What has Benny done to deserve...

[rrlbees]

 

[djcon57]

Thats a great point from Jim about that Indiana spot where he got out pushed under and out rebounded. From over 2 months ago.

we saw literally 3 times, without hyperbole, happen to his son Vs PITT.
PITT. 2 days ago.

 

[MikeSU02]

Thats a great point from Jim about that Indiana spot where he got out pushed under and rebounded. From over 2 months ago.

we saw literally 3 times, without hyperbole, happen to his son Vs PITT.
PITT. 2 days ago.

And therein lies the whole issue.

Oh, Benny had bad moments? Yep, no one is disagreeing with you.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER KID THAT PLAYS 35 MPG?

 

[NineOneSeven]

I remember that rebound... Our backup center was not in the game.

 

[miamicuse]

Has anyone asked JB why Buddy and Joe can't defend?

Is it to save their legs for offense since they have to play 38+ minutes? If so, then they are getting tired. I can see visibly they are tired. I think others see it too.

Can we ask Buddy directly if he is tired at the end of games?

 

[kingtidge]

This season is cooked.

...and JAB now saying there will be zero portal players in for next year and we'll be starting 2-3 freshmen... YIKES!

If that is true, then get Benny in for significant minutes every game from here on out...

Whether he's "ready" or not, he has to be ready at the start of next season.

JAB saying he had a gr8 practice I HOPE is a hand tip that this will mean greater playing time for Benny.

 

[UD1954]

This season is cooked.

...and JAB now saying there will be zero portal players in for next year and we'll be starting 2-3 freshmen... YIKES!

If that is true, then get Benny in for significant minutes every game from here on out...

Whether he's "ready" or not, he has to be ready at the start of next season.

JAB saying he had a gr8 practice I HOPE is a hand tip that this will mean greater playing time for Benny.

More like covering his arse for all the criticism he's taking for Williams lack of playing time on a team going nowhere .

 

[TrickySU]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but JB has been a coach to reward playing time based on how he feels a player performed in practice. I would think this quote here would point to Benny getting some more playing time today. We will see.

Also, for those that have mentioned analytics, Benny's Player Efficiency Rating is more than ten points lower than everyone else except Symir, JBA, and the walk ons. BPM isn't currently showing, but that was also far lower than the others (somewhere in the -3 to -6 range. I don't rely on these a lot, but just bringing them up because others have mentioned them.

Looking forward to seeing what happens tonight. Here's hoping Benny continues to improve and gets more playing time as a result.

I think there's a lot of agreement amongst people on here in certain ways, and even with the disagreements, I appreciate the different perspectives. We're not all going to agree, but the discussion can be enlightening.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Why would we say now that we won't look at the portal?

 

[tptcuse]

Why would we say now that we won't look at the portal?

Seems crazy to me, unless he thinks by saying that it will keep the recruits from changing their minds?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Seems crazy to me, unless he thinks by saying that it will keep the recruits from changing their minds?

They have signed LOIs.

 

[007]

Why would we say now that we won't look at the portal?

JB said that he will likely have at least 10 scholarship players next season, counting the 5 recruits. That's 2-3 more guys than he thinks he needs (based on recent history) and 2-3 more guys than he will likely play. So, guessing of course, he likely doesn't see the need to recruit the portal.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Why would we say now that we won't look at the portal?

Seems crazy to me, unless he thinks by saying that it will keep the recruits from changing their minds?

They all signed NLIs. Unless JB retires or gets fired, I don't believe they can change their minds.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

JB said that he will likely have at least 10 scholarship players next season, counting the 5 recruits. That's 2-3 more guys than he thinks he needs (based on recent history) and 2-3 more guys than he will likely play. So, guessing of course, he likely doesn't see the need to recruit the portal.

JB said that "unless things go haywire", these are the guys we'll have next year.

If one of the current returning players decides to leave, that would fall into the "haywire" category.

Joe / Symir / Quadir / Justin would be 4 guards.

Benny / JBA / Chris / Maliq would be 4 forwards.

Jesse / Frank / Peter would be 3 centers.

Maybe Cole comes back?

 

[bozophobe]

They have signed LOIs.

Letter of "intent," heh.

 

[two3zone]

JB said that "unless things go haywire", these are the guys we'll have next year.

If one of the current returning players decides to leave, that would fall into the "haywire" category.

Joe / Symir / Quadir / Justin would be 4 guards.

Benny / JBA / Chris / Maliq would be 4 forwards.

Jesse / Frank / Peter would be 3 centers.

Maybe Cole comes back?

 

[tptcuse]

JB said that "unless things go haywire", these are the guys we'll have next year.

If one of the current returning players decides to leave, that would fall into the "haywire" category.

Joe / Symir / Quadir / Justin would be 4 guards.

Benny / JBA / Chris / Maliq would be 4 forwards.

Jesse / Frank / Peter would be 3 centers.

Maybe Cole comes back?

Benny staying would shock me.

 

[Ozone!]

...more playing time? I like Benny. I think he will grow to be a very good player. But if you had no idea he was a five-star recruit and you evaluated based on what he has shown this year, what about his game says he DESERVES to play more?

Obviously his athleticism stands out, but he looks lost many times on offense. His most common shot is a fade away jumper, and his movement needs a lot of work. Benny's lack of confidence shows. I'd love for him to seal on the mid post and call for the ball. And when he gets it, to attack the rim. Way too many times he is tentative and does not attack the rim! That's where he would be most effective. Besides that, he should be effective attacking the glass, but only five offensive rebounds all year doesn't do it.

Defensively, that athleticism helps in the biggest way as a weakside defender. He had a great block against Clemson or Pittsburgh coming across from the opposite side to protect the rim. He needs to be better positioned overall though.

Honestly, I think it's clear why John Bol Ajak has played over Benny. Ajak has been more active and better positioned on defense. And since Benny hasn't added anything offensively, you don't lose anything on that end with Ajak in over Benny. Not saying I agree with it, but Jim has played guys who have shown him more over the guy that has the bigger potential.

Benny can be a great player. I think if he sticks around, he will have that big jump from freshman to sophomore year that many of our players throughout the years have had.

But besides being a five-star recruit, I just haven't seen anything in games that screams "this guy deserves to play more."

From a development and CONFIDENCE standpoint, I would like to see him get more playing time, and now with this season essentially lost except for a miracle conference tournament run, maybe he will get more time. But I just want to see some improvement in these categories for him to DESERVE that playing time. He just needs more work and more time to develop, and that development will come outside of games, not by getting increased playing time.

I watched Baylor vs WVU yesterday and saw Baylor who lost 3 of their top scorers to injury and thus they were forced to play their talented first year players who grew up during that game which Baylor won in the end.

Granted we don’t have that level of talent and yet players have their most notable growth by playing.

I believe limiting our new players to only what they show in practice s their development As well as moving them to transfer,

 

[richard224]

Great energy on both ends from Benny on Saturday.
Linked his shift against Wake timestamped (ends at 23:10):

 

[Dcuse]

Benny staying would shock me.

Here we go.

 

[Giants1973]

Here we go.

Didn't Benny say he was going to stay early in the yr?

 

[Sherman20]

Here's the thing, whether Benny plays 30 minutes or 0 minutes won't be the difference in him improving his game. It might make him happy and it might make the fans happy, but development comes through drills, in practice, watching film, and putting the work in. That's what will be the difference in whether Benny is a star or not. Feeling your way through 20 minutes in a game is nice experience, but it's not where you make that jump in improving your game. If he puts that work in, then it will play off.

Otherwise, JBA getting minutes tells me more about Benny's development than Jim. Boeheim isn't doing that out of spite.

Unfortunately, Benny came in with too high of expectations. People expected him to start and be an instant contributor. He hasn't been good enough for that.

I think you have a solid argument here, but I don’t think people want to listen (Though I was encouraged by Benny’s energy and play on Saturday and JB saying something seems to have clicked in practice.) So…you say Benny came in with too high of expectations and was seen as an instant contributor. What did the coaching staff think? Did they think he’d be an instant contributor? If they did, that makes me really question their evaluation skills. If not, why in the heck did they not get another forward out of the portal or tell Braswell that he if come back he could start? Or tell Q that it was very unlikely that Benny would be ready as a freshman? The off season roster mismanagement is just so stunning.

 

[jdubs30]

Took my son to the UConn-Creighton game last night (I know, I know - but he went with his basketball team). UConn looked awful. But anyway -

UConn has 3 freshman - Samson Johnson (41st ranked recruit in 2021). Jordan Hawkins (59th), and Rahsool Diggins (58th).

Diggins and Johnson didn’t play at all. Hawkins played 6 minutes and went 0/3 from the field and didn’t see the floor at all in the 2H until about 20 seconds left when they were down 4 and needed 3s.

This UConn roster isn’t exactly good either (except for Sanogo), and in a game where that scored 55pts at home as a 10pt favorite, they had 2 top 60 freshman who didn’t even take off their warmups.

It’s not just not Benny

 

[CousCuse]

I think you have a solid argument here, but I don’t think people want to listen (Though I was encouraged by Benny’s energy and play on Saturday and JB saying something seems to have clicked in practice.) So…you say Benny came in with too high of expectations and was seen as an instant contributor. What did the coaching staff think? Did they think he’d be an instant contributor? If they did, that makes me really question their evaluation skills. If not, why in the heck did they not get another forward out of the portal or tell Braswell that he if come back he could start? Or tell Q that it was very unlikely that Benny would be ready as a freshman? The off season roster mismanagement is just so stunning.

If you bring in a 5 star guy, the other players know he's getting commitment and promises and they have to gamble that he might not work out.

 

[MSOrange]