He’s the County’s No. 2 Scorer, but He Also Likes to Dish It Out : Holding Court With Robby Robinson

Robby Robinson, the reluctant scoring leader, glides across the Madison High School basketball court, hair falling about his shoulders and a wide, toothy grin plastered across his face.

“This is one of my favorite spots,” he says, stopping by the baseline in the corner, to the right of the basket and behind the three-point line. “It’s the hardest to shoot from, though. There’s no backboard to see--it’s strictly you and the hoop.”

Practice has finished at Madison, and Robinson is leading a visitor on a tour of the court. His court.

Robinson doesn’t refer to it that way, but nobody at Madison will argue if you use that pronoun. For four seasons, Robinson has played at the varsity level. He spent most of this season at the top of the San Diego County scoring list before falling to second this week behind Valhalla’s Tony Clark. Robinson is averaging 27.0 points a game. Clark is at 29.2.

But Robinson, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound senior, is still happy.

“In the beginning of the season, I was producing most of the points,” Robinson said, continuing his stroll. “It was Robby and the Warhawks. Now, it’s the Madison Warhawks. It’s not like if you stop Robby, you stop Madison.”

Robinson is the lone returning starter from last season’s 28-3 Madison team. When this season began, Madison Coach Jim Thompson looked around, saw a gym full of inexperience and called upon Robinson to produce some offense.

“I wanted Robby to get 25 shots a game in the beginning of the season,” said Thompson, whose top six players are two seniors, two juniors and two sophomores. “When we started the season, he was the only one with any experience. We were charting it--we wanted him to get six shots a quarter. Now, we don’t count.”

After a few high-scoring games, opponents started to key on Robinson. By then, the other Warhawks were more experienced, and Thompson was comfortable spreading the offense around.

It has produced a 13-11 record, 5-4 (third place) in the City Eastern League. The fewer shots, though, have dropped Robinson to second in the county scoring race.

“This is my favorite spot,” Robinson says, stepping behind the three-point line toward the right side of the free-throw stripe. “I shoot well from here. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s psychological. I shoot better off my left dribble--when people overplay me to the right, I’ll go left.”

Said Thompson: “He’s ambidextrous. He drives and shoots with either hand. And he’s very consistent from within 15 feet.”

Robinson certainly can score, but he’s not one-dimensional. He passes, runs the court and even defends the opponent’s best player. But the most interesting aspect of a player who can light up a gym with 30 or 40 points is that he actually prefers a good assist to a flashy basket.

“I like to get everyone involved,” Robinson said.

His idea of a perfect game? A score book full of assists and a Madison victory.

“I like scoring here and there, but if I score 10 points and have 20 assists, I enjoy that more than scoring 35 points,” Robinson said.

Still, the people from Madison talk about the time this year he blistered University City for 42 points. He had 12 at halftime before making 15 of 15 from the field in the second half.

“Coach was saying I was lackadaisical,” Robinson said. “Hearing that gets old. I don’t get excited out there--I don’t clap my hands or anything. Winning excites me. I just don’t show a lot of emotion.”

Robinson moves in to the free throw line, 15 feet from the hoop. “I like both sides of the free throw line,” he says, pointing toward either end. “I take the majority of my shots from here.”

The conversation, as it often does these days, shifted again to the county scoring race.

“I was surprised when I was the leader,” he said. “It was never something I wanted to do. After the games, people would come up to me and ask how many points I had. I’d say 21, and they’d say, ‘Uh-oh, your average is going down.’ There was a lot of pressure.”

The pressure got worse when defenses started keying on him. The attention made him feel like his favorite player, Michael Jordan.

“If I’m not playing basketball, I’m watching him,” said Robinson, who wears Jordan’s No. 23. “He’s very exciting, and unpredictable, to watch. He does whatever it takes to win.

“I watch what he does and how he does it--how he gets around double-team and box-and-one defenses. In the beginning of the year, I was facing those a lot, and it was frustrating me.”

Robinson has been frustrated this season because he has been a man without a position. He spent most of his time last season at guard. But because of Madison’s inexperience, Thompson has played Robinson at every position at one time or another.

“We haven’t specified a role for him but, he’s done everything for us,” Thompson said. “He goes nonstop for four quarters. He never has a lull where he disappears. If he’s not getting the ball offensively, he’ll be noticeable on the boards or on the fast break.”

Said Robinson: “For a while, (not having a position) used to bug me. I’d practice at guard all week and then get moved down low in the game, and it frustrated me. But I’ve learned to do what it takes.”

Whatever it takes, offensively or defensively. Just don’t mess with his hair. He has worn it shoulder-length since his freshman year; the locks bounce around on his shoulders as he goes about his game.

He’s kidded about it all the time, what with people calling him Michael Jackson and saying he looks like one of the members of Ready for the World. This summer, at a Superstars camp in Santa Barbara, they called him Pretty Boy.

“We’d be watching a game and there would be a loose ball, and I’d hear someone say, ‘Pretty Boy wouldn’t get it, he’d get his knees dirty,’ ” he said. “But once on the court, I showed them that Pretty Boy can play. On the court, it’s time for business.”

There’s one more spot Robinson likes. Midway between the baseline and free-throw line, left side, about 15 feet out.

“And if none of that is working,” he says with a laugh, “I’m down in the paint.”