So Just How Bad a Fit is Beno Udrih?

[Prince_XY]

I don't disagree with your points. But having played a bit of basketball myself, I think you may undervalue the importance of staying in front of your man long enough to keep him from driving straight to the basket. Far too often, Beno let's his man fly right past him, requiring others to cover for him, which frees up someone else. It's like dominoes falling, and it makes your whole team look like lousy defenders.

I believe you when you say you played basketball.

It is quite a bit surprising why other posters who insinuates they know basketball, and yet cannot see the obvious things such as what you see. I think it really takes more than just having watched a million basketball games and you have to have played competitive basketball (and not just any kind of sport like baseball or football) to be able to see this very big flaw in Beno's game.

In a player's perspective, it sucks having to cover-up for a veteran teammate like Beno (and Martin, or the old Bibby) - especially true when Beno goes talking to you like the good veteran show-off player teaching or seemingly blaming the younger player for a defensive breakdown that started on him (Beno) in the first place.

Oh well, Beno's style of seemingly putting the fault on others seem to be working because some in this board think our bigs are not doing a good job defensively covering-up for him.

 

[hiero]

two things IMO that really separate Beno from most of the guys on that list. although they've had similar stats sometimes most of them are either really good/clutch 3 pt shooters or defensive specialists or both. Beno isn't a clutch consistent 3 pt shooter and his defense is an extreme liability.

 

[TIG 19]

Great post @Rainmaker!

 

[Superman]

I think it's misleading to compare the stats of Beno (who is asked to score the ball) with a group of talented guards who were asked to suppress their offensive game for the good of the team. Ron Harper went from a 20 pt scorer to taking like 6 shots a game with the Bulls. Likewise, Derek Fisher and Mike Bibby can get down drop in 20 pts a game if they're given that role.

The fact is, most of the "other" guys were there for their defense, leadership, size, playmaking, and/or ability to consistently hit the threes. None of which Beno possess.

The question should have been: how many successful team pairs a slow, defenseless, shoot-first and can't spread the floor combo guard with a talent guard? I think only Chucky Atkins comes to mind from the list, and there's a reason the Lakers got rid of him after one season.

Beno is only one of many short-comings for the Kings, he may not be a problem but he's definitely not the solution. He may actually be an adequate short-term partner for Tyreke until a better one comes along. But makes no mistake about it, he is not and never will be the solution.

My only issue with Beno is his defense. All of a sudden he can't hit a three pointer, but that's hopefully just a slump, considering he's still hitting other shots. He's a liability defensively, and that's not going to change.

 

[Kingster]

Beno is pretty good fit on offense. He supplements the ok ball handling of Tyreke so that in aggregate the Kings backcourt is passable (no pun intended) with ball handling. He gets into trouble though with quick guards. Then his nice skill set is overwhelmed by athleticism and quickness.

It's on defense though that he's not satisfactory. He just doesn't have the athleticism to sustain good defense on a nightly basis. I still think Beno would make an excellent guy off the bench for the longer term. Westphal has rejuvenated him. For a while there I thought he was a total bust.

Lastly, it's hard to talk about Tyreke as an All-Star or superstar right now, given his very poor season, his foot issues, his lack of outside shooting, his poor cardio shape. When I look at Tyreke today I see a guy who needs a very quick ball handling guard next to him that sets up the offense and is a very good outside shooter to open up the game for Tyreke's drives. If I were Petrie I'd looking as "good as you can find" guard to complement him - one who has the ball handling, defense, and shooting.