FLYING HIGH
Robinson powers through rookie wall with dynamic dunk shows
It only took a few hours on the job for newly signed Knicks shooting guard John Jenkins to find a certain 7-foot-1 target.
In the third quarter Monday in Cleveland, Jenkins, making his Knicks debut, skied a pass toward the rim. Rookie center Mitchell Robinson reached out with his left arm to slam the ball home.
It was another alley-oop dunk in a series of them Monday for the 20-year-old “Lobinson.” He had his fourth straight double-figure scoring game, tallying 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, with eight rebounds and two blocks.
“As soon as I saw him running towards the rim, I just threw it to the rim because I know with a guy like Mitchell, he will catch anything around there and finish,’’ Jenkins told The Post. “I’ve been around the organization enough [with G-League Westchester] and have seen a bunch of their games and know what a great talent and athlete Mitchell is.’’
While lottery pick Kevin Knox has hit a rookie wall, Robinson, the shot-blocker extraordinaire who was selected 35th in last year’s draft, is surging. He has added a sliver of hope as the Knicks try to end their single-season franchise-record 17-game losing streak Wednesday against the 76ers.
Over his past four games, Robinson is averaging 12.3 points and 2.5 blocks, while shooting 77.8 percent from the field.
Robinson’s trainer, Marcel Scott, who came from Louisiana to live with Robinson two months ago, would even like to see Knicks coach David Fizdale expand the rookie’s offensive role. Almost all of Robinson’s points have come on putbacks or electric alley-oops off high pick-and-rolls. He has not taken a jump shot since the preseason.
“I think they can fake the pick-and-roll or do a fake dribble handoff.’’ Scott said. “I never asked him. I want him to buy into the program they have for him. One day he’s going to have to im- prove and shoot the ball. He can do that. It will make him easier to have the defense guessing. I think he can be an Anthony Davis-type player — with a jab, midrange jumper, dribble and explode to the goal.”
For now, Fizdale is rolling with Robinson’s alley-oops.
“He’s mastered that now,’’ said Scott, who also has Davis as a top client. “Throw it anywhere in the top of the box. Dunking really motivates him. At first, he didn’t understand pick-and-rolls and spacing. Now, he understands it better and when not to roll.’’
While Fizdale has given a ton of credit to DeAndre Jordan’s mentorship since the veteran was obtained from Dallas on Feb. 1, Scott said his childhood friend and former Net Kerry Kittles has given Robinson a boost as well, especially on defense.
Two weeks ago, Kittles sat down with the foul-plagued Robinson, a 20-year-old who never received college coaching.
“He was reaching too much,’’ Scott said. “Kerry showed him on the computer — you need to help on this, but if you help too far from the goal, it puts you in trouble. Sometimes [your teammate] is going to get beat in the NBA and you hold them accountable. A lot of credit to Kerry. Once he understood, it was ‘I see it now’ and he stopped taking chances like that.’’
Robinson had missed more than a month with an ankle sprain and hamstring injury, but Scott said he believes his relatively modest early exploits were due to him not working as diligently as when he trained with Scott for the draft.
“When I first got here two months ago, he was a little lazy getting the extra work in, going to the gym after a game,’’ Scott said. ”He’s picked up that habit again. He wasn’t in no shape when I first got up here. It’s back to the habits we used to have. When I got here he was rusty in things we used to do every day, like free throws.’’
Fizdale is ecstatic at Robinson’s four-game surge, making the mountain of losses easier to swallow.
“I had no idea [after the Knicks drafted him] where he was at from an IQ standpoint, an understanding standpoint, maturity,” Fizdale said. “For him to do what he’s been doing, I think we’re all really excited about that.”