The Knicks may have solidified their starting center spot.
Mitchell Robinson continued to impress in the Knicks' 118-106 win over the Mavericks on Friday night, finishing with 13 points, 10 rebounds, a block and three steals.
The 20-year-old rookie also threw down a 180 reverse alley-oop dunk for good measure, too.
It was just the latest display in what the 7-footer can bring to the table for the Knicks, who has been getting the nod as starting center over Enes Kanter the last four games.
WHAT 😮 pic.twitter.com/RRNsj9rJX5
- NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 3, 2018
Head coach David Fizdale decided to insert Robinson into the starting rotation against the Golden State Warriors after a 1-4 start, and prior to Friday's win against the Mavs, he suggested that Robinson may be there to stay.
"For a guy that didn't play a whole year of basketball, man, he absorbs stuff fast and he applies it to the game pretty quickly," Fizdale said, per the New York Post. "I'm looking at our team and I'm looking at our future, and we understand that to build the organization and the team that we want, we got to be a defensive-minded team, and Mitchell Robinson is a superior natural defender, so I just felt like let's get this generated now.
"He's going to be our foundation, our anchor of our defense for the future. Let's get this guy going right now and really commit to the development of these guys and to what it's going to take to get them to where they need to be for us to be the team we're going to be later."
Robinson was originally going to spend time in the G-League this season after forgoing his college season last year due to a team suspension at Western Kentucky and transfer issues.
But Fizdale said Robinson has grown and after 1-4 start he decided to insert the Knicks' second-round pick into the starting rotation over Kanter and the results are beginning to show.
Over the Knicks' last three games, they are allwoing 100.7 points per 100 possessions with Robinson on the court and 113.1 points while he is off the court.
"Every game for him is like a huge jump where he can just absorb it, learn from it and take it into the next game," Fizdale said. "He's a student. He really gets into his film and the coaches. He listens to details on the court. He really focuses in on details, so a kid like that with that kind of natural ability and coordination, he's the kind of guy that can get fast-tracked."