Hawks should play Benson as a Small Forward

[buckeye12]

i think Benson will be a Solomon Jones (Othello Hunter) clone. i don't think Benson has the frame or body type to add anymore weight or muscle (remeber he is not a kid, he is already 23yr), but hopefully i'm wrong and Josh Smith can grab a hold of this guys and show him how to hit the weight room

i think the Hawks should have the same approach that the Wizards took on Andray Blatche when they drafted him and play him at SF for his rookie year, then when he adds more weight, slowly move him to PF and Center.

alot of skinny guys like Soloman Jones, Ryan Hollins, Loren Woods, etc are pushed into playing center in the NBA right away just because they are tall, and their weight is not considered and that is why they fail. Andray Blatche is the only skinny second round pick that i can think of that was able to have success in the NBA, because he was developed and brought up the right way.

in addition, i think Benson is a natural SF, and was forced to play center for Oakland for the simple fact that he is not, but for Benson to properly develop his game, the Hawks should play him strictly at SF for his rookie year.

[Ruhiel]

Andray Blatche...is a success. we're Atlanta Wizards but with 2x the $ commitment.

and Magnum Rolle has the SF spot on lock.

[evildallas]

The kid's a 48th overall pick. Do you think he'll get much run under Larry Drew? As such he'll have time to work on his strength. He'll ultimately be a C which means he should be working at C from day 1 learning technique. Also remember that all Centers need not be the weight of Dwight Howard. It's about developing lower body/core strength and being long. Kareem was listed at 225 lbs. Tyson Chandler was listed at 235 lbs. 20 lbs of muscle is realistic if the Hawks set Benson up with a nutritionalist and proper workout progam and the kid is serious, but it takes time.

BTW, Solomon Jones and Ryan Hollins are still in the league and therefore not really failures. Loren Woods failed in some attitude areas from what I heard.

[Ruhiel]

The kid's a 48th overall pick. Do you think he'll get much run under Larry Drew? As such he'll have time to work on his strength. He'll ultimately be a C which means he should be working at C from day 1 learning technique. Also remember that all Centers need not be the weight of Dwight Howard. It's about developing lower body/core strength and being long. Kareem was listed at 225 lbs. Tyson Chandler was listed at 235 lbs. 20 lbs of muscle is realistic if the Hawks set Benson up with a nutritionalist and proper workout progam and the kid is serious, but it takes time.

BTW, Solomon Jones and Ryan Hollins are still in the league and therefore not really failures. Loren Woods failed in some attitude areas from what I heard.

Kareem was listed at 260 by end of his career and made up for it with being 7'2 and length of arms helped him shoot and dunk over anyone.

Tyson is 7'1

Benson is 6'11. Best case he's wiry strong w/ a jumper like Mikki Moore and hustles like Chris Andersen.
but we're relying on him to outplay Taj Noah Asik?

doubt he can help if he cant shoot over guys and score.
Al has little to no shooting pocket and Josh is not going to slim down to be a small forward. Keith will get no pt. We're going 3 guards top 15 defense at best for most of the season again.

[theatlfan]

Benson is 6'11. Best case he's wiry strong w/ a jumper like Mikki Moore and hustles like Chris Andersen.
but we're relying on him to outplay Taj Noah Asik?

If we're counting on a mid-2nd rounder to even compete with the likes of Gibson or Noah, then we should go ahead and pack it up now. If a mid-2nd even sees the floor then it was a very good pick. If you want someone to compete with CHI's Cs, then you've got to get someone in the high 1st or go the FA route - trying to fill that hole with a mid-2nd is just ridiculous.

[buckeye12]

Andray Blatche...is a success. we're Atlanta Wizards but with 2x the $ commitment.

and Magnum Rolle has the SF spot on lock.

"Magnum Rolle has the SF spot on lock"??????........ he is not even employed in the NBA for next season

and of course Blatche is a success.... he is a secound round pick who is an NBA STARTER for god sakes

everything you just said, made absolutely no sense

[buckeye12]

The kid's a 48th overall pick. Do you think he'll get much run under Larry Drew? As such he'll have time to work on his strength. He'll ultimately be a C which means he should be working at C from day 1 learning technique. Also remember that all Centers need not be the weight of Dwight Howard. It's about developing lower body/core strength and being long. Kareem was listed at 225 lbs. Tyson Chandler was listed at 235 lbs. 20 lbs of muscle is realistic if the Hawks set Benson up with a nutritionalist and proper workout progam and the kid is serious, but it takes time.

BTW, Solomon Jones and Ryan Hollins are still in the league and therefore not really failures. Loren Woods failed in some attitude areas from what I heard.

guys like Kareem, Jordan, Magic, Russel, are exceptions to the rule, i wouldn't go start putting Benson up their with Kareem and Wilt.

i would be ecstatic if Benson could get to 235lbs!!!!! anything above 230 would put an NBA post player in the average category

[buckeye12]

Benson is 6'11. Best case he's wiry strong w/ a jumper like Mikki Moore and hustles like Chris Andersen.
but we're relying on him to outplay Taj Noah Asik?

If we're counting on a mid-2nd rounder to even compete with the likes of Gibson or Noah, then we should go ahead and pack it up now. If a mid-2nd even sees the floor then it was a very good pick. If you want someone to compete with CHI's Cs, then you've got to get someone in the high 1st or go the FA route - trying to fill that hole with a mid-2nd is just ridiculous.

who said anything about "counting on" ......... we are just talking about proper development, which the Hawks suck at.

just give some minutes to Benson at backup SF, let him play some defense, get a few rebounds, and let him build up his confidence and IQ with playing time. then in the summer, work on adding weight and adding a few post moves, and in a few years, he can develop properly.

[evildallas]

Wow don't act like a freaking idiot. I don't think Benson is in a class with Kareem or Tyson Chandler and you know it. All I was showing is that you can be a Center in the NBA without being as heavy as Dwight or Shaq or Jason Collins. I was giving some examples. Marcus Camby is another example. Just mentioning a name in a post doesn't mean that a player is being favorably compared to that other person.

Benson is a mid-2nd round pick. He's just a guy to develop. If he catches fire then great we have a steal. If not add him to all the other wasted 2nd round picks. If you are expecting him to get run as a rookie then you don't have much respect for our lineup and haven't paid attention to our coach's history.

Magnum Rolle is another development guy but hopefully further along the curve from his time in the D-league. Hilton Armstrong is a similar mold, but I think they are hopeful that he's close to a breakthrough. Big guys take time and often never arrive.

Personally I would have preferred a bulky big like Greg Smith or Michael Dunegan because we already slender bigs and it might be good to have a young guy learn the tricks from Collins, but the team chose not to go that way. I'm not jumping to conclusions one way or another on Benson this year. The way I see is that he has the next year to work on his body and his game while maybe only seeing a few minutes of court time in a blowout (although maybe some D league time). If he has the work ethic to be a success he might contribute the following year although it could take longer. He has to show that work ethic and progress to get more time to develop. If he looks like he's going to make it then we can look him up for several years cheap like Washington did with Andray Blatche. If not, then we waive goodbye as is often the chance with 2nd rounders.

I also don't understand the SF talk,

[Ruhiel]

Andray Blatche...is a success. [Great now] we're the Atlanta [version] of the Washington Wizards but with 2x the $ commitment.

and Magnum Rolle has the SF spot on lock.

"Magnum Rolle has the SF spot on lock"??????........ he is not even employed in the NBA for next season

#Pessimisticsarcasm

and of course Blatche is a success....[he plays for the Wizards]

within the context of making $ yes he's a success!

within the context of actually playing basketball and helping his team win with defense rebounding and efficient offense he's an otherworldy failure.

He's a 6'11 F-C who needs to be hidden on defense and can't stop shooting low % shots at a high rate

16 points on 15 shots? Of players who played 1000 minutes his True Shooting % was 7th and the only one below .500.

and yet and all Blatche shot or turned the ball over 1 out of 4 times for 34 mpg.
23% USG% for his career.
He is a major reason the Wizards are the Wizards and if you win with him he's likely competing against second units.

[Geaux_Hawks]

What's wrong with a starter dominating 2nd units? The guy almost averages 1 bpg & 1 spg, so how is a guy you must hide on defense? Yeah he has a terrible ts%, but that's because he shoots so many bad shots. If he had a better ts% then he would be a very valuable 2 way player. Wall will mold that wizards team together so Blatche will look like a better player. Benson will take a similar track hopefully..

[buckeye12]

Wow don't act like a freaking idiot. I don't think Benson is in a class with Kareem or Tyson Chandler and you know it. All I was showing is that you can be a Center in the NBA without being as heavy as Dwight or Shaq or Jason Collins. I was giving some examples. Marcus Camby is another example. Just mentioning a name in a post doesn't mean that a player is being favorably compared to that other person.

Benson is a mid-2nd round pick. He's just a guy to develop. If he catches fire then great we have a steal. If not add him to all the other wasted 2nd round picks. If you are expecting him to get run as a rookie then you don't have much respect for our lineup and haven't paid attention to our coach's history.

Magnum Rolle is another development guy but hopefully further along the curve from his time in the D-league. Hilton Armstrong is a similar mold, but I think they are hopeful that he's close to a breakthrough. Big guys take time and often never arrive.

Personally I would have preferred a bulky big like Greg Smith or Michael Dunegan because we already slender bigs and it might be good to have a young guy learn the tricks from Collins, but the team chose not to go that way. I'm not jumping to conclusions one way or another on Benson this year. The way I see is that he has the next year to work on his body and his game while maybe only seeing a few minutes of court time in a blowout (although maybe some D league time). If he has the work ethic to be a success he might contribute the following year although it could take longer. He has to show that work ethic and progress to get more time to develop. If he looks like he's going to make it then we can look him up for several years cheap like Washington did with Andray Blatche. If not, then we waive goodbye as is often the chance with 2nd rounders.

I also don't understand the SF talk,

which is why i don't understand why you are comparing Benson to lottery picks. at least i'm trying to give the kid a chance and just using realistic comparisons by using other second round picks like Solomon and Othello

[Ruhiel]

I said: 'He is a major reason the Wizards are the Wizards and if you win with him he's likely competing against second units."

You said: What's wrong with a [starter] dominating [2nd units]?

He's supposed to "dominate" starters. While he's waiting for the 2nd unit to come out the opposing team is punching the Wizards in the mouth.

In 8663 minutes Blatche has generated 10.8 wins. Kwame Brown once did 4.9 in a season.

Blatche is very very bad. If you're not a good shooter dont shoot it, its that simple.
Play defense, oh wait... 6'11 Jamal Crawford? thats a losing battle