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*sniff* Sometimes I really do miss 50.
Rebecca Lobo wore No. 50 for the UConn Huskies because of San Antonio Spurs' David Robinson
by The Republican Sports Desk
David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs, who will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September, inspired many young players to wear No. 50, including Rebecca Lobo of the UConn Huskies.
The Republican counts down the days to the Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony with an ongoing series profiling the Class of 2009.
By Ron Chimelis
When Rebecca Lobo played high school basketball for Southwick-Tolland Regional, she wore No. 31, but a decision awaited her in college.
"Wendy Davis had 31, so I asked for No. 50 because David Robinson was my favorite player at the time," said Lobo, who entered the University of Connecticut in 1991.
Still the favorite of many fans and players, Robinson will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September. Unable to savor a championship for most of his career, Robinson's fortunes changed when his team, the San Antonio Spurs, drafted Tim Duncan from Wake Forest in 1997.
Two years later, the Spurs were a champion for the first of two times in Robinson's career.
"David was the Spurs' best player for years, but they didn't win," recalled Jim Powell of Agawam, an assistant at Vancouver in the 1990s, and for the past 13 years, an assistant coach and scout for the Indiana Pacers.
"He didn't get to enjoy his own team success until he teamed up with Duncan. David would have been the missing piece on 60 to 70 percent of NBA teams," Powell said.
To Powell's thinking, Robinson was a great player who needed some help. In some ways, he was an even better fit as the Spurs' No. 2 option than as its star.
"For him, that was perfect. He was definitely a No. 1 guy, a go-to player, one of the best players in the league. But, you need others to help win a championship," Powell said.
"Put a player of David's caliber on the Indiana Pacers right now, and they go deep into the playoffs. Put him on the New Jersey Nets, and they go deep into the playoffs."
His individual talent was beyond question. In 1994, Robinson scored 71 points in a game.
Only Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, David Thompson and Kobe Bryant have also scored 70 in an NBA game.
He was perfectly willing to share the ball, too. Only four players in NBA history have logged quadruple doubles, the most recent of which was Robinson.
He had 10 assists in addition to 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in a 1994 game that came two months after his 71-point performance.
Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon are the NBA's other quadruple-double artists.
Robinson might not have been able to carry the Spurs to a championship by himself, but he did lift them to respectability.
In 1988-89, San Antonio won 21 games. The next season, with Robinson as Rookie of the Year, they went 56-26 to win the Midwest Division le - the most one-year dramatic turnaround in NBA history to that point.
In an indirect way, Robinson also helped the Spurs land Duncan. With their center sidelined by a broken foot for all but six games of the 1996-97 season, San Antonio went 20-62, and fell into the NBA lottery.
There, despite a better percentage likelihood the Boston Celtics would get the No. 1 pick, the Spurs enjoyed that good fortune and chose Duncan, helping build the front line of a championship team.
Duncan arrived when Robinson was 32 years old, in time to help deliver the team glory Robinson always craved over personal accolades.
If there is a player in Robinson's pre-Duncan cir stance today, it might be Toronto's Chris Bosh, Powell said.
"He's the best player on Toronto, but on a championship team, he'd be a No. 2 option," the coach said.
Robinson was the NBA's 1995 MVP. While Lobo and countless others chose No. 50 because of him, his choice came in honor of Ralph Sampson, his favorite player.
Robinson's two NBA championships came with Duncan in 1999 and 2003.
He retired after the 2002-03 season. With an NBA championship in his final season, and a 13-point, 17-rebound effort in the clinching playoff game, Robinson went out in style.
He shared the cover of Sports Illustrated with Duncan, as the magazine's 2003 Sportsmen of the Year. Thus ended a 14-year career that saw Robinson score 20,790 points with 10,497 rebounds and 2,954 blocked shots.
Those numbers would have been even higher had Robinson's NBA career not been delayed for two years by military commitments in association with the Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1987.
*sniff* Sometimes I really do miss 50.
As much as I appreciate Chris Bosh's game comparing him to Robinson completely undervalues what Robinson meant to the Spurs and severely undermines the level of his game.
Robinson >>>> Bosh
Correct me if I'm wrong...but didn't David score 71 on the last game of the season, to beat out Shaq for the scoring le? If so, then it's impossible that his quadruple double came "2 months after he scored 71".
You're right, the 71 point game was the last game of the season. I think they got it backwards. The 71 point game was 2 months after the quad-double.
The quad-double was February 17, 1994.
The 71 point game was April 24, 1994.
Quad-Dub came in a playoff game?
Great find duncan228!
I never get tired of hearing the Admiral get his due. Without him, San Antonio wouldn't have the Spurs today. He is the epitome of what a professional basketball player should be and there will never be another #50 in the league.
Even though he just made it to the finals, D. Howard would be a better comparision, and he's not in David's league yet either.
What the author said about Robinson in his prime taking the Pacers or Nets deep in the playoffs this year is probably true. And to go a step further, I think if you put the Admiral in his prime on last year's Magic instead of Howard, they beat LA in 6. His offense and defense were both that much better than Howard's are.
The only thing I don't really get is how the author can make claims like that and then STILL argue that David is the number 2 option on a really good team. I think that's true no more so than it was about Kobe prior to last year. And obviously that was a ridiculous argument too. Both players just need to be surrounded by proper talent.
He is the reason I became a Spurs fan. I admired his athletic ability and still admire his dedication and passion for education.
I love DROB, reason i became a Spurs fan living in NYC. Love him off the court as well as a Christian brother.
If there is a player in Robinson's pre-Duncan cir stance today, it might be Toronto's Chris Bosh, Powell said.
"He's the best player on Toronto, but on a championship team, he'd be a No. 2 option," the coach said.
Oh go screw yourself, Republican Sports Desk. Robinson, until injuries got the best of him, was number 2 to noone.
unfortunately it did not come in a playoff game. all the quad-doub games were in regular season. if i'm not mistaken tim duncan's 2003 finals game 6 is the most productive across-the-board playoff game ever.
wasn't it like 20 pts, 20 rb, 10 assists, 8 blks? and wasn't there another block credited to claxton?
Duncan's line was 21 points, 20 boards, 10 assists, and 8 blocks.
comparing David Robinson to Chris Bosh is like Comparing a bald eagle to a humming bird, thus Bosh being the Humming bird.
LOL Bosh
Damn David Robinson means SO MUCH to me... he is probably my 1a favorite Spur all time... and the reason why i am a Spurs fan
Reading about the Admiral never gets old.
Comparing Robinson to Bosh is an insult to Robinson's game.
Not that Bosh is chopped liver, but you don't go out and compare one of the best defensive player of all time to one who couldn't spell defense with a dictionary.
On the offensive end, Robinson was stronger, runs the court better, passes better, penetrates better, and has more consistency within 18 feet.
One was a DPoY, RoY, MVP, all-nbaer, all defensive nbaer, scoring champ, rebounding champ, block shot champ, and ther other is none of any of that.
Thanks.
Miss DRob.
David had so much less talent surrounding him, and yet the Spurs were consistently contenders. If it weren't for Rod "Oh look, I threw the ball to no one" Strickland, then the Spurs would have been champions way back...
I hate people saying that he couldn't win a championship by himself, its like they don't realize that it takes 12 people to win. Give Tim or any other star the same team as David had, and likely you would get the same results. It took Jordan a top 50 all time player to win his rings. Bird had an assortment of hall of famers, Magic had Kareem, Shaq had Kobe, no one wins rings without a team, to expect David to do it with what he had is just crazy. As much as I love Sean, he was meant to be a third fiddle, not a number 2 guy...
Great read until LOL
"Alvin Robinson" --> Alvin Robertson
I can see a bit of resemblance in Bosh's game, but David's pre-injury career was more like LeBron's. It's like the whole world has forgotten how ridiculous of an athlete David was up to about 96.
David Robinson = Dwight Howard + offensive ability
Robinson's defense was about 10x better than Dwight Howard. They don't even compare.
Robinson's in the group of Russell, Hakeem, pre-insane Rodman, Moncrief, Bowen and such in terms of defensive impact.
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