Beno and Slovenian NT news

G

gvucko

G-League
Hi guys. I will be posting the news about Beno and his performance with the Slovenian NT.

I was just visiting their training camp yesterday (work related) and got some news. The NT has had their first week of training camp done. Beno looks fit but he has mentioned that his feet still hurt (this injury has bothered him for a while now, he has played trough them and got his first 3ple double and his assists record so I recon this injury is managable). In comparison to last years training camp, this years physical preparation is not as brutal as they want to avoid as much injuries as possible.

I was also talking to their conditioning trainer and he said that Beno took the leadership role and that he is leading by example.

As of expectation about his role in the NT. He expects to have a leading role in otherwise competitive NT backcourt. He will battle for minutes with Goran Dragic (Phoenix Suns), Jaka Lakovic (Barcelona, long time starting PG, now a backup for Kingsfans favourite Ricky Rubio) at PG spot and Sani Becirovic (last year Eurolegue MVP of the regular season) at SG spot.

Slovenian NT will have 15 preparation games prior to WC, first two this Wednesday an Thurstday. If time permits I will go and report about Benos game to you guys.

This is for now.
 
I just wanted to jump in here and thank you for your write up. Its nice to see what our players are up to during the summer, and I'll keep reading so long as you keep posting =]
 
Yup, keep it coming, I want to know what he's up to after last season on the Kings where he killed it.
 
I expect Beno to start at the point after Sasha Vujacic goes all Tonya Harding on Goran Dragic's knees.
 
Bricklayer said:
I expect Beno to start at the point after Sasha Vujacic goes all Tonya Harding on Goran Dragic's knees.
Click to expand...

Sasha Vujacic was invited (as a courtesy) but was not promised anything but a fair chance to compete for open spots. He declined so he will not be playing for Slovenian NT (personally I am glad that he is not). And I think Goran would kick that Sashas *** anyways.

But I do expect Beno and Dragic sharing the majority of PT on both guard positions with Lakovic and Becirovic being backups. As starting it is hard to say because I have yet to see a permanent starting five on our NT.
 
Benoooooooooo. I love beno and I hope he plays less minutes this year (while starting) because I saw him all last year with that sleeve on his leg and it had me worried. Also thanks for the news!
 
OK. This did not take long.

Beno will not play for the NT. The word in the press is that he demanded to be the #1 option on the NT. I do not know if he wanted to be a #1 PG or #1 option on the team. So he left the team earlier today and will be preparing for the next season with Kings on his own.

I will try to dig out some insider info on this.

This is a big blow in my opinion as Beno could do wonders in pick and roll with our bigs. Oh well, I do hope he will prepare well for the NBA season.

That's it for now.
 
"I expected a more significant role in NT. As I am not satisfied with the role as it is I decided to leave the preparation before any preparation games played. I expected bigger responsibilities and had bigger expectations. Sadly this did not happen. I have always been the one who adjusted and this is something I do not wan't to do anymore. Now I have to stand behind the decision I have made. I do not wan't to be unhappy anymore because in the end this leads to conflicts and injuries.

Saying that I would like to sincerely thank the coach Memi... (and other delegates) because the communication was always sincere and on professional level. We parted our ways on friendly terms."

As it turned out the NT coach had a plan from the beginning that Jaka Lakovic will be starting PG. Beno hoped that due to the good season he had with Kings and due to the fact Jaka went from starting PG to being Rubios backup this would change.

Personally I believe that Beno should be starting PG. But you have to respect the coaches decision. Better he decided early in the preparation than latter on.
 
Last edited:
Sound pretty bad of him to quit because he isn't the #1 option. Hopefully there's more to it than that.

...after gvucko posted..

Atcually I don't blame him. As a competitor attitude, you can't accept the fact that you did well in the NBA and have to seat back and watch some guy start over you who is just a backup of Rubio (from what I can recall he didn't do too well).

At least he was thinking for the team to leave during preparation for the preparation game instead of later.
 
Last edited:
Good decision Beno. You know who butters your bread. And I appreciate that you were honest about your decision making process. Kings fans should welcome this news, as it also indicates a deeper commitment to the team who pays his salary, the Kings.
 
Interesting turn of events. I dont know much about Lakovic aside from watching him play behind Rubio whenever I got the chance to check out Ricky, but he cant be better than Udrih. Interesting decision by the Slovenian coach.

Probly good news for Kings Fans. I mean, you dont like that attitude from one of your players ( Udrih basically saying 'im not starting, im not playing ) .. he could easily be coming off the bench this season for us, so I hope this attitude was only for the national team.

But based on the fact that his foot is still bothering him, Im more than fine with him not playing. I hope he can get healthy by the time the season starts, but if he's not healthy now I wonder if that injury will ever heal.
 
Good for Beno! If I was him I wouldn't want someone starting in front of me who has never stepped foot on an nba court. So now 2 of the top 4 or 5 Slovenian players aren't playing for the NT, in Beno and Sasha.

I have to wonder what the deal is with this coach? This isn't exactly Spain, France, Argentina, or another big country with lots of depth. If I'm not mistaken, the population of Slovenia is around 2 mil. How can really come up with valid excuse for not starting Beno? It's a slap in the face, and if I'm Beno, I tell the team to **** off and try to excel in the Worlds and qualify for the Olympics without him.

Good for the Kings. Horrible for the Slovenian NT. They need a coach that can get the players to buy into the system. Not quit.
 
Atta boy Beno. Just sit back and put those tender feet up and watch the NT's games on tv.
Come back here and have a good camp and season this year.
 
Haha Beno. This is why I want him in the starting lineup. He doesn't want to come off the bench, and he works so well with Tyreke that he shouldn't. I hope he joins JT and the rest of the Kings for their early practices. Not actually to practice, but just to be there.

And yes, Dragic would destroy poor Beno.
 
cuad said:
Haha Beno. This is why I want him in the starting lineup. He doesn't want to come off the bench, and he works so well with Tyreke that he shouldn't. I hope he joins JT and the rest of the Kings for their early practices. Not actually to practice, but just to be there.

And yes, Dragic would destroy poor Beno.
Click to expand...

Ahh, no. It's not that he has such a huge ego that he doesn't like to come off benches. It's that he has enough self respect and wherewhithall to not waste his energy to come off the bench of the freekin Slovenian national team for free. Big difference. He actaully seemed to enjoy coming off the bench for us, as it gave him a chance to study the game and the opponent for a few minutes before going in and shooting the lights out like he did all year. I wouldn't mind him starting, but he's not the type of player that demands it. That's what makes him so great. I get the feeling he's perfectly happy being a rotational guard on a good and up and coming team. He's a great ball player. Rest up Beno, enjoy your offseason.
 
Last edited:
Bit of a prima dona attitude from Beno here. With NT team its all about the winning and if bigger names than Beno were prepared to come off the bench for NT, then Beno shouldn't think of himself as more worthy. Personally, I would have had Beno as my starting guard on NT with Lakovic as my super 6th man type.

The thing that I don't like for this from the Kings perspective is that Beno does not have the reputation as a hard worker in the off-season. If you look at his career, every time he was with the NT over summer he came back and had a good season in the NBA. If he "sits out" the summer from NT duties he comes in and has a subpar season (look at his 2008-2009 as an example). NT duties have proven to be a good way for Beno to get into shape for an NBA season. Hope I am wrong but from this perspective, I am not too thrilled about this development.
 
The fact is this is very brave and in the end the smartest decision he made! Just few days ago he was talking to media and said he except only ''full time job'' and he was honest and very clear.

One of the main reasons he don't want to play back up role is simple - KINGS. He WANT to practice and prepare well for the new season since there are some new talents in team and don't want to spend time with NT if he won't get prime role. It happend last year he came back injured and don't want to go through this any more! He's determinated and looking forward to do everything to be 100% in the start of the new season.

So very good news for Kings and some mixed feelings here in Slovenia. Fact is those people in SLO basket association don't have everything cleared in their heads, no vision, no balls. Thats why Slovenia will never have the strongest team on any competitions!


Go Bueno Beno and GO KING!

p.s. sorry for my english :P
 
Slohoop said:
The fact is this is very brave and in the end the smartest decision he made! Just few days ago he was talking to media and said he except only ''full time job'' and he was honest and very clear.

One of the main reasons he don't want to play back up role is simple - KINGS. He WANT to practice and prepare well for the new season since there are some new talents in team and don't want to spend time with NT if he won't get prime role. It happend last year he came back injured and don't want to go through this any more! He's determinated and looking forward to do everything to be 100% in the start of the new season.

So very good news for Kings and some mixed feelings here in Slovenia. Fact is those people in SLO basket association don't have everything cleared in their heads, no vision, no balls. Thats why Slovenia will never have the strongest team on any competitions!


Go Bueno Beno and GO KING!

p.s. sorry for my english :P
Click to expand...

Your English is more than fine -- thanks for the great insight. I am a little concerned with his views on the bench, though I also understand the circumstances of not wanting to back up a, well, backup. With the season he had for us last year, he more than deserves a real shot at the job, and it sounds like the coach was being hard-headed, and had finalized his decision before they even went into camp. Not the most sound coaching logic if it's true.

But back to the concern. If things go well with Cisco, I fully expect Beno to come off the bench again for the Kings this season. He worked well with Tyreke last year, but it was only because we had no other dependable option at SG other than a Cisco who spent the rest of the year trying to get his feet under him. As a long term pairing though, it doesn't work. His size allows the other team to move their PG off of Tyreke as a defensive assignment, and we don't want that. So I hope the circumstances regarding his refusal to come off the bench have only to do with the fact that he didn't have a superior player in front of him, and that this view changes when he gets into Sacramento with his real team. You had a solid, solid season last year, Beno. Let's keep the momentum going.
 
I like this move by Beno, but one does wonder if he'll bring that entitled attitude back here.. I don't think he will.. I'm not sure he'll be told to come off the bench but if he is then I hope he's ok with it. I think he realizes he's an important part of this teams backcourt and can change a game when he enters
 
I think the fact that he is being compensated here makes a lot of difference. Why should he donate his summer to the NT when they don't even need him to play a major role?
 
Dr. Spaceman said:
But back to the concern. If things go well with Cisco, I fully expect Beno to come off the bench again for the Kings this season. He worked well with Tyreke last year, but it was only because we had no other dependable option at SG other than a Cisco who spent the rest of the year trying to get his feet under him. As a long term pairing though, it doesn't work. His size allows the other team to move their PG off of Tyreke as a defensive assignment, and we don't want that. So I hope the circumstances regarding his refusal to come off the bench have only to do with the fact that he didn't have a superior player in front of him, and that this view changes when he gets into Sacramento with his real team. You had a solid, solid season last year, Beno. Let's keep the momentum going.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling this has more do with risking injury playing backup to an inferior player that could hurt his play with the team that actually pays him to play.
 
Telemachus said:
I have a feeling this has more do with risking injury playing backup to an inferior player that could hurt his play with the team that actually pays him to play.
Click to expand...

I think if he just came out and said he flat out was just too annoyed by Vujacic's face to stick around, I think everyone would nod a couple times and drop it completely.
 
All an athlete wants is to compete. If a decision on the starting PG was already made prior to any camp or practice, and that Beno wasn't even given the opportunity to compete for the spot, I don't blame him.
 
Well, it does sound like both sides were upfront before preparations started. Better that Beno was able to make a decision based on a clear direction stated to him ahead of time. If his foot is, indeed still bothering him, then it probably was the right decision.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Spike
  • Poll Poll
NBA Power Rankings Week of 11/14, Sponsored by Juniper Networks*
Replies
4
Views
507
Mr. S£im Citrus
Mr. S£im Citrus
S
Kings Players Do Not View Newcomer Sasha Vezenkov as a Rookie
Replies
0
Views
271
Sports Illustrated Inside the Kings News
S
Vinny Basketballerino
Something Sp3cial is Br3wing
Replies
1
Views
744
Jc121
J
bajaden
Bajaden's real 2024 Mock Draft: Part one
2 3
Replies
63
Views
7K
KingsFanSince85
KingsFanSince85
Vinny Basketballerino
Davion
Replies
8
Views
1K
KingsFanSince85
KingsFanSince85
Back
Top