The New York Knicks made a big change over the offseason. Firing Tom Thibodeau in favor of Mike Brown after making the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years was risky. One of several changes Brown made relatively early in his tenure was hiring a designated shooting coach, something that Josh Hart told reporters he personally requested. The biggest reward the Knicks have reaped from assistant Peter Patton, though, has been Mitchell Robinson's newfound success at the free throw line. It could transform the Knicks as a playoff threat.
Robinson produced a 20% accuracy increase in two games
After the Knicks' NBA Cup Championship win over the San Antonio Spurs, Robinson had made six of his 27 free throw attempts. That transformed in one night when the Philadelphia 76ers visited The Garden. Although the Knicks lost, Robinson's seven-of-eight performance at the charity stripe had fans raucous and Knick teammates inspired.
Although in a smaller sample size, Robinson did it again on Sunday night. Playing against the Miami Heat, the longest-tenured Knick made all three of his free throw attempts. That drastically changed his free throw percentage on the season from the 22.2% mark he carried into Friday night's game.
As of Monday, Robinson is 16-of-38 at the free throw line in the 2025-26 campaign through 19 games played. A 42.1% free throw shooter is far from a marksman, and certainly would not typically warrant any sort of positive coverage. For Robinson, though, it's a direct address of his biggest flaw on the court.
Knicks could elevate as playoff threat if Mitch keeps this up
Although it didn't ruin their chances against the Boston Celtics, the Knicks saw head coach Joe Mazzulla adjust starkly to Robinson's presence in last year's playoff series between the two teams. He had Celtics "hack" Mitch and force him to the free throw line, where his game-changing offensive rebounding and physicality was nullified almost entirely.
New York beat Boston in six games but Mazzulla's strategy provided other teams with a blueprint on how to limit Robinson's impact. If he keeps up this level of free throw shooting, though, those plans can be crumpled up and thrown into a trash can. Yell out whichever player's name you'd like while throwing it. Maybe just not, "Mitch!" yet.