USA East Coast Basketball trip with Benny Williams

[CuseFaninVT]

Here’s to Benny!! Want to see him blow up this year!

Here’s to this thread! Truly intrigued to see how much it grows before we actually get to see him play.

But oh yeah, I’m rooting for the kid. Hope he doesn’t get boeheimed. (Respect to Igor)

 

[HoustonCuse]

Here’s to this thread! Truly intrigued to see how much it grows before we actually get to see him play.

But oh yeah, I’m rooting for the kid. Hope he doesn’t get boeheimed. (Respect to Igor)

I don’t think it is possible for him to be Boeheimed. At least by my definition of it. He could be reverse Boeheimed though. That is where he gets a ton of minutes at the expense of one of the freshmen who appears to be better.

 

[jdubs30]

I don’t think it is possible for him to be Boeheimed. At least by my definition of it. He could be reverse Boeheimed though. That is where he gets a ton of minutes at the expense of one of the freshmen who appears to be better.

Agreed. Benny will have a longer leash than anyone except JG3 (who will have no leash).

 

[pearl31]

Agreed. Benny will have a longer leash than anyone except JG3 (who will have no leash).

I think Mintz will have a longer leash than Benny, and so will Edwards unless he's in foul trouble

 

[jdubs30]

I think Mintz will have a longer leash than Benny, and so will Edwards unless he's in foul trouble

I think JB will be more comfortable putting Sy in than he would a freshman forward.

I just think JB will trust his options for Judah more than he will his options for Benny (when considering subs). Ultimately the lack of potential options behind Benny will make his leash extremely long

 

[pearl31]

I think JB will be more comfortable putting Sy in than he would a freshman forward.

I just think JB will trust his options for Judah more than he will his options for Benny (when considering subs). Ultimately the lack of potential options behind Benny will make his leash extremely long

Possibly. But if all indications are correct and Mintz is the player it looks like he is, he's not going to be on the bench much.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Possibly. But if all indications are correct and Mintz is the player it looks like he is, he's not going to be on the bench much.

Joe's going to play 38, Judah will go about 34, Symir gets the scraps, we completely waste Quadir.

Market down, keep it here.

 

[orangefog]

Joe's going to play 38, Judah will go about 34, Symir gets the scraps, we completely waste Quadir.

Market down, keep it here.

That's the fear

 

[djcon57]

Joe's going to play 38, Judah will go about 34, Symir gets the scraps, we completely waste Quadir.

Market down, keep it here.

I called it correctly last year w/ Sy's PT...but this year, I dont know, maybe will like be 32-32-16. Sy might have earned some trust with his play late in the year. I def dont see anything over 20 mins for him though and 32 for Joe might be a stretch knowing how JB do.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I know this sounds insane but the over under on Joe's minutes starts at 36.

 

[MikeSU02]

I know this sounds insane but the over under on Joe's minutes starts at 36.

I think there will be a difference with what JB may *want* Joe to play and what Joe *can* play in terms of mpg at a high level.

I am not knocking Joe, I don't think any of our guys should really be over 33/34 mpg at absolutely most and prob more close to 30 mpg, but I just don't know if the kid, if he is the focus of the O, can be productive in the last 2-3 minutes if he's grinding out that many minutes, especially when we get into conference play. I don't think that's fair to him.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I think there will be a difference with what JB may *want* Joe to play and what Joe *can* play in terms of mpg at a high level.

I am not knocking Joe, I don't think any of our guys should really be over 33/34 mpg at absolutely most and prob more close to 30 mpg, but I just don't know if the kid, if he is the focus of the O, can be productive in the last 2-3 minutes if he's grinding out that many minutes, especially when we get into conference play. I don't think that's fair to him.

It's not fair to him.

If you look at our mpg leaders by season though... 38, 36.2, 36.7, 36.3, 39 (lol, and the next two highest were both over 38), 37.2, 37.9, 37.3, 37.8, 34.9. You have to go back TEN SEASONS to get to a guy that was tops in minutes but under 36 minutes.

Is JB going to buck a 9 year trend of having his main guy play 36+ minutes?

We know how JB do. Look at the roster. Joe's by far the guy he'll feel he has to have out there. He's never checking out.

 

[Cuse'91]

It's not fair to him.

If you look at our mpg leaders by season though... 38, 36.2, 36.7, 36.3, 39 (lol, and the next two highest were both over 38), 37.2, 37.9, 37.3, 37.8, 34.9. You have to go back TEN SEASONS to get to a guy that was tops in minutes but under 36 minutes.

Is JB going to buck a 9 year trend of having his main guy play 36+ minutes?

We know how JB do. Look at the roster. Joe's by far the guy he'll feel he has to have out there. He's never checking out.

Thank you Mr. Sunshine.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Thank you Mr. Sunshine.

I mean what we ultimately have here is the classic question of can an old dog learn new tricks.

It's a fascinating question, but we know how this is going to go. It's fun to pretend otherwise in the off-season, but JB has really strongly ingrained habits as a coach. Those habits are going to be very apparent this season, as they were the season before, and the season before, and the season before...

 

[IthacaMatt]

Losing Cole was a dagger to this team but if Benny is the same as last year or just marginally better we are probably in for a long season. Unless we hit a home run with the incoming class we are looking at another sub par season.

If Benny plays the same as last season, he won't still be starting by December.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

It's not fair to him.

If you look at our mpg leaders by season though... 38, 36.2, 36.7, 36.3, 39 (lol, and the next two highest were both over 38), 37.2, 37.9, 37.3, 37.8, 34.9. You have to go back TEN SEASONS to get to a guy that was tops in minutes but under 36 minutes.

Is JB going to buck a 9 year trend of having his main guy play 36+ minutes?

We know how JB do. Look at the roster. Joe's by far the guy he'll feel he has to have out there. He's never checking out.

Let's look at this years (anticipated) guards vs last years. Sy was not ready to play at this level early, and with limited paint scoring, we needed shooters. Also, no real size at guard other than Buddy, and not a lot of places to mix and match guards.
This year: Joe and Judah. Check. Sy and Q- offense remains to be seen, but they could give the other team fits defensively. Depending on how Jesse does with fouling and what Hadir (sp?) brings defensively, I could see a 5 or more minutes per half of full court hell with Q on the inbounder. Sy and Bennie on the wings, Can likely mix JT in at the 2, Malik, or Carey at other spots. Some really good athletes bringing mayhem. I think our bench guys will play.

 

[djcon57]

Sy was not ready to play at this level early, and with limited paint scoring, we needed shooters.

No, we needed someone that was able to get past his man.

A shooter standing by himself with a man on his hip isn't spacing w/o a slasher to get to the rim or a point who can create off the dribble

This "lineup full of shooters create space" myth was exposed last year.

We were able to create offense mostly because the individual shooting ability of Buddy, Jimmy, Joe, and later Cole was so outstanding.

Of course, this doesn't even begin to touch the rebounding or defense aspects

 

[IthacaMatt]

Odd thing about Benny is that we don't know what he is. He's a guy that was touted to be 'versatile,' but he hasn't demonstrated upper level skill at any one feature characteristic. So, he may have games where something's working, but what's his go-to? What are his setup mates looking for him to do? What will he do when we need points from him? This all seems like a 'discovery period' for him, and i hope our staff will be good at identifying where he needs to focus, and let the versatility thing come in later years.

So far, he's looking like a poor man's C J Fair.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Let's look at this years (anticipated) guards vs last years. Sy was not ready to play at this level early, and with limited paint scoring, we needed shooters. Also, no real size at guard other than Buddy, and not a lot of places to mix and match guards.
This year: Joe and Judah. Check. Sy and Q- offense remains to be seen, but they could give the other team fits defensively. Depending on how Jesse does with fouling and what Hadir (sp?) brings defensively, I could see a 5 or more minutes per half of full court hell with Q on the inbounder. Sy and Bennie on the wings, Can likely mix JT in at the 2, Malik, or Carey at other spots. Some really good athletes bringing mayhem. I think our bench guys will play.

I really hope so. None of these freshman are good enough, or complete enough as players, to be asked to play more than 35 minutes a game. It's just lunacy. If this may be his last year, I would hope he plays a deep bench this year, so that the cupboard is pretty well stocked for the next coach.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Let's look at this years (anticipated) guards vs last years. Sy was not ready to play at this level early, and with limited paint scoring, we needed shooters. Also, no real size at guard other than Buddy, and not a lot of places to mix and match guards.
This year: Joe and Judah. Check. Sy and Q- offense remains to be seen, but they could give the other team fits defensively. Depending on how Jesse does with fouling and what Hadir (sp?) brings defensively, I could see a 5 or more minutes per half of full court hell with Q on the inbounder. Sy and Bennie on the wings, Can likely mix JT in at the 2, Malik, or Carey at other spots. Some really good athletes bringing mayhem. I think our bench guys will play.

When was the last season JB has spent an 8th of the game pressing as a strategic move, and not as a desperation tempo changer?

Like, Etan and Hart's senior year?

 

[kcsu]

It's not fair to him.

If you look at our mpg leaders by season though... 38, 36.2, 36.7, 36.3, 39 (lol, and the next two highest were both over 38), 37.2, 37.9, 37.3, 37.8, 34.9. You have to go back TEN SEASONS to get to a guy that was tops in minutes but under 36 minutes.

Is JB going to buck a 9 year trend of having his main guy play 36+ minutes?

We know how JB do. Look at the roster. Joe's by far the guy he'll feel he has to have out there. He's never checking out.

Unless Joe is shooting lights out he shouldn't be playing more than 30 a game.
Question, other than shooting what does Joe do well that deserves so much PT?

 

[hoopsupstate]

Unless Joe is shooting lights out he shouldn't be playing more than 30 a game.
Question, other than shooting what does Joe do well that deserves so much PT?

Joe is a very good passer and has been our best rebounding guard.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Benny is oozing...

 

[MikeSU02]

It's not fair to him.

If you look at our mpg leaders by season though... 38, 36.2, 36.7, 36.3, 39 (lol, and the next two highest were both over 38), 37.2, 37.9, 37.3, 37.8, 34.9. You have to go back TEN SEASONS to get to a guy that was tops in minutes but under 36 minutes.

Is JB going to buck a 9 year trend of having his main guy play 36+ minutes?

We know how JB do. Look at the roster. Joe's by far the guy he'll feel he has to have out there. He's never checking out.

Oh, I think he’s going to ride Joe into the ground. I just think Joe will be falling off a cliff at the end of games.

 

[MikeSU02]

Unless Joe is shooting lights out he shouldn't be playing more than 30 a game.
Question, other than shooting what does Joe do well that deserves so much PT?

To his credit, he was the only player that could functionally do a PnR with Jesse last year.

I am hoping he can leverage his passing ability now that the ball will hopefully be moving more (key word, hopefully).