Cole Anthony uses more of the ball than any NBL27 regular
share of the team's plays · 68 players, 3+ games and 15+ minutes a gameShow the numbers
| Rank | Player | Club | Games | Share of plays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole Anthony | Melbourne United | 5 | 39.2% |
| 2 | Kendric Davis | Sydney Kings | 3 | 33.7% |
| 3 | Parker Jackson-Cartwright | NZ Breakers | 5 | 30.8% |
| 4 | Elijah Pepper | Perth Wildcats | 4 | 29.7% |
| 5 | David Johnson | Tasmania JackJumpers | 4 | 29.4% |
| 6 | Bryce Cotton | Adelaide 36ers | 6 | 28.6% |
| 7 | Nick Rakocevic | Adelaide 36ers | 6 | 28.0% |
| 8 | Jaylon Brown | Cairns Taipans | 6 | 26.3% |
| 9 | Jack McVeigh | Cairns Taipans | 6 | 25.5% |
| 10 | Angus Glover | South East Melbourne Phoenix | 5 | 25.2% |
| 11 | Keanu Pinder | Cairns Taipans | 6 | 25.0% |
| 12 | Milton Doyle | Illawarra Hawks | 5 | 24.9% |
| 13 | Nate Hinton | Brisbane Bullets | 5 | 24.9% |
| 14 | Nathan Sobey | South East Melbourne Phoenix | 3 | 24.8% |
| 15 | Sam Mennenga | NZ Breakers | 5 | 24.7% |
| 16 | Skylar Mays | South East Melbourne Phoenix | 5 | 24.2% |
| 17 | Tyrell Harrison | Brisbane Bullets | 5 | 23.9% |
| 18 | Jo Lual-Acuil Jr | Perth Wildcats | 3 | 23.7% |
| 19 | Taran Armstrong | Tasmania JackJumpers | 4 | 23.6% |
| 20 | William Hickey | Illawarra Hawks | 5 | 23.2% |
| 21 | Kelan Martin | Illawarra Hawks | 5 | 23.0% |
| 22 | Jordan Hunter | South East Melbourne Phoenix | 5 | 22.7% |
| 23 | Arnas Velicka | Brisbane Bullets | 5 | 21.8% |
| 24 | Tyler Harvey | Illawarra Hawks | 5 | 21.6% |
| 25 | Torrey Craig | Sydney Kings | 3 | 21.4% |
| 26 | Sam Froling | Illawarra Hawks | 5 | 21.0% |
| 27 | John Jenkins III | Adelaide 36ers | 5 | 21.0% |
| 28 | Max Mackinnon | Brisbane Bullets | 5 | 21.0% |
| 29 | Josh Oduro | Melbourne United | 5 | 20.9% |
| 30 | Anthony Dell'Orso | Perth Wildcats | 4 | 20.9% |
| 31 | Luke Travers | Melbourne United | 5 | 20.7% |
| 32 | Will Magnay | Tasmania JackJumpers | 4 | 20.2% |
| 33 | Xavier Cooks | Sydney Kings | 3 | 20.1% |
| 34 | Dylan Windler | Perth Wildcats | 4 | 19.9% |
| 35 | Dejan Vasiljevic | NZ Breakers | 5 | 19.8% |
| 36 | Dash Daniels | South East Melbourne Phoenix | 5 | 19.8% |
| 37 | Tanner Krebs | South East Melbourne Phoenix | 5 | 19.6% |
| 38 | Will Johnston | Sydney Kings | 3 | 19.5% |
| 39 | Reyne Smith | Cairns Taipans | 6 | 19.2% |
| 40 | Kristian Doolittle | Perth Wildcats | 4 | 19.0% |
| 41 | Dakota Mathias | Tasmania JackJumpers | 4 | 18.9% |
| 42 | Kyrin Galloway | Cairns Taipans | 6 | 18.2% |
| 43 | Makuach Maluach | Sydney Kings | 3 | 17.7% |
| 44 | Jonah Bolden | Cairns Taipans | 6 | 17.0% |
| 45 | Jaylin Williams | Brisbane Bullets | 5 | 16.8% |
| 46 | Sam Waardenburg | Melbourne United | 5 | 16.5% |
| 47 | Akech Aliir | South East Melbourne Phoenix | 5 | 16.3% |
| 48 | Carlin Davison | NZ Breakers | 5 | 16.2% |
| 49 | Yannis Morin | South East Melbourne Phoenix | 5 | 16.2% |
| 50 | Joe Ingles | Melbourne United | 5 | 16.2% |
| 51 | D'Shawn Schwartz | South East Melbourne Phoenix | 5 | 15.9% |
| 52 | Mojave King | NZ Breakers | 5 | 15.3% |
| 53 | Shaun Bruce | Cairns Taipans | 5 | 15.2% |
| 54 | Andrew Carr | Sydney Kings | 3 | 15.0% |
| 55 | Zylan Cheatham | Adelaide 36ers | 6 | 14.9% |
| 56 | Keanu Rasmussen | Adelaide 36ers | 6 | 14.8% |
| 57 | Nick Marshall | Tasmania JackJumpers | 4 | 14.5% |
| 58 | Charles Bediako | NZ Breakers | 5 | 13.7% |
| 59 | Malique Lewis | Cairns Taipans | 6 | 13.3% |
| 60 | Matthew Dellavedova | Sydney Kings | 3 | 13.3% |
| 61 | Lat Mayen | Brisbane Bullets | 5 | 13.3% |
| 62 | Reuben Te Rangi | NZ Breakers | 5 | 13.0% |
| 63 | Wani Swaka Lo Buluk | Illawarra Hawks | 5 | 12.6% |
| 64 | Jacob Rigoni | Adelaide 36ers | 6 | 12.3% |
| 65 | Lamar Patterson | Illawarra Hawks | 4 | 10.9% |
| 66 | Ben Gold | Tasmania JackJumpers | 4 | 9.9% |
| 67 | Jimmy Whitt | Perth Wildcats | 3 | 8.1% |
| 68 | Matt Kenyon | Adelaide 36ers | 6 | 8.0% |
The short version
- Cole Anthony uses 39.2% of Melbourne United's plays, the biggest share of 68 NBL27 regulars. Next is Kendric Davis on 33.7%. The middle of the league is 19.9%. Five games.
- Cole Anthony's two biggest scoring nights, 40 and 30, were both losses. About half of United's plays went through Cole Anthony in those two games: 46.0% and 51.8%.
- In United's 2 wins the share was 32.8%. In the 3 losses it was 43.4%. Five games is a small sample. The lowest share, 30.4%, came in the 96-91 win in Adelaide on 7 October.
Why this was worth a look
Cole Anthony arrived in Melbourne with an NBA reputation, and the biggest scoring nights were not turning into wins. I wanted to see how much of the ball United give Cole Anthony, and whether that moved with the results.
The biggest share in the league
Share of playsThe usage rate: the share of a team's plays, while a player is on the court, that end with that player shooting, getting to the free-throw line or turning the ball over. Derived from the box score. counts the plays that finish with a player. Cole Anthony's 39.2% is 5.5 points clear of Kendric Davis, who has played 3 games, and about double the middle of the league. In 35 NBA games for Milwaukee Bucks in 2025-26, the share was 25.1%, on 15.1 minutes a game. In Melbourne it is 39.2%, on 25.8 minutes a game.
It is the same everyone-sorted chart as the article on every NBL scorer, pointed at the ball instead of the points.
Heavier in the losses
Game by game, the two heaviest nights were losses and the lightest was a win.
The two heaviest games were losses, the lightest a win
Cole Anthony's share of United's plays, each NBL27 game in orderShow the numbers
| Date | Opponent | Result | Points | FG | 3PT | FT | Minutes | Share of plays | True shooting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 September | v Adelaide 36ers | L 95-97 | 30 | 10/21 | 3/7 | 7/9 | 21.8 | 51.8% | 60.1% |
| 24 September | at South East Melbourne Phoenix | W 86-61 | 18 | 5/13 | 2/7 | 6/9 | 22.7 | 35.1% | 53.1% |
| 1 October | at Tasmania JackJumpers | L 82-84 | 11 | 3/14 | 1/6 | 4/8 | 26.7 | 32.5% | 31.4% |
| 3 October | v Cairns Taipans | L 95-107 | 40 | 11/26 | 2/7 | 16/17 | 29.0 | 46.0% | 59.7% |
| 7 October | at Adelaide 36ers | W 96-91 | 24 | 6/14 | 4/7 | 8/10 | 28.6 | 30.4% | 65.2% |
The three losses averaged 43.4% and the two wins 32.8%. The highest share of the season, 51.8%, was the first game, a two-point loss to Adelaide. The lowest, 30.4%, was the rematch, in Adelaide, a win. The Tasmania loss, 32.5%, is the one that breaks the pattern.
- share of plays in the 3 losses
- 43.4%
- 27.0 points a game
- share of plays in the 2 wins
- 32.8%
- 21.0 points a game
- true shooting, losses → wins
- 53.3 → 59.4
- Points per shot, free throws included
More of the ball meant more points, 27.0 a game in the losses against 21.0 in the wins, but at a lower true shootingTrue shooting: points scored for every two shots, counting free throws as 0.44 of a shot. Derived. rate. Five games cannot say which way round that runs: a team falling behind can hand the ball to its best scorer, as easily as a heavy share can cost a game.
Is it only Cole Anthony?
The 10 players with the biggest shares who have had at least one win and one loss give a check.
Among the ball-heavy players, losses went both ways
share of plays in losses minus share in wins, points · beside each: share in losses and in winsShow the numbers
| Player | Club | Share in losses | Losses | Share in wins | Wins | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Anthony | Melbourne United | 43.4% | 3 | 32.8% | 2 | +10.6 |
| Parker Jackson-Cartwright | NZ Breakers | 34.6% | 2 | 28.2% | 3 | +6.4 |
| Elijah Pepper | Perth Wildcats | 28.7% | 1 | 30.1% | 3 | −1.4 |
| David Johnson | Tasmania JackJumpers | 20.3% | 1 | 32.4% | 3 | −12.1 |
| Bryce Cotton | Adelaide 36ers | 28.1% | 4 | 29.6% | 2 | −1.5 |
| Nick Rakocevic | Adelaide 36ers | 28.1% | 4 | 27.7% | 2 | +0.4 |
| Jaylon Brown | Cairns Taipans | 22.4% | 3 | 30.3% | 3 | −7.9 |
| Jack McVeigh | Cairns Taipans | 27.4% | 3 | 23.6% | 3 | +3.8 |
| Angus Glover | South East Melbourne Phoenix | 27.9% | 3 | 21.0% | 2 | +6.9 |
| Keanu Pinder | Cairns Taipans | 23.5% | 3 | 26.4% | 3 | −2.9 |
5 of the 10 carried more of the ball in losses, and 5 carried less, so across the league the pattern is a coin flip. Cole Anthony's gap, 10.6 points, is the widest of the 10. Most of these players have two or three games on each side, so one game moves a figure a long way, the point the sample-size article makes about any small count.
Where the shots come from
Cole Anthony's located shots from the first 4 games, mirrored to one end of the court.
27 of Cole Anthony's 74 located shots were threes
shots by spot · first 4 games of NBL27 · a bigger circle is more shotsShow the numbers
| Zone | Shots | Made | Share of shots |
|---|---|---|---|
| At the rim | 13 | 8 | 17.6% |
| In the paint | 23 | 9 | 31.1% |
| Mid-range | 11 | 4 | 14.9% |
| Three | 27 | 8 | 36.5% |
27 of the 74 were threes, 36.5%. 13 were at the rim, 23 elsewhere in the paint and 11 from mid-range. The Adelaide win has no shot chart in the league's feed yet, so it is missing here. The league-wide picture is in the NBL shot map.
How Cole Anthony got to Melbourne
- Oak Hill Academy
- 18.5 · 10.2 · 10.2
- points, rebounds, assists: a triple-double average
- points, UNC debut
- 34
- 2019
- 2020 draft, Orlando
- No. 15
- $39 million three-year Magic extension
A consensus top-five recruit, Cole Anthony was named MVP of the McDonald's All-American Game, the Jordan Brand Classic and the Nike Hoop Summit. North Carolina went 14–19 in that freshman year, after knee surgery mid-season. Then, across 2025-26, Cole Anthony was traded to Memphis on 15 June 2025, waived on 12 July, signed by Milwaukee on 16 July, traded to Phoenix on 5 February 2026 and waived on 27 February. Melbourne United signed Cole Anthony on 5 August 2026.
What this doesn't tell you
Five games, two of them wins. Share of plays counts who finishes a play, not who creates it, and it cannot see who was missing for United or the opponent. I want to run the same count once United have played 15 games.
The working
- Season
- NBL27 regular season, every game marked complete by 9 October 2026.
- Share of plays
- The usage rate, Punt's own formula: 100 × (FGA + 0.44 × FTA + turnovers) × (team minutes ÷ 5) ÷ (minutes × (team FGA + 0.44 × team FTA + team turnovers)). A season figure is the average of the player's game figures. Derived.
- Regulars
- 68 players with 3 or more games and 15 or more minutes a game.
- Wins and losses
- United's result in each game Cole Anthony played. For figure 3, each player's own club's result.
- True shooting
- Points ÷ (2 × (FGA + 0.44 × FTA)), pooled over the games in the group. Derived.
- Shots
- 74 located field-goal attempts from the first 4 games, mirrored to one end and counted on a 15 by 12 grid. At the rim is within 1.5 metres of the hoop; in the paint is the rest of the key; the three-point split is the feed's own.
- Read
- 9 October 2026, from Punt's database. The games of 7 and 8 October were not in the database yet and were read from the NBL's own feed, the source the database is filled from.
- Career
- Not in Punt's database: the high school, college, draft, contract and transaction facts are from Wikipedia's Cole Anthony article, read on 9 October 2026. The NBA share of plays is Punt's own.
- Sources
- The competition's own record is at nbl.com.au.
- Not in this article
- Assists and plays created, lineups, opponents' absences, and prices.
- Sources and terms
- Every source Punt uses, with its licence, is on Credits. The terms are defined in the Glossary, and the methodology page sets out where every number comes from and the rules it follows.