Anthony Bennett – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile

June 20th, 2019

Anthony Bennett

PF – 6’8, 235lbs – Born 14th March 1993

   Agua Caliente Clippers   

This may have been the year that Anthony Bennett finally became the player he could always have been.

Drafted on account of his perceived combination of size and perimeter skill, Bennett has over the last two seasons become an absolutely excellent shooter. That true shooting percentage of .721% is not being done through dunks. Rather, the vast majority of Bennett’s field goal attempts are jumpers, often from behind the three-point line, and more often than not above the break. Hitting 42.2% from three-point range in parts of four G-League seasons, what was once an ancillary part of his game has now become the core of it.

Bennett can still play pick-and-roll basketball, and also gets some paint touches. More often than not, though, those paint touches lead to turnarounds or step-back mid-range jumpers, usually involving the glass. Bennett’s clear-cut preference is for the jump shot, and he can normally be found screening at the top of the key, calling for a pick-and-pop jumper, and shooting them with boundless confidence.

More importantly, he is becoming the exceptionally elite finisher rather than the inefficient creator. Bully ball didn’t work at the next level, so instead, Bennett has honed the en vogue skill. The NBA craves multi-positional shooting, and Bennett has absolutely put himself in the running with this striking efficiency.

Defensively, things have not improved as much. Bennett is disadvantaged by not having either great length or foot speed, but the effort level could, as ever, stand to improve. Nevertheless, when he shoots this well, this often, Bennett does not give back as much as he gives. And he has made his call-up credentials legitimate with his play this season.

– 20th June, 2019

• This above is extracted from the following page in the The Basketball Manifesto, an entirely free 3,775 page, 1.2 million word-ish basketball reference book which contains reviews, strategies, ideas, opinions, and a whole lot of scouting on men’s world basketball.

– View tons more player profiles like this from the Manifesto here.