[C Blizzy]

Forward Eddie Robinson, who did not play in the previous two games, scored 17 points on 8-for-19 shooting.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/bulls/cst-spt-bull221.html

An interesting sidebar to this loss was the play of Robinson. After sitting out the previous two games, Robinson scored a season-high 17 points - tying Gill for team honors - and he made a number of key plays during the comeback.

It was the first time Robinson led the Bulls in scoring since March 9, 2002, and only the third time it has happened since he signed a five-year, $32-million deal as a free agent in the summer of 2001.

"He does contribute off and on," Skiles said of Robinson. "Eddie, so far, when I haven't played him for a game or two and then played him, he's played very well. When he's continued to play is what some of the problem has been."

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sports_story.asp?intID=38008117

He's clearly the kind of player who's most productive in a racehorse style offensive system. Unfortunately there are very few teams that run it up and down the court at such a frenetic pace. Frankly, he'd be a damn good fit with the Dallas Mavericks. The problem with Robinson has always been that if he's asked to run sets through to completion and execute options when they're called for he invariably gets lost and ends up out of position. You'll also notice that he suffers similar mental lapses on defense. Players who don't take the time to study their opponents' schemes and learn their tendencies will always get burned on back doors and screens because they can't anticipate.

So in a nutshell, what you have is an extraordinary athlete who excels on the court as long as he's not asked to think about his responsibilities. Is it a lack of preparation (laziness) or stupidity? I have no idea. What I do know is that it's a shame that a player with all that God-given talent will never fully reach his potential because he won't make the commitment to really learn what's going on around him.

 

[MikeDC]

He's genuinely irritating, that's for sure. Of course he ended the game hurt on the bench

Despite not generally knowing what he's doing, he still looks like our best best at the 3 for right now. I think if it was me I'd probably play him and hope suffering through his mistakes taught him something... or at least that his mistakes were outweighed by the things he can do. We might as well, because neither Dupree nor Pip should be playing big minutes. Thus, we ought to just suffer the mistakes because we're going to suffer no matter who's out there.

 

[PC Load Letter]

All good points, CB.

Every time ERob plays well, I just start salivating and think "Wow, if he could just start doing that consistently!" But, he's fooled me far too many times for me to think he'll be anything more than he is right now. Besides, a groin injury ususally seems to squash the fantasy just when I'm getting hopeful. Can ERob get groin replacement surgery or something?

When ERob plays well, he plays with a lot of energy. Did you see how often he was playing the passing lanes last night? I knew he would eventually get a break away. And how about his rejection in the 4th? Those are the kind of things he does when he wants to. If he could ever be motivated enough to play like that all the time, we wouldn't have a SF problem anymore. Unfortunately, we've learned that's very unlikely.

ERob is the perfect example of what can happen when someone has a ton of talent but a lack motivation. Basically, what a lot of people are afraid of about Eddy Curry. Will we end up looking at Curry the same way we look at ERob? As a guy who will just never live up to his potential because he lacks the burning desire to do so? If that's the case, Eddy (and the Bulls) are in trouble.

 

[L.O.B]

Originally posted by <b>PC Load Letter</b>!
Can ERob get groin replacement surgery or something?

Spit my coffee out with this one..Thanks PC

 

[ace20004u]

The funny thing is he was good in Charlotte too. He seems like a guy who can play well in a running sort of offense but he is SO injury prone. I think Skiles should start him and see what he does...assuming he isn't out the rest of the season.

 

[superdave]

The eRob experiment has gone terribly bad. One nice game against the worst team in the NBA (oh wait.. second worst) isn't going to change things.

 

[Benny the Bull]

If people are still holding on to hope E-Rob may actually do anything consistently (apart from sit on the bench), then stop. He is the ultimate 'tease' player. It ain't happening. He got the money and that's what seems to matter to him.

Sadly, E-Rob is our best option at SF, which just shows how bad we are.

 

[Darius Miles Davis]

It's not the fact that Erob brings the ball back over his head that makes the form on his jumper so bad. It's that somewhere in that herky jerk motion, he ends up leaning so far backwards that one of his feet lands almost straight down while the other kicks forward. He's so off balance when he lands that he usually ends up stumbling backwards.

The crazy part is that he's shooting 47%. For a SF, that ain't bad at all these days. So the problem is not the shot, strange as it looks.

ERob can't dribble. At all. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen someone so athletic with less of a handle. So whereas he's dubbed a slasher, he can't slash at all with the ball. If he added some kind of a handle to his game, he could be a consistent scorer in the league. But he has no ability whatsoever to create his own shot.

ERob will always be only as good as the passes that are made to him. And it was clear to me in the Cartwright administration that the rest of the team did not respect him, because they did not pass to him, often not even when he was open.