ATLANTA \u2014 Struggling Knicks free throw shooter and defensive anchor Mitchell Robinson takes it as a sign of respect when teams like the Hawks intentionally foul in an effort to force head coach Mike Brown to make a substitution.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Do I take it personally] when they do that? I mean, yeah, I feel like they want to get me off the court, so I know I\u2019m threatening they ass and it be like that,\u201d Robinson said after shootaround at State Farm Arena on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Robinson shot 40% from the foul line this season, on par with his career average but a steep drop-off from last year\u2019s injury-shortened season. He is 2-of-6 from the line entering Game 3 against the Hawks but is confident the work he\u2019s put in at the charity stripe will pay off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been shooting a lot of free throws. I\u2019ve been getting the ball in the air. Routine is straight. So I\u2019ve been shooting it good,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes, it go in; sometimes, it don\u2019t. Confidence still high, so still ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown has insisted he will give Robinson an opportunity to make free throws when intentionally fouled before pulling him from a game in the playoffs. The Hawks intentionally fouled (or Hacked-A-Mitch) in Game 1 but opted against the tactic in Game 2.<\/p>\n
THE LOB GAME<\/p>\n
Robinson is thoroughly enjoying the uptick in lob passes thrown his direction since the All-Star break, many of which have been thrown by Jordan Clarkson.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. They\u2019re definitely looking, especially J.C.,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we get in there together, like one of the things that we do is just got that connection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through two playoff games, Clarkson has only passed the ball to Landry Shamet (5) more times than he has passed to Robinson (4) and his only assist of the postseason has come via lob pass to the high-flying big man.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Jordan\u2019s] just gonna throw it. He\u2019s just gonna throw it,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cHe\u2019s not afraid to get a turnover,\u00a0 when you got a guy like that, you just gotta help him out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018STAND ON BUSINESS\u2019<\/p>\n
Robinson wrote the words \u201cStanding on Business\u201d on his ankle tape in Game 2 and said he will write something else on his tape for Game 3, though he wasn\u2019t sure exactly what as of Thursday morning shootaround.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019m gonna write this time,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s gonna be something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robinson was assessed a technical foul in Game 2 for stepping over Dyson Daniels after an illegal screen then shoving him away when Daniels took exception to the play.\u00a0 He said the inspiration behind the words written on Game 2 were written on his ankle tape.<\/p>\n
\u201cStand on business,\u201d he said. \u201cI had to stand on business, and I think I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
ROAD WARRIORS<\/p>\n
The Knicks are expecting a sizable contingent of fans \u2014 who\u2019ve either relocated to Atlanta or plan to fly into the city for the playoffs \u2014 to show out during their road games at State Farm Arena in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever we play and we see Knicks fans here, Knicks fans make it known,\u201d said Brunson. \u201cSo it\u2019s always a pleasure. It\u2019s always a very cool thing to hear. When you\u2019re in the opposing arenas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Atlanta is a known hotbed for Knicks fans outside of New York. Robinson thinks his away performances trump those of his coming at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like playing away. I think I play better away than I ever do at home,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know, the energy. It\u2019s like me versus the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA \u2014 Struggling Knicks free throw shooter and defensive anchor Mitchell Robinson takes it as a sign of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,1418,89350,677,304,1247,6,1136,191,3810,3806,34],"class_list":{"0":"post-716749","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-free-throws","10":"tag-hack","11":"tag-hawks","12":"tag-knicks","13":"tag-mitchell-robinson","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-knicks","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkknicks","19":"tag-playoffs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116455932125831251","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}