12
Thursday, August 9, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

Before
signing
a
two-way
contract with the Miami Heat,
before barraging the NBA Summer
League with 3s and even before he
was a key cog in Michigan’s run to
the NCAA championship game,
Duncan Robinson met Michigan
assistant coach Luke Yaklich —
and went straight to work.
As one of the architects of
Michigan’s recent run to the
NCAA
championship
game,
Yaklich picked apart hours of film
with the fifth-year senior forward.
He knew that Robinson would be
vital to the Wolverines’ offense as
a capable 3-point shooter. At the
same time, Yaklich recognized
that the 2017-18 incarnation of
Michigan
basketball
couldn’t
necessarily just run-and-gun its
way to success like past Wolverine
teams under John Beilein.
“He just asked me ‘What do I
need to do to get better?’,” Yaklich
said. “I kind of will always
remember that. We talked about
things that we could do against
certain teams and he just had this

presence of mind about him and a
understanding of basketball. His
basketball acumen is really high.”
To
make
the
plan
work,
Robinson — and everyone else
on the roster — had to embrace
the defensive side of the ball.
Originally, the plan was to start
freshman Isaiah Livers at power
forward over Robinson. While
Livers showed early flashes of
defensive
versatility,
he
had
a hard time initially grasping
Michigan’s offensive scheme, so
the Wolverines went ahead and
started Robinson.
Robinson though, struggled to
find his shot during the start of
Big Ten play, ceding the starting
job back to Livers. Against No. 5
Michigan State on Jan. 13, Livers
made his first start, helping the
Wolverines to an 84-75 win. As
Michigan marched on, Robinson
finally faced the reality of playing
from the bench.
“That
season
epitomized
growth… to the team but also
to
myself,”
Robinson
said.
“Specifically
as
a
leader,
I
definitely had my ups and my
downs over the course of the
year,” Robinson said. “But I

tried to stay true to my law as an
adapter and a guy who had been
through more to help out these
younger guys.”
And despite his reduced role,
Robinson kept finding new ways
to contribute. Sophomore guard
Zavier Simpson’s dogged man-
to-man
defense
and
redshirt
sophomore
wing
Charles
Matthews’ lanky-armed steals
might be easier to see, but it was
Robinson who was Yaklich’s self-
described defensive “sounding
board.” Robinson would bounce
ideas back and forth with the coach
on how to improve Michigan’s
defense, then adopt what he had
gleaned onto the court. Robinson
and senior guard Muhammad-
Ali Abdur Rahkman even called
out other teams’ offensive plays,
according to Yaklich.
“I know there was a point, it
was in the middle to second half
of the conference season,” Yaklich
said. “There was just a confidence
about him that no matter who
he was guarding, whether it was
(Ohio State forward) Keita Bates-
Diop or a more physical 4-man
in our league, Duncan was going
to be a chameleon and adjust to

however that particular opponent
needed to be played.”
In a crucial road game at
Penn State, Robinson racked up
a Wolverine career-high three
blocks. As the primary defender,
he
limited
Bates-Diop,
the
eventual Big Ten Player of the
Year, to 5-17 shooting in a win
over Ohio State. Michigan held
its opponents to 62.0 points per
game during its 14-game win
streak that led the Wolverines
to the Final Four. Robinson even
rediscovered his shooting stroke
to the tune of 44 percent shooting
from behind the arc in February
and March and was named the Big
Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year.
Still, Robinson wasn’t done. It
was time to take his shooting and
his defensive growth to the NBA,
even if he wasn’t as heralded as
some of his peers that declared for
the draft. All of the teams he had
official pre-draft workouts with
— the Philadelphia 76ers, Golden
State Warriors and Los Angeles
Lakers — employed schemes that
rely on spacing, shooting and
value help defense. So far, so good.
While training in the Los
Angeles area though, the Heat
sent one of its scouts to look at
Robinson. After a solid workout,
Robinson
was
intrigued.
He
knew that the Miami had a lot
of previous success with player
development
—
guard
Josh
Richardson was a crucial piece
for the Heat immediately as
a second round pick, and the
coaching staff revived the careers
of former journeymen like center
Hassan Whiteside and forward
James Johnson. Even his former
Michigan
teammate,
guard
Derrick Walton Jr., was on the
team.
“It’s not every day that one of
your good friends has had that
same experience that, as you are
about to go through,” Robinson
said.
Although Robinson ended up
going undrafted, he knew where
to go next. When Heat head
coach Erik Spoelstra first talked
to Robinson about potentially
playing
for
Miami’s
Summer
League team, Robinson was sold.
Spoelstra pitched Robinson as
a player who could fit the same
mold as Heat shooting guard
Wayne Ellington — a player who
bounced around the league for
eight years before signing with
Miami and finishing sixth in the
NBA in three pointers made last
season.
“[Spoelstra] really likes guys
that shoot the ball, and how

they
prioritize
that
within
the organization and how my
combination of size and skill
could maybe help them in games,”
Robinson said. “So they used the
example of Wayne Ellington and
how he’s always encouraged him
to shoot and stay invested. And
it’s not necessarily about how
many makes, but he’s just always
encouraging and that to get them
off in there. That’s what every
shooter wants to hear.”
Robinson
won’t
necessarily
have as many responsibilities in
the NBA as he did at Michigan.
At least in the beginning of his
career, his success will hinge on
being in the right place at the
right time. In his first Summer
League game Robinson had a
largely uneventful performance,
going 1-4 from behind the arc and
finishing with three points.
Fast forward to the next game,
though,
and
Robinson
found
himself channeling his inner
chameleon in the same way that
he did at Michigan. On the first
Heat possession of the game,
Miami’s Bam Adebayo grabbed
an offensive rebound and kicked
the ball out to the top of the arc,
where it effortlessly fell into
the waiting hands of Robinson.
Casually, Robinson pulled up and
sunk the 3-pointer.
On the ensuing Heat possession,
Robinson glided up the floor on a
fastbreak, corralled in an outlet
pass and, barely touching the ball,
feathered in another deep 3 —
two minutes later, another triple,
from the same spot as the first
one. Later in the first half, he even
slipped a screen, and jammed a
powerful two hand baseline dunk
off a pass from Walton Jr.
Robinson finished the game
with 19 points, adapting his game
like he had at Michigan, this time
on a more micro level.
It’s easy to mistake Robinson’s
performance that day — and the
ensuing ones in Las Vegas — as
one of many Summer League hot
shooting streaks that end up dying
without so much as a whimper
in
the
G-League.
For
every
Manu Ginobili, there are twenty
Anthony
Randolphs
or
Josh
Selbys that burn out. Like many
of the great undrafted players
before him, however, Robinson
knows his role and has shown
a willingness and the ability to
revamp and add to his game when
things aren’t going right.
“It was never a question mark
of what was going to happen,”
Yaklich said. “We knew we were
going to get the best out of him.”

Robinson embraces role in NBA

RIAN RATNAVALE
Daily Sports Writer

KATELYN MULCAHY / DAILY
Former Michigan guard Duncan Robinson signed a contract with the Miami Heat and is taking his developed skills to the NBA