PORTLAND — Portland’s Thomas Robinson, for the first time in his NBA career, feels like he’s settled in somewhere.
“I’m just comfortable. I feel like this is it,” he said. “This is what it is. I’m going to be a Blazer, I’m a Blazer. Now it’s all about focusing and winning games and helping my team besides ‘am I going to get traded?’ So I can be here.”
Although the playing time has been scarce at times, he’s been playing more without LaMarcus Aldridge in the line-up.
In March, Robinson’s minutes have gone up slightly but he’s been more efficient while still maintaining his rebounding.
Another positive for Robinson as of late that has troubled him in his early career is that he isn’t getting his shots blocked as he hasn’t had any blocks made against him according to NBA.com.
Now that the feeling of being a Blazer is sinking in, Robinson just wants to find consistency.
“I have to get to the point where I can get a few games together,” he said. “I just have to keep it going, that’s all.”
Stotts confident in threes
The Blazers March struggles have been well documented but few things are as glaring as their three-point percentage.
So far this month, the team is shooting under 34 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
Their assists are also down with their shots.
Stotts received a phone call from an industry insider and he was presented with some data from the facing SportVU cameras provided by STATS LLC., in every NBA arena and some film work.
Stotts said feels fine with his team’s passing.
“They’ve been pretty consistent all year,” Stotts said about the amount of passes per possession reflected in the data. “So I think it’s important to make the right pass at the right time. The passing, it’s been pretty much the same all year. The shot making has gone down.”
For Stotts, he says that the important statistic when looking at the three-point shooting is attempts rather than percentage.
“If we are still getting 25 threes, that means we probably got 25 decent three, then you look at the percentages,” he said.
Meyers Leonard effort is there
Blazers second-year reserve center Meyers Leonard had his ups and downs but with Portland short on big men, he’s getting more time on the court.
While Stotts knows he can improve defensively, he’s not complaining about his effort.
“The thing with Meyers is that a lot of things, he’s trying so hard, it doesn’t come natural,” Stotts said. “But, the important thing for me is that he continues to try and he’s trying every possession. And he’s still a young player, that’s what he needs to do.”
