The Celtics are getting a lot of praise for their regular season so far, and deservedly so. As they head into the All-Star Break they have the 2nd best record in the NBA at 40-14. At the break last season the Celtics were well into their post-Christmas swoon, posting a record of 32-18, and had the city of Boston entering panic mode.
One of the targets of criticism was Eddie House. A cult hero from the 2008 championship run, House had his fair share of struggles in the first 50 games of the season before his eventual trade to the Knicks. He was suffering from his worst shooting season in his Celtics tenure and it was determined that he needed to be cut loose.
Who was the player acquired in that deal with the Knicks? None other than Nate Robinson.
To put it bluntly, Nate Robinson has been the turd in the punch bowl of this otherwise impressive Celtics season. And, remarkably, it has gone seemingly unnoticed. Praise has been heaped on this Celtics team for returning to their Ubuntu ways and caring about the regular season again. It is all well-deserved, but I find it surprising that Robinson’s woes have been so easily swept under the rug.
For comparison’s sake here are House’s numbers in his 50 games with Boston last season and Robinson’s numbers so far this season:
House: 17 MPG, 7.2 PPG, 1 APG, 40.1 FG%, 38.3 3 PT% (50 games)
Robinson: 18 MPG, 7.1 PPG, 1.9 APG, 40.6 FG%, 33.5 3PT% (53 games)
Early in the season the argument was made that Nate would improve once Delonte West returned to the lineup to handle running the offense for the second unit. Obviously with his wrist injury that has not happened, but Nate has not been handling the ball as much even with West’s continued absence. The Celtics have run the offense through Pierce a lot when he is out with the second unit, and Robinson has even been paired with Rondo at times, yet the struggles continue. He has only connected on only 2 three-pointers in the month of February and they both came in the Dallas game on February 4.
If Marquis Daniels cannot return for the playoffs then Danny Ainge’s priority needs to be finding a swing man for the stretch run. The Celtics do not have enough assets to pull off deals for both a swing man and a replacement for Nate. There may not even be a viable option when buyouts begin to occur after the deadline. But come playoff time I would not be surprised to see Nate back where he spent much of last year’s playoffs: on the bench. Get well soon Delonte!
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