MILWAUKEE — For Mitchell Robinson, the defense is coming back faster than the rebounding.
Offense is a plus, but it isn’t necessarily what the Knicks need from a once spry seven-footer recently returning from December surgery on his left ankle.
Three blocks in Sunday’s victory over the Bucks is what the doctor ordered — and the offensive rebounding, Robinson hopes, is on its way, too.
After all, Robinson was off to a near-historic start on the offensive glass before a stress fracture derailed his season in a Dec. 8 matchup against the Boston Celtics.
The former starting Knicks big man was already an imposing paint presence, shot-blocker and lob finisher before taking yet another leap on the offensive glass this season.
Prior to his injury, Robinson’s average of 5.4 offensive boards per game not only cleared the next best cleanup man (Atlanta’s Clint Capela) by nearly an entire offensive rebound, but it would have put the Knicks big man on pace to finish top-15 all-time in single season offensive rebounding.
Robinson said he’s starting to feel more like himself on defense.
“A little bit, little bit. Just gotta still, now it’s just trusting my foot to be square instead of having it open so dudes just drive by,” he said after Sunday’s victory over the Bucks. “So once I get that I’ll be [OK].”
He can’t explain, however, why the offensive rebounds aren’t coming to him the way they did earlier this season.
“Bro I don’t even know. I cannot even tell you,” he said. “I was good at the beginning. I was out four months. Just I don’t know. I don’t know. I just gotta figure it out and I’m figuring it out while I’m playing.”
Robinson said it’s a matter of timing. He’s made a living off of calculating the angle the ball will bounce off the rim and using his lanky frame to secure the board.
“Usually I know how to time exactly where the ball will go,” he said. “Right now it’s just all over the place. Like I’ll get my hand there, I’ll get it, and then it goes way over there to somewhere. I’m like s–t. I’ve just got to figure it out.”
Robinson also said he’s built more trust, more confidence in his surgically repaired ankle after four months off the court. There wasn’t a specific moment or a play in practice where he knew his ankle would withstand the rigors of an NBA game.
“I’ve just been trusting what the doctors have been saying. They said it was good,” he said.
But it took time. Pushing off of the ankle. Absorbing contact. Those are things he second-guessed before finally returning to the floor in a March 27 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Robinson, who has missed significant time due to injury in all but two of his six NBA seasons, said he doesn’t want to endure another foot injury after this one.
“Obviously no one wants this to happen again. I damn sure don’t,” he said. “Probably other people would, but not me.”
Who would want Robinson to re-injure his ankle?
“I don’t know. People. Haters,” he said. “But seriously, it’s something I’ve gotta get back used to again.”
Robinson has played in six games since returning to the rotation.
He has not logged more than 20 minutes. Over 86 total minutes, Robinson has recorded 33 total rebounds, six total blocks (though he posted zero blocks in three of the six games) and has scored 23 total points.
Robinson is no longer the Knicks’ starting center. The title now belongs to Isaiah Hartenstein, who excelled when Robinson went down and has been part of every rendition of the Knicks, who have orchestrated who in-season trades this season.
The Knicks believed when Robinson was starting up to December they had the best one-two center punch in all of basketball.
Hartenstein finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday’s victory, and Robinson added six boards and three blocks.
“I thought Mitch was a monster. I thought Isaiah played great out of the pocket,” said head coach Tom Thibodeau. “We got great center play today.”
Robinson thinks the Knicks’ big man combo will dominate even more when he’s back dominating the offensive glass.
“[We’re] Both making hustle plays, stuff like that,” he said. “It’s getting there. I’ve just gotta get my timing right.”
