Nate Robinson sat on the bench for his third straight DNP-Coach’s Decision, and despite the chants from the fans in the cheap seats, Mike D’Antoni wants to keep him there.
“It’s not going to change anything,” the coach said of the chants. “It is what it is.”
Robinson’s antics — from shooting at the wrong basket in the Knicks’ first meeting with the Nets to his self-absorbed play on the court — have landed him in the coach’s doghouse. But so have telling statistics that show the Knicks are 0-9 when Robinson plays 19 minutes or more and 6-6 when he plays fewer minutes or not at all.
I couldn’t find Nate Robinson’s +/- statistic for the season, but it’s not a big deal. +/- is not a very accurate measure of a player’s performance in basketball, and on a shitty team like the Knicks, I’d think that just about every player on the roster has a negative +/-.
That said, I don’t see the appeal of Nate Robinson. He shoots at 44%, and you can find a lot of guard in the league who can give you that (lack of) efficiency. But Nate is only 5’9″, making him somewhat of a defensive liability. And oh yeah, he’s a selfish asshole, too. Did I mention that? It’s pretty sweet that he can dunk the hell out of the ball, but the numbers don’t lie: The Knicks are decent with Nate on the bench and have not won a game when he plays 19 minutes or more.
There are too many players like Nate Robinson in the league – gifted athletes who can score in dazzling ways, but offer nothing in terms of team play and chemistry. Personally, I’m glad to see him on the bench. Knicks fans should be grateful, too, and should maybe start a different chant during games. A girl friend of a friend of mine hooked up with David Lee in college and claimed that he was workin’ with something fierce between his legs. I think that’s a good thing to chant about.
If the Knicks can get anything of value for Nate, they should probably trade him. Or just dump him completely – addition by subtraction.
