‘The best shooter,’ no matter where
Theme park? Ballroom? Couch? Doesn’t matter. Robinson is still nothing but net
He started the NBA quarantine by taping a video for the Jr. NBA showing how to practice shooting while flat on his back on a couch.
He has since grooved his shot alongside coaches wearing gloves and masks, drained jumpers in ballroom settings at Disney World hotels, gone nothing but net on practice courts at the Wide World of Sports complex.
So the fact that Miami Heat guard Duncan Robinson did what he did in front of the NBA’s flashing neon amid the league’s new-normal game setting on Wednesday night hardly should have come as surprise.
“He’s the best shooter in the league,” teammate Goran Dragic said in the wake of Robinson shooting 5 of 8 on 3-pointers, his only shots of the game, as the Heat opened their three-game Disney exhibition run with a 104-98 scrimmage victory over the Sacramento Kings at the HP Field House.
With the NBA working in a “bubble” type of quarantine setting at Disney, it has required a significant adjustment for Robinson away from the familiarity of AmericanAirlines Arena.
In recent days, some of his best work has come while avoiding chandeliers.
Because when the shot is pre
grooved, no required.
“Not necessarily,” he said. “As long as the lines are the same and the hoop is still 10 feet. There’s always going to be differences. There are differences in every arena that we play in.
“So you try not to get caught up in those and just focus on doing your job. That’s what I’ve been trying to do, and just get really quality reps and just kind of gaining and maintaining that rhythm.”
The rhythm was on display from the outset of the NBA’s attempt to shield itself from COVID-19, with nothing but neutral court the rest of the way until a champion is crowned in October.
“He was relentless, as you could anticipate that he would be,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, before giving his team Thursday off. “He was probably one of several guys that when we shut everything down, he thought that there would still be a way to get into a gym and there wasn’t. So he was doing his own conditioning adjustment is and keeping his body right until we were able to open up again, and he had a good full two months to get totally back into rhythm. He’s an incredible worker.”
Because of the strides made this season by center Bam Adebayo, Spoelstra noted it’s almost as if Robinson has become overlooked in the race of the league’s Most Improved Player award.
It is the improvement throughout the roster, Spoelstra said, that has been the secret sauce that will have the Heat taking a 41-24 record into their regularseason restart on Aug. 1 against the Denver Nuggets.
“Who hasn’t improved?” Spoelstra said. “You can go on and on. I don’t even have enough time. But Bam wasn’t starting the year before, for most of the year. Then all of a sudden, he’s an All-Star this year and he still has no ceiling. Duncan Robinson wasn’t in the league. He was playing in our G League and ended up starting for us 60-plus games. [Kendrick] Nunn in the G League to averaging almost 16 points with us. All these guys just made tremendous improvement. Tyler [Herro], coming from college as an 18-year-old to having a significant role. So there have been plenty of guys who have really improved. It’s a credit to their work ethic and commitment.”
And a credit past obstacles, case, as even there.
“Obviously, we’ve been waiting for this moment for a while,” Robinson said of Wednesday’s return to competition. “And as fun as it is to beat up on each other in that little training camp we were having, it’s a lot more fun to play together and take it out on somebody else.” to pushing as in Robinson’s if they weren’t
Vince Biegel recorded 59 tackles, 2.5 sacks and an interception last season.
time than he experienced while starting 10 of 15 games for the Dolphins a season ago. He had 59 tackles, 2.5 sacks and one interception.
The Dolphins added outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy and edge rushers Emmanuel Ogbah and Shaw Lawson in free agency and rookie defensive ends Jason Strowbridge and Curtis Weaver in the draft to help boost Miami’s abysmal pass rush, which ranked last in sacks last season.
Biegel will also compete with fellow linebackers Raekwon McMillan, Elandon Roberts, Andrew Van Ginkel, Trent Harris, Kamu Gregier-Hill and Sam Eguavoen for roles to play alongside standout Jerome Baker as Miami often deploys just two linebackers in its defensive sets.
As much as Biegel knows COVID-19 could affect training camp, he is optimistic about the Dolphins’ plans to keep players safe as they prepare for the season.
“I’m optimistic. I’m optimistic that things will get rolling. I’m excited to get rolling. I’m looking forward to seeing the guys again and doing what I love to do,” Biegel said.
“I know the players want to get back out there and start playing. Especially as a young guy, I’m ready to roll and I’m anxious to get back. Big year for me, too. So I’m anxious and excited to get back to work as soon as we get back.”