FIBA qualifying Bennett hype Thread

[Monster]

The link below is a pretty good balanced article about Bennett's summer. I thought this quote was pretty good and it's almost word for word what I think a few posters here have said that want to see from Bennett.

"Canadian coach Jay Triano told Bennett to simplify the game -- find a thing or two you're good at and focus on doing those things exceptionally well. Crash the boards, run the floor. Everything else will fall into place."



http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/09/01/anthony-bennett-has-looked-good-playing-for-canada-will-that-carry-over-to-nba/

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Canada blew out Cuba yesterday so AB only played 14 minutes, but he had an efficient 9 and 4 in his short stint...another good outing, albeit against questionable competition. Venezuela is 2-0, so they may be a better test for Canada tonight.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Not so good for Wiggins in Canada's rout of Venezuela (13 points on 4-13). but AB had another double double in only 23 minutes...5 for 7 from the field, 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists. Puerto Rico (and JJ!) today a 6pm on ESPN3.

[Monster]

Highlights against Venezuela some nice moments for Wiggins and Bennett. I may need to watch a couple of these games Bennett has done well enough to intrigue me.

http://youtu.be/dCsvekslaPw

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I like these international tournaments because they play lots of games in a short period of time. I believe this will be Canada's 4th game in four days.

In these kinds of settings, similar to the Summer League, I like to hone in on the non-scoring/shooting efficiency stats. In 7 games of international play this summer thus far, here is how Wiggins is doing on a per 36 minute basis versus his per 36 minute NBA rookie averages:

Rebounds - 6.6 vs. 4.5
Assists - 2.6 vs. 2.1
Steals - 1.0 vs. 1.0
Blocks - 1.4 vs. .6
Turnovers - 3.2 vs. 2.1

Perhaps that added inch of height is what's helping his rebound and block numbers! Or may be it's just the competition.....

The other observation is that both of his assists and turnovers are up. I wonder if Team Canada has put him in more ball-handling situations, thus giving him more opportunity to set guys up, which in turn gives him more opportunity for turnovers. I haven't watched any of the games, so I really don't know how they utilize him differently from Flip. If you recall, Flip preferred isolating Wiggins with the ball at the elbow, on the wing, or in the post. He rarely had him as the ball handler in pick and roll.

Anywho, this is all grain-of-salt type of stuff, but interesting to track nonetheless.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

Not so good for Wiggins in Canada's rout of Venezuela (13 points on 4-13). but AB had another double double in only 23 minutes...5 for 7 from the field, 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists. Puerto Rico (and JJ!) today a 6pm on ESPN3.

Also, AB had a plus/minus of just 8 when all the other starters including Wiggins were better than 20. Another concern with AB is his free throw shooting. I think most of AB's points came from dunks or near the basket. He's still a mixed bag if you consider his defense, but at least I've seen a bit more effort on the defensive end than in the past.

[Monster]

I like these international tournaments because they play lots of games in a short period of time. I believe this will be Canada's 4th game in four days.

In these kinds of settings, similar to the Summer League, I like to hone in on the non-scoring/shooting efficiency stats. In 7 games of international play this summer thus far, here is how Wiggins is doing on a per 36 minute basis versus his per 36 minute NBA rookie averages:

Rebounds - 6.6 vs. 4.5
Assists - 2.6 vs. 2.1
Steals - 1.0 vs. 1.0
Blocks - 1.4 vs. .6
Turnovers - 3.2 vs. 2.1

Perhaps that added inch of height is what's helping his rebound and block numbers! Or may be it's just the competition.....

The other observation is that both of his assists and turnovers are up. I wonder if Team Canada has put him in more ball-handling situations, thus giving him more opportunity to set guys up, which in turn gives him more opportunity for turnovers. I haven't watched any of the games, so I really don't know how they utilize him differently from Flip. If you recall, Flip preferred isolating Wiggins with the ball at the elbow, on the wing, or in the post. He rarely had him as the ball handler in pick and roll.

Anywho, this is all grain-of-salt type of stuff, but interesting to track nonetheless.

Q to help answer your question this morning I watched testerday's game against Venezuela. Canada really looks to push the ball and that leads to assist opportunities and bad turnovers. They really look to have a balanced attack so if Wiggins isn't taking over offensively and they are winning that should be considered. Wiggins blocks in that game were pretty good although Joseph got on on that party too which is impressive. Wiggins struggled with some of his opportunities to score but he did work hard on the boards and defense. He forced some fouls on the perimeter and he was dusting it up with some guys down low at times. He shoved an opponent pretty good to get a rebound after a FT that was good to see.

Stauskus might have been the most impressive guy for Canada. He moved his feet well on D had some nice passes and the outside shot looked like butter.

Olynyk looked good on offense feeding guys for passes all game.

Joseph doesn't wow you really except on defense but he does a little of everything. He should be a nice backup PG for years.

Bennett played well. He really attacks the rebounds. I thought a couple times later in the game he might have been tired he was lagging a bit but not giving up on lays. They took a timeout around then and he may not have been the only guy feeling that way. Remember this is up in the mountains and they showed a couple times players getting oxygen. He struggled a couple times to finish around the rim which is a worry since he wasn't facing much size or shot blocking. He knows how to roll cut to the hoop in the offense and he didn't really take any bad shots. He D was fine but I don't know how much he was really tested.

I will say this for Bennett this summer he has performed better than a D-league type player because he has outperformed that level player both the guys he has played against and on his own team he is a starter over NBA guys. You can see him giving guys problems because of his activity and utilizing his girth and athletism. I don't know if I see big upside in him (partly because of him having limited post game and finishing around the tim) but I could see him becoming a worthwhile rotation player especially playing with a guy like Rubio or other Pgs that can find him for easy looks. If he keeps up what he is doing this summer (and stays healthy) its going to help his NBA stick no doubt. These games are going to get more and more competitive as the days go on its going to give a decent amount of evaluation of Bennett.

One other thing I did consider today is that Flip has talked about having a culture of guys that want to play together etc. he isn't going to keep Bennett around just because he plays with Wiggins on team Canada but it could be a little something to sway him towards keeping him.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Thanks for the game report and Wiggins stats, monster and q. TeamRicky, I've also noticed that AB has had some issues at the line this summer...not good for a guy on the bubble.

Stauskas has put up some nice stats this summer...good for him. I liked both AB and him in college, and they have probably been two of my biggest disappointments in their early NBA careers. Both have the potential to contribute in a big way at the pro level, and I think Stauskas will get lots of opportunity in Philly.

Bennett continues to put up efficient scoring and rebounding stats. It's also good to hear of some improvement on defense. I know I'm in the minority here when it comes to excitement level about our flock of backup PF's, but I'm most excited about AB's upside compared to Payne and Bjelica, although I wouldn't be stunned to see any of them step up and provide some good minutes behind KG.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

A low double-double guy doing it efficiently in backup type minutes is exactly what we need coming off the bench. If Bennett can bring that type of play to the team then he has a good shot of earning that backup spot. I always thought his biggest struggles were because he hadn't learned how to be a bench player yet which is a skill itself. In terms of minutes he seems to be much better at contributing while getting inconsistent minutes (some due to foul trouble and others due to blowing teams out). The most important thing is he seems to be playing with consistency. I don't think he's really dropped a dud performance so far in the tournament and he's been pretty efficient every game. That's what bench guys need to do to be successful in the NBA so it's nice to see that he has been much more successful so far this summer than he has been up to this point.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

OK, I finally got a chance to watch some Team Canada tonight. I didn't watch all of it, but I saw the last portion of the 2nd quarter and most of the second half. A few quick observations:

- AB definitely looks to have a bit more of a skip in his step. I didn't necessarily see anything new in terms of skill-sets, but he at least seemed to give a consistent effort.

- Wiggins definitely looks longer. He also looks skinny. It's probably kind of hard to pack on weight if your body is still growing.

- Wiggins seemed to get the ball out beyond the arc to initiate the offense, almost like a true SG would, with Stauskas spacing the floor in one of the corners. So he definitely seemed to get more touches in a playmaking role vs. in isolation closer to the basket. He got one assist in pick and roll where the roller sucked the defense into the paint and AB stepped out to fill the empty space beyond the arc. Wiggins hit him for an open 3 and nice assist. That was good to see!

- Wiggins' defense looked.....uninspired. He was beat badly a couple of times and just didn't seem to get into a great defensive stance. I really hope KG gets into his ear (mentorship!), because you can definitely see a tendency here and there for Wiggins to keep it in 3rd gear.

Overall, it was a fairly sloppy affair with a ton of free throws, many by Wiggins, whose length and athleticism makes him a tough cover without fouling. He seemed to have a bit of the yips at the line though. He completely air-balled one free throw and short-armed a couple of others on the front of the rim.