5 Key Anthony Black Strengths in 2024-25 Season

5 Key Anthony Black Strengths in 2024-25 Season

Here are the five main areas where Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black excelled at last season. Number one, on ball defense. AB’s combination of physical attributes, technical skills, mental focus, and lateral movement make him one of the better defenders in the league. He was obviously a big reason why the Magic ended up with the league’s second best defensive rating. Notable opponent shooting percentages last season when AB contested the shots were Kate Cunningham going 1 for7, [Music] James Harden going 1 for six, [Music] Tyrese Maxi going two for 12, Damen Lillard going two for seven, and Lamela ball going three for 10. That’s all according to Second Spectrum’s tracking data. Also interesting, opponent shot O of 10. Yes, O of 10 from three-point range out of an isolation situation when Black was the on ball defender. He was the only defender to prevent opponents from making a single three-pointer in isolation on at least 10 shot attempts. In general, opponents shot 32% from beyond the ark with AB contesting regardless of the play type. Number two, fullcourt defensive pressure. We saw a major increase across the league in teams applying pressure in the back court last season, and Black is one of the best at this, especially when Jaylen Suggs was out over the final three months. This was a huge component of AB’s defensive assignment and he really excelled at it. According to Second Spectrum, AB applied some level of backcourt pressure on an opposing ball handler 285 times last season, regular season and playoffs combined. And here you see some examples. He has great lateral movement, instincts, anticipation, and can be hounding, although he did foul a bit too much in these circumstances. Number three, corner three-point shooting. Although overall, Blackshot just 31.8% from three-point distance last season, from the corners, he shot 39.7%. And from January 1st on, he made 46.8% from those spots on 47 attempts. That was a top 20 mark among those who took at least 40 corner threes in that time frame. Knocking down stationary threes in the corners off spray outs from Orlando’s primary creators including Paulo Benro, France Vagner, and now Desmond Bane will be key for the Magic going forward. Number four, finishing through contact. AB connected on 25 N1s out of 92 shooting fouls drawn last year. That’s a 27.2% 2% shooting percentage while drawing a shooting foul. That ranked 14th highest out of the 81 players who drew at least 90 shooting fouls. [Music] And number five, spray out passing. When AB was in more of a playmaking role last year, he did make some nice reads when he got into the paint. He made a total of 59 kickout passes from the paint that led directly to three-point attempts. his teammates made 33.9% of them. That may not sound like a great percentage, but it was 4% better than the entire team’s three-point percentage off spray out from the paint passes. So, that’ll wrap up this video. If you like this kind of content, please subscribe.

Here’s a detailed analysis of what Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black did well at during the 2024-25 season. #nba #anthonyblack #orlandomagic #magic #filmroom #nbafilmstudy

Video footage courtesy of NBAE
Stats from mix of Second Spectrum and Stathead