As a sophomore, Anthony Robinson II changed the dynamics of the Missouri basketball roster. The expectations outside the program were for Tony Perkins to be the lead guard and Robinson to enter into a larger role than he saw as a freshman, but still largely a backup.
But 30 starts later, Robinson had inserted himself as one of the most valuable pieces in the lineup. He landed on the All SEC Defensive team, lead the team in EvanMiya.com’s BPR rating, and looked to be a significant fixture for the program moving forward. Going into the season, Robinson was even fielding some good NBA Draft Buzz, enough to the point where it was realistic for him to enter the draft after a good Junior season.
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Even with a somewhat quiet start, Robinson seemed to be finding his footing early in the non-conference slate, and even into the early parts of the SEC league play… but something still seemed off. He was averaging 11.5 points after the first 14 games, but there was no consistency. He scored 19 points against Florida, but scored 11 combined against Kansas and Notre Dame.
Where sophomore Ant had an Offensive Rating of 120.3 and a free throw rate of 79.5%, and he shot 40% from distance. Junior Ant’s ORtg dropped to 107.6, a free throw rate of 47.6%, and his three point percentage dropped to 31.4%. Even his marker, the defensive side, saw slippage. One of the country’s 10 best steal rates fell to 86th.
Basically nothing was working.
The point where a shoe-in to start at the beginning of the year was moved to the bench for the last 14 games.
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Mizzou turned to T.O. Barrett as the starting point guard in an effort to juice the lagging offense.
Robinson was lost, but not completely ineffective. The best version of this years Tigers involved an Anthony Robinson keeping the efficiency he found as a sophomore, but moving up in minutes. Basically the good version of Ant but more. That version flashed at times in the first two thirds of the season, but he wasn’t consistent enough for the Tigers to count on.
With the Mizzou offense scuffling, Robinson was needed to make a contribution and they were never able to fully count on him.
But the issues with last years roster weren’t solely on Robinson. A constant and high level point guard would have served the team well, but they just never got consistent play from anyone. Well other than Mark Mitchell.
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Guard play at this level is vital, and Missouri had guards who were capable of getting it done. Robinson shot the ball better down the stretch but he didn’t reach the level of attacking guard they needed to take the next step.
After the disappointment of his Junior season it didn’t seem likely Robinson would return. Even though he fit well with a guy like Jason Crowe, Jr. he still was likely to take a significant pay cut. Without consistent play Mizzou was going to have to ask if the budget for a guy like Ant made sense. Ultimately it didn’t for either party. Robinson could make more on the open market, and Missouri needed to invest its budget elsewhere.
At Florida State Ant will have the chance to reset closer to home. He’s still capable of being a primary guard, but very likely at this point better if he’s the 3rd or 4th option instead of the 1st or 2nd. So we wish him luck at Florida State and hope he puts it all together in Tallahassee.
