ATLANTA – Obi Toppin admits he must regain his confidence and start getting back to the rim again to contribute more to the Knicks in the absence of injured center Mitchell Robinson.
The former lottery pick mostly has been a non-factor since returning two weeks ago from an early-December leg injury. Entering Friday’s road game against the Hawks, Toppin had averaged 2.2 points and 10.7 minutes per game off the bench while shooting 22.2 percent from the field (4-for-18) in six appearances.
That stretch included three games in which the 6-foot-9 forward was held without a point, spending much of his time on the court on the perimeter, rather than using his athleticism cutting to the basket.
“I feel like I’m going to get back to that. I’m going to do things on the court that either open things up for everybody else or find me open looks,” Toppin said after Friday’s morning practice at State Farm Arena. “I gotta do little things that are going to help the team be successful.”
With Robinson undergoing surgery Thursday to repair a fractured right thumb suffered in a home loss to the Wizards the previous night, backup big men Isaiah Hartenstein and Jericho Sims are expected to split time at center.
But Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said he’s also considering using Julius Randle at times in the middle as part of a smaller lineup, depending on matchups. Toppin averaged nearly 20 minutes per game when Robinson was sidelined with a knee injury in November.
“I feel like we play very fast. I definitely know if both of us are on the court, the rebounding is the biggest key, we can focus on that,” Toppin said of playing alongside Randle. “And if we focus on that, we can be dangerous.
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“Whatever Coach decides, though, I’m cool with and I’m just going to do my job … Anything I can do to help the team I’m going to do.”
It clearly will be a group effort to replace Robinson, who ranks second in the NBA in offensive rebounds with 4.3 per game and fifth in the NBA with 1.8 blocked shots per game.
“Yeah, definitely a lot more rebounding, a lot more blocked shots. That man blocks a lot of shots,” Toppin said. “We’ve definitely got to make up for it. We have great bigs — Isaiah, Jericho, me, Ju — all of us are going to step up in Mitch’s absence.”
Toppin added that he feels “good” physically and replied “no, not at all” when asked if he was experiencing any problems with his leg.
Asked why he believes he’s been struggling to contribute since returning, the 24-year-old Brooklyn native replied: “I don’t know. Just confidence? Shoot the ball when I have open shots, drive the ball when I have to drive the ball. Just play great basketball.
“It’s just more repetitions in the game. Just having an opportunity to shoot some shots in the game, get that touch again. And I feel like once I get that touch – I’m shooting well in practice, I’m shooting well here, it’s just in the game, having those game looks, finding that rhythm again.”
