Gr8Life In Vegas

Of course, that was before.

Before he exploded onto the scene as one of the game’s most dynamic and popular players. Before he thrilled a worldwide audience with a victory in the Slam Dunk contest at All-Star Weekend. Before his jersey, it seemed, was on the back of every other kid who walked into the Garden. Before he found himself in Washington at a black-tie dinner hosted by the President of the United States.

Before he’d return to Las Vegas exactly one year later, his face adorning billboards and the sides of buses.

“I didn’t think, as an NBA player, a rookie coming into last year, that I would be able to go to the Correspondents Dinner, or meet the President, having a blog, or having the year I had,” said Robinson prior to Thursday’s finale in the Toshiba Vegas Summer League. “I just worked hard for it, and I just thank God for it. For the opportunity to showcase the talent He gave me, and to show the world what I can do and the type of person I am off the court.

“And I think that it paid off for the best, and I’m just going with the flow now, and hopefully throughout my years to come I hope I can be a great player.”

Robinson’s headline rookie season – during which he averaged 9.3 points in 72 games wrapped around his Slam Dunk triumph in Houston – has been well-documented. Now comes Season Two, which begins in this same place, in this same city, one year later.

Despite a broken nose suffered midway through the week, Robinson started all five games at Summer League, averaging 12.2 points and 4.6 assists in 23.4 minutes. He scored 23 points in a win over Cleveland, and had nine points and eight assists in 20 minutes in Thursday’s closeout win over Washington. He committed just eight turnovers in the week’s five contests.

Robinson’s style, which endeared him to an entire city, is hell-bent and frenetic. Don’t expect that to change one bit. However, refining his game was a priority this past week in Vegas, and will continue through the summer.

“Just trying to become a better point guard, a better basketball player. So one of the things I’m doing (are) more guard-oriented things than just scoring,” says Nate. “Because last year (at Summer League), in a couple of games, they didn’t even need me to score, and I averaged something like 20 points the whole time I was here, (and) six assists.

“But here now, I’m getting more assists, playing better defense, more rebounds, playing harder. It’s molding me into something great as far my confidence in becoming a great ballplayer.”

Another confidence-builder for Robinson could be the tutelage of head coach Isiah Thomas, a Hall of Fame backcourt artist whose playing style was every bit as aggressive as Nate’s. It’s not much of a reach to predict that few Knicks may benefit from Thomas’ coaching and guidance more than the diminutive Robinson.

“He’s more hands-on as far as the offense that we run,” says Robinson of Thomas. “It’s more structured, as in more movement. I know every spot, where guys are supposed to be, so it makes me feel like I’m a point guard and I’m supposed to be out there. I think it’s great.

“At the same time, knowing all the things he went through to become the player he was, I know that, for me to work hard – and I love working hard, I love to be great at the things that I do – I know one day I can take bits and pieces from Isiah and mold my own game.”

That game and that passion helped land Nate a seat at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington in April. He was invited to attend with msnbc.com correspondents, since his blog -- www.gr8life.msnbc.com – became one of the most popular athlete blogs on the web.

And there he was, not even a year removed from the uncertainty of Las Vegas, in the same room as President Bush and the media world’s elite, at an event he called “great; I had an awesome time.”

“I didn’t meet him (President Bush) right there,” says Nate. “I just saw him at the dinner. He was talking to everybody. They had another dude that looked like him, they were doing a little roast.”

Another dude who looked like him? That’s something Nate – strictly one of a kind -- need not worry about.

THURSDAY’S FINALE: Ime Udoka scored 13 points as the Knicks led by double figures most of the way in a 75-67 win Thursday over the Washington Wizards, giving them a final mark of 4-1 in the 2006 Toshiba Vegas Summer League at Cox Pavilion.

New York shot .526 from the field (30-57 FGA) and held Washington to .382 shooting (26-68 FGA), building a lead that grew to 18 points. First-round pick Renaldo Balkman (eight points) had a pair of resounding dunks and finished with a .750 shooting percentage for the week (15-20 FGA). Oleksiy Pecherov of the Ukraine, the 18th overall pick in last month’s NBA Draft, scored a game-high 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting for the Wizards.

LEE SHINES: Second-year forward David Lee capped a standout Summer League performance with 12 points (5-6 FGA) and four rebounds in 20 minutes in Thursday’s win over the Wizards.

Lee was the Knicks’ leading scorer in Vegas, notching 15.2 points on .600 shooting (30-50 FGA) with 9.4 rebounds in the five contests. He notched two double-doubles and a pair of 20+ scoring games.

“It’s just the experience factor, coming out here and knowing a little more about the NBA game,” said Lee prior to Thursday’s game. “Just having a year of experience under my belt makes things a lot easier and takes all the pressure off. I’m just out here trying to use a little extra experience to do that.”

TV REPLAY: Knicks fans can catch replays of the final three games in Las Vegas on NBATV later this week. . .Monday’s game against Sacramento will be shown on Saturday, July 15 at 7 p.m. and again on Sunday, July 16 at noon. . .Tuesday’s game against Detroit will be replayed on Monday, July 17 at 1 a.m. and again at 3 p.m.. . .Thursday’s Summer League finale against Washington will be shown on Wednesday, July 19 at 9 p.m.; on Thursday, July 20 at 3 a.m. and on Saturday, July 22 at 4 p.m. (all times Eastern).