Closer look at: Anthony Bennett

[2nd2none]

TY for sharing that he got smart or takes to coaching so if he gets serious I will re-fall in love with him. He could be a Brute at SF.

 

[jmuxl]

I still think he could end up playing SF in a few years, once he loses some weight. This guy is a force, and will be a capable PF but I think he could be a SF if he works for it. Does anyone know his body fat %?

 

[CornerThree]

He looks explosive from the limited amount of his stuff that i've watched. I also think he needs to get with a nutritionist and shed some of that baby fat he's got going on. I could live with him at #1 if Noel's knees aren't what we want. At the end of the day, we're a 24 win team so I'm fine with us drafting anything other than a PG with the #1 pick. Tristan could be moved if necessary.

 

[2nd2none]

Now I think about it I could be fine if they did serious due diligence regarding his commitment to sf and being his best to hell with playing the position. I am on the i wanna look like an action figure mantra. Photos coming soon bwahahahahaha.

That's the remaining question with him. If he loses the weight will he look as explosive or more so? Is it we see this dude with a nice frame plenty of baby fat then boom he dunks on someone. Or is it that unmanageable ungainly off balancing explosive twitch dampening baby fat removed free up a special athlete?

I surely hope he has at least 2 of the core alpha, gym rat, will to be great, coach able, or game plan worthy basket ball skill to build a complete game around traits our nucleus possess

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

He's poor on defense but it's never really been asked of him to develop on that end. UNLV was one of the top defensive teams in the NCAA last year....

These two statements together don't make much sense to me. All coaches care about effort and development on the defensive end, and that must especially be true for Bennett if UNLV was one of the best defensive teams in the NCAA last year. Everyone else managed good defense, except him, because the coach never asked him?

I don't buy it.

 

[wuck]

This video was uploaded shortly before his shoulder surgery. I am having trouble imagining a quick, athletic SF inside but maybe it's possible after a longterm commitment.

I can easily see him growing into an extremely powerful, undersized PF, possessing shooting range and inside strength. The kind of guy who could give a lot of players fits at PF, although he might struggle sometimes to deal with tall guys just shooting over him.


[video=youtube;c4oncb58UQs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4oncb58UQs[/video]

 

[CornerThree]

Just a side note, but isn't Canada going to have a good Olympics team at some point with Wiggins/Bennett/Thompson and whatever else they have?

 

[EdMonix11]

These two statements together don't make much sense to me. All coaches care about effort and development on the defensive end, and that must especially be true for Bennett if UNLV was one of the best defensive teams in the NCAA last year. Everyone else managed good defense, except him, because the coach never asked him?

I don't buy it.

I was just saying he was never benched for playing poor defense. UNLV played in a zone defense and Bennett struggled keeping an eye on his man and a decent weakside cut would make him look horrendous.... it would happen 3-4 times a game. If defense was a big part of his game tasks, don't you think Dave Rice would yank him? I do, but it never happened at UNLV because Bennett was their only offense. They needed his offense so badly, they gave him backup minutes at PF when they started him a center. And if you continued to read my post, I said he's not nearly as bad as people think he is on defense, he has great tools, just some big mental lapses spoiled the whole basket. Mike Moser and Khem Birch missed extended periods of time, Anthony Marshall is a crazy chucker PG who never passed, and Bennett had to carry the load offensively. I spend half my time in Vegas for work so I've followed UNLV closer than most..... he's so good offensively, it's pretty scary what he could do with Kyrie and Dion.

 

[Nathan S]

I was just saying he was never benched for playing poor defense. UNLV played in a zone defense and Bennett struggled keeping an eye on his man and a decent weakside cut would make him look horrendous.... it would happen 3-4 times a game. If defense was a big part of his game tasks, don't you think Dave Rice would yank him? I do, but it never happened at UNLV because Bennett was their only offense. They needed his offense so badly, they gave him backup minutes at PF when they started him a center. And if you continued to read my post, I said he's not nearly as bad as people think he is on defense, he has great tools, just some big mental lapses spoiled the whole basket. Mike Moser and Khem Birch missed extended periods of time, Anthony Marshall is a crazy chucker PG who never passed, and Bennett had to carry the load offensively. I spend half my time in Vegas for work so I've followed UNLV closer than most..... he's so good offensively, it's pretty scary what he could do with Kyrie and Dion.

I looked this guy up...he led the conference in assists and only averaged 7 shot attempts a game. I know, I know, I didn't watch the film so I'm not qualified to have an opinion. But it's hard to believe you're not exaggerating on this one.

 

[Len]

Just a side note, but isn't Canada going to have a good Olympics team at some point with Wiggins/Bennett/Thompson and whatever else they have?

Old man Nash running the point for the young bloods?

 

[Nw220]

Aside from Noel in this draft I feel Bennett is the 2nd best prospect in this draft,there's just a few things hirting him 1.hes a tweener he's prolly a stretch 4,2.hes hurt and can't really work out like he'd like to to raise his stock.3 Cavs already have TT and I believe we really like his progression,but I do think he is the 2nd best prospect in this draft.

 

[wuck]

From Mike Prada:

Anthony Bennett said he's only currently scheduled to visit with the top five teams in the draft. Still TBD if he visits others.

Anthony Bennett also said he was cleared for shooting and should be 100% by August. Would still miss Summer League.

Anthony Bennett got measured today. He said his wingspan was "7'1 or 7'2," and his standing reach was 8'9. As a point of comparison, Otto Porter's wingspan is 7'1.5 and his standing reach is 8'9.5.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I was just saying he was never benched for playing poor defense.

No, you actually said "he's poor on defense." If you're now minimizing that, and saying he really isn't poor on defense, that's fine. I was just going off your own statement.

If defense was a big part of his game tasks, don't you think Dave Rice would yank him? I do, but it never happened at UNLV because Bennett was their only offense.

This doesn't make any sense to me either. You first say they would have benched him if defense was a big part of his tasks, but then you say there's no way they'd bench him because he was their only offense. So he still sounds like a guy who is great on offense but poor on defense, despite the obvious fact that his coach wanted him to play much better defense. He just couldn't afford to bench him despite poor defense because they needed him too badly on offense.

I understand his value, but the defense is a huge concern to me. Despite being good-sized for a PF in college, he was still a poor defender. How bad will his defense be as an undersized power forward in the NBA? And moving him to SF...I don't see it. He just doesn't have the footspeed. So we'd be talking about a minus defender at the SF, which I don't think works, at all, with our current backcourt.

He's smaller, but I'm thinking Boozer-esque. Will get you points, a high FG%, and boards, but will just give most of it back on the defensive end.

 

[Derek]

From Mike Prada:

Anthony Bennett said he's only currently scheduled to visit with the top five teams in the draft. Still TBD if he visits others.

Anthony Bennett also said he was cleared for shooting and should be 100% by August. Would still miss Summer League.

Anthony Bennett got measured today. He said his wingspan was "7'1 or 7'2," and his standing reach was 8'9. As a point of comparison, Otto Porter's wingspan is 7'1.5 and his standing reach is 8'9.5.

Sounds like he measured out almost identically to Paul Millsap who had a 7'1.5" wingspan and a 8'9.5" standing reach

 

[Akron330]

I would like this kid a lot more if he had a little more lateral quickness. I worry that he falls into the "tweener" category right now. If he could drop some weight I would be all about him