NBA Comparison: Antonio Blakeney

Strengths: Small 2-guard with impressive physical profile and defensive potential … Good court vision, knows how to push the ball in the open floor, quick release on his passes, able to find guys in the open floor for easy transition buckets … Very accurate passer … Very good rebounder for a guard (4.7 RPG), has good instincts and knows how to generate offense off of his defensive boards … Very unselfish and a willing passer (3.5 APG) … Eager to make the right basketball play … Plays hard on defense, has the quickness and speed to recover in the open floor … Has good instincts on defense, reads passing lanes well (1.9 steals), tremendous speed in the open floor and knows how to push the ball in the full court … Not afraid to attack the rim and draw some contact … At 6’4”, 190 pounds, he possesses good length (6’8” wingspan), allowing him to disrupt passing lanes and block shots (1.0 blocks) … Can score in a variety of ways. Off the bounce from beyond the arc, floaters, around the rim, catch and shoot, etc … He especially excels inside the 3-point line, shooting 51.0% … He handles the ball really well and has a solid collection of moves, allowing him to do a variety of things on the court … Has a good feel for the game … Knows when to dish it, when to shoot, etc … While excelling in up-tempo systems, he still displays the patience to make the right play … NBA level athlete … He has the quickness, speed, and jumping ability … Dunks with ease … He has a really quick first step, allowing him to beat opponents off the dribble and get into the lane … Does a good job of making plays and once he’s in the lane … Finishes really well around the basket and in traffic … Not afraid of contact … Finishes strong, frequently using two hands to throw it down … Very alert on both ends of the floor … Very good at getting steals when guys aren’t expecting it and seems to read offenses and defenses very well … Does a good job of cutting to the hole, beating guys on the offensive glass for tip ins, etc … He should be able to run the point guard position at the next level given all of his attributes but also has the potential to play off the ball as a shooting guard as well … True combo guard capable of doing a lot of things on the floor: Score, pass, rebound, defend, etc … His rebounding for the guard spot is probably his biggest strength as well as his active defense. 

Weaknesses: While possessing the ability to score in a wide variety of ways, he wasn’t the best pure scorer in college … Averaged a modest 8.3 points per game in 27 minutes of action per game … He shot 28.4% from 3-point range and 70.6% from the foul line, so his shooting ability will have to get a lot more consistent if he wants to thrive in the NBA … He is a much better scorer inside the 3-point line than beyond … Will he be able to succeed playing this way when he has to contend with guys who are much bigger and quicker? He’ll definitely need to improve his 3-point shooting and foul shooting in order to reach his full potential … Very right hand dominant … Finishes almost exclusively with his right hand … Needs to improve his finishing ability with his off hand … Has the tendency to either force himself to finish right or go up with two hands … The thing he needs to most focus on is becoming a more consistent shooter and also adding some bulk … 190 pounds is pretty light for an NBA player … Lastly, having missed his sophomore season at USC, he’s a bit of gamble in that it’s unclear how much better he has gotten since his freshman year … If he wants to raise his draft stock, he’s going to have to really ball out in pre-draft workouts and at the combine …

Notes: Measured 6’2 without shoes, 6’3 with shoes, 195 lbs, with a 6’8 wingspan and 8’2 standing reach at the June 2017 USA U19 tryouts …

Ben Parker 4/28/18