When Benny finally figures it out…

[hoopsupstate]

Good comment regarding "want to see him sprint up the floor". I watched closely on Saturday during Benny's time on the floor especially for this. It has been mentioned in the past. Sure enough, he just flows up the floor with others opposed to taking off in a sprint. It is almost like he is hanging back in case he needs to be an option on the inbound pass since we get pressured often.

Have you ever seen Buddy sprint up the floor? I have never seen him sprint.

 

[Willy75]

Have you ever seen Buddy sprint up the floor? I have never seen him sprint.

He sprinted for that baseball inbounds pass Saturday. Didn’t help.

 

[jsshap]

Thanks I didn’t knos this. When somebody wants to take a shot but say nothing i will not let that go.
I acknowledge that is my problem but I hate when people debate the person and not what is said.

Oh good grief. I was observing the circular, piss and vinegar you were thrusting upon the board. It struck me as petulant. It’s ironic you were upset with the time “needed” to respond but not concerned with dragging the discussion to a middle school playground. But I don’t care - it was one post intended as a joke.

 

[City of Cuse]

Why is being a liability on the offensive end an issue if the rest of the team on the floor can score?

We made a F4 with KEITA playing a bunch of mins. Won a championship with Jeremy.

How many minutes do you think Benny should play per game?

 

[Fly Rodder]

How many minutes do you think Benny should play per game?

40

 

[br801]

Red Bruin was Jim's first huge recruit. His first year was not very memorable. Yes that 79 team was stacked talent wise but I still have the magazine where boeheim said he was their best recruit since Dave Bing. Red ended up having a fine career but he sure looked lost when he first got here.

That was a really good and deep team with many talented upperclassmen. Red did struggle at times that season, and the expectations for him were sky high, especially for that era, but there was little doubt that he would eventually figure it out.

 

[MikeSU02]

The #1 player in the country is not ready and their fans aren’t happy.

I get that point. We have unhappy fans that Benny isn't playing and they have unhappy fans that the #1 player isn't playing.

My commentary with regards to this situation: We are 12-11. Kentucky is ranked #5 and has high level talent across the board, already.

So, in the strictest sense, you're statement is, of course, true. Some UK fans aren't happy. But, I don't believe you are posting that fact randomly in this thread, and my counterpoint is that the two situations are wildly different.

If we were #5 in the country, with the roster that UK has and JB was holding back a #1 kid from playing, I might be mad, but I would deal with it because we were #5 in the country and already had a number of NBA players on the roster.

I just don't think the two situations are comparable.

Again, if people think Benny shouldn't play, all good. That's their opinion, but the situation with UK is a different world.

No harm, no foul on disagreeing on this point.

Just my 0.02.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Blaming Benny's lack of success on his haircut is at best clueless and at worst racist. Should probably keep that line of thinking in your head.

Not liking Benny’s hair isn’t necessarily racist. I’m darker than Benny and I hate it. I think black athletes’ hair/grooming in this era is an atrocity. Not just the college kids, but the NBA pros, as well. I call it the ‘homeless‘ look in instances like Durant’s unkept facial scraggle. The freakish horn-like dreads? The mophead braids? IMHO, it’s ugly. It makes people look dumb, poor, uneducated, sloppy, dirty… what have you.

Take that for what it’s worth, from a 50 year old who finds himself shouting at clouds on a more frequent basis. But, ****, man, when NBAers were sporting warm up gear last season that said “love us” or “respect us” or whatever, but they looked like the “hoppers” from The Wire… yeah, that’s an incongruity and a component of what is contributing to the civil political divide we have now.

Ugly is ugly and stupid is stupid. Don’t confound that with race or make it ‘uncomfortable’ for that discussion to be had in earnest.

 

[djcon57]

How many minutes do you think Benny should play per game?

Right now or at the beginning of the season?

 

[City of Cuse]

Right now or at the beginning of the season?

Whenever, your call.

 

[Orangezoo]

Agreed, and thanks for saying it

1000x worse than anything buffet related. Shocked it's still here. Just seeing this now but that kinda crap belongs nowhere.

 

[djcon57]

Whenever, your call.

Right now? Prob 5-20 mins based on what's occurring in the game, how well he's playing, etc.

Setting specific minute counts pre game/pre season has always been a pointless exercise to me. Minutes should be decided in game.

A better question would be is he in the rotation or is he not? If he's not, then who's the 3rd forward?

 

[UpstateSM]

Not liking Benny’s hair isn’t necessarily racist. I’m darker than Benny and I hate it. I think black athletes’ hair/grooming in this era is an atrocity. Not just the college kids, but the NBA pros, as well. I call it the ‘homeless‘ look in instances like Durant’s unkept facial scraggle. The freakish horn-like dreads? The mophead braids? IMHO, it’s ugly. It makes people look dumb, poor, uneducated, sloppy, dirty… what have you.

Take that for what it’s worth, from a 50 year old who finds himself shouting at clouds on a more frequent basis. But, ****, man, when NBAers were sporting warm up gear last season that said “love us” or “respect us” or whatever, but they looked like the “hoppers” from The Wire… yeah, that’s an incongruity and a component of what is contributing to the civil political divide we have now.

Ugly is ugly and stupid is stupid. Don’t confound that with race or make it ‘uncomfortable’ for that discussion to be had in earnest.

I'm just saying that his haircut isn't the reason why he has struggled on the basketball court this season. Not saying anything about anybody who doesn't like the way the haircut looks. (I like it)

As a bald 24 year old I'm not sure if I'm not allowed to judge people's haircuts or if I'm allowed to judge more than the average person.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Back to Benny proper...

As I said elsewhere… he has no moves. No fast twitch. No herky-jerky. He doesn’t overpower defenders or go by them. He doesn’t have or create any discernible basketball advantages versus his collegiate competition.

Jimmy can’t jump over a Funko Pop doll. But, he’s canny enough to twist and spin hesitate to get someone off their timing and balance and put a shoulder into them to create enough separation. That’s the old man stuff—winning a battle for a bucket with guile. Benny doesn’t have that. Yet. Benny plays like I played for Lawrinson intramurals. I’d try to speed dribble around someone, then stop and elevate quicker than the defender could to get a jumper off. That was the extent of my schemes. That’s what he does, but college defenders are better, and they block, disrupt his shot or foul him—because he can’t separate enough.

I just went back and watched some of his high school ‘tape,’ and his highlights are largely fools’ gold. Some alley oops—wide open, against high schoolers. Some spot up threes. A few drives and pull ups. And he was standing over people and meanmugging and talking trash—the kinds of ‘fiery’ things some of us want from our players…. But those plays—simple stuff for a person of his size to execute against mid level high school kids. I didn’t see much in the way of him actually beating someone. Now, temper this ‘quick assessment‘ with my admission that I thought the same of Lebron. That he never actually beat people off the dribble, and wasn’t a great shooter–but, I didn’t project him to build/develop himself into a freight train….

So, yeah—a lot of us who called him a “five star” were a bit optimistic about his prospects. I thought he was fringe 5 but I considered him a 4, and not an elite talent. And then consider that all of college ball kinda sucks these last few years, so a fringe 5 doesn’t really mean what it used to.

I still am waiting for it to click. He will get 15 points in a game this season, and we’ll see flashes. But it’s going to take him time and work. He doesn’t have the skills—handle, shot, or scheme yet—to be an effective player. He may get some points or highlight reel plays just because he‘s 6’8” and pretty athletic and can do things. But I think it will take a while before he can do those things at will, with determination. With consistency. I think he has the character to do it. I hope he goes away to a separate camp this summer. Gets some tough love and new perspective. But I definitely want him to come back. He’s going to take steps forward each year. Year three, he may be all ACC.

 

[Willy75]

Right now? Prob 5-20 mins based on what's occurring in the game, how well he's playing, etc.

Setting specific minute counts pre game/pre season has always been a pointless exercise to me. Minutes should be decided in game.

A better question would be is he in the rotation or is he not? If he's not, then who's the 3rd forward?

Benny can play forward, Buddy can play forward, Frank can play forward. We’re not lacking for bodies.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I'm just saying that his haircut isn't the reason why he has struggled on the basketball court this season. Not saying anything about anybody who doesn't like the way the haircut looks. (I like it)

As a bald 24 year old I'm not sure if I'm not allowed to judge people's haircuts or if I'm allowed to judge more than the average person.

If you were “just” saying that, I agree completely. But, you added that other element and made it an ugly accusation.

I don’t know the other guy, or if there were other posts by him that led you in that direction. I’m just saying it’s not inherently racist to think his hair is affecting his game.

 

[djcon57]

Benny can play forward, Buddy can play forward, Frank can play forward. We’re not lacking for bodies.

If Frank or Buddy were included in the forward rotation on a consistent basis, fine. So far that has not been seen outside of Jesse fouling out and Jimmy at C

 

[rrlbees]

1000x worse than anything buffet related. Shocked it's still here. Just seeing this now but that kinda crap belongs nowhere.

It’s still here because we didn’t think there was any racism intent. How many posts have there been this year, even jokingly, that Benny couldn’t see anything because his hair was in his eyes? Sometimes people form an opinion of a post based on who made the post.

 

[malpearl31]

Right now? Prob 5-20 mins based on what's occurring in the game, how well he's playing, etc.

Setting specific minute counts pre game/pre season has always been a pointless exercise to me. Minutes should be decided in game.

A better question would be is he in the rotation or is he not? If he's not, then who's the 3rd forward?

Benny has played in 11 of our 12 ACC games, and has totaled 94 minutes of ACC action, for an average of 8.5 mins per game in those 11 games (or just under 8 mpg if you count the 12th game as a zero when you do the average). For the season, Benny has played 254 minutes in 22 games (1-DNP) for an average of 11.5 mins per game played. KenPom calculates Benny as having played 27.2% of all available minutes this season.

Benny is definitely in JB’s rotation, I don’t think there should be much question about that. He has overwhelmingly been the first forward into the game off of the bench this season. I think JB has more or less used the “5-20 mins based on what's occurring in the game” approach that you listed, the problem has been a combination of not enough production from Benny, plus some tight games where JB wasn’t comfortable giving him more minutes.

Boeheim could definitely play him more, but given Benny’s production when he has been on the court, I just don’t think it’s anything to get too worked up about.

 

[djcon57]

Benny has played in 11 of our 12 ACC games, and has totaled 94 minutes of ACC action, for an average of 8.5 mins per game in those 11 games (or just under 8 mpg if you count the 12th game as a zero when you do the average). For the season, Benny has played 254 minutes in 22 games (1-DNP) for an average of 11.5 mins per game played. KenPom calculates Benny as having played 27.2% of all available minutes this season.

Benny is definitely in JB’s rotation, I don’t think there should be much question about that. He has overwhelmingly been the first forward into the game off of the bench this season. I think JB has more or less used the “5-20 mins based on what's occurring in the game” approach that you listed, the problem has been a combination of not enough production from Benny, plus some tight games where JB wasn’t comfortable giving him more minutes.

Boeheim could definitely play him more, but given Benny’s production when he has been on the court, I just don’t think it’s anything to get too worked up about.

don’t disagree with a ton you said.

kind of disagree with reacting to what was happening in game.

specifically Jimmy was hideous vs Fla state 2 and Georgetown yet Benny got a DNP and 4 mins.

but the last couple, I didn’t have a problem with how he handled Benny at all. If the offense is cooking and we are increasing the lead, no issues here. I still get concerned with mins piling up and prefer getting the starters more rest, but I get that won’t change.

 

[NorSyr66]

Have you ever seen Buddy sprint up the floor? I have never seen him sprint.

Not sure whether Buddy has ever or ever not sprinted up the floor but I was focusing on the thread regarding "When Benny finally figures it out". Trying to keep a positive spin on the remainder of the season. LGO

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Benny can play forward, Buddy can play forward, Frank can play forward. We’re not lacking for bodies.

Buddy should not play forward

 

[Willy75]

Buddy should not play forward

He can if needed. Also we can play him, Symir and Joe at the same time if needed. Substance over labels.

 

[MSOrange]

 

[tipphill]

If you’re seeing flashes...you need a brain scan.
Poor Benny is lost and making every expert on this board pining for more playing time for him look like a chimp.

i believe i will hang onto your post for awahile