Big Dog’s Bite Gets Bigger and Bigger : Pro basketball: Glenn Robinson, the nation’s top draft pick, has done some serious catching up after skipping the preseason in a contract holdout with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Everything was in place when Glenn Robinson made his NBA debut. Indoor fireworks and a fog machine. Laser lights and blaring music. There even a sound system special effect to go with his “Big Dog” nickname.

Trouble was, the ferocious snarl meant to resonate through the Bradley Center and usher in the Milwaukee Bucks’ rise from rotten to reputable sounded nothing like a fierce, frothing junkyard dog.

It seemed more like a friendly French poodle:

“Yip, yip, yip.”

It was appropriate, actually.

The nation’s top draft pick, Robinson had some serious catching up to do after skipping training camp and the preseason in a contract holdout.

While the lawyers were putting final touches on the 10-year, $68 million pact, Bucks coach Mike Dunleavy grabbed Robinson and ambled over to the basketball court just two hours before the Bucks’ home opener against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Dunleavy tried to teach Robinson three or four of the Bucks’ plays. Where his opponents would be, Dunleavy set up green folding chairs.

This, too, was quite fitting, seeing as how Robinson--who led the nation in scoring last year at Purdue--would spend much of the next month catching his breath on one of those chairs.

The 6-foot-7 forward tired quickly, and by the fourth quarter, even Marty Conlon, a former CBA player making $150,000, was sent in ahead of Robinson, the richest rookie in the history of professional sports.

At least that gave the Bucks enough time to fix the yelping poodle.

“It’s not exactly the easiest thing to find, a barking dog sound,” said Jim Grayson, who coordinates game-night operations for the Bucks. “But we finally found one after about seven games, and now, whenever Glenn makes a spectacular play, we’ve got a growl to go with it.”

Robinson’s game has a lot more bite now, too.

A month into the season, many thought Detroit’s Grant Hill had a lock on “Rookie of the Year” honors. Robinson has quickly changed that.

“When I first came in, I really wasn’t in shape and I wasn’t putting up 30-point games. A lot of people said I wasn’t the player I was in college. That bothered me because I had just come in,” said Robinson, who scored his season-high 38 last Tuesday night against Dallas.

“I don’t worry about that now. They are going to expect me to accomplish so many things because of the salary that I make.”

Oh yes, the salary.

A curious thing has happened across the country. Taunting fans who had eagerly awaited their turn to ridicule the man who wanted to be the world’s first $100 million athlete are coming away both humbled and impressed.

In an era of youthful braggarts who gather accolades on potential instead of performance, Robinson, like Hill, is a refreshing change.

Introverted and guarded, Robinson has neither the public persona nor the endorsement potential of the polite, charismatic Hill.

But both share a no-nonsense approach on the court, and fans are learning that Robinson is not the symbol of greed he’d become while his agent, Charles Tucker, held him out of camp, intimating he wanted $111 million for the 21-year-old skilled shooter.

Robinson’s shy demeanor masks his competitive desire. He’s not the flamboyant star who gets in his coach’s face or demands the team work around his superstar status.

He missed a morning practice last month because his alarm clock didn’t go off. Embarrassed rather than defiant--as is often the case these days--Robinson apologized to his coach and teammates, and went out and scored 24 points as the Bucks won at Chicago for the first time since 1988.

“As far as his character and personality go, I think he’s all about winning,” Dunleavy said. “A lot was written about this $100 million number, and I think initially perceptions were different about him.

“But it was just strictly business. I mean, he hired a guy to do a job for him and that’s all it was. From our standpoint, it’s never been personal. As soon as he signed, it was no longer an issue.

“And I think our fans really appreciate him now. And I think as he goes more and more around the league, the rest of the fans see how he is, how he plays, how he acts,” Dunleavy added.

“And they’re realizing why he was the No. 1 pick in the draft.”

Considering Robinson was a Prop. 48 casualty, played just two seasons for the Boilermakers and missed training camp and the preseason, his strides are remarkable.

He leads the Bucks in scoring, averaging about 20 points a game, and his play and presence have vaulted Milwaukee back into the playoff picture after last year’s 20-62 season, the worst in franchise history.

“As time goes by, the more comfortable he becomes and the more his skills become evident,” Dunleavy said. “You see, his strength is his versatility. He can score inside. He can score outside. He can take it off the dribble. He can go behind the three-point line. His development is his knowledge, and I see him improving on that all the time--and he gets double-teamed more than any rookie in the league.”

“Glenn’s been a tremendous basketball player. He’s come along because he has a maturity level different than every other rookie,” Bucks’ All-Star forward Vin Baker said. “He analyzes things and he improves. He improves fast and dramatically. He’s quick.”

Robinson, who will play in the rookie game at the All-Star break in Phoenix next weekend, appears to have adjusted well to the added pressures of his record contract. A quiet man who speaks in a constant half-whisper, Robinson concentrates on his strengths.

“I don’t look at it as pressure,” he said. “I just look at it as basketball. . . . It doesn’t really matter if you’re a rookie or you’ve been in the league 10 years, if you can play, you can play.”

It’s not a thunderous dunk or sweet swish that comes to mind when Dunleavy thinks of one play that reveals Robinson’s progress. Rather, it is his reaction when the Bucks’ coaches stole a call from the Washington bench and relayed it to their players on the floor.

Robinson caught the call, then stepped up and stole a pass from Bullets guard Scott Skiles. He drove the length of the court for a layup that helped Milwaukee win 120-115 on Jan. 19.

“Before, he didn’t react right away to my call,” Dunleavy said. “ . . . This time, you could see his recognition, and he reacted.”

Robinson still has a long way to go. He leads the Bucks in turnovers and he’s struggled to keep his shooting percentage above 40%.

Robinson shrugs. All the great ones, he says, had their travails, too.

“I get double teamed a lot. I think that explains some of it. Larry Bird was in the top three in turnovers. Magic Johnson, I believe he led the league in turnovers. Even Michael Jordan was up there, he was the team leader in turnovers for a while.

“I have the ball more, so naturally the person that has the ball more is going to have more turnovers,” Robinson said. “In the future, I think I will be able to handle that better. I don’t want to be one of the tops in turnovers.”