Player Preview Series: How quickly can Anton Bonke's physical gifts translate to the court?

"He picks up on things so quickly. He’s a really smart kid. You show him something and he’s able to take visually what he’s seen and he can translate that to the court almost instantly."

The best scene in Blue Chips, one of the real guilty pleasure basketball movies of all time, features Nick Nolte as embattled college head coach Pete Bell discovering Neon Boudeaux — a totally raw and undiscovered center played by Shaquille O’Neal.

Bell looks on in awe as Boudeaux lays waste to everyone on the makeshift court, with Boudeaux’s conduit/handler/hype man Slick telling Bell, “He’s totally raw. He’s never been coached!”

I thought of Slick when hearing about Providence’s coaches talking about Anton Bonke. No, no one is comparing Bonke to Shaq, but there’s a joy in being able to mold a 7’2, 270 pound center who hadn’t played an organized basketball game until attending Eastern Arizona College last year.

Bonke played in 17 games at the junior college level before transferring to Providence last January (ahead of the likes of BYU and Xavier) and redshirting the remainder of the year.

“He picks up on things so quickly. He’s a really smart kid. You show him something and he’s able to take visually what he’s seen and he can translate that to the court almost instantly,” Providence assistant Matt Palumbo said of the sophomore center.

“Anton is a really unique story and player,” fellow assistant Dennis Felton added. “He’s a baby at the game. Last year was his first year of organized basketball. He has some natural gifts in that he’s 7’2, he’s approaching 280 (pounds) now, and he’s really well put together. He doesn’t look like a guy who has an ounce of baby fat on him. He runs, moves, plays at the top of the square offensively, and learns the game as quickly as anybody I’ve ever coached.”

In a world in which kids are joining travel teams at seven and eight years old, Bonke is a true anomaly. He was born in the Netherlands, moved to the small island country of Vanuatu at three, and by the time he graduated high school he had never played in an organized basketball game.

He had world class potential as a rower and was trained by a former Olympic medalist, but Bonke found himself determined to play basketball. He had friends in California, went to live with them to chase his basketball dream, and played in pickup games before being discovered by the coaching staff at Eastern Arizona.

It didn’t take long for Bonke to have an impact on the junior college level. He scored 16 points in his debut and finished with 23 points and four blocks the next time out.

Bonke averaged 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in 18 minutes per game at Eastern Arizona. He shot 58% from the field, 46% at the free throw line (20-43), and made two of the eight 3-pointers he attempted. He blocked 39 shots in 17 games.

While tape of Bonke is limited, I watched the second game he played in against Southern Nevada, and it wasn’t hard to see what intrigued coaches. He blocked two shots in the first 30 seconds of the game, made the 6’9 kid guarding him disappear when he posted, and he got up and down the floor well. More surprisingly, for a player of his size and inexperience, Bonke never seemed to breathe heavy. He also didn’t hesitate to let it rip from beyond the arc and looked surprisingly smooth shooting it considering his size and inexperience.

Here is some tape I cut up from that one:

Clearly, Bonke’s biggest disadvantage is the hundreds of hours of practice time and game reps his peers have over him. While there is an element of not having to unteach bad habits picked up along the way, the learning curve figures to be steep.

“It’s really fun,” Palumbo said of coaching someone so new to the game. “You aren’t trying to fix someone, you’re just trying to show them how to play. You can see him falling in love with it.”

“He has some gifts. He’s a true 7’2, 270 pounds of lean muscle, which is really rare. You couple that with someone who has potential to make threes, has touch with his right and left hand around the rim, and has no trouble getting up the floor — you just don’t see that much.”

Felton added, “He’s becoming a three point shooter, and his skill set literally grows every day. His big challenge will be the experience factor — the things you can only gain by experience — in terms of the instincts, feel, and the comfort level playing in crowded spaces. All of those are things individual workouts can’t provide.”

Getting game reps will be critical for Bonke’s development, and he played alongside Corey Floyd Jr. in a tour in Greece this summer to gain more experience. Playing for a Dallas Mavericks assistant, Bonke had 10 points and seven rebounds in the opener of a three-game tour, and finished up the tournament with a 12-point effort.

Providence should have the luxury of bringing Bonke along slowly this season after acquiring Christ Essandoko in the transfer portal and adding freshman shot blocker Oswin Erhunmwunse. Essandoko should be the first option at center, while Oswin also figures to play mostly at the five this season as well.

Still, there is a ton of intrigue about Bonke thanks to his measurables and backstory, and he’s already found himself a fan favorite before ever logging a minute in a Friar uniform. The AMP will certainly buzz when he first steps on the floor in the fall.

Whether Bonke can give Providence meaningful minutes this season remains to be seen, but it will be fascinating to see if the staff can take all of his physical tools and help him develop into a formidable Big East center.