DALLAS _ In the days just before the regular season began, the Knicks didn't hide their plans for Mitchell Robinson, plotting a schedule of G League time to serve as a developmental program for a rookie who didn't play at all last season.
But as the G League schedule began Friday night, Robinson was in the starting lineup for the Knicks against the Mavericks. There no longer is any intention of time in the minors.
"It's kind of changed," coach David Fizdale said. "But he's grown. One thing about him that I've noticed is he picks up stuff quick. For a guy that didn't play a whole year of basketball, man, he absorbs stuff fast. And he applies it to the game pretty quickly."
Robinson came off the bench _ sparingly _ at the start of the season, playing just over a minute of garbage time in the Knicks' opening night win, then sitting out two of the next three games completely. But when Fizdale shuffled the starting lineup after the fifth game, Robinson was placed in the starting lineup.
He hasn't put up big numbers in the starts, averaging 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds entering Friday's game. But he has made the highlight reels with impressive blocks and a steal in which he dribbled the length of the court and soared in for a dunk.
"You know I'm looking at our team and I'm looking at our future," Fizdale said. "We understand that to build the organization and the team that we want, we've got to be a defensive-minded team, and Mitchell Robinson is a superior natural defender. So I just felt like let's get this generated now. He's going to be our foundation, our anchor of our defense for the future. Let's get this guy going right now and really commit to the development of these guys and what it's going to take for where they need to be for us to be the team we're going to be later."
