Single Game Prospect Breakdown: Anthony Black vs Florida
In this story:
While not always being the highest evaluator on Anthony Black, and still not completely sold, there is no denying the success of his freshman season and his NBA Draft lottery potential.
Black is currently averaging over 13 points per game on 46% from the field, 31% from behind the 3-point line on 2.8 attempts and 72% from the free throw line on 5.1 attempts.
The 3-point shooting and free throw attempts both stand out from all of those numbers.
There were major questions around Black’s shooting coming into college and while 31% on 2.8 attempts may not be something to write home about, that is a volume and efficiency that many would not have guessed we would see this season.
The 5.1 free throw attempts per game also tell a story of an aggressive offensive player that is putting more pressure on the defense than some may have projected as well. The Cerebro Sports metrics back up what you see when you watch the film, Black impacts the game in a variety of ways.
The Duncanville, TX product has a score of 60 or better on all five individual metrics that combine for an impressive 8.9 overall C-RAM score.
Black is the only freshman in the country that has played 20+ games and 20+ minutes per game to score 60 or better in all of those metrics.
That all around game was on full display in this blowout win over a short handed Florida Gators team, Colin Castleton hand injury. Black logged 14 points on just six attempts, knocked down his lone 3-point attempt and chipped in five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Offense
Although the 3-point shooting numbers are more than anticipated, it was apparent in this game that college teams are still not fully respecting it as there were countless times the on ball defender went under the ball screen. With that said, Black did knock down that lone three in this situation and had a nice mid range pull up make.
Black’s passing was even better than the assist numbers show as multiple times he hit teammates who simply didn’t realize how open they were for the scoring opportunity.
It was awesome seeing Black grab and go off defensive rebounds, all five of his boards in this game, and kick the ball up the floor getting the offense started. He is an extremely unselfish player that was great keeping the flow of the offense.
The biggest question with Black will be his ultimate role in an NBA halfcourt offense.
In this game the entire half court usage was essentially utilizing ball screens, outside of a couple nice off-ball cuts. While that is the modern NBA you wonder if he is proficient enough for an NBA team to completely turn over the keys to him. If not, Black has not shown enough in isolation, one on one, situations to believe that he can truly break down a defense without the ball screen.
Defense
Some use former G League Ignite guard, and current New Orleans Pelican, Dyson Daniels as the comp for Black. This is very understandable and may still be the best example but Black is not quite as good defensively.
Black is engaged and active on this end of the court, highlighted by back to back full court disruptive possessions in the second half, but has plenty of room for growth.
The biggest area for growth, coming from this game, is Black’s ability to navigate ball screens. And as mentioned above, we know this huge in the way the modern NBA is played and even more so for a player of his archetype.
Even so, at his size and activity it is easy to see why many would project him to be an impactful defender at the next level.
Combining that with the passing and other developing offensive skills you can easily see why Anthony Black is in every 2023 NBA Draft lottery discussion.
Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.