Re: Anthony Bennett - Still A Work In Progress
Just checking in as someone who had Bennett rated as clear cut #1 prospect in 2013 and predicted him to be a superstar...
The start has been a disaster, but at this point you have to trust the logic instead of your short term emotions. To trust the tools in the plane saying you are right side up when it feels you are upside down. It's brutal he hasn't scored a FGA yet, but realistically, it will come in the next 3 games at worst and then things should proceed normally.
The scoreless drought roots from a combination of things. Bennett's shoulder surgery both has him in poor shape in addition to the other issues related to not playing basketball for that long a time. He's clearly struggling with confidence and nerves increasingly every game with the drought. The Cavs offensive system clearly is in disarray, helping lead to the awful Irving, Waiters numbers for what they're capable of, along with other slow offensive stats from players like Jack and Bynum. And then there's probably a huge scoop of bad luck involved in 15 shots in a row not going in, especially that none of the 3s did. Only because of all these factors together - Bennett's physical condition, nerves, an offense that's been disastrous and bad luck, not just any of them isolated, do you have 0-15. Note that this is the most misses that have ever occurred to start a career, period. While that may seem the opposite of encouraging, it shows that this is a freak event and not because Bennett is that bad. Look this is a guy who put up 22 pts per 40 minutes as a freshman at UNLV, despite a bad shoulder the second half of the year. He was 14 pts+ per 36 in preseason. He's not going to just be Rafael Araujo or Jan Vesely offensively in the NBA. Looking at his talent level, there's still no reason to believe his floor is any lower than what Derrick Williams has been his first two years. Or put it this way. Bennett not scoring his first four games is like Jennings dropping 55. Does it make any sense that a player who eventually became as mediocre as Jennings dropped 55 and averaged 25ppg his first few weeks? Of course not! Like Bennett, many things had to happen - great luck, great confidence, hilarious bad defense against his jumpshot in the 55pt game, etc. It was a freakish, weird event and eventually things went back to normal. Likewise the Bennett thing is just a fking weird NBA moment. In the long run an athletic, fluid, jacked PF with a 3pt jumpshot, should be just fine. Hopefully this actually plays in Bennett's favor by putting a chip on his shoulder and setting him on the right track work ethic wise.