Grading Anthony Crater

What grade does Anthony Crater get?

This is going to be a very interesting grading article, time to take a look at point guard Anthony Crater. If you are a frequent reader of this site (which I appreciate) you should know by now I have been very critical of Crater during the season and rightly so. I am not alone in my criticism of him and often, we are right. The transfer from Ohio State was primarily a role player for Coach Heath, coming off the bench to give the defense a spark and give Howard and company a break. This season, Crater took over fulltime as the starting point guard and struggled to find his game all year. [keep reading]

The 6'1" 170-pound junior led the Bulls all season from the point guard position. He averaged 2.3 rebounds per game, 4.6 assists per game, 3.9 points per game (shocked me here), and 2.5 turnovers per game (not a shock here).

Crater's offensive game is somewhat misleading, Crater never looked for a shot. On offense, Crater looked to pass the ball and find open shooters. He would often drive, but at times did not get the ball back out quickly enough or missed wide open players. It was easy to see that Crater was lost on offense at times and did not understand or see what Heath saw from the sidelines. Crater rarely shot the ball, instead trying to pass it around (not like USF has sharp shooters everywhere either). Fans grew upset and so did Heath at the lack of offensive Crater put out. Crater has the ability to drive to the hoop and get easy baskets, but instead he hesitated to shoot. Heading into next season, Heath is hoping Crater will get more aggressive on offense and shoot the ball a bit more.

On defense, Crater is a solid defender. He has incredible speed and quick hands, making him troublesome for a ball handler. He is able to create turnovers and cause plenty of pressure. He keeps the ball handler in front of him and is able to recover when a defender is able to get by him.

The overall grade of Crater is a bit hard to make. During the season, I was missing Chris Capko and wondered how this guy got a scholarship. But during the Big East tournament, Crater played well in the win over Villanova and when he went down against Cincinnati, everyone could see how life was like without him running the show. A few games doesn't makeup for his lack of offense and constant turnovers, but looking at the team and what he means to the offense, the grade, which some would rate at an F, is not that bad.

Final grade: C