system.

Mark continues to say they are scratching the surface on offense and we just saw the defense getting a week’s attention.

Hopefully, as the team gets better with the system Jaxson will be more comfortable and his offense gets better.

We need he and Brea to be consistent 15 point scorers every game. Like to see them score inside the 3 point line on pull ups and at the rim when pressured. Take the free throws.

Jaxson should be more at ease when the offense gets more consistent. I still like him shooting as much as he can. He’s got some pressure on him that needs to be eliminated.

 

[JonathanW]

Pope speaks glowingly about all his players. Have you ever heard him say a negative thing about any of them? That’s just his personality.

I’m not trying to say Robinson doesn’t have his shortcomings. But people are acting like we have some other piece we can just replace him with. We’re already shorthanded without Kerr. Perry and Noah are green as hell. Fact is Pope swung and missed on Lanier, so we have to ride with Robinson. I just don’t get the reduced minutes angle. In favor of who?

I thought I outlined that pretty well. Just give a couple extra minutes each to Oweh, Butler & Brea (putting them at 28, 26 & 26 mpg), dropping Robinson down to 22.

 

[The_Answer1313]

FWIW we are 10th overall right now in offensive efficiency.

This figure is mostly driven by two factors.

Effective FG% where we are 41st in the nation
Turnover % where we are 2nd in the nation (we turn the ball over on less than 13% of our total possessions)

Keep doing those two things and we'll be fine offensively.

 

[JonathanW]

The thing tho that I don’t agree with is I’m not sure it’s as easy as this guy shoots a higher % they need to shoot more than the other guy.

I don’t think these things exist in a vacuum. Lots of times when players take on more, the efficiency goes down.

Say someone is shooting 40% from three. We want them taking 3-5 more threes a game. They do so and their % goes down to 30%. That’s obviously not ideal.

It’s about finding the right mix.

You are right about not saying "just shoot more". I don't want Brea to shoot more, as you say, I think his %'s would go down. But if he plays more, say 2-3 more mpg, then he'll take another 1.5 shots without increasing his frequency. Shooting less, may bring Robinson's %'s up, being more selective and not forcing shots, helping his game. That was part of the purpose of this post.

 

[Lempface]

I don't really have too much of a problem w/ Jaxon's shot selection. There are a few questionable here and there, but all our guys have those. What I don't see a lot of our other guys do is have the quick trigger when they have an open look. The difference between a good look and poor shot attempt is a fraction of a second.

Take for instance Brea, when he's wide open it's money, but he often doesn't take the good looks he is offered, or waits too long, gets frustrated he hasn't gotten a good look and then takes a poor shot.

 

[ncaaky]

I think Robinson has been a disappointment compared to all the hype his had. But he has to play because we are barely 7 deep right now.

 

[JPFisher]

I don't have a problem with his extended minutes. He's the only guy on the court who has played in the system.

 

[HYTCHYE ISLAND]

He needs to take better 3’s and we need to set him up better. He’s a good set shooter, but his percentages are down because he shots off one pass from a pick and roll when a guy is in his face all the time. He also shoots fade away 3’s too much. If he would just shoot in the flow of the offense his % would rise greatly.

Great call Fox. I believe you’re dead on in your thinking. Has to be more set or at the very least in rthym. I think Jaxson really needs to focus on what he’s doing without the ball in his hands. He can be deadly when he’s giving maximum effort!

 

[ukfan041]

Chandler looks like he has no idea what to do on the court, he is timid and plays with no aggression.

I know he just got finished with his mission trip, but he has been pretty underwhelming so far. Definitely need more from him moving forward, but based on his play, I’d give Noah some of this minutes as his shooting and size will be beneficial in the SEC

 

[Fox2monk]

I know he just got finished with his mission trip, but he has been pretty underwhelming so far. Definitely need more from him moving forward, but based on his play, I’d give Noah some of this minutes as his shooting and size will be beneficial in the SEC

He’s rusty, looks nothing like he did in AAU play. We saw preseason what his potential looks like but in game he’s lost.

 

[Fox2monk]

Great call Fox. I believe you’re dead on in your thinking. Has to be more set or at the very least in rthym. I think Jaxson really needs to focus on what he’s doing without the ball in his hands. He can be deadly when he’s giving maximum effort!

Yeah I don’t think he’s a bad shooter but his shot selection is what hurts him. I do like that he has been driving more and I never get the feeling he’s selfish out there.

 

[yoshukai]

This may not be popular.
But I think Pope needs to trim back on Robinson's minutes, (although without Kerr, and with Chandler struggling, there may be some limit to how much he can), and need to reign in his shot attempts.

41%, 48%, 51%, 51%, 55%, 56%, 57%
Which one stands out?
Those are the shooting %'s of our top 7 guys currently (averaging >13mpg) excluding the injured KK.
And yes, his is pulled down by how many 3's he is shooting, but that 30% (29.8%) is not good. His actual 2pt% is 57% which is pretty good, I'm sure mostly layups.

Now let's look at volume:
He is 2nd in shot attempts per minute (0.38), and 2nd (not counting Noah) in 3pt attempts per minute (0.23, Brea is at 0.24). That is a lot of 3's for a guy making < 30% of them.

And his minutes:
Robinson is 1st in minutes (28.1), whereas Oweh (25.9) and Butler (24.0) are our best 2 overall perimeter players, and Brea (24.2) is obviously by far our best 3pt shooter, yet they all 3 play 2-4 mpg less than Robinson.
His defense, while not bad, is not at the level of Oweh or Butler. He's only a tiny bit better rebounder than those 3.
So, the production simply does not justify his minutes.

I'm not talking about cutting his minutes in half. Just give a couple more to each of those other 3, which would put Oweh at 28, and Butler & Brea both at 26, and Robinson down to 22.

According to CMP he has been playing outstanding defense. That is a factor.

 

[Runnin'Ramel]

Good points. It feels like it's been over a month since he made a corner three. Often, as you noted, he's taking contested corner threes. It's frustrating because you know they're going to miss.

I really wish Chandler would start making some threes as well. His three-point percentage is down to 20% for the season.

Chandler's airball from the corner the other day was a face-palm moment. It was a foot beyond the rim. Unguarded.

 

[JonathanW]

Chandler's airball from the corner the other day was a face-palm moment. It was a foot beyond the rim. Unguarded.

Misses happen, even bad ones.

 

[Tf2217]

Robinson is popes boy through the good bad and ugly he's going to get his.

 

[Bluegrass79]

Would be all right if he would just stop shooting by volume.
I definitely will take Robinson out of the starting lineup. He has way too much of a tendency to jack shit up and he don't shoot for **** so far.
If he could make consecutive threes he'd probably make six in a row but he can't make consecutive.

He'll have three or four misses then he'll hit one then have three more misses then he'll hit one.
Each Miss is almost always a another possession for the other team because we don't really rebound his threes. Why? Because he'll just come up and jack it up but nobody's in position to rebound.
Honestly we do not rebound our missed three shots well enough to be shooting a lot of threes. He needs at least three guys in there trying to get the rebound as soon as the ball comes off somebody's finger from the three-point line or we have no chance rebounding it.

 

[CrazyCat74]

I know he just got finished with his mission trip, but he has been pretty underwhelming so far. Definitely need more from him moving forward, but based on his play, I’d give Noah some of this minutes as his shooting and size will be beneficial in the SEC

^This^

 

[CrazyCat74]

We need to get more transition 3 pt attempts to get better looks.

Teams are prioritizing getting back and it appears to have slowed us down without Krisa to help move the ball.

 

[crestcat]

Jaxon is not a great shooter and his shot selection only makes him a fair shooter. To me shot selection is the most important part of offense.

 

[rob_47]

Good points. It feels like it's been over a month since he made a corner three. Often, as you noted, he's taking contested corner threes. It's frustrating because you know they're going to miss.

I really wish Chandler would start making some threes as well. His three-point percentage is down to 20% for the season.

Chandler just isn't a good shooter really. That's the reality. He doesn't need to do anything besides play good defense and rebound.

 

[yoshukai]

Chandler just isn't a good shooter really. That's the reality. He doesn't need to do anything besides play good defense and rebound.

I know he just got finished with his mission trip, but he has been pretty underwhelming so far. Definitely need more from him moving forward, but based on his play, I’d give Noah some of this minutes as his shooting and size will be beneficial in the SEC

He’s rusty, looks nothing like he did in AAU play. We saw preseason what his potential looks like but in game he’s lost.

Chandler's airball from the corner the other day was a face-palm moment. It was a foot beyond the rim. Unguarded.

Misses happen, even bad ones.

He certainly hasn’t progressed like I had hoped and many predicted. I kinda wonder where is mind is right now. Getting engaged to a girl that lives in Utah in the middle of the season could be a sign. I’m thinking this stage is too big to “relearn basketball “ and he will be back out west next year. Maybe BYU , maybe somewhere smaller.