When the Celtics first signed Mitchell Robinson back in July, it was met with a lot of excitement. He played an integral role with the New York Knicks as a rim protector for 8 seasons and even helped them win a championship in 2026.
The part of the signing I was most excited about was the possibility of watching him run the pick and roll with Jayson Tatum. With Tatum’s ability to get down hill alongside Robinson’s big body in the paint, it felt like a match made in heaven just waiting to be realized.
In the Celtics 114-93 Preseason Win over the Charlotte Hornets, we saw the dream I manifested and it was glorious. Robinson finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks on 5-5 shooting from the field.
Lobs to Rob
Robinson was dominating in the paint early, scoring the first 6 points of the game for Boston. Much like we used to see with former Celtics center Robert Williams, the new age “Lob to Rob” was a factor and the chemistry between Robinson and Tatum was on full display.
On their first possession together, Tatum drove to the lane with relative ease and found Robinson who slipped back door to throw down a monstrous slam. On the next possession we saw Robinson set a pick for Tatum so he could receive a pass from Paul George at the top of the key. Then a spinning Tatum found Robinson underneath the basket again for an easy layup. We saw the pair link up again in the third quarter when Tatum recieved the ball in the midrange area where the Hornets assumed he was taking a shot. Little did they know, he had a seven foot behemoth rolling to the basket to throw down another thunderous slam.
Out of the five baskets Mitchell Robinson had in the game, four of them came by the alley-oop. Having an established center like Robinson who can be a big body in the paint to grab offensive boards and roll to the rim like he does, gives the Celtics offense another dimension that they didn’t have in previous years. Not only do you have to defend Boston from beyond the arc, they have a big man down low that can hurt you at the rim as well. It has been a joy to watch so far.
On the NBC Sports Boston postgame, Abby Chin ask Robinson about his two-man game with Tatum, he seemed exciting, saying, “I’ve never seen those from him before when we were playing against him. To be his teammate and he can throw them, I think we’re going to build a great connection.”
Double Big Lineup
Another new feature we saw in the Celtics offense was the addition of a double big lineup with both Robinson and Neemias Queta on the court together. Boston experimented with this kind of lineup last season slightly with Nikola Vucevic but it didn’t work out well. This was different however, with Queta at the power forward we saw him handle the ball more and drive to the basket. The double screen actions with both bigs on the court caused tons of confusion for the Hornets defense and even resulted in the highlight of the night with a big slam by Queta in the fourth quarter.
When asked about the double big lineups post game, Joe Mazzulla said, “Just kind of wanted to get you know get some game reps in it, so we could have it on the dome to see, you know, what we want to work on if it’s something that we have to do before the regular season starts.”
He also praised Mitchell Robinson a lot when asked about the Celtics chemistry. “I mean Mitch is one of the smartest players.” Mazzulla said glowingly, “…I think we can throw him in the mix and he can just pick it up. He’s been around great coaches, great players, so he knows the game. He’s been playing for nine years, and he’s smart.”
It was cool to see Joe go out of his way to praise Robinson like that. Ever since Media Day it has felt like these two have had a special connection. Mazzulla loves what Mitch can provide on the court and Robinson loves being coached by Joe. If this keeps up, we might seeing the start of “Big Country” becoming a star in Boston, and I for one can’t wait to see it play out.
