Duncan Robinson has been solid for the Pistons all season, but Detroit is now seeing his biggest weaknesses exposed in crucial games. As the Heat learned towards the end of his Miami tenure, Robinson tends to shrink in the playoffs and can get hunted on the defensive end. The Pistons won’t be able to afford another poor showing against a tough Magic team, so they need to figure out this issue immediately.
Duncan Robinson needs to prove his value
Robinson ended Game 1 with a solid stat line on paper: 9 points and 4 assists while shooting 3-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-6 from deep. He was efficient in his shots, but the problem is that he didn’t shoot more when Cade Cunningham clearly needed more help from his teammates. By shooting more often, especially when he was hitting his shots, Robinson could have provided more effective spacing for Cunningham.
The Pistons as a whole struggled mightily from three-point range. Robinson and Cunningham were the only Pistons to hit multiple threes in the game. In such a dire shooting situation, they need their best shooters to keep launching rather than minimizing their role in the offense.
On the other end, Robinson was attacked relentlessly by Orlando’s ball handlers. In the end, the Pistons went with a worse offensive option in Daniss Jenkins to close the game instead of Robinson because of the defensive concerns. Even though Robinson has done his part this season in the team scheme, he’s still weak as an isolation defender.
Miami already made these realizations
There’s a reason the Heat were content to let Robinson go last summer after having him be a crucial part of the team for years. Despite being the franchise’s all-time leader in threes, Robinson was cast off by Miami because of his playoff issues. The Heat wisely identified that their team would not be able to hide his weaknesses in a playoff setting and it wasn’t worth keeping him around.
The Pistons should be better equipped to hide Robinson’s weaknesses, at least on defense. Of course Detroit has more defensive playmakers and a stronger team structure overall. But they are asking even more of Robinson on offense, which could cause different problems.
If the Pistons aren’t able to figure it out, they may end up in the same position with Robinson that the Heat eventually reached. Since 2022, Robinson found himself coming off the bench for the Heat and playing limited minutes. Because of his clear weaknesses, the Heat could only play him extended minutes in certain matchups.
Robinson plays an extremely important role for the Pistons, but they may be forced to scale it back if he’s not viable in a playoff setting.
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