Los Angeles Lakers forward Thomas Robinson, right, shoots as Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, of the Republic of Georgia, defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, in Los Angeles. The Warriors won 109-85. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers forward Thomas Robinson, right, shoots as Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, of the Republic of Georgia, defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, in Los Angeles. The Warriors won 109-85. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Former Kansas post players Tarik Black and Thomas Robinson aren’t the type of big men who can take over an NBA game with their offensive abilities. Still, every team needs post players willing and able to do the far-less-glamorous dirty work.

In fact, they both play their bit parts well enough that first-year Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton decided to utilize a two-headed hustle monster of Black and Robinson against Toronto on Sunday. While the combination of backup bigs weren’t enough for L.A. to defeat one of the league’s better teams, their coach — in need of some help in the frontcourt with Larry Nance Jr. out until the end of the month — came away pleased with the experiment.

“They brought us an energy and
toughness that we lack a lot of the
time on the defensive end,” Walton
said Monday, as detailed [on the
Lakers’ website][1]. “So it was nice
to have them out there fighting and
battling and watching the other team
get mad at each other for not matching
that level of intensity.”

In 17 minutes off the bench against the Raptors, Robinson, who has seen his playing time increase in Nance’s absence, scored 12 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

Black, while playing his first prolonged stretch in nearly a month after suffering an ankle injury, added 9 points and 9 boards in 14 minutes for the Lakers.

“It’s kind of similar to what me and
Larry Nance did,” Black said on
Lakers.com. “Larry Nance got a lot of
highlight dunks and tip dunks, because
guys are trying to box me out, and
vice versa. … T-Rob’s super-tenacious
on the boards, so it works out.”

The duo combined for 10 offensive rebounds in the loss to Toronto, and Walton told reporters he anticipates going to them again in the Lakers’ next game, Tuesday night against Memphis.

Los Angeles Lakers center Tarik Black (28) slam dunks over New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) and forward Terrence Jones (9) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016. The Lakers won 126-99. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

As many who watched Black and Robinson at Kansas will recall, they have similar personas when they step foot on the court.

“(Black) goes hard like I do every
possession,” said Robinson, who is
averaging 8.2 points and 8.4 rebounds,
while shooting 71.4% from the field in
just 17.8 minutes, during the past
five games. “He gives me the
comfortability of knowing that I got
somebody that’s gonna go hard with me
playing out there.”

As Robinson alluded to, the two spent some time manning the frontcourt simultaneously versus Toronto. It only lasted five minutes, as detailed at SilverScreenAndRoll.com, but the two seemed to feed off each other.

“We’re both Jayhawks … and we’re the
best in the world,” Robinson said. “We
both play with high energy, and so I
think that was effective, especially
in the first half when we first did
it.”

Walton said the Lakers wanted to see what a bench unit with two traditional bigs would look like, instead of using a stretch-4. Exactly how long L.A. (12-25) sticks with the Kansas tandem remains to be seen. But Black and Robinson like the idea of teaming up for more grunt work as long as it remains part of the game plan.

“We have a connection because we come
from the same university. Honestly,
it’s pretty cool playing with him, to
be real with you,” Black said. “I
watched him play at Kansas and I went
there right after him, so now playing
together and being out there on the
floor with him, it felt good.”