Doyel: Larry Bird has that feeling so pay attention to Glenn Robinson III

Every now and then Larry Bird gets this feeling. He got it in 2010 with a strong-willed underachiever out of Cincinnati, a tremendous athlete who couldn’t shoot, and 19-year-old Lance Stephenson turned out to be a revelation. Bird got that feeling the same year with a skinny, mistake-prone sophomore from Fresno State, and 20-year-old Paul George turned out to be a superstar.

What will 21-year-old Glenn Robinson III turn out to be?

I’m asking, because Bird has that feeling again.

Bird isn’t always right, OK? Not everything he touches turns to gold. Damjan Rudez is one name. Tyler Hansbrough (over Ty Lawson in the 2009 draft) is another. The occasional lead pipe happens to everyone, even to the Pacers president.

But when he gets that feeling … pay attention.

Pay attention to Glenn Robinson III.

“I’ve been (trying to acquire) him for a year,” Bird says.

Since the preseason opener last season, when the Minnesota Timberwolves came to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers won 103-90, and Bird noticed in Glenn Robinson – the 40th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft – absurd athletic ability and untapped potential. In 12 minutes Robinson had six points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal. It was just a preseason game, but talent is talent. And in the son of former Purdue star Glenn Robinson, Bird saw it.

The Timberwolves didn’t see it, giving Robinson just 104 minutes of garbage time over 25 games before letting him go March 5. The Pacers were ready to pounce, but the 76ers – with the second-worst record in the league – were ahead in the claiming order and plucked Robinson off waivers first. In 10 games in Philadelphia he averaged 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 15.3 minutes. He shot 41.9 percent from the floor, 30.8 percent on 3-pointers. When the season ended, so did Robinson’s time in Philadelphia.

Bird was ready.

“He’s very impressive to me,” Bird says. “He’s long, strong and big.”

Well, he is that. Robinson is 6-7 and 222 pounds, built in a way that stands out even in an NBA locker room, and with athletic ability that jumps out even on an NBA floor. Pacers veteran Rodney Stuckey arrived last week for training camp, early enough to get in one day of pickup games with teammates, and this is what he said when I asked Stuckey to name one thing that surprised him:

“I didn’t know Glenn Robinson had that much bounce,” Stuckey says.

Robinson’s always had that, but he couldn’t shoot. That was the knock on him at Michigan. That’s why, despite the body and bounce and bloodlines, he was there for Minnesota in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft. In two years at Michigan, in a John Beilein system that provides open looks on the perimeter, Robinson shot just 31.3 percent on 3-pointers.

Bird was undeterred by that, just as he was undeterred by Stephenson’s longtime rep for being a ball hog, and George’s collegiate history of turnovers and uneven play. This summer Bird signed Robinson, and not to a one-year deal. Not for two years, either. Bird gave him a three-year deal.

“He sees something he likes in me, and it makes you feel good,” Robinson said. “I mean, he’s Larry Bird.”

Bird hooked up Robinson this summer with Hal Wissel, a 76-year-old former NBA assistant and small-college head coach who became a shooting specialist and worked most famously with Stephenson. How much Wissel helped Robinson, we’ll see. But Pacers coach Frank Vogel says Robinson came back with better balance and arc on his shot.

And then Vogel told me this, when I asked him what kind of player we’re going to see this season in Robinson:

“Glenn has been a bright spot since signing with us this summer,” Vogel told me, allowing that Robinson was brought in as a “prospect that needed development – (but) has put himself in the conversation for meaningful minutes this year.”

Robinson smiles his way around Bankers Life Fieldhouse these days. The Pacers, says this kid from The Region, this former Lake Central High star, are “home.” And the Pacers, he says, tell him to study George, because they see similarities.

“Paul started kind of the same way, as a three-and-D guy,” Robinson says, talking about 3-pointers and defense, “and that’s how they see me fitting in with the team.”

Bird is giving Robinson the Stephenson treatment. He’s not the most hands-on executive, but Bird on occasion will work closely with a young player. Stephenson was one. Robinson is another, routinely getting pulled to the side by Bird for a quick word.

None of this is to say Robinson will be as productive as Stephenson or (anywhere near) as good as George. But Bird sees something special in the son of Big Dog, something nobody else in the NBA seems to be seeing.

On Saturday night against New Orleans at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Pacers play their preseason opener. It was on this night a year ago that Bird fell in love with Robinson’s game.

Let that be your prism, as you try to see what Bird saw.

Find Star columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter: @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/gregg.doyel.