Put aside what you've seen in the preseaon and what you think you might remember about Robin Lopez being a foul machine from last season.
↵It's just not true.
↵OK, it's partially true, but the part that matters is not.
↵What matters is that as a starter last season, Robin had a very low foul rate of only 4.7 fouls averaged over 48 minutes. He was ranked 42 out of 62 NBA centers and tied with Matt Bonner.
↵In fact, one of the most impressive things about Robin last season was ability to defend the paint without fouling.
↵In shorter minutes, however, Robin tends to be more aggressive.
↵As a bench player last season, his foul rate jumped to 8.9 per 48 minutes (ranked 14th) and this preseason, he was 5.2 per 48 minutes going into today's game, where he racked up four fouls in just 11:32 of play.
↵Robin has shown that he can adjust his play according to his role. As a bench player, he knew he didn't need to worry about fouling out and played that way.
↵As a starter, he adjusted and played smart.
↵In the preseason, he's probably just tired from all the extra practices and also not worried about his foul total in a game he's not going to play much in.
↵So no, I'm not worried about Robin's ability to stay on the floor once the real season starts. He's proven that he can do it.
↵Now, let's just hope he can also stay healthy.