Anthony Black - Arkansas

[babyjax13]

Black reminds me in a lot of ways of Lonzo. Their playmaking happens differently, but just in terms of the kind of development with their shot that needs to happen. Lonzo's developed well, I think Black needs to just be good enough teams have to close put on him. Ideally he'd be better, but this is something I feel decent about him improving with long term. Amen is the player in the lottery who looks like his jumper is just broken.

[clyde21]

here are some clips of AB looking for his own shot

how he uses his dribble and body control to slice n dice defenses and finds soft spots is absolutely incredible. we're talking a legitimate NBA level operator of offense here.

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[Colbinii]

its interesting how almost every discussion devolves into 'can he shoot'...doesn't matter the prospect, role, archetype, almost everything else always takes a back seen to 'but no pull ups tho'.

as if your entire 10 man lineup needs to be pulling up from 30 or something to be a valuable piece.

AB projects as one of THE most valuable connector pieces in the entire league, and that tbh is just his baseline.

I mean as a lead ball handler you need some type of jumper to keep the defense from sagging off u. He doesn't even have a mid rand jumper which is definitely a red flag. And if you see him as a connecting secondary playmaker it's looks worse cause his off ball value drops significantly without a 3 ball.

I like Black but if his shooting doesn't improve his ceiling is a bench player unless turns into some ball handling savant.

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Scottie Barnes is a 15/4/5 player currently and was a far worse shooter than Black.

Black also has historically good FTA rate, which historically, translates exceptionally well.

For reference, his FTA Rate is almost double what Barnes was in college.

[Big J]

When you can't shoot it caps your ceiling. Everything else about him and his body will translate from day 1, so I wouldn't have an issue taking him 2 overall. Him being a 70% ft shooter is key as well because he won't try to avoid getting to the line.

[CptCrunch]

Plus this man has a 39 inch max vert which is really not too shabby. Should be a physical player on the court with his football background, which shows in his insane free throw rate. Obviously is not afraid of contact.

RSCI #14 solidly 5 star player also adds another data point that increases translation.

True freshman aged 19.5 which is basically the average correct year for a player who didn't start school late, or was held back for basketball/academic reasons.

If the only thing you can clip him for is non-good shooting, then this man is the 2nd best prospect this year. I'm buying fully into group delusion here.

[clyde21]

honestly I think Black is generally underrated which might sound weird to say, but I think we're a pull up game away from him being an *elite* prospect. maybe it comes maybe it doesn't, but if he does find a more explosive scoring repertoire, what won't he be able to do in the NBA?

[Hal14]

its interesting how almost every discussion devolves into 'can he shoot'...doesn't matter the prospect, role, archetype, almost everything else always takes a back seen to 'but no pull ups tho'.

as if your entire 10 man lineup needs to be pulling up from 30 or something to be a valuable piece.

AB projects as one of THE most valuable connector pieces in the entire league, and that tbh is just his baseline.

I mean as a lead ball handler you need some type of jumper to keep the defense from sagging off u. He doesn't even have a mid rand jumper which is definitely a red flag. And if you see him as a connecting secondary playmaker it's looks worse cause his off ball value drops significantly without a 3 ball.

I like Black but if his shooting doesn't improve his ceiling is a bench player unless turns into some ball handling savant.

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Scottie Barnes is a 15/4/5 player currently and was a far worse shooter than Black.

He was? They were both pretty bad. Barnes 28% from 3, Black 30% (27% over his last 13 games). Both with pretty wonky looking form.

Barnes had an assist rate in college of 31% and a 7'2.75" wingspan. Black had a 20% assist rate and a 6'7.75" wingspan.

[Colbinii]

I mean as a lead ball handler you need some type of jumper to keep the defense from sagging off u. He doesn't even have a mid rand jumper which is definitely a red flag. And if you see him as a connecting secondary playmaker it's looks worse cause his off ball value drops significantly without a 3 ball.

I like Black but if his shooting doesn't improve his ceiling is a bench player unless turns into some ball handling savant.

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Scottie Barnes is a 15/4/5 player currently and was a far worse shooter than Black.

He was? They were both pretty bad. Barnes 28% from 3, Black 30% (27% over his last 13 games). Both with pretty wonky looking form.

Barnes had an assist rate in college of 31% and a 7'2.75" wingspan. Black had a 20% assist rate and a 6'7.75" wingspan.

Black is a 70.5% FT%
Scottie was a 62.5% FT%

This is a much better tell for shooting than 3P%.

[Hal14]

Scottie Barnes is a 15/4/5 player currently and was a far worse shooter than Black.

He was? They were both pretty bad. Barnes 28% from 3, Black 30% (27% over his last 13 games). Both with pretty wonky looking form.

Barnes had an assist rate in college of 31% and a 7'2.75" wingspan. Black had a 20% assist rate and a 6'7.75" wingspan.

Black is a 70.5% FT%
Scottie was a 62.5% FT%

This is a much better tell for shooting than 3P%.

Not according to this:

https://theboxandone.substack.com/p/is-free-throw-success-an-indication

They were both bad shooters. And with only a 1 year sample size, I don't feel like that's enough to say Black was a far better shooter. Black was a bad shooter in HS, too.

[clyde21]

assist rate is useless, no one in their right mind thinks Barnes is a better orchestrator of offense than Black coming out.

[Colbinii]

assist rate is useless, no one in their right mind thinks Barnes is a better orchestrator of offense than Black coming out.

Barnes also had 2 40%+ 3P shooters and four other 36%+ 3P shooters around him in the rotation.

Black had no teammate over 35% from 3.

Not comparable at all.

[EvanZ]

n

They were both bad shooters. And with only a 1 year sample size, I don't feel like that's enough to say Black was a far better shooter. Black was a bad shooter in HS, too.

Let's bring this small sample size energy to the Bilal Coulibaly thread

[Colbinii]

I mean as a lead ball handler you need some type of jumper to keep the defense from sagging off u. He doesn't even have a mid rand jumper which is definitely a red flag. And if you see him as a connecting secondary playmaker it's looks worse cause his off ball value drops significantly without a 3 ball.

I like Black but if his shooting doesn't improve his ceiling is a bench player unless turns into some ball handling savant.

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Scottie Barnes is a 15/4/5 player currently and was a far worse shooter than Black.

He was? They were both pretty bad. Barnes 28% from 3, Black 30% (27% over his last 13 games). Both with pretty wonky looking form.

Barnes had an assist rate in college of 31% and a 7'2.75" wingspan. Black had a 20% assist rate and a 6'7.75" wingspan.

Here are Arkansas ranks in term of 3P shooting in the country.

3P Makes: 337th
3P Attempts: 327th
3P %: 326th

Here are Florida States:

3P Makes: 132nd
3P Attempts: 229th
3P %: 25th

[basketballRob]

Barnes is a forward, and Black is a guard.

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[CptCrunch]

Barnes is a also third creator. Black is a pure point guard.

The last point guard I consider to have vision/decosopm making this good was Lonzo Ball and Tyus Jones.

[EvanZ]

Barnes is a also third creator. Black is a pure point guard.

The last point guard I consider to have vision/decosopm making this good was Lonzo Ball and Tyus Jones.

I'd take LaMelo's vision and decision making over AB all day every day. To me AB is like the 4th Ball brother, but he's not as good as LaMelo or Lonzo on offense.

[EvanZ]

The way I look at AB is like an Iguodala with 50% of the tools.

[Big J]

The way I look at AB is like an Iguodala with 50% of the tools.

Shaun Livingston?

[clyde21]

Barnes is a also third creator. Black is a pure point guard.

The last point guard I consider to have vision/decosopm making this good was Lonzo Ball and Tyus Jones.

I'd take LaMelo's vision and decision making over AB all day every day. To me AB is like the 4th Ball brother, but he's not as good as LaMelo or Lonzo on offense.

not even close, Melo is mostly flash very little substance as a playmaker. AB has actual scalable BBIQ in ways Melo never had and will probably never have.

[mattao313]

Barnes is a also third creator. Black is a pure point guard.

The last point guard I consider to have vision/decosopm making this good was Lonzo Ball and Tyus Jones.

I'd take LaMelo's vision and decision making over AB all day every day. To me AB is like the 4th Ball brother, but he's not as good as LaMelo or Lonzo on offense.

not even close, Melo is mostly flash very little substance as a playmaker. AB has actual scalable BBIQ in ways Melo never had and will probably never have.

What? lamelo has great bbiq and feel for the game coupled with a elite handle something Black doesn't have at all.

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