The CBA is a roadblock to improvement. Even if he wanted to be out on the practice field, all day, everyday, with the coaches, he can't.
Take out 8hrs for sleeping, and that leaves 16hrs. plenty of time to work overtime at his craft, and still have another life. NOBODY trains 16hrs a day.
And Goal, I have zero doubt that he can improve his game. But none of us know if he will.
Though I believe he will.
I apologize, I'm not explaining myself well. I couldn't care less how much time the kid spends on the practice field vs. on social media. As long as he does what needs to be done to prepare, it's all good. It's a generational thing, this emphasis on twitter and everything else, and that's how he wants to spend his time. Cool. I also do not honestly believe at this point the amount of time he has spent on social media has impacted his preparation or effectiveness even a little bit. Not one iota.
What I'm frustrated with is his REACTION to be criticized, fairly or not, politely or not, constructively or not. He gets defensive. I don't think too many would disagree with that. Defensive people have a hard time accepting coaching when their (literal, in this case) coach tells them they're doing something wrong and they need to make adjustments. Ironically, it usually means they are insecure, but that they spend all day everyday telling themselves they are the best, they are great, etc., building up a façade to protect against the harsh reality that perhaps they could use some improvement here and there, as we all can.
Generally, defensive people are hard to work with, which could possibly explain some of the reported friction between Robert and his teammates. Again, Ax (and Mike) you are correct. If we (he) wins games, none of this matters. At all. Not even a little. Go on a playoff push next year, and we're all talking about upgrading at Nose Tackle this time next year. But given the preponderance of evidence that suggests his narcissism, insecurity and defensiveness, I'm sure he CAN make the adjustments necessary to win those games. No, I take that back. He certainly can make the adjustments, but I'm not sure he is willing to listen.
The good news is that the last two years have to be extraordinarily humbling for the young man, which is what it often takes. If he will not listen to coaching now, I doubt he ever will. If he doesn't, he will be one of those people who goes through life always blaming someone else for their failings. I hope he can turn it around, but the evidence is beginning to suggest otherwise to me.