THE EAGLE PREVIEW SERIES: Jerome Robinson
By: Andrew Linnehan
Jerome Robinson #1
Junior 6’5” 191 lbs
19.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.1 APG, 44.4 FG%, .367 FG3%
What We Know: He can score. A lot.
After a successful freshman campaign where he contributed 11.7 PPG to a struggling BC team, Robinson took the next step forward, becoming the Eagles’ primary scoring option. Robinson was the ACC’s 4th leading scorer as he put up 19.5 points a night.
Robinson is a special offensive player and is undoubtedly the most purely talented scorer the Eagles have on their roster. Robinson is capable of scoring in mass amounts through a strong pull up jump shot and a fearless pursuit towards the rim. Robinson makes a living on the wing by having a knack of being able to read his defender to decipher what they’ll allow him to do. He is terrific at baiting defenders to leave their feet with a convincing pump fake followed by an explosion to the basket. However, what makes him truly special is that once his defenders choose to back off, he isn’t afraid to pull a three either.
Robinson’s smooth scoring ability complements Bowman’s tenacity quite well and combine to make one of the most formidable backcourts in the ACC; which is saying something. We can expect Robinson to be BC’s leading scorer for the second straight season, yet there is only one concern about his scoring…
What We Want: More efficiency.
Robinson can score in bunches, but has a tendency of being a JR Smith-type streaky scorer. Robinson knows he can put the ball in the bucket, which is essential to a player’s confidence. On the other hand, it can become frustrating to see a struggling shooter continue to force contested shots without trusting his teammates to also produce. Trust us, we want you to score, Jerome. We just want to make it easier on you.
I want Jim Christian to give Jerome Robinson more opportunities off the ball, particularly in scenarios that would have him coming off screens or isolating him and Nik Popovic/Deontae Hawkins (stay tuned!) for a pick-and-roll opportunity. The Eagles would become too reliant on Robinson to halt a scoring drought and subsequently demand him to score via one-on-one isolation. This lack of player and ball movement put the offense into a deadlock and forced Jerome to take contested midrange jumpers (inefficient shots).
Just because Robinson can hit tough shots doesn’t mean that those should be the primary option. The key to this offense will continue to be patience. Bowman and Robinson, while both being wildly talented, will need to take a deep breath and let the offense develop to find –not the first shot — but the best shot. Again, in a flex cutting offense, Robinson will have many more opportunities to hit high-percentage shots. He will just need to let the shots find him rather than relying on himself to make shots appear. The closer that field goal percentage can get to 50% and the closer his 3 point percentage can get to 40%, the more successful their offense will be. Ball movement, cuts, and especially patience will be direct catalysts of his anticipated increase in efficiency.
What We’ll Learn: It’s OK to not lead the team in scoring every night.
With the exception of a few scoring explosions from Ky Bowman and Jordan Chatman, Robinson was the Eagles’ leading scorer in just about every contest last season. And even when he wasn’t the leading scorer, odds were that Robinson took the most field goals on a given night.
As we’ll come to see, this is the deepest squad BC has had in quite some time. This team is loaded with a combination of talent and intellect that will actually be able to compete with the rest of the intimidating ACC. While Robinson’s strength is scoring, the goal for the offense should not be for him to go out and make 25 points out of thin air. If the offense is operating properly, the scoring should be distributed fairly evenly among the starters with Ky Bowman, Jordan Chatman, Deontae Hawkins, and Nik popovic each being able to contribute anywhere between 8 and 20 points on any single night. I urge you to not be alarmed if Robinson’s PPG averages take a slight decline as it is actually a manifestation of a more balanced, complete, and calculated offense.
In regards to Robinson’s efficiency, I’d take a mild 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting over 20 points on 8 of 20 shooting every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Get Jerome into catch and shoot situations or get him cutting towards the basket and he’ll have all the analytic freaks on his side. Distributing shots to the open guy rather than the talented guy will generate more scoring opportunities for the Eagles this upcoming season.
Photo Credit: The Associated Press