What will it take for Bennett to drop the bust label by season's end?

[DukeDelonte13]

In a draft where:

#2 Dipo looks very good
#3 Porter looks meh
#4 Zeller looks meh
#5 Len looks meh
#6 Noel hasn't played


If Bennett continues to put up 10 to 15 point games with a couple of boards for the remainder of the season is he still the biggest bust in basketball history?

I say no. He's back in game shape, he's hustling hard and playing good D (something he didn't really do much of at UNLV) and finishing at the rim. He's playing the game rather than thinking about it.


In last night's most embarrassing loss of the season (which says a lot if you've watched the cavs this year) Big Boy Bennett showed 50x the heart that Kyrie, Tristan, and Deng showed.

He's turned a corner. If he continues his play of late and develops that confidence he can become a real beast at PF down the road.

[jbryan1984]

And I have said all year, don't be so quick to write him off. It was a weak draft, none of those guys were gonna go out and dominate right away. A lot of players don't even show what they will be until their second or third season. Any long time fans remember the development of John Stockton or Steve Nash? Not saying Bennett will be as great as they were but if you don't remember, go back and look, they were no where near great at the beginning.

And if your argument is, well, those guys weren't the number 1 pick........ Again, a weak draft. Noel was supposed to be #1 but he had that injury, it was a roll of the dice for whoever got him. After Noel, there were several guys that could of went number 1, it was all about the GM's preference.

[navy]

Score more than 15 points a game and leave the Caveliers.

[JohnFreeman]

I feel for him for some reason. Mike Brown really hasn't given him a fair go, and he is getting better

[DukeDelonte13]

And I have said all year, don't be so quick to write him off. It was a weak draft, none of those guys were gonna go out and dominate right away. A lot of players don't even show what they will be until their second or third season. Any long time fans remember the development of John Stockton or Steve Nash? Not saying Bennett will be as great as they were but if you don't remember, go back and look, they were no where near great at the beginning.

And if your argument is, well, those guys weren't the number 1 pick........ Again, a weak draft. Noel was supposed to be #1 but he had that injury, it was a roll of the dice for whoever got him. After Noel, there were several guys that could of went number 1, it was all about the GM's preference.


i wanted Noel pre draft but I had my reservations about a 220 lb C that has 0 offensive game.

I wish he would suit and play already so we can see what he can do.

[mentallooser]

A miracle?

[JohnFreeman]

i wanted Noel pre draft but I had my reservations about a 220 lb C that has 0 offensive game.

I wish he would suit and play already so we can see what he can do.
220lb center is going to get bullied

[DukeDelonte13]

I feel for him for some reason. Mike Brown really hasn't given him a fair go, and he is getting better

i disagree with that.. AB was so out of shape he would be gasping for air after 5 minuted.. What was MB supposed to do? Keep him in?


Bennett actually seems to be one of the few guys on the team that are buying into to MB's defensive philosophies. Lately he's been working harder on the defensive end than Tristan Thompson, and that's saying a lot considering he played no D in college. Gotta give credit when its due.

[DukeDelonte13]

220lb center is going to get bullied


Sanders is pretty light, Noah came into the league pretty light too.. He can be successful but Noel def. wasn't a sure thing #1 pick that the cavs passed on.

[JohnFreeman]

Sanders is pretty light, Noah came into the league pretty light too.. He can be successful but Noel def. wasn't a sure thing #1 pick that the cavs passed on.
Noel doesn't look strong, Sanders has some bulk

[tontoz]

Probably not happening this year. If he gets in shape and starts to produce next year then the bust talk will die down.

[Lebron23]

Average at least 10-12 ppg in the next 33 games. He did scored 14 points on 40 FG%, and grabbed 8 rebounds against the Lakers. He needs to hire a personal fitness trainer.

[wally_world]

Maybe if he can start making layups that will help

[boozehound]

he can't correct that perception this year. He would need to come in next year and be a major player for a winning cavs team or put up big numbers the entire season (and show massive skill doing so) before he could lose the label. Fair or unfair, thats the way it is.

[The Macho Man]

He surpassed 100 points on the year:eek:

What a monster

[boozehound]

I mean, lets be real here. Bennett came into a mediocre team (so no excuse that hes not playing because the guys in front of him are above average league vets who help a team win) and is putting up much worse stats than the two biggest busts in nba history (KB was something like 4.5/4 in 14 minutes, kandi was something like 9/8 in 28 minutes).

Even if Bennett was picked 9-14 (similar range to rivers last year), this year would be considered an abysmal failure. You dont wash that kind of stink off with half a season of 10+ point games.

[boozehound]

Average at least 10-12 ppg in the next 33 games. He did scored 14 points on 40 FG%, and grabbed 8 rebounds against the Lakers. He needs to hire a personal fitness trainer.
probably the worst defense in the league when healthy, and playing a severly hampered roster.

[Thorpesaurous]

To be fair, and because I was on record before the draft, I liked Bennett as a prospect more than most.

But I truely hated the fit as soon as they drafted him.

I was looking at Bennett in Washington, or Phx. My opinion was and is that he's a matchup problem type offensive player. He can go inside or out. The thing with players like that is that they need the ball, and they need to have other guys recognize their situation and try to exploit it. Washington and Cleveland have similar personal (young backcourt), but Washington's is more about pace and less shot happy. I thought Bennett would fit there. And with Phx, they at the time seemed the least capable scoring team (which seems silly now, and exploiting Bennett's mismatches would require a shut down of their free wheeling sequence of pick and rolls with multiple PGs on the floor at once for the most part). Bennett ideally would be used a little like Carmello, although probably better suited off the bench doing it, which is fine. But he needs the ball.

Putting a guy like Bennett on floor with as ball dominant a PG as Kyrie, and a second year SG who excels in volume too, just didn't make any sense.

I said pre-draft, I'da gone Noel, and continue to rebuild by using a number 1 pick on a guy who wasn't gonna play. The con is the long term on a guy who's raw, relies on athleticism, and has had two major knee injuries before turning 20. The plus is that his game of outrunning bigs end to end, and causing chaos at the rim defensively and getting everyone out and running, is a perfect fit with the Cavs existing backcourt.

The other option if they really wanted to chase a playoff spot to me, was Otto Porter. Porter seemed really ready to me coming in. Upside limited, but a guy who could do a little of all the off ball stuff that would work with Irving and Waiters. A better defender, passer, rebounder, and realistically lane filler, than Bennett. Not the dynamic scorer, but when is Bennett going to have the opportunity to use that scoring with that backcourt?

The other option, that was floated by Bill Simmons and a few others, that I wasn't crazy about, but I liked better than Bennett, was just take Oladipo. The thinking was he was the best prospect, so why over think it. But even with a little thought, it's been my feeling from go that Waiters is a better fit playing without Irving himself. He too excels in the pick and roll, and wants to measure up and use his physicality. He's not the pure floor spacing lane filling wing you'd want with Irving. Too me his destiny is as a sixth man of the year type dominating the ball and scoring in bunches over short bursts with guys around him who you don't want with the ball doing more than rolling or catch and shooting. If he's going to start, you're looking at something similar to Lance Stephensen's physically brutal psuedo PG play, which works best next to a floor spacing PG like George Hill, not a ball savant like Irving.

Any of those to me would've been better than Bennett.

And the reason I throw out names like Melo and Lance Stephenson is because I don't think any of these guys are bad, they're just a horribly assembled fit. And they all may find that they'll leave here someday and be considered "late bloomers", when in fact they just weren't in the right spot.

[VelvetHoop]

I think that he's putting a foot in the right direction in the last few games. He looks in far better shape and I hope he still gets chances out there when the Cavs front court is full strength. He's built a little like GrandMama and i think he can have a game similar to his..I dont see him being the best player out of this draft by any means, but i also dont see him being a "flop" when its all said and done either ... work work work young fella

[rhowen4]

bust should be something you're labelled as 3 years down the road. i don't think it's something you drop, either.

i believe in bennett turning it around

[DukeDelonte13]

I mean, lets be real here. Bennett came into a mediocre team (so no excuse that hes not playing because the guys in front of him are above average league vets who help a team win) and is putting up much worse stats than the two biggest busts in nba history (KB was something like 4.5/4 in 14 minutes, kandi was something like 9/8 in 28 minutes).

Even if Bennett was picked 9-14 (similar range to rivers last year), this year would be considered an abysmal failure. You dont wash that kind of stink off with half a season of 10+ point games.

I don't get how you can say that when Porter, Noel, Len, Zeller, etc. have not really been that much better.

[Jailblazers7]

I think if he averages 12/5 for the rest of the season then I will consider it a good rookie year for him.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

A miracle

[Fire Colangelo]

The guy can't even palm the ball, even I can palm a baksetball. He's like Kwame Brown in the sense that they both have small stone hands, but without the size.

[NumberSix]

Multiple chips.

[boozehound]

I don't get how you can say that when Porter, Noel, Len, Zeller, etc. have not really been that much better.
meh, perhaps. Noel cant be considered here, since he has hardly played. Len and Zeller are both pretty poor, but both shoot way better and are big men. Porter is a reasonable comp and he has also been terrible. I would bet that wiz fans will tell you they are massively disappointed in him.

[KyrieTheFuture]

meh, perhaps. Noel cant be considered here, since he has hardly played. Len and Zeller are both pretty poor, but both shoot way better and are big men. Porter is a reasonable comp and he has also been terrible. I would bet that wiz fans will tell you they are massively disappointed in him.
Cody Zeller and Alex Len shoot 38% and 45% respectively don't even pretend that they're any good.

[hawksdogsbraves]

i wanted Noel pre draft but I had my reservations about a 220 lb C that has 0 offensive game.

I wish he would suit and play already so we can see what he can do.

I'd rather have a tall skinny center than a short fat power forward.

[boozehound]

Cody Zeller and Alex Len shoot 38% and 45% respectively don't even pretend that they're any good.
right. and bennett is shooting under 29%. There is a world of difference. Sure, its not great comparing bigs and wings, but still. Bennett has been historically bad all season outside of, what, 4 games? Its gonna take a lot for him to lose the bust label, justified or not.

Dont get me wrong, I do think that bennett will be a decent rotation player (and maybe more) in the nba.

[KyrieTheFuture]

right. and bennett is shooting under 29%. There is a world of difference. Sure, its not great comparing bigs and wings, but still. Bennett has been historically bad all season outside of, what, 4 games? Its gonna take a lot for him to lose the bust label, justified or not.

Dont get me wrong, I do think that bennett will be a decent rotation player (and maybe more) in the nba.
Oh I'm not pretending his play is justifiable, but I'm just pointing out that we didn't exactly miss on any of the other prospects. So far, it's the worst class of all time IMO.

[JtotheIzzo]

He will be a good player in this league.

Shoulder injuries really **** with your shooting and it takes a long time to be 100% even when you are healthy enough to play you still get little tweaks that throw your jumper off slightly.

not making excuses just stating that.

he has been buying into Mike Brown's concepts lately because he is a good kid and a high character guy, this is important because if he was more petulant he would be on the fast track to bustville, because he will listen and put in the work I think he will come out of this funk.

this year has been a nightmare and I think he is too good to be this bad, what he needs to do is keep everything in focus and use this year as the world's largest lesson.

Cleveland will clean house (they have to) and he will either be a key cog in the new team or on another team.

Next season will be his real rookie year and there will be a dramatic change.

The nightmare is ending and things are looking up.

[BigTicket]

He won't be able to drop the bust label this season, it's too late for that.

He could do it next year though, if he gets in shape and averages at least 14/7 on 45+% FG.

[DukeDelonte13]

he looks like he's getting better and better every game. He didn't put up big numbers yesterday but he played very well, in control, good D, hustled hard, etc.

the bottom line is he is finally getting comfortable and cavs fans are seeing what he can really do.

It's nice having a big-bodied PF that can play with physicality and hit long range shots. It opens up the offense a lot.

[gin17]

In a draft where:

#2 Dipo looks very good
#3 Porter looks meh
#4 Zeller looks meh
#5 Len looks meh
#6 Noel hasn't played


If Bennett continues to put up 10 to 15 point games with a couple of boards for the remainder of the season is he still the biggest bust in basketball history?

I say no. He's back in game shape, he's hustling hard and playing good D (something he didn't really do much of at UNLV) and finishing at the rim. He's playing the game rather than thinking about it.


In last night's most embarrassing loss of the season (which says a lot if you've watched the cavs this year) Big Boy Bennett showed 50x the heart that Kyrie, Tristan, and Deng showed.

He's turned a corner. If he continues his play of late and develops that confidence he can become a real beast at PF down the road.
show at least one 30pt game, or a 20reb game, or a 8blk game. even once. that'd show that he has something in him, at least

[Jameerthefear]

Everytime Oladipo has a good game (he is now starting to play consistently, he's about to turn the corner I'd say) Cleveland looks dumb imo

[KyrieTheFuture]

Everytime Oladipo has a good game (he is now starting to play consistently, he's about to turn the corner I'd say) Cleveland looks dumb imo

You're right, because the smart move in the NBA is to have 4 ball dominant guards and not a single big man.

[Olacinco]

Bennett >> MCW all day everyday

He has potential to be a slightly poor mans Z-bo

[Olacinco]

You're right, because the smart move in the NBA is to have 4 ball dominant guards and not a single big man.

Lmao brb drafting Dante exum over embiid cuz we already have a center

[HurricaneKid]

Anyone calling a 20 yr old kid coming off a shoulder injury a bust is an idiot. He may end up a bust but you can't be a bust at 20 and you can't be a bust for being hurt.

The days where players come in and contribute immediately has long passed (outside of drafting a high floor Sr like Deandre Kane who is projected as a late 2nd despite avg 17/7/6). Now players are coming in needing a year or two of seasoning. In the old days he would be a redshirt Frosh this year and come into the league in 3 years. Calling him a bust is obscenely premature.

[PsychoBe]

kwame brown in his prime was less of a bust than this.

[UK2K]

Sanders is pretty light, Noah came into the league pretty light too.. He can be successful but Noel def. wasn't a sure thing #1 pick that the cavs passed on.
Sanders came into the league at 220.
Noah came into the league at 223.

Nerlens was listed at UK at 206. He's listed at 228 now.

No reason to think Nerlens can't get up to 245.

[Pra]

It would take an act of Congress sir.

[KyrieTheFuture]

Lmao brb drafting Dante exum over embiid cuz we already have a center

:facepalm

You shouldn't draft Embiid and you shouldn't draft Exum. Since when are Center and PG the only two positions in basketball?

Also Bennett and ZBO play nothing alike.

[Olacinco]

:facepalm

You shouldn't draft Embiid and you shouldn't draft Exum. Since when are Center and PG the only two positions in basketball?

Also Bennett and ZBO play nothing alike.

Chris Grant? is that you??

[KyrieTheFuture]

Chris Grant? is that you??
How's it going Otis Smith?

[DukeDelonte13]

Sanders came into the league at 220.
Noah came into the league at 223.

Nerlens was listed at UK at 206. He's listed at 228 now.

No reason to think Nerlens can't get up to 245.


i agree with you. He was the youngest player in the entire draft I think.

[El Gato Negro]

next year i think he will take a huge step, we won't know if he is actually a bust for another 3 or 4 years. judging any player after one year is moronic no matter how you look at it.

[yeaaaman]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10417145

Not sure if this was posted yet but David Thorpe says Bennett still has star potential and to be patient with him - small college, no summer league, injury, coming back and thrown into the mix out of shape and ill-prepared. Basically he's saying he's young and lost with a ton of upside.

Thorpe even said that he was "blown away" seeing him play/warm-up the other day when talking about his talent.

So given how bad the draft was last year, who cares if people call him a bust right now. No rookie is helping their team do anything significant so might as well look at potential and if he's being called the real deal in terms of that, why not just be patient.

[DukeDelonte13]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10417145

Not sure if this was posted yet but David Thorpe says Bennett still has star potential and to be patient with him - small college, no summer league, injury, coming back and thrown into the mix out of shape and ill-prepared. Basically he's saying he's young and lost with a ton of upside.

Thorpe even said that he was "blown away" seeing him play/warm-up the other day when talking about his talent.

So given how bad the draft was last year, who cares if people call him a bust right now. No rookie is helping their team do anything significant so might as well look at potential and if he's being called the real deal in terms of that, why not just be patient.



Yeah supposedly he's a beast in practice. People were even saying he was veyr exciting to watch when he was in his fat state. It just shows that his problems on the court are mainly mental.

[RedBlackAttack]

He's taking the proper steps right now. If he keeps scoring in double figures and continues doing a good job on the boards, the mocking and jokes will become less and less visible. He's already taken a lot of the humor out of it with his recent play.

It's hard to make fun of a guy too much when he's outplaying many other high picks in his draft class.

There are reports of amazing athleticism in practice... throwing down crazy ally oops and the like. A couple of those in games and on SportsCenter, it would get very quiet.

[Uncle Drew]

Just started watching in OT. Why did he only play 6 minutes tonight?

[Uncle Drew]

Bennett 11/3 in 5 minutes so far. Dude is balling lately.

[Uncle Drew]

http://www.imgdumper.nl/uploads7/52fac791df0cb/52fac791cfe7a-andone.gif

[JohnFreeman]

erghhh.. we are getting shat on

[Twiens]

It's happening!:cheers:

[JohnFreeman]

It's happening!:cheers:
http://mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Dr.-Who.gif

[truhooper]

:bowdown:

[BrownEye007]

AB has 19/10 now. First double double of his career.