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Dear Richmond Spiders, it is so very wrong of you to keep Greg Robbins at the three.
I don’t care of the senior has played his entire career at small forward, a 6-foot-5 player is perfect at shooting guard. He could eat any opposing 2-guard’s lunch with his kind of length.
It’s obvious coach Chris Mooney is recruiting a roster for a particular style of play but nobody wins the Atlantic 10 Conference without height. Besides, Robbins averages 2.5 fouls and 2.1 turnovers per-game at a position that clearly doesn’t do him any favors.
If Mooney tries to play Robbins anywhere near the post against the VCU Rams on Thursday night, Robbins could get embarrassed by a four-guard set used by the Rams, including 6-foot-5 Treveon Graham.
I’m not saying Robbins can’t play the 3, but I am saying his skills have been misused for four years.
The fact that Robbins has nine games of 30-plus minutes this season and averages just under seven points means he’s either under-utilized on the offensive end of the floor or he’s at a positional mismatch. In this case, I believe it to be both.
However, Richmond’s leading-rebounder and second-leading scorer Derrick Williams won’t play for the fifth-consecutive game due to an ankle injury.
That leaves Robbins and Alonzo Nelson-Ododa to share the rebounding duties, right? WRONG. Let’s be real, people. In today’s game, guards jump into the pain for rebounds all day and the Spiders also have 6’11 center Luke Piotrowski and 6’7 forward Deion Taylor.
So what if they’re freshman? It’s better to give them a trial-by-fire than to waste a talent like Robbins on players he’s not big enough to guard.
It’s either build the confidence of young, able-bodied post players or risk further-diminishing the confidence of a back-court weapon in Robbins. Your choice, Mooney.
Mike Gillmeister can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter:@mgillmei. Like his Facebook page here for updates on Big 12/A-1o men’s basketball.
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