Jaxson Robinson almost got this steal Tuesday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Point guard Jaxson Robinson flirted with going to the NBA after last season at BYU before deciding to transfer to Kentucky to play for coach Mark Pope again.
Robinson is the only player on the UK roster who had played for Pope going into this season and was expected to be Kentucky’s best player and go-to scorer this season.
Robinson was impressive in Kentucky’s first two games but struggled in Tuesday’s 77-72 win over Duke. Not only did he score just one point, but he only took four shots and obviously missed them all. He was even 1-for-3 at the foul line.
Robinson also had just one rebound in 26 1/2 minutes along with one steal. He did not have an assist.
That was not the kind of performance Kentucky fans — or maybe even NBA scouts at the game in Atlanta — expected from the player perceived to be UK’s best offensive threat.
Pope defended his star guard, who seemed to tweak his ankle a bit in the first half, after the game.
“We didn’t win without Jax because Jax is such an impact guy. Talk about a gravity guy. You just throw Jax on the court, and four guys are leaning towards him,” the Kentucky coach said. “His numbers may not be huge, but he has an impact when he walks in the gym, he has an impact on the scout, he has an impact on all those things.”
Pope has watched Robinson grow into an “exceptional leader” at Kentucky.
“These guys know that it’s not about him either. That doesn’t mean we don’t all care and want to be successful individually, we sure do, but it’s not about Jax either,” Pope said.
“I think Jax has made a huge contribution tonight in all the ways he does. Come on, that’s a dangerous man. That’s a really dangerous man.”
7 Responses
I admire the way that Pope defended Jax. Jax is super talented, but does he have the courage to walk out in the bright lights on the biggest stage and display that talent? He did so in the first two games, albeit against less competition. Maybe knowing that 70+ NBA scouts were in attendance distracted him. The next 4 games will give him the chance to get his focus back on track as I am sure that he will do so. We will need him in a big way in the many big games that we still have left to play. Pope is good about instilling confidence in his players and he KNOWS how good Jax is. The team knows how good Jax is. Jax knows how good he is. We have seen how good Jax is. Jackson will be ok and will be in the thick of things come next Tuesday. He will be a leader of our team.
I trust Pope knows his players, especially one he has had before this season.
Anyone can have an off-night in any game and an injury definitely can take a toll on performance.
Some nights you just have to be the distraction because you are the focal point of the defense. Duke was keyed in on Jackson and everyone else did what we want a "team" to do. Take up the slake and make them pay. It was great seeing the other players not sitting back waiting on Jackson to take over. We have 10 players that can make a big impact in their own way, just doing what they are good at. No need to worry when 1 is having a tough night. Let the defense lean toward him and open it up for everyone else. With this team, I’ll take those odds every night.
Coaches always have to defend players when they are MIA, but I do feel that Pope over defended a player. Let’s hope this is more a one time incident, but Jax clearly was not mentally in the game. Can’t remember the last time I was this pumped up for UK BB.
Whether he score 50 or 2 it’s you shouldn’t be judged on 1 game with such a long season ahead.
Have we forgotten the 2012 championship when Anthony Davis was 1 for 10? It truly is about how the team plays together not just one player.
Lets face it, Jax is great. But, he did seem to want to shoot bad shots against Bucknell. He seems like the only guy that is worried about his stats. We don’t need that, and he needs to let the game come to him.