Benny......

[goofnoff]

No coach ever yelled at me for hanging on the rim. I can assure you of that.

 

[Consigliere]

Now that we’re at this point in the season and we see what Brown is and does.

Does ANYONE believe JB was telling the truth that Benny was the best forward at practice still?

And tbf to JB, he was clearly covering for Benny and trying to motivate him.

It pretty much a dead end at this point

Yes, I do. Benny started the game with a pure 3 and 3 rebounds playing with a lot of energy. There is talent there and his shot looks 1000 % better than last year. But he has been so maddeningly inconsistent.

Brown struggled with zone rotations early but he gets it now and is showing himself to be the most consistent forward out there. Was hoping to see Benny at the three a bit paired with Brown, but with the way Bell played tonight, that door may be closing as well.

Don’t think the quick hook is the right approach. Put Brown at the starting four and move Benny to first forward off the bench. Give him some run around the eight minute mark and see if he gets some rhythm going. Starting him and pulling after 3 minutes, even if he does some good things, serves no purpose.!

 

[djcon57]

Yes, I do. Benny started the game with a pure 3 and 3 rebounds playing with a lot of energy. There is talent there and his shot looks 1000 % better than last year. But he has been so maddeningly inconsistent.

Brown struggled with zone rotations early but he gets it now and is showing himself to be the most consistent forward out there. Was hoping to see Benny at the three a bit paired with Brown, but with the way Bell played tonight, that door may be closing as well.

Don’t think the quick hook is the right approach. Put Brown at the starting four and move Benny to first forward off the bench. Give him some run around the eight minute mark and see if he gets some rhythm going. Starting him and pulling after 3 minutes, even if he does some good things, serves no purpose.!

just to be clear...you believe Benny is better than Brown in practice.

 

[Cusefan0307]

The older JB has become the more he’s fallen in love with shooting and I think he has given Benny a long leash because he believes he’s got higher upside shooting than Brown.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Yes, I do. Benny started the game with a pure 3 and 3 rebounds playing with a lot of energy. There is talent there and his shot looks 1000 % better than last year. But he has been so maddeningly inconsistent.

Brown struggled with zone rotations early but he gets it now and is showing himself to be the most consistent forward out there. Was hoping to see Benny at the three a bit paired with Brown, but with the way Bell played tonight, that door may be closing as well.

Don’t think the quick hook is the right approach. Put Brown at the starting four and move Benny to first forward off the bench. Give him some run around the eight minute mark and see if he gets some rhythm going. Starting him and pulling after 3 minutes, even if he does some good things, serves no purpose.!

Disagree.
It's not a quick hook in the literal sense. Benny has gotten every opportunity to win the job, and he just...hasn't. I've been down on jb for his rotations but he's been more than fair w/Benny. And now even the frosh are starting to lap him.
Something has been "off" w/ Benny's game from the beginning. He's had flashes, but that's all...just flashes. Maliq has a feel for the game that jumps off the screen, while w/ Benny you never get the sense he's in rhythm or control. That's just facts.

 

[Millhouse]

And gets his dribble poked away when he tries to do that.
So he's not a good shooter, can't dribble but thinks he has SF skills when he doesn't. This is a Benny problem not a JB failure, other than he can't get him to transition to being a PF. He's given him a lot of rope compared to say Jalen Carey as a PG

Yeah, if Benny showed flashes of potential to be some unstoppable classic Syracuse star forward who can do it all, then you'd put up with some growing pains. But there isn't even that much upside pie in the sky best case. Brown is just better

 

[CousCuse]

just to be clear...you believe Benny is better than Brown in practice.

It's possible. No pressure in practice and then the lights go on in the dome and he gets stage fright.

 

[Consigliere]

just to be clear...you believe Benny is better than Brown in practice.

Well, since I don’t attend practice I can’t definitively say, but I believe Benny has the broadest skill set of any of our forwards and don’t think it’s outrageous to believe what JB says. Love Brown and what he brings but if Benny plays consistently in practice the way he did against BC, it certainly within the realm of possibility

 

[Consigliere]

Disagree. It's not a quick hook in the literal sense. Benny has gotten every opportunity to win the job, and he just...hasn't. I'm been down on jb for his rotations but he's been more than fair w/Benny. And now even the frosh are starting to lap him.
Something has been "off" w/ Benny's game from the beginning. He's had flashes, but that's all...just flashes. Maliq has a feel for the game that jumps off the screen, while w/ Benny you never get the sense he's in rhythm or control. That's just facts.

Don’t disagree with any of your points, but the question was whether anyone really believed JB when he said that Benny is the best forward in practice. I choose to believe in that possibility

 

[MadNY3]

Well, since I don’t attend practice I can’t definitively say, but I believe Benny has the broadest skill set of any of our forwards and don’t think it’s outrageous to believe what JB says. Love Brown and what he brings but if Benny plays consistently in practice the way he did against BC, it certainly within the realm of possibility

But Benny doesn’t play consistently and that has become a tangible problem.

 

[djcon57]

Well, since I don’t attend practice I can’t definitively say, but I believe Benny has the broadest skill set of any of our forwards and don’t think it’s outrageous to believe what JB says. Love Brown and what he brings but if Benny plays consistently in practice the way he did against BC, it certainly within the realm of possibility

If he said Hima was better than Jesse in practice...like what’s the line you would believe based on what you see in the games...

 

[DoctorBombay]

Don’t disagree with any of your points, but the question was whether anyone really believed JB when he said that Benny is the best forward in practice. I choose to believe in that possibility

Fair enough. Could be Benny is a perennial member of what the late great Coach Al McGuire called the "All-Airport Team", ie; guys who look good getting off the bus/plane, but not so much on the court/field. Still hoping Benny gets it together- it just may not happen at the Cuse.

 

[twinight]

Does ANYONE believe JB was telling the truth that Benny was the best forward at practice still?

Yes. Good practice players that can't flip the switch during the game are not uncommon.

 

[rrlbees]

Don’t disagree with any of your points, but the question was whether anyone really believed JB when he said that Benny is the best forward in practice. I choose to believe in that possibility.

Might be like a Madei Williams thing in football. Kid was a stud in practice (I was often there). Just couldn’t do it in games.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Benny ticked me off tonight. Once he went out in the second half he sat in a chair near the end of the bench and never got out of his seat to acknowledge anything his teammates did. I’ve supported this kid from day one, but tonight he acted like a spoiled brat. He could sit for the rest of the year and it wouldn’t bother me a bit.

 

[Jake]

Benny ticked me off tonight. Once he went out in the second half he sat in a chair near the end of the bench and never got out of his seat to acknowledge anything his teammates did. I’ve supported this kid from day one, but tonight he acted like a spoiled brat. He could sit for the rest of the year and it wouldn’t bother me a bit.

Yeah. It was bad. I’ve seen kids get mad, but Ive rarely seen them not pull it together enough to cheer for their teammates during a comeback like that with the crowd going wild.

 

[jdubs30]

Yeah. It was bad. I’ve seen kids get mad, but Ive rarely seen them not pull it together enough to cheer for their teammates during a comeback like that with the crowd going wild.

JB has given him a lot of leash

 

[djcon57]

Yes. Good practice players that can't flip the switch during the game are not uncommon.

I don’t see Brown being a bad practice player though. More about him than Benny, I guess, to me

 

[kcsu]

I really though Benny would have a good game tonight. Im starting to think he will leave.

 

[billsin01]

Now that we’re at this point in the season and we see what Brown is and does.

Does ANYONE believe JB was telling the truth that Benny was the best forward at practice still?

And tbf to JB, he was clearly covering for Benny and trying to motivate him.

It pretty much a dead end at this point

Not sure why people are so caught up on JB saying Benny was better in practice. You see this in sports all the time — the vet gets the first shot because you want him motivated and playing hard, knowing you can always go to the newbie. I’d argue it would be irresponsible to do otherwise. You have to see what you can get from a really athletic, long, big forward.

At this point it’s clear Brown needs to play a bunch, but the best scenario was always both Brown and Benny playing well … and the only way you get that is to give Benny opportunities.

Going forward — I’m not sure you have to start Brown but he has to play a lot. But JB absolutely played it the right way regardless of who was better in practice.

 

[whobut03]

I really though Benny would have a good game tonight. Im starting to think he will leave.

And I think that would be ok for both parties.

He hasn’t performed.

 

[billsin01]

I really though Benny would have a good game tonight. Im starting to think he will leave.

Yeah, probably. But so will three other guys. I think it’s great he got the opportunity, had some nice moments and maybe he rallies and plays himself into a really solid rotation at forward. But if not and he wants to seek greener pastures, I’ll chalk that up to the way the world works.

 

[djcon57]

Not sure why people are so caught up on JB saying Benny was better in practice. You see this in sports all the time — the vet gets the first shot because you want him motivated and playing hard, knowing you can always go to the newbie.

I literally said in my post JB used as motivation.

im “caught up on JB saying it” not because JB said it but some people here take JBs words as gospel making it difficult to debate when the argument is “he’s better in practice, you don’t know”

 

[Day2]

Well, since I don’t attend practice I can’t definitively say, but I believe Benny has the broadest skill set of any of our forwards and don’t think it’s outrageous to believe what JB says. Love Brown and what he brings but if Benny plays consistently in practice the way he did against BC, it certainly within the realm of possibility

Maybe the Duke and BC games were just flukes.

 

[phil77]

I just think Benny isn’t a great fit for the system we run. If JB is going to return next year it would benefit both parties if he utilized his option and hit the portal. His skill set might be better utilized in a different system.