Is Beno good enough?

[pillwenney]

I think something people need to look at is the championchip teams from the last 10 or so years. Many of them did not have a superstar pg. They had an average pg, the played the postion how its suppoed to be played. I think Beno could be a fixture at point for us for many years. He does things a pg needs too do. While he may need to improve his passing game he still gets the ball to the players who can score. He gets the hoop pretty easy too. Finally, he does not turn the ball over much. While, it would be awesome to have a superstar pg I think we are better off having superstars at other positions.

That's missing the point. It's not that we necessarily need a great player at PG, it's that we need a great player, and PG appears to be the most open position.

[AriesMar27]

the lakers and celtics had teams that didnt require a star pg.... and didnt parker get voted in by the coaches at the all star game? when you have a team with multiple all stars you usually dont need the extra star to get it done.... the celtics had 3 all stars in their starting lineup... the lakers had kobe and gasol... the spurs had duncan/manu/parker... the pistons had 4 all stars in their starting lineup.... one of which was a pg and finals mvp. tony parker was finals mvp for the spurs....

beno is the back up pg that the kings have always needed for bibby, once they get him they trade bibby.... i love this team but they are destined for mediocrity if beno is their best option for a starting pg.

[king125]

to me it is just hard to base an opinion on Beno when he has only started maybe 30 games in his career. And in those games he played pretty good and helped a lousy team win some games against some big teams.

lets dream a little bit...

say we land a big free agent next year, preferably a PF. we could have a very strong and young team that could make a playoff run in 2010 and a championship in 2011 or 2012. Imagine:

Hawes
Boozer
Salmons
Martin
Udrih

with Thompson, Greene, and Cisco off the bench. That team would be in the playoffs next year. All I am saying is Beno is a great fit and we should find KMarts 2nd option somewhere other then PG. Baron Davis, Steve Nash, and CP3 would be great but our money and attention should be in finding a standout big man because Beno will be able to run this team just fine, as long as the other pieces are strong.

[Ballings7]

beno is the back up pg that the kings have always needed for bibby, once they get him they trade bibby.... i love this team but they are destined for mediocrity if beno is their best option for a starting pg.

Beno plays better when he starts and has the ball in his hands a lot. This was seen for a pretty good deal of his time in SA (though a couple injuries also effected him), and as well as for the majority of his oppurtunities when backing up Bibby.

Beno, right now, is an above-average stop-gap guy, and a guy who can start on a quality team, but can't be relied on a lot there. In the sense that he needs multiple star players around him.

say we land a big free agent next year, preferably a PF. we could have a very strong and young team that could make a playoff run in 2010 and a championship in 2011 or 2012. Imagine:

Hawes
Boozer
Salmons
Martin
Udrih

The interior defense won't be there consistently and ultimately not relative to being legitimate. I doubt Boozer comes to this team, anyway. I don't think Hawes is going to be a poor or just average defender, but he alone won't be enough. You need an increase of defensive ability from around where his will be, up front next to him.

You definitely need interior offense, but you aren't going to do much of significance in the playoffs without at least sound/respectable interior defense. Especially if it's good.

[King Baller]

The difference between Nash and Udrih is that Nash has always been a talented athlete and can pass the ball and shoot like no other. He just didn't get his chance to shine in the league until later in his career.

Udrih IS NOT Steve Nash

Udrih for all the good things he's done the thing that I still think is questionable is his passing ability. He is still inconsistent. I don't know if that is due to the fact he's just streaky or hasn't had the playing time. We will see of course but I'm not comparing him to Steve Nash.

Yep, Udrih is not Nash. But for a moment forget all you know about Nash, league MVP and all that. Just look at the stats from his first four seasons, could anyone have predicted how good he would become?

So Beno's upside is really an unknown. If he plays only as well as last year then he's a good player. If his game improves he could become very good. We will just have to see how it plays out.

KB

When I responded I was thinking of Steve Nash when he was at UC Santa Clara and not the MVP to begin with. That's why I said Nash has always been a talented athlete....

I was trying to stay within the parameters of your argument. Now I wouldn't have called Nash an MVP guy 5 years ago. To put things in perspective at best I'm saying Udrih will make an all star team. The thing about that is I'm okay with it if he turns out that good. I just think comparing him to Nash is a bit much just based on raw talent even.

Yep, I agree Nash is a special talent. But he took awhile to develop. Thats where I find the comparision with Beno. Beno should get the playing time this year as a starter. With Beno being with the team last year, then having a training camp and preseason I think he will display more consistancy. He should know his team mates better and have a better idea where they like the ball.

I really think that Beno knowing he is going to play and having stability (nice contract) will allow him to play better than ever.

Go Beno, go Kings

KB

[Smills91]

YES answers the question.

[SacKingZZZ]

Beno is good enough for now.

Then next year we can see the name Holiday, Rubio, Jennings, Harden, or Evans next to the PG spot on the rotation sheet.

[KF10]

Beno/Salmons will surprise many people in the incoming season.

[OGSactownballer]

I think that in reviewing the thread everybody here is missing an important point that the last 20 years of the NBA have shown us. Including both Chauncey Billups AND Tony Parker (who were finals MVP's as SCORING points), there has not been ONE TEAM in the past 20 years that has an All-NBA caliber point guard as the focus of the team. There is a very good reason for this and it is the same reason that we may NOT want to draft or sign that kind or caliber of point to this team. That kind of a guy becomes the main focus. We are already in a situation of not getting Kevin enough shots for his level of efficiency. If you put a 1 in the backcourt that - although he gets 20 and 10 - a game needs to take 20 or so shots to keep up his own numbers and be effective, you then take those shots away from the total number of backcourt shots available and that means Kevin. All of those championship teams got the mainstay of their offense from a highly efficient scoring 2 (Pierce/Kobe/Wade/Ginobili/Hamilton/etc.) and a highly efficient 4 or 5 (Shaq/Duncan/Garnett/Wallace/etc.). NONE OF THESE TEAMS HAD THE 1 AS THE FOCAL GUY/ALL-NBA PLAYER ON THEIR TEAM. They were all anywhere from role player and older ex-all-stars (Fisher/Payton/Rondo/etc/.) to all-stars that got their's in the flow of the offense (Billups/Parker).

When you look around at the teams that have the top caliber points who are not only high on the assist list, but also focal scorers (meaning that without them putting up 20+ a night the team loses) you realize that you have a long list of teams that are also-rans (Davis/Nash/CP3/Williams/Bibby/Ford/Kidd).

[Ballings7]

I don't think anybody is saying for him to be "the guy", but he's going to need to be a star-level player (the eventual PG).

I also don't think you really can have the PG be your main guy because of the lack of size that a PG has.

The Hornets, for example, aside from having not having enough offensive creativity as a team, found this out eventually in the playoffs against the Spurs. Where Paul was slowed down enough later in the series, where it effected the team in limiting their offense enough.

Even moreso, the Suns have found this out with Steve Nash, as their only consistently legitimate offensive creator. To a lesser degree in 05 because of Joe Johnson, but even so, because Nash was still the primary creator and ball-handler, I think Johnson didn't really get enough oppurtunities, those not being on a balance, nearing to how it was with Nash, usually. Whereas if that situation was increased for Johnson, he would of definitely been a very good 2nd offensive creator. I think the quick offensive style also came into play there, not taking much time usually to set up. Thus with the majority of the source of offensive initiation, coming from Nash. Boris Diaw in 06 didn't have quite enough of a role, as well as just not being big enough as a PF/C (actually played most of his time at center that season). They got Grant Hill, who can still create in multiple ways on a regular basis - but obviously not at a star-level anymore, and like he used to before the injuries and when younger. Shaq, can still create in a couple ways, but obviously he's just not near what he used to be. Even in his first two years with the Heat, where he was still a real, consistent force, and an anchorer for your front-court offense.

The Pistons with isiah Thomas were a very deep team, so it wasn't just Isiah and 1 or 2 other good players, then a bunch of average-decent players.

Similar situation with Deron Williams/Utah, as I explained above.

Typically, regardless of where your main guy plays, you need a significant offensive big man option that is relatively good on the interior. Generally, you need to possess paint offense in your team's repoitire as a consistency.

You can rely on a PG with notability, but he can't be relied on too much (Nash-Suns, Paul-Hornets). And with us, we aren't going to have to rely on the PG too much. Assuming Spencer and Jason turn out relatively well, plus Kevin, and 1 or 2 other above-average offensive sources (Greene in there, probably).