The 2025-26 Boston Celtics were an elite regular season team last season because they dominated on the margins. Low turnovers and dominating the glass were the foundation. By signing Mitchell Robinson, the Celtics are deepening their belief in that idea.
No, Mitchell Robinson does not shoot threes and no, Mitchell Robinson will not become a three-point threat once he starts playing for the Celtics. Mazzulla Ball is not all about shooting threes. Are there still people who really still believe that?
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Mazzulla Ball is about dominating the margins — winning the possession battle and taking more shots than your opponent plays a big part of that and winning the rebounding and turnover battle are the best ways to win the possession battle.
Well, who better to add than the best offensive rebounder in the NBA?
Robinson had the best offensive rebounding rate in the NBA last season, rebounding 21.2% of Knicks misses, according to Cleaning the Glass. The Celtics were 5th in the NBA in offensive rebounding rate last season at 31.8%. Robinson will make the Celtics even better at something they were already very good at.
Robinson also took a big leap as a defensive rebounder a season ago. Entering last season, Robinson’s career high in defensive rebounding rate was 18.2% in 2023. Last season, that number jumped to 23.1%.
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After struggling at the beginning of last season due to rebounding, the Celtics shored up their defensive rebounding, they were 2nd in the NBA in defensive rebounding rate from December 1st on. The addition of Robinson and return of Jayson Tatum should boost them even higher in that regard.
Speaking of Tatum, the two man game between Robinson and Tatum should be elite. According to Basketball University, since 2016, Robinson is the most efficient roller in the NBA.
One thing the Celtics did not do a great job of last season was forcing turnovers. They ranked 23rd in opponent turnover percentage. Both big Celtics additions, Robinson and Paul George, will help with that.
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Robinson was 10th in the NBA among big men last season in steal percentage, at 2%. Robinson, in fact, is one of the best defensive players in the NBA.
An elite rim protector, Robinson is also very good when he switches, as seen by his steal percentage. He can move his feet extremely well, which allows for teams to switch more than they typically would. This can allow Boston to use Derrick White as their roamer and have Robinson guard centers.
Robinson does have his weak points. First is health; Robinson has missed games throughout his career and didn’t play in back-to-backs last season, something that I would expect to carry over into this season. Secondly is the free throw shooting.
I feel like we all know Robinson is a really bad free throw shooter. It was hard to miss the “worst in NBA history” graphic during the Finals.
The good news for the Celtics is they don’t ever get to the line, so they don’t spend much time in the bonus, which means teams can’t play Hack-a-Mitch.
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Mitchell Robinson is an awesome player who is going to fit in beautifully with the Celtics next season as they look to get back to the Finals. Also, if someone says “Mazzulla Ball is all about threes,” just ignore them because they don’t know what they are talking about.
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