David Robinson has Tim Duncan to thank for helping take him
out of the Karl Malone conversation.
The No. 14 player on my system was an absolute regular
season monster.
·
He led the NBA three times in PER, including being just one of 10
players to ever top 30.0 in a season. His career PER of 26.18 is No. 4 all
time, behind just Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal.
·
He led the NBA in win shares twice, including being just one of
seven players to get to 20.0 win shares in a season (Robinson recorded a 19.98
in 1993-1994, which is rounded up to 20.0). His career win shares ranks 15th
despite the fact he came into the league at 24 and played only 14 seasons.
·
He led the league in VORP three times, including being just one
of eight players to record a 10.0 or better in a season. He ranks No. 8 all
time in career VORP.
·
He dominated Box +/-, leading the league six times, including
being one of 10 to ever top 10.0 or better in a season. He ranks No. 5 all time
in career Box +/-.
If you look at just his regular season advanced stats, he
was clearly the second best player of the Michael Jordan era. But then there
was the playoffs. Playoff David Robinson was still great … but he was not the
same dominant force.
|
Robinson
season vs. playoffs
|
||||
|
|
PER
|
Box +/-
|
||
|
Year
|
Season
|
Playoffs
|
Season
|
Playoffs
|
|
1989-1990
|
26.3
|
24.4
|
6.5
|
7.0
|
|
1990-1991
|
27.4
|
26.1
|
8.4
|
7.1
|
|
1992-1993
|
24.2
|
21.6
|
6.7
|
6.8
|
|
1993-1994
|
30.7
|
22.0
|
10.9
|
4.4
|
|
1994-1995
|
29.1
|
22.6
|
8.4
|
6.7
|
|
1995-1996
|
29.4
|
29.1
|
9.2
|
6.3
|
|
1997-1998
|
27.8
|
24.1
|
7.8
|
6.2
|
|
1998-1999
|
24.9
|
23.3
|
7.4
|
7.9
|
|
1999-2000
|
24.6
|
25.6
|
5.5
|
9.0
|
|
2000-2001
|
23.7
|
24.5
|
5.5
|
5.4
|
|
2001-2002
|
20.3
|
12.6
|
3.9
|
1.8
|
|
2002-2003
|
17.8
|
17.7
|
1.7
|
4.1
|
Through 1996-1997, Robinson’s Spurs had been to the playoffs six times in eight seasons. Twice, his teams lost in the first round. That included the 1993-1994 season when he had one of the greatest regular seasons in history. That year he topped 30.0 in PER, 20.0 in win shares and 10.0 in Box +/- and VORP. In the playoffs against the Jazz, he averaged “just” 20.0 points, 10 rebounds and shot just 30 of 73.
The next season had to be even more disappointing. Robinson
won his only MVP in 1994-1995 as the Spurs went 62-20. San Antonio swept Denver
and beat the Lakers in six to advance to take on the defending NBA champion
Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals. It’s not as if Robinson was
terrible in the series. He averaged 23.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks
in six games. Unfortunately, Hakeem Olajuwon had perhaps the stretch of games
of his career. Olajuwon had games of 41, 43 and 42 on the way to averaging 35.3
points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.2 blocks. The Rockets won the series, 4-2, and then
swept the Orlando Magic, cementing Olajuwon’s reputation as the No. 2 player of
the Jordan era.
In 1996, the Spurs again came up short, falling to Karl
Malone’s Jazz in six games. Robinson was held to 19.3 points and 9.0 rebounds
in the series.
In the 1996-1997 season, Robinson hurt his back six games into
the season and didn’t play again that year. The Spurs tanked without him, putting
them in the lottery. The ping pong balls came up San Antonio and the Spurs won
the rights to draft Tim Duncan.
To that point in his career, Duncan’s Spurs had gone 27-26
in the playoffs. With Duncan and Robinson together, the Spurs would go 43-27
over his final six playoff runs, including winning the NBA title in 1998-1999
and 2002-2003. Robinson ended up being a big winner, but he was a bigger winner
when he wasn’t the No. 1 option.
|
David
Robinson bio info
|
|
|
Career
|
1989-2003
|
|
Games
|
987
|
|
Points
|
21.1
|
|
Rebounds
|
10.6
|
|
Assists
|
2.5
|
|
FG Pct.
|
51.8%
|
|
All-Star games
|
10
|
|
NBA MVPs
|
1
|
|
NBA titles
|
2
|
|
Playoff seasons
|
12
|
|
Playoff games
|
123
|
|
Points
|
18.1
|
|
Rebounds
|
10.6
|
|
Assists
|
2.3
|
|
FG Pct.
|
47.9%
|
|
Hall of Fame
|
2009
|
|
Top 100
rankings
|
||
|
|
Points
|
Top 100 ranking
|
|
1-year
|
400.98
|
18th
|
|
5-year
|
1,771.82
|
15th
|
|
10-year
|
3,219.79
|
15th
|
|
Career
|
3,970.13
|
22nd
|
|
David
Robinson at his peak
|
|||
|
1994-1995
|
Robinson
|
Top 5
|
Points
|
|
PER
|
29.1
|
26.79
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
17.5
|
14.44
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
8.4
|
6.98
|
|
|
VORP
|
8.1
|
6.67
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
63.1
|
54.87
|
114.99
|
|
Playoff PER
|
22.6
|
26.70
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
2.3
|
2.77
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
6.7
|
7.20
|
|
|
VORP
|
1.4
|
1.56
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
33.0
|
38.23
|
86.23
|
|
Reg. Season Win %
|
75.31
|
75.31
|
|
|
Playoff Win %
|
60.00
|
60.00
|
|
|
MVP Voting (75 points)
|
901/1,050
|
64.36
|
|
|
Playoff MVP (25 points)
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
Total Score
|
|
|
400.98
|
|
Robinson’s 10 greatest seasons
|
|
|
1994-1995
|
400.98
|
|
1995-1996
|
365.33
|
|
1998-1999
|
349.52
|
|
1993-1994
|
343.49
|
|
1990-1991
|
312.49
|
|
1989-1990
|
308.67
|
|
1997-1998
|
303.49
|
|
2000-2001
|
294.94
|
|
1992-1993
|
275.23
|
|
1999-2000
|
265.63
|
|
Career
winning percentage
|
|||
|
|
W
|
L
|
Pct.
|
|
Regular Season
|
673
|
314
|
68.19%
|
|
Playoffs
|
70
|
53
|
56.91%
|
Even in regular season, David Thompson wasn't "clearly" the second best player of Jordan era in advanced stats. Charles Barkley better in both VORP and box+/- and just one behind in Win Shares.
ReplyDeleteYes. He was clearly better.
ReplyDeleteRobinson's regular season advanced scores:
1993-1994: 125.77
1994-1995: 114.99
1995-1996: 111.56
1991-1992: 105.12
1997-1998: 104.67
1990-1991: 100.03
Barkley's best:
1987-1988: 103.13
1989-1990: 102.98
1988-1989: 101.66
1990-1991: 97.89
1992-1993: 96.90
1985-1986: 95.91
Robinson had five regular seasons better than Barkley's best - and that's before you factor in winning percentages.
ReplyDelete