8 — Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wolverines could run on Duncan
Robinson gives
Michigan another
3-point threat
By SIMON KAUFMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Friday night, Duncan Robinson
did
his
best
Nik
Stauskas
impression.
After sitting out last season due
to NCAA transfer rules, Robinson
made his long-awaited debut in
an exhibition against Le Moyne.
The redshirt sophomore guard
entered the game with 13 minutes
left in the first half, caught a pass
from redshirt freshman forward
D.J. Wilson on the left side of the
arc and fired. Swoosh.
“Coming off the bench, I
usually like to get a couple of
minutes under my belt before I
jack one up,” Robinson said. “But
D.J. made a good pass on that first
one, and I found myself open.”
Just 64 seconds into his
Michigan career, the Williams
College transfer looked to be as
smooth-shooting as advertised —
as Stauskas-like as advertised.
Truth be told, Stauskas wasted
even
less
time
introducing
himself to Michigan faithful.
On Nov. 1, 2012, in an exhibition
contest
against
Northern
Michigan,
Stauskas
debuted
five minutes into the first half.
Six seconds after coming off the
bench, then-freshman forward
Glenn Robinson III dished to
Stauskas, who drained a 3.
A bit less time off the clock than
it took Robinson, but that might
be the only difference. Consider
this: In Stauskas’ debut, he went
5-for-8 from the field, 4-for-6
from 3-point range and tallied 17
points in 19 minutes. On Friday,
Robinson
was
6-for-10
on
field-goal
attempts, 3-for-
6 from deep
and totaled 15
points
in
18
minutes.
Robinson
might be just
the
piece
to
fill
the
void
Stauskas
left
beyond the arc. In the 2013-14
season, the Wolverines attempted
794 3-pointers and made 319 of
them. Stauskas accounted for
29 percent of those made. Last
year, after Stauskas left to the
NBA, Michigan suffered from
the perimeter — making 70
fewer 3-pointers and attempting
nearly 100 fewer. In Stauskas’
sophomore
season,
Michigan
ranked
first
in
3-point
percentage
in
Big Ten games,
but
without
him last year, it
ranked eighth.
Take
away
two
inches
from
Robinson’s 6-foot-8 stature and
add three-finger goggles in front
of his eye after a made 3-pointer,
and you might not be able to
tell the difference between him
and the 6-foot-6 sharpshooting
Stauskas.
Robinson
might
not
have
all the swagger that Stauskas
had, but he does have one thing
that
the
former
Wolverine
doesn’t:
Michigan’s
practice
shooting record. Last December,
Michigan men’s basketball coach
John Beilein said Robinson broke
the team’s practice shooting
record that formerly belonged to
Stauskas. Stauskas — now playing
with the Philadelphia 76ers —
told the Daily this summer he
has heard that Robinson might
even be able to take him in a
1-on-1 shoot-off.
One thing Stauskas had that
Robinson
doesn’t
have
yet,
though, is a spot in the starting
lineup. The last time he came off
the bench was in high school; he
doesn’t
completely
remember
when. At Williams, Robinson was
the only freshman starter who
coach Mike Maker had in his six
years there, and for good reason.
Robinson led the Red Foxes to a
28-5 record and shot 45.6 percent
from deep in his only year with
the team. For now, Robinson is
OK with his off-the-bench role.
“There’s
definitely
some
advantages to coming off the
bench,” he said. “You’ve got to
get a feel for the game in the first
couple of minutes. Maybe see
what’s working offensively as
a team, what (the opponent) is
doing and stuff like that. (It’s a)
new perspective, but I’m willing
to embrace any role on this team.”
Any role. The reemergence of a
Stauskas impressionist wouldn’t
be a bad one for him to fill.
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“There’s definitely
some advantages
to coming off the
bench.”