Renee Robinson can get out of control.
Just ask her teammates. Ask her coach. The fourth-year Virginia point guard can yell, scream and taunt with the best of them. Sometimes Robinson gets so riled up she scares herself.
But the emotion does not come without a purpose. On a team chock full of quickness, toughness and talent, Robinson is the quickest, the toughest and possibly the most talented.
Look at the two free throws she hit with 0.4 seconds left in regulation to give the Cavs a 57-55 win over Arkansas State Sunday. Look at her 24-point outburst Jan. 6 to lead Virginia to an upset of then-No. 6 North Carolina. Look at her top overall performance - 19 points with four rebounds and nine assists - in the Cavaliers' biggest road win thus far, a 80-73 decision over N.C. State Jan. 17.
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Robinson isn't perfect. She sometimes commits turnovers in crucial situations or dribbles against a zone too long, but the Cavs' emotional leader has earned an accolade from Coach Debbie Ryan that no else has garnered in the legendary coach's 22-year career.
"Renee [is] probably the most improved player from one year to the next that I've ever had," Ryan said. "She's really come an incredibly long way."
In fact, the East Palo Alto, Calif., native has improved so much that some - most notably North Carolina Coach Sylvia Hatchell - are hailing her as a candidate for ACC Player of the Year. In the 1998-99 season, Robinson averaged only 3.2 points-per-game and 3.0 assists in 25.8 minutes per contest. This year, the sixth of Joe Robinson and Shirley McIntyre's seven children is fourth on the Cavs with 9.2 ppg and leads the Conference with a 5.0 assist average.
The dramatic increase in Robinson's statistics only tells half the story, though. The rest can't be measured in numbers, but in her rise in confidence from last season to this season.
"Before, I wasn't really confident," Robinson said. "I'm not a captain this year, but a lot of people thrive on my emotions. If I have a bad game, then the team has a bad game. If I'm not passing well, then the team suffers."
It sounds almost intuitive - as a point guard goes, so goes her team - but Robinson is more than just Debbie Ryan's floor leader. She's the team's catalyst. In a word, Robinson is intense.
"Renee's great to have out there because she says it like it is," fourth-year forward Lisa Hosac said. "If you're not playing well, she'll basically get in your face and tell you that you have to play better.
"As another senior, it's comforting for me to have her out there because it takes a little bit of the pressure off and it's another person I can look to. Someone with her personality as a point guard is an added bonus because she is handling the ball so much."
Robinson relishes her position as the potentially loose cannon on the squad. Most of the time, she keeps her emotions in check, but when her team needs the extra motivational boost, the 5-foot-6 floor general can get quite demanding of her normally sedate troops.
"They go through all the motions." Robinson said. "They're not emotional. You have to get them psyched. When I get in their faces on a good pass or something, they lift one another. They might not show it, but on the inside, that gets you moving. They respond to that."
So far, Robinson's confidence surge and statistical increases have translated into a better season for her team. At this point last season, the Cavalier women were a less-than-impressive 9-4 in Conference. Now, with a potential award-winner taking a firm grip of the reins, the Cavs sit atop the ACC at 10-2 in Conference play and own a No. 24 national ranking.
Awards are "something I've never played for," Robinson said. "I want to win in the regular season and win the tournament. Individual things like that have never mattered to me. I've never received anything like that in the past, so I certainly don't expect it."
But if the ACC Player of the Year Award should fall into her lap, along with a first-place Conference finish and a Tournament run, you can bet that Robinson will be leading her team, yelling and screaming.
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