"OK, Can You Get Off My Dick Now?" - New Celtic Mitchell Robinson Is Already Burying His Free Throws And His Haters All At Once
Nathaniel S. Butler. Getty Images.When you're in the dog days of the NBA offseason, few things hit better than offseason workout videos. They are the perfect vehicles to allow your brain to go to dangerous places, which is all part of the fun of late August. It can be clips from the Rico Hines open runs, as we saw recently with Franz Wagner
Or the time Sixers fans freaked out watching their new superteam working out together
or the time people like myself blew their loads to the moon while watching Jayson Tatum's workout with his trainer Drew Hanlen
The point is, these videos may as well be crack as we are all waiting for training camp to open, preseason games to start, and eventually the real thing to kick off in late October. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with allowing your brain to be completely delusional when these videos come across your timeline, because at this point of the NBA calendar, everything and anything is possible.
For example, I'd like to introduce the following video of newly signed Celtic Mitchell Robinson stepping up to the FT line and burying two consecutive FTs.
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Giphy Images.Now look, I'm no dummy. I've been around the internet long enough to where I've seen Mitchell Robinson summer workout videos where he's going coast to coast and burying 3s left and right, only for none of that to translate to the regular season. I know how these things go.
But here's what you have to remember. Those came as a Knick, so I could easily dismiss what I was seeing. Now that he's a Celtic? I am very much invested in any sort of development and improvement from the FT line when it comes to Mitchell Robinson. I mean, the guy just shot 40.8% from the line during the year (60 games) and 29.3% during the playoffs. That is objectively #notgood. But you know what? That was pre-Mazzulla Ball. Sure, I may be slightly biased as I say this, but those FTs didn't look half bad! There was some pretty good extension and follow-through on those FTs, which really is all I'm asking for. I know the haters and losers of which there are many will call this Ben Simmons 3PT Shooting 2.0, but who cares. If you're telling me the Celts can get a version of Mitchell Robinson that shoots say, 55% from the FT line? I'll fucking take it!
Let's not forget, Neemias Queta couldn't really shoot FTs before he got to Boston, and he's been at 71%, 75%, and 70% these last few years. Amari Williams struggled at the stripe in college, and he shot 71% from the line as a Celtic when playing with the main club. I'm just saying, if any system can get Mitchell Robinson to go from being complete dogshit to only slightly dogshit, it's Mazzulla Ball.
And while most of the Celts offseason attention has been on the Jaylen Brown trade for obvious reasons, once the season starts it would not shock me at all if Mitchell Robinson proved to be one of the more underrated and impactful moves of the entire summer. I cannot wait to see him in this system
The defense, the activity, the offensive rebounding, the lob threat, it's going to be incredible for as long as he's on the floor. If you're telling me we could also have some improved FT shooting as well?
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Giphy Images.Shoutout James Dolan man, because without him, none of this would be possible. His refusal to cross over the 2nd apron this summer is the only reason Mitchell Robinson hit the market, which allowed Brad Stevens to pounce and sign the best UFA center of free agency. All Dolan had to do was cut the check and deal with a slightly higher luxury tax penalty following their first title in 53 years, and he chose not to for some reason. Oh well!
It would be a nice twist of the knife if somehow Robinson found a way to live in the 55-60% range from the FT line, so I'm choosing to believe in that workout footage plus the power of Mazzulla Ball. Is that me being extremely delusional? Definitely, but that's the whole point of this time of year.
Giphy Images.