Robinson settling in

By Gary Bedore     Nov 13, 2005

Russell Robinson, who has moved from point guard to shooting guard this season, nearly recorded an all-time high in assists during Kansas University’s men’s basketball exhibition opener against Fort Hays State.

Crazy?

Not to the 6-foot-1, 196-pound sophomore, whose 11 assists Wednesday were four off his lifetime-high recorded during his days as a lead guard at New York’s Rice High.

“I’m not at the point, but I’ve still got a ‘making plays’ mentality,” Robinson said in an interview Friday at Allen Fieldhouse. “I’m still thinking like a point guard, making plays for my teammates and looking for my shot as well.”

Robinson – he has moved to the “2-spot,” with Mario Chalmers and Jeff Hawkins the primary ballhandlers – said either slot was fine with him.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m a player,” Robinson said. “When I was being recruited, when people asked me what I am, I always said I was a guard, either point or 2, but a guard.”

What Robinson is, according to coach Bill Self, is KU’s “best perimeter player” since the Oct. 14 start of practice.

“He’s like a machine,” Self said. “He shows up, goes to work every day. He gets it. For a young guy, he gets it pretty good.”

Robinson grinned when told his coach compared him to a durable machine.

“(He probably says that) just because I go so hard, try so hard,” Robinson said. “I’m consistent in going hard. Sometimes you can go hard one day and not show up the next. It (working hard) has kind of become my routine – keeping at it defensively. It’s not going to stop. It’s going to continue.”

If it does continue, Robinson almost assuredly will net KU’s most-improved player award at the postseason awards program. This is the same guy who, after impressing early in his freshman season, scored one point in the Jayhawks’ last 17 games. He did not play in six of those contests.

Does he feel he’s on a mission to prove something?

“I do,” said Robinson, who many fans expected to transfer back East. “Looking back at last year, I had somewhat of a disappointing year toward the end. I want to make up for that and try to move forward in my career.”

Sometimes guilty of the sloppy turnover – he had 32 turnovers to 25 assists his freshman season – Robinson was under control in KU’s exhibition opener. In the first half, he found center Sasha Kaun for layups on three successive possessions.

“Sasha was getting open. I kept feeding him,” Robinson said with a shrug. “I just did what coach wanted us to do. One time I passed up an open shot to get him the ball. He was feeling it.

“Unselfish : that’s pretty much how the whole team wants it.”

Robinson has provided a good example for the younger players about playing unselfishly.

“Russell was great. He was concentrating on getting the ball to Sasha, getting the offense flowing throughout the course of the game,” freshman Julian Wright said. “That’s what he’s done all day in practice, deliver.”

Robinson hit just one of five shots and one of three free throws to go with his 11 assists and two turnovers. But he believes he delivers in areas beyond statistical categories.

“Without the assists, I was still like a glue guy,” he said. “I was out there doing things, talking, helping. Offensively I was kind of slow, didn’t look for my shot as much. The other things helped my team.”

He was glad to get the first start of his career out of the way. Well, actually, his second start. He started against Langara College in a tiny gym in Canada the summer before his freshman season.

“That was no comparison to 16,000 (fans),” Robinson said. “It was my first time starting in the fieldhouse. I was a little nervous, little anxious more than anything. It was exciting.”

He’d like to keep starting.

“Definitely,” he said. “It’s a long season. Pretty much with the type of team we have, you can be starting one game and not the next. It definitely will keep me on my toes, mentally ready. We’ve got a lot of talent on this team. For me : I’m just trying to do the things coach wants me to do, trying to be a guy you can depend on. I think I’m doing a pretty good job of that.

“It’s just Game One. Hopefully things will get better.”

PREV POST

Texas defeats Kansas, 66-14

NEXT POST

9517Robinson settling in