Early Season evaluation: Anthony Bennett

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Overview - AB seemed almost like a throw-in to the Cleveland deal after it was clearly established that we had to have Wiggins as the centerpiece of the trade. He had a disastrous rookie year due mostly to an assortment of health ailments that slowed him down out of the gate. And then when he did finally play, he looked awful. Many of us had completely written him off as someone that could ultimately become an impact player. Then Summer League happened. He looked like a completely new man - healthy and in much better shape. And after the trade to Minnesota, Flip made it pretty clear that he wanted to develop him. So here we are!

Offense - It's maddening to watch a player with such a unique combination of physical attributes and skills fail to put it all together yet. So far this season he's averaging 14 points per 36 minutes with a 49 TS%. It's an improvement over last season, but it's still not very good. And he's playing mostly against opposing bench players. I would expect a former #1 pick in his second year to win his fair share of matchups against bench bigs. That is not happening. But let's start with the good.....

AB showed early in Flip's offense that he could hit the open jump shot, and while he's cooled off a bit of late, he's still making about 42% of his long 2's. That is a very decent percentage on those shots. And while we're all frustrated that those 2's are not 3's, it's not a bad thing that he can hit the shot. The next step is for him to gradually move his range out to beyond the 3-point arc - and for Flip to actually encourage this development!

The other area where Bennett has shown some flashes is his finishing around the rim. He's had a couple of plays around the hoop and in traffic where he caught the pass and got off the floor quick to flush it home with an emphatic dunk. It was almost shocking a couple of times to see a man so big get up so quickly. Unfortunately, for reasons I can't entirely explain, we see so very little of AB rolling hard to the hoop, as his tendency is to set the pick and then basically stand in place awaiting for the ball so that he can take his beloved 21-footer.

Bennett is an OK-ish offensive rebounder, but it's not a real strength.

Where Bennett really struggles is in the post up game. You would think that with his wide frame and long arms, he could easily develop a nice jump-hook, one of the simplest and quickest of post moves. Instead, he much prefers turnaround fadeaway shots in the post, by far the most difficult option out of that position.

Bennett also doesn't run the floor very hard, so he rarely creates easy opportunities for himself in fast break situations.

The result of popping instead of rolling; fadeaways instead of jump hooks; and loping instead of sprinting is that he hardly gets to the free throw line. He's averaging only 2.5 attempts per 36 minutes! Given his wide-body and explosiveness off the ground, this is a travesty. My goodness, he's an even bigger version of Shabazz Muhammad. He could be a free-throw generating and dunk machine, but alas, the 21 footer......Sigh.

AB is actually a pretty skilled passer. He's averaging just over 2 assists per 36 minutes, which is pretty good considering his role in the offense. He also only averages 1.2 TOs per 36 minutes, which again, is pretty darn good.

Defense - Similar to offense, Bennett has all of the tools to be a very good defender: Long arms, a strong body, decent athleticism, and quick hands. Unfortunately, like so many other young players, his effort is inconsistent and his court awareness is lacking.

Here again, we've seen Bennett show nice flashes of effort and athleticism. Remember the steal the other night against Boozer? He fronted Carlos and then as the ball swung to the middle, AB fought around Boozer and leaped in the air to steal the entry pass. That was a great play!

I think this play indicates Bennett does pretty well when he can zone in on his man and his man only. But once things get a little complicated and his help is required, he often gets caught flat footed and is way too late to recover. This is a common theme with a few of our young guys.

Like his offensive rebounding, his defensive rebounding is just OK, being neither a strength or weakness. He seems to rely on his athleticism and long arms to grab boards as opposed to doing the dirty work of clearing people out before going up for the rebound. The great thing about boxing people out, is even if you don't get the rebound yourself, you increase the chances of a team mate getting it.

Summary - I don't think Anthony Bennett knows what he wants to be when he grows up and that's a real problem to me. Think about some of our other recent young guys that have come through here and shown some success. There was typically one core competency that stood out early in their career and could be described in one word:

Love - Rebounder
Rubio - Playmaker
Dieng - Shotblocker
Shabazz - Scorer
Wiggins - Defender

Typically a player can start from that one skill and then work his way into developing other parts of his game, knowing that he always has that one go-to skill no matter what. What is it that Anthony Bennett does really well? I can't think of a single thing. Do you know who he reminds me of? Derrick Williams. He was exactly the same way - had all the physical tools and some nice skills, but just never really did any one thing very well.

The good news is that AB is still young and didn't have two years of college like DW, but boy, he needs to start figuring out who he is as a player, because as of right now, it's hard for me to envision him as our starting PF for the next 10 years.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

The one comment I'll make on the roll versus the fade is that he is not very good as a roll man yet. He tends to fumble the ball a lot and either get stripped or not have any control to make a good move and put up a good shot. It's nice in theory to say he needs to roll more, but the defense knows now you just have to make him make one move on the roll and he tends to lose control. He puts up some pretty monstrous dunks when they don't force him to make that move. I would like to see him roll, catch the ball and sometimes take that 15 footer opening up a pump fake and drive. I think making that simple adjustment could help simplify his thought process on the roll and hopefully help him develop some control to become a more efficient player. He hasn't been very good driving to the hoop. He loses his balance and his dribble pretty easily. Like a lot of young players he is thinking too much of which move to make instead of just making a move. Bazz is a good post player because he gets the ball and makes his move without really thinking about it. He knows what move he is making pretty much the second he gets the ball. That's a big reason he just doesn't turn the ball over. Bennett needs to pick 1 or 2 moves and stick with them until he can develop a few more moves going forward.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Dig your last bit of analysis, Q.

The NBA has become a bit of a specialist league. If you're not versatile and a really good player, you better find SOMETHING that you excel at... because the league is full of athletic guys with potential. Funny thing is those guys sometimes sit behind guys like Reggie Evans. Or, Ryan Anderson. Or, even Matt Bonner or Steve Novak.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I said all of this about Bennett pre-Love trade. I even made the D-Will comparison. But no, I was told Bennett was closer to Barkley and Larry Johnson than D-Will. Was told he played like he did last year because of breathing issues. OK.

Another great evaluation, Q. This one being my favorite because I agree on everything.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Cam, who said that about Anthony Bennett?

That's absolutely ridiculous.

[Phenom]

Bennett reminds me of a rich mans Ryan Gomes so far from the standpoint that he blends in, in the least aggressive way possible. I think wallflower was the term for Ryan back then (might have been Qs term, actually). He is more skilled than Ryan was though. I think he may also be in a situation where he is victim to being a young inexperienced guy surrounded by many others. It can be hard for some players to find themselves when so many other are at the same stage. I do still like his upside and like that he can play system ball unlike Derrick.

[bleedspeed]

I said all of this about Bennett pre-Love trade. I even made the D-Will comparison. But no, I was told Bennett was closer to Barkley and Larry Johnson than D-Will. Was told he played like he did last year because of breathing issues. OK.

Another great evaluation, Q. This one being my favorite because I agree on everything.

You didn't. You said he was complete garbage. I was one who thought he had upside and potential to be pretty good. He has shown flashes, but is has some issues like Q pointed out. I was one that was hoping to see more from him now that he seems healthy and he has shown flashes, but seems to have the Canadian slow development thing that Nash had and Wiggins shares with him. (not saying he is a lock to be a future all-star)

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

The one comment I'll make on the roll versus the fade is that he is not very good as a roll man yet. He tends to fumble the ball a lot and either get stripped or not have any control to make a good move and put up a good shot. It's nice in theory to say he needs to roll more, but the defense knows now you just have to make him make one move on the roll and he tends to lose control. He puts up some pretty monstrous dunks when they don't force him to make that move. I would like to see him roll, catch the ball and sometimes take that 15 footer opening up a pump fake and drive. I think making that simple adjustment could help simplify his thought process on the roll and hopefully help him develop some control to become a more efficient player. He hasn't been very good driving to the hoop. He loses his balance and his dribble pretty easily. Like a lot of young players he is thinking too much of which move to make instead of just making a move. Bazz is a good post player because he gets the ball and makes his move without really thinking about it. He knows what move he is making pretty much the second he gets the ball. That's a big reason he just doesn't turn the ball over. Bennett needs to pick 1 or 2 moves and stick with them until he can develop a few more moves going forward.

Khans, Good observations on AB's problems rolling to the hoop and what adjustments he could make. I also wonder if having him paired with Rubio would help. I gotta believe he'd get some easier looks around the basket due to Rubio's impecabble timing and accuracy with his passes on PnR.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Bennett reminds me of a rich mans Ryan Gomes so far from the standpoint that he blends in, in the least aggressive way possible. I think wallflower was the term for Ryan back then (might have been Qs term, actually). He is more skilled than Ryan was though. I think he may also be in a situation where he is victim to being a young inexperienced guy surrounded by many others. It can be hard for some players to find themselves when so many other are at the same stage. I do still like his upside and like that he can play system ball unlike Derrick.

Heh, yes, the Ryan Gomes syndrome, where one blends into the other 9 players on the floor so seamlessly that he becomes pretty much forgotten. I'll tell you the guy that perfected this: Mickael Gelabale. Anyone remember him? Didn't think so. That's because he literally did nothing to remember while on the court. By the way, he didn't make a lot of mistakes either (kind of like Gomes), so we couldn't even remember him for doing stupid things.

That being said, I actually don't really agree with this. AB "does shit" while on the floor. He has a pretty decent all-around line on a per 36 minute basis. He averages over a steal and block per game, 2 assists, 8 rebounds, and 14 points. And he occasionally makes an eye-opening dunk or defensive play (like that steal against Boozer the other night). Unfortunately, his effort is inconsistent and there isn't one thing he does particularly well. I can see the potential though.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

AB will be the next Kevin Love. Ok, I know that's ridiculous, but I do see a little bit of Love in him. Lumpy, good outside shooter, average defender, I've seen some good offensive rebounding from him.

Wiggy will be Kobe, AB wil be Love, and Zach will be Westbrook, Dieng will be Mutombo, and Bazz will be James Harden!