Rookie center Mitchell Robinson continues to prove to teammates and the Knicks coaching staff he’s not raw and he’s not a project.
It’s too early to label him the steal of the 2018 draft after being taken by the Knicks at No. 36 overall in the second round, but it may go down that way.
During Monday’s media day, guard Trey Burke said Robinson was a “young Shaquille O’Neal, just skinnier.”
“It’s a great compliment, but I’m just here to be me,” said Robinson, a man of few words.
Is the comparison correct?
“Yeah, because Shaq liked to dunk everything and I do the same thing,” Robinson said. “It’s a great compliment.”
Though Robinson didn’t go to college, opting to train for the draft after high-school graduation, the obscure second-rounder has picked up where he left off after an eye-opening Las Vegas summer league, when he averaged a double-double (13.0 points, 10.2 rebounds) and 4.0 blocks.
“I showed a lot of energy, running the floor, that’s what I do best,’’ Robinson said after Day 1 of practice. “I should help my team out with that by itself.”
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Coach David Fizdale is stunned at his polish after not playing an organized game in 14 months entering summer league.
“Stay out of the way,’’ Fizdale, said, laughing, when asked how he coaches Robinson. “Live with his mistakes. He doesn’t make a lot of them. Most of his mistakes are made when he gets fatigued. But overall the kid actually has a good feel for the game.”
Had Robinson decided not to drop out of Western Kentucky, he could have played his way into the lottery as he was near the top of the 2017 high-school senior class. Instead, Robinson dropped all the way out of the first round. The Knicks, as The Post reported, debated whether to trade up late into the first round for Robinson as the draft proceeded. That’s how high general manager Scott Perry was on him.
“I think there’s a misconception about this kid because he didn’t go to college that one year that he’s not a smart kid or there’s something wrong with him,” Fizdale said. “Nah, this kid knows how to play. He’s tough. He’s got a great work ethic. He thinks about things, so he comes in and asks great questions to our coaching staff. He’s starting to learn how to watch film. I just feel like this kid is going to take off with this kind of structure.”
Robinson proved in Vegas he can be a premier shot-blocker/rebounder who can throw down alley-oop dunks with his athleticism. He was also foul-prone, sometimes out of position. Robinson said incumbent starter Enes Kanter has given him tips on defending in the post one-on-one.
“He might forget where he’s supposed to be on one play or gets off balance on his switches or something like that and the guy gets by him,’’ Fizdale said of Robinson’s mistakes. “But really this kid knows how to play. It has been a pleasant surprise for me to have such a young kid who didn’t play that year of college to come in here and we don’t have to tell him every single thing to do.”
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