The Human Glass Eater: Thomas Robinson Opened Eyes in Short Stint with Sixers

Performance Breakdown

When examining whether a certain player can be a mainstay in the NBA, the first question you ask is does that player have an identifiable NBA skill and, if so, what is it? For Thomas Robinson, the answer to that question is hell yes and rebounding.

The forward ate glass on a nightly basis in his 22 games as a Sixer. In 18.5 minutes per game, Robinson averaged 7.7 rebounds, including 2.8 offensive rebounds. Per-36 minutes, Robinson grabbed 5.5 offensive rebounds and 15 total rebounds. He may be one of the hardest working players in the league, and it shows in his relentless tracking of rebounds. Despite not having the greatest jumping ability, Robinson is a bull on the boards. He uses his strong frame and build to get into the opposition’s body, and create space for himself by physically moving them backwards.

Against someone with a smaller build, Robinson is able to muscle them away from the paint. That is exactly what he does in the video above, against Kris Humphries. But even against bigger players, Robinson sets himself for up for rebounds by getting in a good position and holding the opposition there until he can grab the rebound. Watch below as Robinson sticks his backside into the bigger Marcin Gortat and fends him off to grab the offensive board.

Watching T-Rob track down rebound after rebound was enjoyable to watch. He would check into games and collect almost as many rebounds as the minutes he played. Against the Hornets in early March, Robinson pulled down 15 rebounds in just 18 minutes of game action.

While Robinson is great at rebounding, he certainly has weaknesses in his game. The most obvious and pressing flaw is his lack of offensive skills. He doesn’t have a post game, and the consistency of a mid-range jumper is missing.

On the defensive end, Robinson works hard but struggles as a one-on-one post defender. A lot of Sixers fans are probably thinking about all of the crazy, out of control plays Robinson made as being anther flaw in his game, but those were more of a result of him being given freedom on offense and trying to do too much with it. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, take a look at Point T-Rob below.

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