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Inside the NBA
New Tricks For Big Dog The Bucks' Glenn Robinson, once deemed one-dimensional, is flashing an all-around game By Ian Thomsen
That sort of all-around play has been awhile coming for the 1994 college player of the year, who was drafted out of Purdue ahead of Jason Kidd and Grant Hill but didn't earn his first playoff win or All-Star berth until last season. Big Dog attributes his improvement to teammates who bring out the best in him. "I know he appreciates me," says point guard Sam Cassell, Robinson's best friend on the Bucks. "When he made the All-Star team last year, he called me at 7 a.m. -- before he called his mother, before he called his agent -- to thank me for pushing him." Robinson's development as a pro was hindered in several ways. He didn't make a good first impression in Milwaukee when he missed his rookie preseason while holding out for what would be a 10-year, $68 million contract (which the Bucks extended in December 1999 through 2004-05). He was slow to embrace the notion of defense. Four sub-.500 years also set him back. "Glenn went through a lot of losing, and he had to protect himself from the criticism," Karl says. "Players in this league put on a layer of armor to rationalize what they're doing, but the truth is, you can't be special with that armor on. You've got to throw it away and be willing to take the criticism as it comes." If anyone understands how to deliver armor-piercing criticism, it's Karl. In December he publicly scolded Robinson and kept him out of the starting lineup for one game for missing a team meeting. "Since then, Robinson's game has gone through the roof," says 76ers coach Larry Brown. Frustrated by Karl, Robinson vented to his longtime agent, Charles Tucker, who doesn't believe in coddling his clients. "He's come to me a little ticked off a couple of times," says Tucker. "I tell him to make sure he's doing 100 percent of what he's supposed to do -- not 99, but 100 and then some. The first thing you need to do is to be good enough to make up for the mistakes of your teammates." Robinson accepts similar admonishments from his mother, Christine Bridgeman, who was an unmarried teenager when she began raising him in Gary, Ind., and who watches every Bucks game. "She always tells me she can't wait until I get to the free throw line," where the TV cameras show a close-up, Robinson says. "She says, 'I can tell if you've been staying up too late and not getting your rest.' Sometimes I think I should steal some of my girlfriend's makeup and pat it on, but she'd see through that too." His life off the court remains as simple as his quick-release jumper. "He keeps to a budget of $5,000 a month, which isn't bad for a guy who's making what he's making," says Tucker. Last summer, when free agent Tim Thomas signed a $67 million contract to stay with Milwaukee, his agent, Arn Tellem, said the team promised Thomas that he would start at small forward -- an indication that G.M. Ernie Grunfield planned to trade Robinson, whose career average of 21.1 points ranked third among active forwards, behind Karl Malone (26.0) and Grant Hill (21.6). "I didn't believe George and Ernie could make that promise, knowing the player I am," says Robinson, who nonetheless spent the summer working himself into the best shape of his career. Grunfeld says he merely assured Thomas that he would have an expanded role, which Karl recently supplied by starting him at power forward. "Hopefully, Glenn can keep this focus for the whole year," says Bucks center Ervin Johnson. Karl compares Robinson favorably to his Eastern Conference counterparts, but the coach remains frustrated that Robinson, Cassell and Ray Allen aren't more devoted to playing disciplined D and spreading around the offense. "Glenn is still a young player," Karl says. "Agewise, I don't know if he is, but maturitywise he has room to grow." Sometimes Robinson, who turned 28 on Jan. 10, wants to take his coach aside and tell him he's learning as fast as he can. "People wrote me off early in my career, but now I look at Elton Brand in Chicago," Robinson says of another No. 1 pick stuck with a losing organization. "He feels like it's never going to happen, but he's going to experience winning in this league. It's just not going to happen overnight." Issue date: January 22, 2001
For more Inside the NBA see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, January 17. Click here to subscribe to SI.
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