Duncan Robinson on His Unlikely Rise As an NBA Player | The JJ Redick Podcast | The Ringer

all right welcome to this week's episode of the JJ reddick podcast with Tommy altar I'm joined by a fellow podcaster it turns out Duncan Robinson from the Miami Heat Duncan I understand that you had a podcast while you were at Michigan I did yeah first off appreciate you having me on was not to the level of this production I'm quite impressed by what you guys got going on here but yeah just a teammate of mine we just kind of documented our run in the tournament so it was cool of you do we did about five I think the challenge was like developing a consistent schedule we're just kind of all over the place because you know college you have like class practice all sorts of coordinate we had I think we actually tweeted out somebody if they could like edit and everything and then some somebody I came through and he actually did a really good job like the production was pretty solid what you did it during the tournament yeah so that was like part of what kind of that's why I got some notoriety because we would like play a game and then we would the next day we just like record and we'd like kind of give some insight on the game and where can I find these they're they're all like the Apple Apple podcast it's a hobby here we go it's uh it's called the doc and um try to plug your pie instead at this point I mean it's you know we haven't we haven't recorded one in about two years to find it would you bring would you do it again if he falls off you know we need we're in the market for that I mean he's got a good thing going um but I don't know maybe we'll see I'm trying to focus on basketball at least to this stage of my career so we'll see do you want to get to some other stuff before we start asking Duncan questions I feel like this is gonna be more of our intro that we normally do well let's let's do some food stuff okay let's do it what do you got um well we were talking when when we're coming in about some of the stuff that you do on the road because you've been the league now for two years and you're in this place where you know you're a lot of free time you got some money you're in all these different cities you're trying to we have a second one to choke call board in the road we just talked about like what you do when you're literally bored on the road what's your process like like when you land in a random city yeah great question I've gotten big into like food restaurants and stuff honestly like I'll I'll just like pull up an app Yelp is kind of my go-to actually listening to this podcast I yeah you uh showed me about infatuation I didn't I didn't know about that prior to this so I appreciate that go in the comments like him yeah I'm not at that level yet I feel like infatuation gets a lot of plug on this podcast so let's eaters also good eaters another one so hope is an incredible resource so I've actually I've heard some summarizing opinions on Yelp that there's like not as much legitimacy as like actual food critics cuz anybody can just like rather write a yelp review but it's proven to be pretty solid for me I also go offer recommendations I'll ask somebody if they like know the city well so and then I usually yeah I'll just like I know somebody in the city I'll meet up with them and we'll just grab a meal give a minimum star threshold for Yelp is it one point two four point I dried it I try to get four and a half most times you can find a four and a half within walking distance I like to walk because you get a better feel for the city to versus like get an uber attack what's been like the diamond-in-the-rough find I went to this this is kind of cheating because it was with Kelly who's from Toronto where it spent a lot of time in Toronto but I went to this like omakase place in Toronto it was like it's like a block or two from the shangri-la Hotel that was unbelievable I wasn't necessarily expecting to having like great sushi in Toronto but if anybody can find it it'd be be Kelly we did a we did a power ranking earlier earlier today about top five meals under $10 so like all over the country so basically like we itis sandwich say Turkey the wolf which we reference number nine on this show today doesn't count because it was $11 so we need it so we need we need some spots and they don't have to be spots for the last two years I could sponsor your whole life that wherever you've had we're like okay to Taco it's a no I was actually I got a grant for you the taco stand in would in Miami Oh incredible you've had it incredible so everybody loves Koyo taco that's the one everyone wants to go to taco stands better taco stands is I think better that's kind of like my spot I live like right by there too so it's it's easy to get to you live in Wynwood Midtown so nearby yeah what shirt Miami what are your main takeaways of the city basketball aside it was a lot honestly when I first got there you know I'm from New Hampshire repping New Hampshire what's cool is why I felt like Miami just felt like a whole different whole different worlds quite honestly so it's been a little bit of an adjustment but now that I've like kind of gotten used to it I mean the weather obviously first and foremost is like unbelievable but like the restaurant scene has been huge to I think like I'm not like I really go out like that in terms of like clubs or whatever so I try to just like stay away from the Miami Beach in general but I'm a big fan I just want to point out that I'm not drinking I'm back-to-back episodes we were recording this rustic urban for the YouTube viewers we're recording this right after we did Jimmy and I'm working on the same glass of wine I don't want our YouTube viewers to think that this is what we do now on the podcast that's not no definitely not it's definitely not what we do I remember when I got drafted I was like I'm going to Orlando like this is crazy such a big city I I can't imagine what it was like preconceived notion of Miami versus reality of Miami any any stark differences um I mean yeah you think of Miami and you just think alike obviously the tropical but also just at least for me like everyone goes there spring break or whatever like that whole club scene but there are like more low-key parts of Miami which I've like kind of grown to appreciate last year was tough cuz I was like back and forth in the G League so when I was in Miami I was just in a hotel but this year I've actually been able to kind of like get out and experience the city a little bit more you you've had an incredible story so we should we should touch on this a little bit but just it's it's incredible to me I was on your Wikipedia page today you were you were a senior in high school in like 2011-2012 right that's C 2012 yeah yeah they're your first year before you did a post-grad there and you've played like this is now eight years later and you played like what 68 games or 70 games Counting last year yeah so it's been an incredible journey to get to this point it really is so just take us through from like graduating high school doing the post-grad year at Exeter and then kind of once you get to Williams and how you decided to go to Williams yeah sure I'll start off with saying I just wasn't very good in high school I was like a late bloomer or whatever so I was like five six is a freshman I hardly played my whole junior year I started to play a little bit more as a senior and then it's pretty common in New England not really common elsewhere but I took a fifth year postgraduate so I went to Phillips Exeter for a year which is like it's basically like a small college I mean it's unbelievable campus academics her are tough I didn't have any offers so at that point I felt like I had like not really had a high school basketball experience so I wanted to go somewhere where I knew I was going to play I had a great relationship with the coachable inch at the time mic maker so I committed to him before I even played a game at Exeter and you know after I started playing some Division one schools kind of started to reach out but at that point I wanted to go somewhere where I knew I was gonna be valued and at least be on the court and then I'm you know played a year Williams loved it there you know tiny school in the middle of nowhere great school no great experience and then he actually left he took a Division one job and I was gonna stay there all four years with him for sure like no doubt but when he left it kind of opened up some doors and he was actually an assistant for John Beilein at West Virginia so he kind of bridge the gap between myself and coach pilla and you know our first coach behind just reached out he was like you know if you wanted me come as a walk-on we might have a spot for you and he looked at some of my film and all of a sudden like a week later I was on campus official visit committed on my visit and you know did four years in Michigan sat.1 and played three I find it really interesting that you were it was it was it was part of the deal that you wanted to go somewhere to who be one but it had to be a great academic school was that because the NBA was obviously the radar at this thought yeah I mean is it's every kid's dream obviously but to say it was like something I was planning on would be just a flat-out lie you know Williams is a great school and my mom was like really excited that I was going there and she didn't want me to leave so if I was gonna leave it was gonna have to be one where the basketball fit made sense and to that it was it was a really good school so I kind of put together a list of like schools that would be worth leaving and my eyes never in a million years I thought that anyone would reciprocate you know wanting me there and it was like there's like five of them Michigan was on there and you know like I said all of a sudden I'm on campus and I'm committing on my visit at what point I'm I'm guessing this is when you were at Michigan but at what point where you mentally did it like flip and you were just like okay all these guys or whatever McDonald's all-americans all these things and like I can play with them yeah I mean it was a constant battle um you know my career at Michigan wasn't exactly smooth sailing either you know I started a lot my sophomore year got benched my junior year started the beginning of my senior year and got benched halfway through my senior year so there's always been that constant kind of not necessarily questioning but you know doubt has a way of kind of creeping in the back of the mind so I always just try to fall back on what I've always done and that's just kind of say the course I'm stay with it and you know put in the work and things will usually take care of themselves I feel like there's a shooter too we are constantly battling the mental side of it I talk about this all the time but there is there is a there's a burden that comes with being a shooter and whatever I'm so you want to be a shooter or not but there's a there's a burden that comes with that the expectation of making shots because you don't get the ball a lot yeah so when you do it's usually to shoot the ball and so it's like that rhythm and then you have those stretches like you know three big stretch to each stretch whatever and that doubt starts creeping in and it can like [ __ ] you up yeah I mean for me like it can be crippling for sure I mean so I I played summer league I want to drafted played summer league with the heat and I had it one of the stretches where I made shots and I was obviously you know sometimes you go to shows where you do sometimes you go through stretches where you don't and I got to training camp but I remember it was like three weeks straight like I didn't make a shot like a workouts maybe but like when we played live whether we pick up coaches in the gym or not whatever I couldn't make anything this is right when you got it right when I got to like right before training camp and you know I'm sure you may be felt well actually probably you haven't cuz you've well I mean maybe you have but I don't know but like people looking around like how this guy was supposed to shoot it I mean like and there's just kind of this like thing and then you just start to like double down on yourself and you're just kind of you know the mental side of it as I mentioned it can just be it's more than half the battle at least in my opinion I don't think I've made a shot in training camp in like five years I sit next to Ken rich Williams on the plane and um we we had like this inner squad scrimmage and he's like after I play I should made shots and I score like 22 points right in like two quarters you know and I made shots and then he's like he's like hey man like I didn't I didn't realize you could still shoot and I'm like we were all talking about you didn't make a shot in training camp we were looking at the stats earlier today and like one of the things which is so crazy about this and I feel like it's starting to get a lot of attention in the NBA or nationally or whatever it is it's like it's not it's not just that you've had this sort of miraculous story and you've made it here but you're making it here and you're thriving on a really good team and so now I was looking this before it's you've made 225 three-pointers most threes by any player in his first two seasons most threes by an undrafted player a season ever like you're obviously a soup kind of grounded the humble dude in general but like this it's kind of like what the [ __ ] like this is it's a very sort of disney-esque story to come from being it's one thing to go to Michigan and have a great sort of college career or something to come into the NBA and do this when you were to your point weren't even really playing that much the senior in high school yeah it's you know I'm in it and it's hard to have my mind around at times I just try to make the most of it I mean that I certainly didn't expect any of this um you know I've kind of learned in my career to not expect things because the moment you do and they don't turn out the way you know it's just like yeah it just makes it more more difficult but I did think that I was capable and you know we talked about the mental side of it you know it's kind of this combination of like I do have extreme confidence in myself I know that I can really shoot but there's still you want to see that the ball go through at this level and and prove that you can do it at this level surrounded by guys or you grow up watching on TV so it's it's been a process you know I think my confidence is is still growing it helps a ton I'm not just saying it cuz he's in the room but like having a guy like Jimmy and really my whole team like Jimmy doesn't mean when I don't shoot so like to have a guy like that cuz I've heard stories where it's just not that way so I feel fortunate for that I had forgotten Jimmy was in the room still the he'd have this like we were talking with Jimmy last week on the pod and also 30 minutes ago just about the heat culture or whatever but one of the things that's really unique about the heat culture and I think I probably put the Raptors in this too is their development program how important do you think for your career was just being in the right situation oh it was huge um I'm a I'm a firm believer and for me at least like situation was gonna be everything I felt that way when I was transferring I felt that way obviously when I was fortunate enough to be able to choose because I was undrafted I guess getting undrafted makes me 4-channel know however you want to look at that but yeah I mean the Development Program there's been incredible last year was huge for me gaining experience being up you know with the heat but then also learning and growing through mistakes and being able to showcase my abilities with the G League and then you know obviously wasn't in the rotation much last year but every single day was you know I was I was being invested in from the coaching staff to the training staff in the weight room and all that so I just I loved everything they stand for and it's a huge reason as to why I've been able to get to where I am in my career is it true that SPO yells at you if you dribble the ball inside the three-point line it's not uh it's not exactly what it sounds like but it's more so that I pass up shooting beyond the three-point line um you know he loves to point out every time that I don't shoot and it leads to a turnover or maybe a so yeah he loves pointing that one out but he's also like always a Meyer about just being more there's a great article about you in The Wall Street Journal that Ben Cohen wrote back in December you talked about how one of your coaches said that you passing up shots is selfish and that when then when you got the NBA and SPO would get on you about not shooting you had to like change your mentality and I think for the average fan they don't understand for a guy like me and you like what would be it normally be a bad shot for some people like we have to take those shots it's very unique I actually went through it a little bit early in the season because it's coming in a new situation and you know you did your coaches are not used to you taking certain shots I just like look these are the shots I take these just this is how I made my career they're not good shots for everybody but they're they're good shots for me yeah I mean there's there's a learning curve with that like anything and I I certainly went through it it's kind of like a foreign concept or at least it was at the time like how is me taking what seems like a bad shot like or not taking a shot selfish yeah I mean it's like almost backwards but like you like anything I just tried to like apply it grow through it you know make some mistakes with it but now it's kind of like once it gets to the point where it just kind of becomes second nature I'm not saying it's there but it's like trending towards getting there and a huge part of its just being comfortable you know I mean I and that's one thing that I feel really fortunate about with our team is that I just feel really comfortable out there what it what's your career high so far for three-point attempts in a game I'm on top here I think it's like 15 maybe 15 I want to say that's good what's yours 15 15 and Witcher Grapher makes 10 10 and you're 9 last night I did not yeah but I mean like they they were showing me stuff of Wayne Ellington was using me like he had a couple games we took 20 or 21 I think yeah I had a guardian for playoff series oh yeah there's he's if he's in the game they're running play for 100 percent is crazy I've watched a ton of stuff on how to see you but but him just because it's a lot of the same action is he's just running right it's crazy but yeah are you who are like this is actually who were the guys when you were growing up that you were like look up to or like tried to emulate like who were the guys I mean this is gonna feel like pandering but having a hundred percent just like a lot of a lot of the the ways that you get your shots and how like you are creative with how you get your shots and also one of the things that I've tried to like adapt obviously you're like it from everything I've heard is the first time we really met but yeah you're a great dude off the court but like you step between the lines it's like a different persona mentality and not something that I feel like you kind of need to survive honestly at this level or at least I'm learning that you you do so like that and then also you know Kyle Korver klay Thompson I grew up a Celtics fan so so Ray Allen as well but yeah I mean there's Steph obviously you know change the game in a lot of ways but uh you know something about the way particularly you in Kyle Korver and klay get shots definitely resonated with me do you feel like and I'm glad Jimmy's in the room to hear this question but you do you feel like it's like every night because you're because you're a white shooter do you feel like you get challenged every night the way and so that persona like you have it's part of your survival mechanism yeah 100% I mean first and foremost defensively yeah you know he was just like yeah and that and that's something I've been dealing with my whole life I don't know if you you can relate to you're probably so Jimmy was in Minnesota and I guarded him on the block and he later told me that he was mad because the Sixers had put a white guy on him Jimmy would say with all due respect you know you lets me know regularly in practice of whatever matched outfit yes I can't guard him but you know this we make each other better or at least he makes me better I don't know how much better I know you are you getting heckled on the road uh I'm still pretty unknown man like what happens like in Utah I hit a couple in the first half and then people made me start to say something but like I still feel like something like who is it like what is this guy what's his deal like you know why is he even out here because I want to pretty unassuming at least I think I'm tall but other than that it's that's about where it stops what was it what was like the three-point contest for you this year being able to participate in that it was it was a great experience uh super happy to do it the weekend was a whirlwind I mean it's it's crazy just how much it means you for shot for a minute and ten seconds with the new rules but like all the stuff that goes into that it like it's crazy so you just never quite feel like you really have a break I don't particularly love the format of it I feel like shooting off a rack yeah like that's your mat that's no the new format was I just meant more so like everybody just kind of goes on in the core you get two minutes to warm up then you're like pulling off the rat feels a little unnatural I practice for it and still you know pretty much laid an egg but you know it's I hope to do it again I want to just have the you know the competitive side of me wants to go back and try to win it but we'll see when you got so in Chicago there's not an extra gym in that stadium right so there's a set something up they have the center that have a care center which is like they're practically right across street so we were like we had the option to like walk to the other it was like two degrees out right walk to the other gym so like I went over there most guys did I went over there before and shot for a little bit but you know we still like 45 minutes leading up to it we just had like the two minutes cuz what Barclays had like a half-court shoot on and then Toronto obviously has like that weird practice facility like the third level so you always able to like practice a little bit was that back-to-back years yeah I was 10 I did not do boney what was your experience with it I'm curious it's the same thing I mean it's like you'd spend the whole weekend there you've got media you've got community stuff you're trying to take care of your people and then you shoot for like my time was a minute right and I didn't do well and then you walk off and you're like that was it yeah so I did I did set the record for most long twos and a three point concept for well you you jump forward to and you I've noticed that like yeah did you do that did you shoot those same shots the same same way so like yeah I jump forward so there's I got had to retreat to go heal on set stuff yeah did you have any issues with like the timing no I didn't I don't I got them all up but that's a that's a big problem the good thing in real games I get four-point plays cuz I jump forward you know it's very true even Jae Crowder Jay Carter gets more four-point players than anybody I've ever seen he's had like four since he's been with us bi Brandon Ingram he's he's starting to master it a little bit - he's getting that just that little like it's not even it's probably like six to 12 inches tilt like towards the rim yeah see we got [ __ ] clipped I don't get any I've gotten one all year it's how I shoot I can't shoot another way I've tried I've tried getting fouled I'm not getting the calls or just not getting it I mean I I get hit on my wrist all the time and then I looks like hand to hand follow-through it's like it's on a foul the thing that frustrates me the most right now is like the grabbing I'll try to leave early on I'm pinned down or whatever and I just get grabbed but I you know I also don't get the respect to complain I do you know do these officials least at this point in my career so it's kind of how to deal with women in your career did you start getting those balls my free-throw rates always been pretty good no that's always been like I remember though my first year second year I think it might have been bennett salvator is one of the old old referees I tried to do like the cut through the lane and you know rip underneath the guy's arm and I would get that at Duke and he's like geez like stop doing that JJ I watched all your games at Duke and I was like alright I'm never doing that once again but guys it inevitably grabbed us like it's just a thing I feel like the like subtle Jersey tug is my it's my pet peeve like when a guy and I went off and like a guy will Kyle Lowry does this all the time like I'll just grab it real quick yeah to like almost catch up to you yeah this is the man the ref can you catch it cuz you can't really tell yeah you're you're creative without you get to the line like I'm still at the point where I won't do like the shot fake into somebody because what happens when they don't call it and I just like throw you know I don't have like the Moxie or whatever like the confidence and just like do that yet to be willing to fall on some grenades yeah that's what I've learned but you know maybe I'll get there at some point we'll see no but I feel like this is so there's the shots you take in a game cuz like I last night you took 12 threes right yeah for the for the listener it is so hard to take 12 shots in NBA game when you're shooting the percentage that Duncan is shooting it's incredibly hard he's not getting swing swing spot shots it's on the move over people so you're already like to me if you're like trying to get to line like you just got a swallow a couple yeah go get them in the air yeah it's and also to its like it's a its end of the shot clock one dribble everybody jumps in the shot clock yeah that's the best time to do it see that's just shot fake and you jump into not jump into him a lot of times they don't call the jump into but you get him up in the air going towards you they have to give you that yeah I always have liked when I watched a film after the game I always have regret over like one or two times in every game they like I could have done it there oh I could have done there and the staff is like like we're okay if you like like you said they're not a couple grand late if it happens you don't get it like we're okay with it like we need you to like learn how to do this because I you know I shoot 90 from LA but I don't get to the line unless it's like I get grabbed on like a cut or something like that do you use do you I found it with the chef like on a closeout and I get a shot fake opportunity like three or four years ago and prior to that my whole career my mindset was always to take that dribble in and shoot like a 17-footer and it was a I thought it was a pretty high percentage shot for me and like last year in Philly the beginning of the year their analyst guy was like here's what that you shoot it well but here's what that shots worth right if you sidestep here's what it's worth and when I saw that I was like it actually messed me up at the beginning season because I was thinking about too much but now it's like programmed into all of us to just sidestep yeah so I took that same shot in Michigan and I just step it just step into and that was one of the first things when I got to Miami that they said like yeah you're not shooting that anymore it's either a sidestep or you're hitting a big and chasing it like that's it yeah you're not you're not gonna be allowed to shoot layups I mean yeah I love the truth Lance but like my layups are like pretty much uncontested you know morning you do have some of my favorite box scores ever yeah you're like field six for that's pretty regular take it to it's great do you have any repetitions or superstitions that you do before the games I mean I have I have my shooting routine um that I I kind of play with a little bit here and then right now I'm like pretty consistently doing the same thing I do like some breathing stuff some stretching stuff and I just have like when I eat my my pregame meal other than that I don't have anything like put on this sock first or nothing like that I know some shooters who do I don't I don't know if you have anything like that mostly just my routine it's a routine it's not a superstition no I would actually I really want I said this the other day but I really want a camera to follow me from the time I get up on a game day to when the game ends and I'm in the cold tub not for anyone else to see just for me so that I can look back in 20 years and be like what a [ __ ] weird guy in the room has been nominated for some YouTube awards production come about this camera work all right for this week's Power Rankings Duncan's gonna take control here he's gonna do his five holy [ __ ] I can't believe I'm playing against this guy Power Rankings so you guys just not not in this a tall order no I can just kind of go I mean first and foremost LeBron yeah I remember watching him last year I'd sat on the bench the little game we had I think 50 I think in Miami or at least 40 and then this year when we played against them both times it's just yeah you know you see it on TV but like to see acknowledge you know he did no no I think he actually I think actually he was guarding me this we played them early in the season at this point I hadn't really like done much so he was guarding me and he was just like sitting in the paint and I made a shot and he was kind of like scoffed at me like and I shouldn't shoot well that game that was like crusted all out that one for sure last year in the few games I did play I actually had to guard Victor Oladipo okay and that was like my one from lash you know if you had asked me that question this past summer it would've been Victor Oladipo he's just like always and go more I didn't really stand much of a chance um she Shu else I mean it would be like Stefan clay but they've been out this year and you're not gonna get to play against me KD KD man I don't I don't really have actually I'm actually a big when I was coming out like pre-draft I'm a big joe ingles fan uh cuz when I my pre draft was right when you just had that series with the Thunder yeah and he was like talking [ __ ] Paul George he was like you know kind of like I don't say come on to the scene because everyone knew at that point he was still really good but like he was kind of making his claim I was like this two-way player and I would like kind of compare myself to him you know cuz you always get that question and pretty jab stuff like who do you remind yourself over whatever so you would say Joe angles player and I know Julian was like at least from what I've heard talks a ton of [ __ ] I don't know if I can curse in this podcast in like when we were playing each other this year I didn't know if he was gonna like converse with me or actually like kind of go at me so just kind of feeling it out and then we ended up just kind of having like a little bit of a conversation which is kind of you do you talk is that why you compare yourself to Joe I like I don't want to say like talk [ __ ] to like two people but like I'll say stuff if I like kind of get going like make a shot um more so like about it you turned around to our bench this year when we played you in Miami which I also didn't play in that game yeah you didn't plan on giving me that so I'm sitting there and I'm rolling on the foam roller and somebody said you hit a ridiculous three like didn't know wasted motion thought it and went up right in front of our bench in the corner and somebody's like somebody on the bench was like hell no or something I said yeah and I said catch that's catch I keep I so I said I'm sorry well I was like that's catch I keep I like you like don't dip it I remember that one yes so like summer it's funny like when you talk about in this setting I kind of feel like a dick when I it's also like it's just kind of like I'm not seen i watch you against us last year not necessarily Tasha but like you know compete with like a certain level like fire yeah were you on the team when we played in Miami yes last year yeah yeah I talk a lot of [ __ ] yeah you did yeah yeah but it was talking [ __ ] to our bench not like in a negative way I'm talking like I was our trainer and I yeah we were just like go and I'll do that too like oh I have experienced that joke with an assistant coach or just like you know whatever like yeah thinks you're like not there that night or whatever and like you just kind of hit a shot yeah exactly so it's less like to a specific has anyone talked [ __ ] to you um nothing like jumps out of me but yeah I'm gonna there's been some actually the 40 so I actually feel bad about this we played Toronto in Miami and they put Fred vanvleet on me in the first play I came off and hit a shot and it was just kind of like one of whatever I was like in the moment yeah and I think I said it to myself but he heard me I was like I think I said something like he's way too short to guard me and I have a ton of respect for every players until 9 - yeah and he hurt and he heard me and he likes me like fired something back and then like we kind of like we kind of started going at it and then it was like going in this place where I didn't really want it to go it never like I almost like halfway through the game I like said I'm like well but you know me I like I like a ton of respect for you like undrafted guy I want drafted like you kind of like laid the blueprint so that was like kind of a funny moment I don't even know we're on my list maybe three where you've gone three we've got LeBron we've got Victor Oladipo and somehow we have joe ingles yeah joe ingles down there um I probably said kowai kowai like I didn't understand how physically like imposing he is I'm he's so strong and he guarded me for stretches in both the games that we played and he just so long I'm strong and offensively he's just so just knows how to get to his spots what about a Yanis yeah Yanis another very well I have you out he'd probably fight for me oh yeah and now he would be no no he uh the yard baman baman Derek or some comedy we just played them but he I mean his length and I just have so much respect for how hard he plays every single night to it's pretty pretty impressive available yeah that's all I got now it's kind of okay let's come all over the place but now that's going on the spots also would we do this next season it's gonna be a different list that's right you guys who you will play it against who you've not played against tonight yeah hopefully at that point I can throw uh JJ on the list I hope I promise it he's honored but I haven't putting his on yet either but he's forceful just keep seeing on TV and I'm liable I don't know how he keeps moving these guys but he does I watch you guys play a lot because I love Jimmy and so I i watch i watch you guys but like to watch it firsthand is actually an incredible thing game the game likes it and you coach okay i he used to talk always talk about like reference points and you are like building your reference points right now and so for me as i got older my career i could go back to his reference points when i had this lunch the slumps are inevitable yeah they are 100% so i could go back to those and be like oh you know what like i'm i'm a good shooter i I'm actually I'm actually pretty good right and it's you know for you obviously you know you have all the years under your belt so it's so much easier to like tap into those reference points for me it's last night as a refugee that's that's probably a good place to start but it's funny to like sometimes I'll like watch film of a game and I'll be like let alone making black I wasn't even taking that shot two or three months ago two or three weeks ago and like that is once I get to the point where like I'm not thinking about like oh is this a good shot bad shot should I take this then you can kind of move into just playing just being free out there which is what I tend to play my do you worry do you ever worry about like or maybe not worry but do does it bother you be to be labeled as a shooter does not necessarily bother me um I think that I have other things that I bring to the game you know shooter is like sometimes can be like such an absolute like like just like label you know I I take pride in the fact that I can shoot but I don't necessarily want to just be bad I guess I don't know how you feel about that but it's like it's a tricky thing right yeah because the your value you as a commodity an asset is because of your shooting but there's such a like there is a negative connotation and someone says shooter like what did you notice when we had we had Joe Ingalls on the podcast and we talked about how he potentially could be one of the 30 or 40 best shooters in the Western Conference and he's like he pushed back he's like I'm not a shooter I'm not a shooter yeah it's a guess my house yeah it seems like there's a label even though it's not somewhat offensive yeah they don't want to be you don't want to be no but nobody wants to be categorized as one particular thing even if that is of course the only things we do I think Joe knows has more of a claim to not being just a shooter than myself I mean I we were talking about it earlier but like I I have box scores where I literally don't take another shot yeah so I have a little bit less ground to stand on if I'm gonna fight back on that but still I mean I'd at this point of my career marinate as long as I'm in am being uniform I'll take it yeah you might call me a shooter I'll take it but it's like that'll are you in a and B a uniform but you're actually I mean I went to the game you guys played it was in December was on Christmas and you played in D there's a really good game you put Indian Philly back to back I didn't go to the Philly game would you put Indian you think you wanted the last second or something like that I think you probably had five or six threes or in the game but you could tell obviously it's the home crowd so they know you but there's now an expectation when you shoot and it's the same thing it's been with him since Orlando say when you shoot since I was like 14 yes that's where you shoot it's going in if it doesn't go in he's probably oh that's surprising but and so that's a thing that does everyone in the league can shoot you know it's the NBA but at the same point there's only a few guys that an obviously obviously the stats will back that up but with both of you guys and so that is the thing where it is a it's yeah it's a label but it's a label that like you're not labeling guys that are mediocre shooters shooters yeah and I'll say say this too that I couldn't make a shot in preseason I shot like 26% from three this year this year and you know the doubt everything starts to creep in and people like I spoke playing this guy whatever uh and nobody in American Airlines thought any of my shots are going on so I've been on both sides I'll tell you either be on the side of people are like anticipating that's probably gonna go in what are you what are you like watching and what do you what are you consuming content was these days um I'm not on Twitter which i think is probably the ultimate blessing I deleted Twitter when I got to Michigan I was like all about it when I first started playing and then I had like a slump inevitable so I didn't say he had some questionable tweets slump and you know the mentions go from like all your the best to like get off that you know all this stuff so I'm like you know what I'm just gonna delete this so I'm on Twitter which is good I'm on Instagram but like I don't I don't really like post that much so most of it is just like I'll you know see stuff here in there that sent to me or whatever so not really too much where I think it's good I try to keep like a clear head about try to do you do you get noticed outside of like Miami how did people in Miami even notice just like occasionally in Miami yeah like Miami people would know you're just like your fame right now there's not Fame that's not really non-existent which I enjoy quite frankly like before this I just I walk down Bourbon Street and grab a meal by myself nobody would think say anything which i think is great it is interesting though the difference in the cities because you obviously played in LA for a long time if you played in a different city and you've had this year you've had he would be getting for example if you played in New York Steve Novak never had a season like you're having right now no disrespect to him great shooter never had a season like you're having now Steve no that was like a cult icon for this man he had that one year with Mike Woodson yeah and he was like that guy yeah but I was like that doesn't check but I'm wondering you're curious do you think because I wonder if that's just because the Heat are a especially recently are like consistently successful franchise and they kind of like judge these things based off of how you do in May not now yeah I think it's also they're like my name is a pretty popular city so like you might see some rapper celebrity like actual celebrity walking down the street so it's like oh yeah but like people are just less I'll get the occasional like you know just in my name is a wild city the night of Miami starts at 11:30 yeah goes to like 5:00 and you're doing it the right way by avoiding all that and just having good meals and then doing your job and that's a good Aviana that's in the Italian spot by the hotel by sky versus guy I'm not sure I haven't been - I've been to Zuma by I haven't been there I gotta check it out you just you just waited on angie's in New York yeah Donna energies I got a recommendation on that one now of us have you ever done a tasting menu never [Music] I occasionally dine it's Michelin three-star system a lot of the best restaurants they legitimately the best restaurants in the world and it's a thing that we're both interested in JJ's just does more than I do and he so he just went to the French Laundry overall star and we went to a place at Chicago called Alinea but part of the reason why we did this cheap beats thing earlier was I was basically like everybody listens to this show no it's like once every like eight months like it's not it's not a constant thing people are concerned I'm going broke my tasting menu budget runs into the tens of thousands did you do Zingerman's at Michigan yeah yeah yeah Detroit Airport which is crazy I didn't know that yeah I mean everyone everyone loves that's like the if you're coming to Michigan for like the short stretch or Ann Arbor everyone always goes through there I mean it's really good so you know my opinion it's a little over hide but football games yeah you did yeah we always had like so I never got Slyke tailgating football games because we had always had like recruiting tailgates coach ping on was very deliberate about how like he didn't want us weed out like a lift before I did like host there crunch and then we'd go to the game so the games would start at noon and we would have an 11:00 a.m. pickup with the recruits yeah and you're like how I can't fit a tailgate into that can't do it okay we would actually do we would have like a 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. lift and then we maybe have practice but it was Saturday on a Saturday morning yeah but then the good part of that was no wonder the Cavs were so mad John I told I told coach me on this when we played the Cavs the first time just before the all-star break and I was like dude I'd tell people this all the time but if you had been at like a Michigan or UVA like he was at Richmond when I was in high school I was like I probably might not have got a Duke I love like I was obsessed with him and you try to recruit your Richmond so we didn't team camp there two summers my June before my junior before my senior year we did team camp and like Joe for with my high school that's how I met him and he was basically like hey I know you're not gonna come but you can come if you want but his son his son was the same years I was Patrick Patrick yeah what was the New Hampshire basketball scene like yeah I mean it the unfortunate thing about I mean first of all not great I'll lead with that the unfortunate thing about really New England is that there's really no like public high school basketball scene most people go into like the prep schools which is tough because like you you lose the atmosphere of like you know a rivalry or like a packed gym because it's like prep schools with like 300 400 students and you know there's no like locals or anything they really want to come and support so that was tough I mean I I totally missed out on like having that type of like I'm sure you probably put in front of packed gyms in high school which is something I was always like envious oh yeah for sure by the way did you see our intros the other night now which name what's the guy from Barstow Pat Oh Pat McAfee yeah cafeé and our intros the other yeah I was good did our starting lineup and he said he said a bunch of crazy stuff like with Lonzo ball he was like and his family did a reality television show in Lithuania from UCF was good but about his ideas like and he's been dunking on little white kids on the internet for eight years that's all but I watched some recent Scion high school highlights and I gotta say the competition level in South Carolina y know when we had him on the on the show what we I think we might have realized her right before but we realize like a while before was he played with JA he may you may you that's so like they were just and they would even apparently there's another guy in the team that was better than both then when they were playing but like the idea of like those three that's later teaming up against anybody is just insanity yeah so you put one year yeah but we watch those old games occasionally I have some like old film where did you grow height wise it was weird like so I was five six as a freshman I grew like three inches every year for like four years straight I was like six six as a senior but Isla I went through some tough stretches like I like couldn't Ryan I was like uncoordinated I was so skinny just took me a waddle like those grown so fast just took me waddle I kind of catch up we don't even teach yourself how to run well maybe not question for you yes it's the same way like in this is not pandering where does this rank in terms of recent like how like how did this how did this happen like how like this is a usually even Anthony Davis who obviously was a late bloomer but like Anthony went from she was like a highly-rated and he was a good player figure it out yeah he was a good player he just grew so he just grew a foot and then he kept the same coordination until he went from being like a sophomore who was a good Chicago high school player into a guy that was like the top recruit in the country by the time made his senior in high school because he became six foot 11 yeah this is kind of a nun it's a little bit unprecedented evolution it is like going back to when you were at Michigan I don't watch it on college basketball but I remember you at Michigan I watched you know in the tournament or whatever and I you know obviously followed coach beeline here there when he was there so I could I knew who you were I didn't know your whole story and then this year starts and you're starting for the Miami Heat and I'm like what the [ __ ] and you're awesome [Music] it's if you had me if you had made it the NBA for three games made a couple shots bounced around ended up in Europe it would cool it's been a nice this is a different it's this doesn't really happen it doesn't really I guess I told TJ McConnell this I don't know I'm a [ __ ] on TJ McConnell moment but when he was at Arizona I watched it for some reason I was watching his last game at Arizona in the tournament and he walked off the court he's crying and I remember thinking to myself I'm a [ __ ] for saying this but I remember thinking like that poor kid the kids never gonna play in the NBA oh my son big-time game his life and now he's better league he's in your pies gonna it's got a great role in the pace he's another one it's like yes and Carla story yeah the thing with him and like it sounds like from talking to you is like and I think for the most part like I've always been this way maybe not right after Duke I was kind of an [ __ ] but you know I've never felt comfortable I've never felt like I made it you know and like TJ doesn't he did there's you don't ever feel comfortable man yeah you clearly don't ya know you know and you clearly want to get better which is amazing so it's it's an amaze your story is incredible we really appreciate you coming on the podcast and and hanging out with us [Music]

Channel: The Ringer

Views: 499,375

Rating: 4.9509282 out of 5

Keywords: the ringer, ringer nba, the jj redick podcast, duncan robinson, miami heat duncan robinson, duncan robinson highlights, duncan robinson michigan, nba, jj redick, duncan robinson 3s, jj redick podcast, ringer podcast, miami heat, miami heat highlights, nba highligts, nba interview, duncan robinson full interview, nba podcast

Id: s9c1Z6crOYI

Length: 51min 58sec (3118 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 20 2020