Goodbye Benny?

[Scooch]

By the way, everytime I read the title of this thread, this song pops into my head…


Goodbye, Benny
It’s been nice
Hope you find your paradise

 

[Forloveoforange]

Watching Jims pressers is way better than watching his team play this year. Actually the last 4 years or so the pressers have been really entertaining. Kadary time was must see tv and who will ever forget those fireside chats with Dad and the boys. This year has been pretty strong and im expecting a big finish.

Here's an entertaining press conference I think it may be time to see again:

 

[CuseFaninVT]

This is where Hopkins used to come in and balance things out. I have no problem with him criticizing 19 year olds publicly, especially ones making money now. Boeheim is fair in his criticisms usually. “He won’t rebound. Idk why but he won’t do it.” “He missed wide open shots. He needs to make wide open shots.” Stuff like that is fine, imo. He’ll add a little color here or there but it’s mostly straight forward. I don’t think, “we didn’t teach him how to rebound as good as we needed to” does anybody any good.

The problem we’ve seemed to have lately is players going into sad puppy mode instead of getting better. And I wonder if that’s because the current assistants aren’t like Hopkins and aren’t able to build these players back up.

I’m not at practices. Maybe the staff is rolling balls out and not teaching these guys how basketball works. I doubt it, but maybe.

Fair

 

[gmoney44]

JAB is not a Boomer. He was born during the war. You know, the big one.

The one that started when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

 

[gmoney44]

How dare he be asked questions in his chosen professional field.

Perhaps he should get all questions in writing before the presser to rehearse his answers like other leaders in his age bracket do.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Perhaps he should get all questions in writing before the presser to rehearse his answers like other leaders in his age bracket do.

But he’s been doing this long enough to know exactly what questions he was going to get. Every single reporter in that room was asking about Benny first.

 

[DCUNITED13]

I hope Benny Williams clears his head and stays. Not sure why so many are "punching down" on a Syracuse player. He is a 2nd year player, first year starter and is attempting to find his way. So, he is struggling, that is not unusual with college players. Not being a 1 and done that was , Again, not unusual among college players.

We will lack depth in the frontcourt next year and having Benny would be fantastic. An experienced player (as a Junior). We will have an overubandance of players for 3 spots next year (PG, SG, SF). We will be short in PF and C. Benny can get us 8pt/6rpg per game IMHO. He could become a better rebounder and more aggressive inside presence.

I

 

[kcsu]

He’s not a bad person. He’s a good father, a good friend, a loyal ally to his ex-players, and has done a ton for the CNY community (without obsessively seeking out the spotlight, as some do).

But he’s a bully who punches down in certain circumstances. We’re all human, we’re complicated, and this thing he does has always made me think less of him.

But I don’t think he’s a bad person.

He is and always has been incredibly insecure.

 

[Cuse181]

Sure but like I've been saying for years now, you can get away with that behavior when your winning 25-30 games a season.
When you stink and act like that, your just a jerk.

He is a jerk. Lol that’s the point

 

[Hopkins16]

I hope Benny stays. Sometimes we don't live up to expectations but can still be useful and productive; as long as both coach and Benny can acknowledge that and live with him not being an A type high level player as advertised.

 

[Tango32]

I hope Benny Williams clears his head and stays. Not sure why so many are "punching down" on a Syracuse player. He is a 2nd year player, first year starter and is attempting to find his way. So, he is struggling, that is not unusual with college players. Not being a 1 and done that was , Again, not unusual among college players.

We will lack depth in the frontcourt next year and having Benny would be fantastic. An experienced player (as a Junior). We will have an overubandance of players for 3 spots next year (PG, SG, SF). We will be short in PF and C. Benny can get us 8pt/6rpg per game IMHO. He could become a better rebounder and more aggressive inside presence.

I

If what appears to be the case is true and he left the team mid season because of a lack of PT / losing his starting spot, it's a pretty immature move and doesn't speak well of him. Leaving your team mates in the dust the day before you play a top 10 team is kind of a crappy move. He'll be 21 in April. It's not like posters are dunking on a 14 year old.

 

[Hopkins16]

I saw Benny play overseas this past summer. He should have been the star player on his team and be relaxed as the games were really meaningless, but he never stood out or was dominant in any of the games. This leads to me to believe that it has nothing to do with Coach or our system. Some guys are stars in high school but level off quickly or never live up to their billing. Benny should tough it out with us as I don't see things changing if he transfers.

 

[orangefog]

I saw Benny play overseas this past summer. He should have been the star player on his team and be relaxed as the games were really meaningless, but he never stood out or was dominant in any of the games. This leads to me to believe that it has nothing to do with Coach or our system. Some guys are stars in high school but level off quickly or never live up to their billing. Benny should tough it out with us as I don't see things changing if he transfers.

That was after a year of being torn down by JB.

 

[Brooky03]

That was after a year of being torn down by JB.

Okay, we’re getting carried away with the “torn down” sentiment here. I’ve never heard of talent withering away because a coach wasn’t nice. Especially talent that’s playing away from the not nice coach.

 

[Willy75]

And he’s worse the lower down you are in importance. He’s always rough on the Newhouse kids.

Cry me a river. How many schools let student reporters participate at all in pressers?
I get a kick over all the “I’m amazed“ comments about JB being snarky. Next they’ll be telling me the Pope is Catholic.

 

[Cusefan0307]

That was after a year of being torn down by JB.

Ehhh. I remember watching him at the first practice last season and his shot was flat and he couldn't handle the ball.

 

[orangefog]

Ehhh. I remember watching him at the first practice last season and his shot was flat and he couldn't handle the ball.

In high school his shot wasn't flat. His handle, I don't think, has ever been that great.

 

[Brooky03]

Cry me a river. How many schools let student reporters participate at all in pressers?
I get a kick over all the “I’m amazed“ comments about JB being snarky. Next they’ll be telling me the Pope is Catholic.

I'd have to think JB being a jackass to student reporters is a positive on their resume rather than a negative. Trial by fire.

Sure, it makes him look bad, I suppose, but who cares? It makes HIM look bad, not really the university or program. Word on the street is that we don't recruit, so even if recruits and their parents would care (unlikely), they don't exist.

 

[orangefog]

Okay, we’re getting carried away with the “torn down” sentiment here. I’ve never heard of talent withering away because a coach wasn’t nice. Especially talent that’s playing away from the not nice coach.

Obviously Benny's fragility is on him, but JB really pounded on him last year. I imagine it was to toughen him up, but it made him a wreck.

 

[Cusefan0307]

In high school his shot wasn't flat. His handle, I don't think, has ever been that great.

I'm just saying this was last October before we even played a game. Not sure JB had time to do anything to ruin him yet. I think he may have been overrated because the rankings during Covid were a crapshoot.

 

[NYCCuse826]

He sounds so lifeless and miserable in interviews. If you don’t like tough questions, just leave already, you are bringing all of Syracuse fandom down with you. The program has been run into the ground and you're the man at the top, accept it's not working and ride off into the sunset.

Speak for yourself. If your fandom is being brought down by this, take a step back.

 

[newmexicuse]

Well, with the rise of Brown, it appears that Benny will either have to make a big jump or deal with limited minutes if he stays in the program.

That being said, I did not think JT or CB played particularly well last night, and had we by chance gotten a "good" Benny game yesterday it could have been a difference maker as I see no reason why "good" Benny cant be on the floor with Maliq. Too bad he missed the game.

 

[orangefog]

I'm just saying this was last October before we even played a game. Not sure JB had time to do anything to ruin him yet. I think he may have been overrated because the rankings during Covid were a crapshoot.

Ok, that's valid. In watching some of his high school games, I thought he was rated pretty well, a borderline 5 star. But, his shot went to hell. I think it was flat because he was stressing so much. Maybe it was just the stress of playing D1 basketball. Benny needs to get some confidence. But, JB certainly didn't help in building his confidence.

 

[NYCCuse826]

I saw Benny play overseas this past summer. He should have been the star player on his team and be relaxed as the games were really meaningless, but he never stood out or was dominant in any of the games. This leads to me to believe that it has nothing to do with Coach or our system. Some guys are stars in high school but level off quickly or never live up to their billing. Benny should tough it out with us as I don't see things changing if he transfers.

Bingo. Dominating in high school is one thing. Playing against men who are bigger, faster and likely more skilled is another. The game is faster at each level. Some can adapt and some can't. Benny hasn't made that transition yet. There are games where he has flashes of what he could be and then there are more where you're confused as to why he's on the court.

 

[SU91]

I saw Benny play overseas this past summer. He should have been the star player on his team and be relaxed as the games were really meaningless, but he never stood out or was dominant in any of the games. This leads to me to believe that it has nothing to do with Coach or our system. Some guys are stars in high school but level off quickly or never live up to their billing. Benny should tough it out with us as I don't see things changing if he transfers.

I never thought Benny was good the first time I saw him. It was strange because so many were raving about him. I was confused, maybe I just couldn’t see it? But, it appears he’s not very good. So, it raises another question that has been raised before, what’s up with our scouting? We’ve had a lot of misses over the past several years. I mean, Benny was a prime target of the staff. Again, some of our prime targets just have not materialized in recent times. It’s concerning.