Robin to the Rescue
The Knicks’ key free agent signing last summer plays a crucial role in the short-term and long-term goals of the franchise

Robin Lopez is not the most braggadocios athlete nor is he a big time stat sheet filler. He is, though, a really big man with subtle, yet very important roles on this team.
Between rebounding, setting screens, and developing fellow big Kristaps Porzingis, Lopez exhibits many aspects that reflect his significance on the organization.
This article serves as an inspection into how Lopez’s game and veteran experience has played into the Knicks’ improved season thus far. We will examine his ability to fit into the Triangle as well as defensive capabilities and seemingly “intangible” properties Lopez displays.

Triangle Offense
Bill Cartwright. Luc Longley. Shaquille O’Neal. Pau Gasol.
Robin Lopez.
These centers played central roles (pun intended) in the Triangle offense for Phil Jackson’s championship teams the last two decades. The first two had a more subversive role for the Chicago Bulls. They indeed had Michael Jordan on their teams but neither posted huge numbers.
Cartwright averaged about 7.7 points per game during the 1991–93 threepeat. He also contributed 5.0 rebounds and approximately 1.4 assists per game. In the Bulls’ second threepeat run, Longley contributed a line of 9.8/5.5/2.37.
Now these numbers pale in comparison to the future Hall of Famer Shaq. He posted 28.5/12.3/3.5 and the 2000 championship was his career high in points per game. Let’s see what numbers Robin Lopez has put up this season so far:
Lopez scores 7.7 points per game with 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Those numbers are not horrendous when you keep in mind Carmelo Anthony is leading the team in scoring and second in assists while Calderon is slightly ahead in assists and Porzingis is the leading rebounder. So, from this information, we conclude that Lopez does not that a specific niche for the team.

O’Neal was the Lakers’ rebounder and powerful inside scoring machine (Kobe was there too, hi Mamba!). In a similar situation as Lopez, Longley’s normative center rebounding job was overshadowed by Dennis Rodman, one of the league’s greatest rebounder of all time.
The job of lack thereof one for Lopez is nothing new for him. RoLo still uses his almost line-drive baby hook shot to score. It’s quite an unusual shot but it’s very effective for the center. He has a good mid-range game, albeit lackluster this season, and grabs 2.4 offensive rebounds per game.
The ability to create second chance opportunities is really important for a successful team. High scoring teams will not only make a large amount of their shots, but they will also grab missed attempts and give themselves another opportunity to score without running back to defend.
Robin Lopez has already proved he can provide that role for this Knicks team. Lopez is a vicious pick-setter and often frees his pick-and-roll teammate with space. Now the Knicks don’t necessarily have guards who can utilize the space to get to the rim. However, the Knicks have some awesome pick-and-pop players for mid-range game.
Just from their starting rotation, New York’s four other players, Calderon, Afflalo, Anthony, Porzingis, are incredible shooters from mid-range. The four have a career two-point field goal percentage of 47.8%. Without the rookie Porzingis, that number is 49.1%. (via BBall_Ref)
This season, the four are shooting 49.45% and 51.3% without the rookie’s numbers. So, despite the movement away from mid-range jumpers and towards three-pointers, the Knicks do have the personnel to shoot these shots efficiently.
And it can be attained through a pick-and-roll initiated offense with Lopez or in the Triangle. Lopez in the post is adept to passing to his teammates and performing his baby hook shot.

Defense
Opponents this season are shooting 46.9% from less than 10 feet and 48.3% from less than six feet. About 61.6% of the shots opponents take against Robin Lopez are less than 10 feet away from the basket.
Lastly, the Diff% for opponents are -7.0% and -10.9% from the same two length markers. These numbers are very solid. It other words, they signify that Lopez is influencing the shots his opponents takes and altering them up to 11% of their field goal percentage. (via stats.NBA.com)
Lopez is also rebounding 14.5% of available defensive boards for the Knicks this season. Although it’s not the best number nor his personal best, for the team’s non-top rebounder, the percentage works. Compared to Porzingis, the team’s leading rebounder, the rookie collects 22.9% of available defensive boards.
Collecting rebounds is an important element to defense because, like Lopez’s offensive rebounding ability, it would deny second-chance opportunities for the opponents.

“Intangibles”
I’m not a fan of the “intangibles” aspect of player’s respective games. Mostly, I believe this because, for Lopez, what he brings to the Knicks other than offense/defense are quite specific.
Most importantly, he is a teacher and mentor to Kristaps Porzingis. Lopez can provide leadership for Porzingis as the Latvian learns the nuances of the game and the trials and tribulations of an NBA season. Boxing-out, positioning, and posting-up are all facets of basketball Porzingis can learn a first rate education from Lopez.
Porzingis and Lopez have already built a chemistry between the two seven footers. Lopez has assisted on 16 of Porzingis’ made shots this season. The rookie has made 168 shots and 116 of them have been assisted.
For the team’s fifth leading assister, this number is pretty cool. In even more detail, Lopez has 8.45% of the team’s assists this season. Out of his 60 assists, 16 are to the rookie. And this doesn’t cover passes to assists nor post-up opportunities for Porzingis.
Both guys love to block opponents and prevent any disruption to the Knick’s own basket. Also, he doesn’t mind watching Kristaps dunk:

Conclusion
Robin Lopez is valuable to the Knicks because, in his limited role, he is successful.
Lopez rebounds well and scores well in the shots he is given. He doesn’t take so many because that’s not his role. When given the opportunity, Lopez does everything he is asked to do well. And, he provides a mold for Porzingis to work through and learn.