Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat expresses ‘love’ for breakout big man

When the Miami Heat acquired free agent Thomas Bryant this offseason, he appeared to be a solid candidate to provide the team with much-needed frontcourt depth behind stalwarts Bam Adebayo and Kevin Love. That was the case for the first two weeks of the season. However, it has become evident in recent days that new Erik Spoelstra favorite Orlando Robinson has staked his claim to the role and will not surrender it.

Bryant has played 51 minutes in the last 14 games, with nine no-shows and only five appearances. Robinson has played 27.5 minutes per game in his previous three games (with Adebayo out due to a hip ailment) and has averaged 12.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. He has demonstrated the tenacity and effort that got him the position.

“Orlando, you just have to—he makes you absolutely respect his fortitude and grit,” Spoelstra said last week to reporters. “He is relentless in his work, approach, and commitment to earning trust from everyone.” He does things in a competitive manner. Each month, he improves.

“He goes to school on everything. If he makes a mistake in any kind of game, he gets to work with film, with Malik (Allen, assistant coach) and then he wants to drill it, 10,000 times. Which is what we love.”

Erik Spoelstra, head coach of the Miami Heat, places a premium on hustle.

It helps Orlando Robinson considerably that the Miami Heat inked him as an undrafted free agent last summer, and he has spent a full year developing in the Erik Spoelstra system. That is an immediate advantage over Bryant, though it took a month-and-a-half for Robinson to truly get his chance.

Heat insider Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel wrote in his mailbag this week that Robinson’s experience as a member of the team and his willingness to play with energy have separated him.

“What we are seeing now is a player two seasons into the Heat system, a player who appreciates how it needs to be done. That is a built-in advantage that Orlando has over Thomas Bryant, who still is attempting to adjust to the Heat’s way of doing things,” Winderman wrote. As I mentioned during the game, what Orlando Robinson has started showing is that he is willing to compensate for his athletic limitations with hustle and perseverance.”

Orlando Robinson’s Shooting Has Improved Significantly

When he came out of college from Fresno, one of the knocks on Orlando Robinson was that he was too much an old-school big man who played with his back to the basket and was neither an athlete nor a shooter. He’s done something about that last issue this year. As a rookie, Robinson tried 10 shots beyond 10 feet from the rim, and missed all 10 of them. This year, he is 6-for-11 on those shots, and all six makes have been 3-pointers.

As for athleticism, he can’t really do much to change that. But he can change his hustle quotient and, as Winderman noted, that is the key to maintaining a spot in Spo’s rotation.