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NBA Draft 2020: Evaluating UNC Basketball stand out freshman Cole Anthony

By Daniel Priest

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 06: Cole Anthony #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels(Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 06: Cole Anthony #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels(Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 20: Cole Anthony #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts after being called for a charge during the second half of their game against the Elon Phoenix at the Dean Smith Center on November 20, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina won 75-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 20: Cole Anthony #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts after being called for a charge during the second half of their game against the Elon Phoenix at the Dean Smith Center on November 20, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina won 75-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

Question marks

Anthony’s lack of complete burst could prove troublesome at the next level.

For all of his exploits as a premier athlete in terms of leaping and a quick first step, it’s odd that one of Anthony’s question marks may be his burst on the offensive end.

A ton of his points early this season have come on three-pointers and pull-ups, but the closer to the basket Anthony gets, the more his game seems to suffer.

Anthony has no problem getting past defenders with a quick jab or a cagey dribble move, but his speed after getting past the initial defender is where he can fall into trouble. More often than not when Anthony has attacked the basket, he’s had to settle with putting up a floater high off the glass while falling away from the hoop:

As you can see above, Anthony gets a step on his defender with the inside out dribble, but after the initial separation, the defender is still able to catch up to him. In this instance, he gets out of trouble as a foul is called, but almost all of Anthony’s drives look exactly like the one above.

This presents two concerns: (1) he is unable to gain the separation necessary to finish inside and (2) he almost always drives to his right hand. The good news for Anthony and for NBA suitors is he can work to correct both of these. Developing a consistent, reliable left hand is the easy part, the finishing will present more of a challenge.

It’s unlikely Anthony will be able to develop the speed to blow by guys in a straight line a la John Wall and Russell Westbrook, but what he can do is learn how to use his body to hold off defenders and finish. Anthony is already a heady player who makes solid use of ball fakes, so this should be a skill he’s capable of developing moving forward.

Of course, these speed concerns will carry over to the defensive end as well, but since it appears Anthony’s lateral quickness trumps his vertical quickness, issues may be less concerning on that end of the floor.

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