Twelve years ago, Rumeal Robinson was the best high school player in the state of Massachusetts. Now he's trying to find room in a star-glutted NBA.

Part 4

by Tom Scocca

If Robinson seems better prepared to score on his own than to run a team offense, it's no surprise. You can't learn the craft without playing time, and you can't get playing time unless somebody trusts you to learn the craft. Ever since the Hawks decided they wanted Mookie Blaylock, Robinson has been wrestling with that problem. "He's never played a lot of minutes," his agent, Dwight Manley, says. "It's just luck of the draw."

So it was that, after two years stuck behind Anderson in New Jersey and Muggsy Bogues in Charlotte, averaging 18 minutes a game when he played at all, he ended up in Rapid City and Shreveport. "The CBA was a good opportunity for me," Robinson says. "I got more on the floor, and it gave me the opportunity to play point guard for a whole season." In his stint there, he averaged 20.9 points, 4.6 assists, and 33.9 minutes a game. "It's a league where you find yourself," he says.

Spending some time in the CBA has paid off for a number of important NBA role players. John Starks, the Knicks' sparkplug shooting guard who was voted the league's best reserve player last year, is a CBA product. So are Hornets forward Anthony Mason and Miami Heat backup center Isaac Austin. And when the Celtics needed a mature hand to guide them this fall, when rookie point guard and top draft pick Chauncey Billups turned out not to be ready, they turned to CBA-trained Bruce Bowen. But Robinson has yet to find a similar place.

In Detroit, Robinson is auditioning to be the Pistons' backup point guard, behind four-year veteran Lindsay Hunter. With no other point guards in camp, he's optimistic about his prospects. "I'm shooting the ball well; I'm seeing people while I'm going to the basket," he says. "I feel good. . . . My goal is just to be able to make the Detroit Pistons team."

But in the Pistons' first six preseason games, Robinson scarcely touches the ball: fifteen minutes and three assists in a loss to Orlando; nine minutes and two assists in a win over Orlando; and a total of seven minutes in the other four contests. A playoff team with championship aspirations, Detroit wants players who can succeed right away, rather than learning as they go. And in the Pistons' offense, superstar forward Grant Hill takes over much of the ball-handling responsibility, which means the point guard position is less important. Like the Chicago Bulls, the Pistons use an additional shooting guard in place of a backup point guard. "We're not a typical team," Gentry says. "We've got a lot of perimeter players. That doesn't leave a lot of minutes for people to play."

"If Lindsay Hunter gets injured, then they desperately need him," Manley says. But Hunter makes it through the preseason intact, leading the team with 14 points in a 92-88 win over the Denver Nuggets in their final tune-up. Robinson plays 21 minutes, thanks to minor injuries to guard Aaron McKie and to Hill -- the latter having taken two stitches in the face after butting heads with Robinson in practice; he scores nine points, but turns the ball over three times and records no assists. At press time, the Pistons hadn't made the last round of cuts, but Perry Farrell, who covers the team for the Detroit Free Press, says Robinson "has no chance" of making the team.

The league is not holding its breath for the results. Allen Iverson is in Newsweek. Kobe Bryant is getting quality time with the Lakers. Behind them, another generation is arriving: Tim Thomas, Chauncey Billups, Tony Battie, Ron Mercer. A new year is under way, and Robinson, barring a dramatic reversal, will be looking for a job.

"When the season ends, Rumeal Robinson will be on someone's roster," Gentry says. "One way or the other, he'll be in the NBA."

Back to part 3

Tom Scocca can be reached at tscocca[a]phx.com.