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Robinson Gaining Strength As Season Progresses After ACL Surgery
January 30, 2018 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – When Alexis Robinson tore her left ACL late last March in practice while the Buffs were preparing for the second round of the WNIT, some people assumed she may miss the entire 2017-18 season. But she has not missed a minute of game action due to her knee this entire season and returned to practice in early October.
"She had great mental toughness," head coach JR Payne said. "Her sister had just gone through it the year before so she watched her sister go through it. I think she had in her mind that this is just going to be a minor bump in the road and, 'I'm going to attack my rehab, I'm not going to cry about it, I'm just going to suck it up and conquer it.' She put on a lot of good weight in the weight room and she got a lot stronger [while she was off the court]."
Robinson, a 5-10 junior from Ashland, Ky., agreed that seeing her sister go through the same thing prior to her injury was helpful to prepare for the rehab process.
"It helped me a lot," Robinson said. "Seeing how fast she recovered, and when she had struggles, that helped me and inspired me in my recovery."
Fast forward 10 months from that injury in March and you would never know she suffered such a serious injury. In fact, Robinson returned to full practice just six-and-a-half months after the injury, a couple of months quicker than most athletes come back. She was back to practicing in October and has started 19 games this season.
Robinson spent countless hours rehabbing over the summer and early fall with Taka Sakamoto, CU's athletic trainer for women's basketball. By sticking to his recommended rehab exercises for her, Robinson was able to get back so efficiently.
"She had fantastic trainers," Payne said. "Taka really pushed her and they worked really well together. He said Lexi did everything that he asked her to do and didn't skimp any exercises. So she really conquered it and did a great job. That's why she came back so well."
While the ACL was fully healed, Robinson was certainly not at 100 percent strength-wise at the beginning of the season, but she has steadily improved over the course of the season, a sign of the physical strength returning to her legs. The results show in her statistics: she shot just 26.8 percent (11-for-41) from 3-point range over the first nine games of the season. Since then, she is connecting at a 41.0 percent rate (25-for-61).
Robinson has progressed and is no longer wearing the bulky brace she was stuck in at the beginning of the year. She has graduated to just wearing a sleeve on her knee for a little extra stability. Besides some occasional general soreness, she feels minimal effects 10 months out from the injury.
"Mentally it feels good, it doesn't really bug me," Robinson said. "Strength-wise, I wouldn't say it's all the way back, but it's pretty close."
Since the turn of the new year as the Buffs entered Pac-12 play, she has produced the two best games of her career. Robinson scored a then-career-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds to lead CU to a win on the road at Washington on Jan. 7. She surpassed that total with 26 points, hitting 5-of-11 from the outside and forcing four steals at Arizona on Jan. 19. She sparked a fierce fourth-quarter comeback against the Wildcats, hitting 4-of-5 from deep and scoring 15 points in the final period.
As the knee has continued to gain strength, she has been more consistent. Robinson scored in double figures six times in her first 11 games. Since then, she has been over 10 points six times in nine games, including those two 20+ point performances.
The coaching staff is counting on Robinson to be one of the team's top offensive threats and believes she can continue to grow in that area.
"We're always telling Lexi, 'shoot the ball.' There's not shot that she can take that we don't want her to take," Payne said. "The last couple of weeks, she's been more aggressive to the basket, which we need. Great shooters need to keep the defense honest by being able to attack the rim and hitting that pull-up jumper of hers that's so pretty. She's done a much better job of that and we need her to. I think she wants to be a three-level scorer: being able to get to the basket, having a nice mid-range game, and being able to shoot the 3. I think that's where her focus is, and for the team, that's where we need her focus to be, to be able to score at will."
THIS WEEK
CU will play Utah twice this week. The Buffs travel to Salt Lake City for the first matchup at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams then head to Boulder for a rematch on Sunday at noon at the Coors Events Center. Both games will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.
SCOUTING UTAH
The Utes are much improved after going 16-15 last year, sitting at 14-7 overall so far, including 5-5 in the Pac-12, already matching last season's total for conference wins.
Two newcomers have been a huge spark for Utah, led by Hawai'I transfer Megan Huff and freshman Tori Williams. Huff is a 6-3 forward and leads the team in scoring (13.9) and rebounding (8.0), while shooting 49.1 percent. Williams is a 5-9 guard, averaging 8.7 points in her first year of collegiate action.
6-foot wing Daneesha Provo has improved significantly from her sophomore season a year ago, averaging 13.3 points and 3.4 rebounds, while connecting at 43.2 percent from 3-point range. She averaged just 3.5 points in 12.5 minutes per game last season.
Emily Potter has returned to provide stability in the post for Utah. The 6-6 senior averages 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds, shooting 50 percent. Potter and Provo are two of three Canadians on the Utes roster.
Utah has one of the best offenses in the Pac-12, averaging 74.5 points, fourth-best in the conference. The Utes also dominate their opponents on the boards, outrebounding opposing teams by +8.9 per game.
Prior to dropping two close games to the Oregon schools this past weekend, the Utes swept the Arizona road trip, earning a 58-56 win over the Sun Devils and defeating the Wildcats 80-56.
"She had great mental toughness," head coach JR Payne said. "Her sister had just gone through it the year before so she watched her sister go through it. I think she had in her mind that this is just going to be a minor bump in the road and, 'I'm going to attack my rehab, I'm not going to cry about it, I'm just going to suck it up and conquer it.' She put on a lot of good weight in the weight room and she got a lot stronger [while she was off the court]."
Robinson, a 5-10 junior from Ashland, Ky., agreed that seeing her sister go through the same thing prior to her injury was helpful to prepare for the rehab process.
"It helped me a lot," Robinson said. "Seeing how fast she recovered, and when she had struggles, that helped me and inspired me in my recovery."
Fast forward 10 months from that injury in March and you would never know she suffered such a serious injury. In fact, Robinson returned to full practice just six-and-a-half months after the injury, a couple of months quicker than most athletes come back. She was back to practicing in October and has started 19 games this season.
Robinson spent countless hours rehabbing over the summer and early fall with Taka Sakamoto, CU's athletic trainer for women's basketball. By sticking to his recommended rehab exercises for her, Robinson was able to get back so efficiently.
"She had fantastic trainers," Payne said. "Taka really pushed her and they worked really well together. He said Lexi did everything that he asked her to do and didn't skimp any exercises. So she really conquered it and did a great job. That's why she came back so well."
While the ACL was fully healed, Robinson was certainly not at 100 percent strength-wise at the beginning of the season, but she has steadily improved over the course of the season, a sign of the physical strength returning to her legs. The results show in her statistics: she shot just 26.8 percent (11-for-41) from 3-point range over the first nine games of the season. Since then, she is connecting at a 41.0 percent rate (25-for-61).
Robinson has progressed and is no longer wearing the bulky brace she was stuck in at the beginning of the year. She has graduated to just wearing a sleeve on her knee for a little extra stability. Besides some occasional general soreness, she feels minimal effects 10 months out from the injury.
"Mentally it feels good, it doesn't really bug me," Robinson said. "Strength-wise, I wouldn't say it's all the way back, but it's pretty close."
Since the turn of the new year as the Buffs entered Pac-12 play, she has produced the two best games of her career. Robinson scored a then-career-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds to lead CU to a win on the road at Washington on Jan. 7. She surpassed that total with 26 points, hitting 5-of-11 from the outside and forcing four steals at Arizona on Jan. 19. She sparked a fierce fourth-quarter comeback against the Wildcats, hitting 4-of-5 from deep and scoring 15 points in the final period.
As the knee has continued to gain strength, she has been more consistent. Robinson scored in double figures six times in her first 11 games. Since then, she has been over 10 points six times in nine games, including those two 20+ point performances.
The coaching staff is counting on Robinson to be one of the team's top offensive threats and believes she can continue to grow in that area.
"We're always telling Lexi, 'shoot the ball.' There's not shot that she can take that we don't want her to take," Payne said. "The last couple of weeks, she's been more aggressive to the basket, which we need. Great shooters need to keep the defense honest by being able to attack the rim and hitting that pull-up jumper of hers that's so pretty. She's done a much better job of that and we need her to. I think she wants to be a three-level scorer: being able to get to the basket, having a nice mid-range game, and being able to shoot the 3. I think that's where her focus is, and for the team, that's where we need her focus to be, to be able to score at will."
THIS WEEK
CU will play Utah twice this week. The Buffs travel to Salt Lake City for the first matchup at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams then head to Boulder for a rematch on Sunday at noon at the Coors Events Center. Both games will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.
SCOUTING UTAH
The Utes are much improved after going 16-15 last year, sitting at 14-7 overall so far, including 5-5 in the Pac-12, already matching last season's total for conference wins.
Two newcomers have been a huge spark for Utah, led by Hawai'I transfer Megan Huff and freshman Tori Williams. Huff is a 6-3 forward and leads the team in scoring (13.9) and rebounding (8.0), while shooting 49.1 percent. Williams is a 5-9 guard, averaging 8.7 points in her first year of collegiate action.
6-foot wing Daneesha Provo has improved significantly from her sophomore season a year ago, averaging 13.3 points and 3.4 rebounds, while connecting at 43.2 percent from 3-point range. She averaged just 3.5 points in 12.5 minutes per game last season.
Emily Potter has returned to provide stability in the post for Utah. The 6-6 senior averages 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds, shooting 50 percent. Potter and Provo are two of three Canadians on the Utes roster.
Utah has one of the best offenses in the Pac-12, averaging 74.5 points, fourth-best in the conference. The Utes also dominate their opponents on the boards, outrebounding opposing teams by +8.9 per game.
Prior to dropping two close games to the Oregon schools this past weekend, the Utes swept the Arizona road trip, earning a 58-56 win over the Sun Devils and defeating the Wildcats 80-56.
Players Mentioned
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