Anthony Tolliver

Rarely a three-point shooter in college, Anthony Tolliver has become somewhat of a specialist in his time between the NBA and NBADL the past two seasons. A very long PF/C without great height and with just decent athleticism, Tolliver provides his worth by being an efficient scorer, good rebounder, and a very smart player, having good passing skills and fundamentals for a big man.

After a very strong first game here in Boise, Tolliver didn't have the greatest of second games, shooting 5-of-18 from the field, but still managing to post 19 points and 14 rebounds. On the season, Tolliver is taking about half of his attempts from behind the three-point arc, where he is a very reliable spot-up shooter and can even pull up a bit in space.

As for the rest of his offense, Tolliver shows flashes of post and face-up game, but he's not particularly consistent with either, and these aren't segments of his games that project to be very reliable in the NBA.

Defensively, Tolliver is pretty attentive, making most of the rotations, putting in the effort, and playing smart overall defense, but he doesn't appear suited to defend power forwards on the perimeter, being fairly slow-footed. He's a solid post defender and very good on the defensive boards, however.

Tolliver was already called up to the Portland Trail Blazers for a few days this season, and spent part of last season with the Spurs, so it won't be surprising to see him get another shot before this season is over, if not more than one. He has a pretty clearly defined skillset, providing value mainly through three-point shooting and the defensive glass, as well as by being an extremely high character individual, so if a team is looking for those attributes and is capable of masking some of his deficiencies, he could provide a good fit somewhere as a 12th man or even a little more if the team is battling injuries.

Anthony Tolliver has been consistently impressive, doing a lot of shooting and a little bit of everything else. He is a good rebounder, a sound defender, extremely intelligent, and just a highly versatile all-around player. Don’t be surprised to see him making a team this summer…

Anthony Tolliver had a solid camp overall, showing off some nice passing ability, three-point range, and a well-rounded game with the many things he’s capable of doing. Tolliver shows excellent court awareness for a big man, and he passes well out of both posts. He also has the ability to step out behind the arc, shooting a flat-footed shot with decent form that he scored with a few times. In the post, Tolliver battles hard for position and usually goes up strong, as he drew quite a few fouls here, but while not showing the most advanced array of moves down low.

Defensively, Tolliver has some trouble when drawn out to the perimeter, as he couldn’t quite stick either Ivan Harris or Justin Doellman in this game when he was matched up with them, not being agile enough to risk tightly playing them, which left them open for outside shots. He hustles a lot on the defensive end in the painted area, though, and is able to get some blocks and steals off that more-so than explosiveness or excellent athletic ability, which he lacks. In the post, he’s a pretty good defender when he gets physical, but he doesn’t always do that, which is also a problem with his rebounding. He seems to get most of his rebounds due to his size and being in the right spot as opposed to throwing his weight around and using physicality to pull down boards in the crowd.

Tolliver probably isn’t an NBA player, at least not now, but he should be invited to the Orlando pre-draft camp, and with his well-rounded and smart style of play, he should make a nice complementary player in Europe.