Sixers coach Brett Brown shoots down comments by Glenn Robinson III about not knowing his role
Brown says the roles for all players were explained to them after the all-star break.
As if the 76ers aren’t having enough problems with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons out with injuries, the team had to put out another fire concerning comments by Glenn Robinson III.
Acquired at the trade deadline Feb. 6 from Golden State, Robinson told Basketball Insiders that his role on the Sixers wasn’t explained to him.
Coach Brett Brown took exception to that Thursday.
“That is not true,” he said, before the Sixers 115-106 win over the New York Knicks at the Wells Fargo Center.
“After the All-Star break, every single one of them got a road map: ‘This is your role. This is what we expect, done,' ” Brown said.
Robinson, who will be a free agent after the season, averaged a career-best 12.9 points on a Golden State team that has the fewest wins in the NBA.
“I get it when you have a career year on a poor team, and it’s a contract year, I understand it,” Brown said. “I coached those years myself. And so in the middle of it all, he’s good people, he’s a good person, and he’s trying to figure out what his next step is while coexisting in a team framework.”
Robinson has averaged 5.7 points and 15 1/2 minutes in his seven games with the Sixers.
Before the game Thursday, he said his comments were “a little blown out of proportion.”
When asked what intended to say, Robinson replied, “But I did say that; I just want to figure out what my role is to help this team.”
Robinson acknowledged that things are a work in progress.
“I’ve only been here five, six games, and hopefully we’ll adjust with things that are happening,” he said. “I am just really trying to figure out a flow offensively and defensively and what I can do to contribute.”
One frustration is three-point shooting. In his seven games, Robinson is 0-for-9 from beyond the arc. With Golden State, he was 68-for-170 (40 percent).
Robinson was in the starting lineup against the Knicks, his third start with the Sixers. He played 21:05 and had four points, three rebounds, and a plus-6 rating.