Hubie Brown’s historical perspective on Herro/Robinson duo. And straight talk from Butler
Hubie Brown, the 87-year-old Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster who might know more about the game than anyone on Earth, was talking to two NBA buddies about the Heat’s Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro on Monday when he said something startling:
“When you look at these two young kids,” Brown told me in a phone conversation on Tuesday, “I said to two guys yesterday that have experience in the league: Go back over the history of the game and tell me a team that had two young shooters at this early age [of their careers] that can shoot the percentage of over 40 percent from the distance they shoot from, on catch and shoot [situations] or dribble and shoot [situations]. Try to go back and find [two teammates at this very early stage of their NBA careers] who can shoot with that accuracy.”
Excluding preseason, Robinson has played only 103 NBA games, Herro 70.
What about Steph Curry and Klay Thompson? Brown said that’s not apples to apples because they came into the league as older players than Herro, having played three years of college ball, with Curry not appearing on a postseason stage until his fourth NBA season. Robinson played three years of Division 1 ball and one G-League season, Herro just one year at Kentucky. Also, Brown said “Curry and Thompson weren’t in that movement [offense] until Steve Kerr was in there.”
Brown — who did not participate in ESPN’s bubble broadcasts because he’s in an age group vulnerable to COVID-19 — was just getting started about the Herro/Robinson tandem.
“The way they come off of those screens and it’s a half a step and that’s all they need [to get a shot off]; that’s why these two kids are mind-boggling for their age,” Brown said. “If they were in the league five or six years, you could understand that, coming off a half-a-step look off a catch-and-shoot or a dribble-and-shoot, and then shoot the three with incredible accuracy and then do it under pressure with the clock running down. A guy will be on their back but they have the ability to get up in the air and make the shot.”
We learned a couple things about the Heat’s young sharpshooters during Tuesday’s NBA Finals media day, which was conducted via Zoom:
1. Herro, who’s the only player in the Finals who was born this century, told me he’s fueled by falling to 13th in the draft, so much so that “the 12 guys ahead of me definitely are in the back of my head all the time, and I know every last one that was drafted ahead of me. It definitely does fuel me.
“But just with our team, we have a bunch of guys like that, who were doubted, who were looked over, and that’s the chip on our shoulder that we have.”
But he makes clear: “I love where I was drafted, love the opportunity I was drafted into, the situation.”
2. Not only did Robinson start his college career at Division III Williams College, not only was he yanked out of the starting lineup each of his final two years at Michigan, but he sometimes wasn’t even used by his high school team.
“Had coach DNPs [did not play/coach’s decision] my junior year of high school, so that’s pretty unheard of for a guy who goes on to play college basketball, let alone the opportunity to play in the NBA,” he said. “I got pulled out of the starting lineup my junior and senior year, so I didn’t start much of my college career. And I wasn’t starting in high school.”
And to further appreciate Robinson’s remarkable rise, consider this item that has been making the rounds on the Internet: Fox writer Mark Titus tweeted a screenshot of a message Robinson sent him during Robinson’s senior year at Michigan, when Robinson expressed interest in a journalism career and wrote: “I was wondering if you would have some time to connect so I can potentially learn more about your role as a staff writer” at The Ringer, at the time.
Robinson, who said he has spent many nights shooting as late as 11 p.m. in a gym inside the Disney bubble, is not only third in the playoffs in threes made, but his 44 threes are the most ever by a player in his first 15 playoff games, eclipsing Matt Maloney’s 43 and Curry’s 42.
“Throughout my career if there’s one thing I have learned, it’s not to expect anything,” Robinson, 26, said. “So, I’m incredibly grateful to be in this situation, humbled by it in many ways. It’s still kind of been surreal but I’m certainly not content.”
Brown, a two-time coach of the year who has conducted coaching clinics for decades, sees potential for even more, after a season in which Robinson hit 270 threes on remarkable 44.6 percent shooting.
“He’s got that stamina; not every guy has that kind of stamina,” Brown said. “His problems are foot quickness.”
Brown would love to see Robinson continue to develop “the confidence of becoming a better dribbler when you’re being trapped, whether you want to split the traps when the clock is down. Right now, he’s stepping back; I’m not second guessing the kid because I’m in awe of what he does. If he was more confident in the dribble, he would maybe be able to split the double team that’s coming and get in a better position” at times.
Herro, meantime, has improved his numbers in nearly every area in postseason, his points per game jumping from 13.5 to 16.5, rebounding from 4.1 to 5.5 per game, assists from 2.2 to 3.9 and shooting percentage from 42.8 to 46.3.
Herro, who has the most clutch threes by a rookie in a single playoffs since the NBA began tracking the category in 1997, said: “As far as the clutch shots, I think just having the ball in my hands where my teammates have come to just trust me with it, they know I’m going to be confident with it, and I don’t feel the pressure. I don’t think there is much pressure.”
Brown sees this as just the start for the 20-year-old: “Herro has size. His ball handling is good enough to get a shot but he’s going to get better at it. Because of his size, once he breaks that three-point line and gets down [in the mid-range], even if you are with him [defensively], he will develop that short shot, the [Michael] Jordan stuff, the stop on a dime and elevate and get that shot like the kid from Denver, Jamal Murray.
“He has the size [6-5] to shoot over the majority of guards. You learn how to take the bumping and grabbing that’s not called - all of that will come to even make him a better scorer.”
And Brown likes his rebounding, “the fact he wants the physical contact to rebound and clear out and he will get the break going.”
(I’ll have more from Hubie in the days ahead.)
BUTLER’S THOUGHTS
▪ Jimmy Butler said Tuesday that he never considered the Lakers in free agency.
“I knew the type of structure that I needed and wanted. It was here. I just get to be me here. I get to call it how I see it. Nobody takes it personally. I belong here. I’ve belonged here for a very long time.
“Here, ruffling feathers or whatever you want to call it, it’s OK here. I’m so comfortable with being myself, more than I’ve ever been. ... Now I know that myself is the right way. Look where myself has gotten me now. It’s all because [Pat Riley] empowered me to do that. ... I’m just grateful for him.”
Butler said Riley has “been a huge part in our success of putting this team together, expecting greatness out of each and every one of us, and putting us in a position to be great. So without him, without him putting this thing together, I wouldn’t be up here. We wouldn’t have this great group of guys that we have. So, we’re all very thankful for the Godfather.”
Butler said “I thought I was going to be in Chicago my entire career. But [Dwayne Wade] would tell me about the way things were done there by Coach Spo, by Coach Pat, and it was like, man, that’s my type of guy that I want to play for.”
▪ Jae Crowder opened the playoffs making 35 of 84 threes (41.6 percent) but has made 7 of 38 over the past five games (18.4 percent).
“I didn’t hear any media talking about my shooting when I was making shots; they all want to talk about it now,” he said. “Obviously, I’ve been working on that. Obviously, I watched film on that, tried to correct some things. I’ve put the work in.”
Here’s my piece on everything LeBron James said about the Heat today.
Here’s my Tuesday Dolphins piece on why their two dynamic rookie receivers aren’t playing.
Here’s my Tuesday pack of Dolphins notes.
And please check back tonight for a Marlins piece.
This story was originally published September 29, 2020 at 5:21 PM.
