? for the board regarding DJ Bennett

[BigTime]

Sam, OUHoops and Gary have all said good things about the potential and atheticism of Jr DJ Bennett. I have watched a handful of practices myself and think that he passes the eye test in terms of hands, coordination, foot quickness and, of course, his long wingspan. I also see that he is underweight and looks pretty raw with his footwork and shot.

There has been talk about Coach Kruger and DJ thinking about redshirting this season and bulking up and working on his offensive game and then having two years to make an impact on a program that will appears to have 3 very talented guards and a guy in Spangler that will be a solid 3 year post player.


Given that we have:

- two very experienced post guys in Fitzgerald and Osby AND a guy in M'Baye that has proven his worth at the D1 level

- plus, a guy like Tyler Neal who is experienced and pretty savvy on the glass for being undersized and who knows Kruger's system

- plus Casey Arent who should at least be able to bang for a few minutes if needed and knows Kruger's system

- And lastly Cam Clark who has put on 10 pounds of bulk in the offseason and could play the Tony Crocker role in the post if needed.

Do you think it would be a good idea to go into this season with the mindset of redshirting DJ Bennett?

During a normal game (I will say 90% of our games), we should get away with having Fitz, Osby and M'baye playing around 90minutes (Romero averaged 30 last year and Fitz averaged 28 and I believe that M'Baye is a good enough athlete to average 30 plus). In those games, the 80 minutes needed to play the post would be used up and would allow M'Baye to get a few more on the perimeter if Kruger wanted to go big. We also could have Neal, Arent and Cam play spot minutes (end of half, fould trouble) as needed.

The problem of course lies in the 10% of games where we have one of the big 3 post players get into to major foul trouble. In that case, a guy like Bennett might really benefit with his shot blocking/rebounding/athleticism over Arent, Neal or Cam.

At first, I thought to myself that it would be a really bad idea to redshirt Bennett because if he is good enough to play then he should be playing. But now that we have seemingly struck our realistic high school post options (really wanted Shepherd or James) AND we are faced with the possibility that M'Baye might be 1 and done, I think it would be wise to save Bennett for the next two years.

It sort of reminds me of Pattillo a few years ago when we had the Griffin brothers. The difference between that situation and this one though is that during Blake's soph year we really only had two legit post options (Blake and Taylor) and this year's team has 3. AND Pattillo was a grade risk. And Pattillo didn't need to bulk up his frame. Bennett is a great student (I think he is majoring in architecture) and could really use a year to put on some weight under Yo-Yo.

Long winded on a Thursday night but what do you guys think?

 

[BigTime]

I'm not really counting Ryan Wright or Orlando Allen as legit post options from that year because neither could catch the ball or score...

Although I do think they are probably better rebounders/defenders (at least Ryan) than the combo of Arent/Neal/Cam

 

[TheGimper]

I wouldn't necessarily mind redshirting Bennett. From watching practice, he seems to have a lot of raw talent. But seems to behind a step or two when it comes to being in the right spot at the right time on both offense and defense. Granted, this only from watching a few practices.

 

[BigTime]

I wouldn't necessarily mind redshirting Bennett. From watching practice, he seems to have a lot of raw talent. But seems to behind a step or two when it comes to being in the right spot at the right time on both offense and defense. Granted, this only from watching a few practices.

And that's just it, he does have a lot of raw talent. When folks were talking about wanting to redshirt Arent last year, I thought it was a terrible idea because what you see with Casey is what you are going to get. DJ is a guy that I'd like to see for a couple of years have a chance to play a large role.

I just don't think he will get many minutes this year (though he could help us win a game or two if the big 3 get in major foul trouble).

Its a risk vs benefit thing...

 

[KBaden145]

Can he play in exhibition games and still redshirt?

 

[TheGimper]

Can he play in exhibition games and still redshirt?

Yes.

I miss the Kelvin days when a player would play in the most games possible and then come up with a mystery injury that would earn them a medical redshirt that year.

 

[KBaden145]

Yes.

I miss the Kelvin days when a player would play in the most games possible and then come up with a mystery injury that would earn them a medical redshirt that year.

I thought I remembered that happening. Still don't understand why Kelvin didn't redshirt Longar...

 

[vbdad]

He will redshirt unless somebody gets hurt. M'Baye, Osby and Fitz get all of the post minutes unless there is foul trouble. Then you can get a few minutes out of Casey if they are big and if they are small Tyler will play. Cam also could play in a four guard/wing lineup. No reason to waste a year for a few minutes of playing time. Bennet does have raw talent and our current staff actually developes players.

 

[campbest]

He will redshirt unless somebody gets hurt. M'Baye, Osby and Fitz get all of the post minutes unless there is foul trouble. Then you can get a few minutes out of Casey if they are big and if they are small Tyler will play. Cam also could play in a four guard/wing lineup. No reason to waste a year for a few minutes of playing time. Bennet does have raw talent and our current staff actually developes players.

This.

You want the schollies of Neal and Arent to expire ASAP, use their minutes/fouls instead of burning a full year for Bennett. While this team does need to improve defensively, offense is still a huge sticking point and something he doesn't bring to the table right now (from reports). Patillo was a key contributor of that team making an Elite Eight run, from my limited perspective, don't think Bennett will be the difference in this team making the tournament or not.

Think you have to redshirt him.

 

[SoonerinNC]

With the pressure defense and uptempo offense that Kruger wants to run we have to have 4 inside players. I think Arendt looks better than he did last year but still has no touch around the rim.

Bennett on the other hand looks the difference from night and day comparing this week to the earlier practices. Now is it worth 10-12 minutes a game to burn a whole season. Don't know. But if M'Baye ends up with a fair number of minutes at the 3 then I think Bennett has to play.

Kruger has brought in 5 newcomers this year. Although pretty much unheralded all appear to have ability to play in this conference, some even at a high level.

I think Kruger has to put his best players on the floor and be confident he can replace them through recruiting.

 

[Sam]

He will redshirt unless somebody gets hurt. M'Baye, Osby and Fitz get all of the post minutes unless there is foul trouble. Then you can get a few minutes out of Casey if they are big and if they are small Tyler will play. Cam also could play in a four guard/wing lineup. No reason to waste a year for a few minutes of playing time. Bennet does have raw talent and our current staff actually developes players.

Fitz, Osby and M'Baye are all guys capable of going 30+ minutes a night. That doesn't leave a lot of extra minutes.

I think post depth/talent could potentially be an issue for OU down the road, so it makes sense to try to hold onto a Spangler-Bennett frontcourt duo for multiple seasons.

 

[AdaSooner]

He will redshirt unless somebody gets hurt. M'Baye, Osby and Fitz get all of the post minutes unless there is foul trouble. Then you can get a few minutes out of Casey if they are big and if they are small Tyler will play. Cam also could play in a four guard/wing lineup. No reason to waste a year for a few minutes of playing time. Bennet does have raw talent and our current staff actually developes players.

I hope you're right, vbdad.

As BT said, Bennett definitely passes the eye test. I said the same thing
after getting an up close and personal look at him during the alumni game a few weeks ago. He has also looked the part in the bits and pieces of the practices I've watched online. That is, until he attempted what should have been a relatively easy post move inside, only to prove that he's got a long way to go to be a finished product on offense.

It's true he could help us on defense and on the boards this year. But it would be a shame to waste a 6' 10" post player with so much potential, when he is not really ready to compete at the Big 12 level yet. He needs to sit out the season to work on his game.

 

[bgrch1350]

Redshirt a Juco player...That tells me that he is a waste of a scholarship. Now we get this kid for 3 years instead of 2. You guys can look at the positives of taking a kid that went to juco and had horrible stats for someone his size and then bring him here and redshirt him b/c he's not good enough to contribute to a team that only won 15 games the season before and for a team that needs size down low.

You redshirt freshmen, injured players, transfers and on an occasion, guys who are good enough to play for the majority of teams out there but won't get very minutes b/c the guys ahead of them are the best in the country. You don't redshirt juniors b/c they suck and won't contribute to the team.

 

[TheGimper]

Redshirt a Juco player...That tells me that he is a waste of a scholarship. Now we get this kid for 3 years instead of 2. You guys can look at the positives of taking a kid that went to juco and had horrible stats for someone his size and then bring him here and redshirt him b/c he's not good enough to contribute to a team that only won 15 games the season before and for a team that needs size down low.

You redshirt freshmen, injured players, transfers and on an occasion, guys who are good enough to play for the majority of teams out there but won't get very minutes b/c the guys ahead of them are the best in the country. You don't redshirt juniors b/c they suck and won't contribute to the team.

One of the main reasons for redshirting Bennett is your last listed reason. He has three guys ahead of him and one behind him he's had a full year in the program and is more mentally ready.

Not to mention we will lose two starting posts (possibly a 3rd is M'baye leaves for the draft). So we will have a vacuum in those spots. We can bring in freshmen bigs, but they are (usually) a project. If we can spend a year developing someone who could be a defensive presence in the Big 12 and not waste a year of eligibility for garbage/foul trouble minutes then why not?

 

[BigTime]

Redshirt a Juco player...That tells me that he is a waste of a scholarship. Now we get this kid for 3 years instead of 2. You guys can look at the positives of taking a kid that went to juco and had horrible stats for someone his size and then bring him here and redshirt him b/c he's not good enough to contribute to a team that only won 15 games the season before and for a team that needs size down low.

You redshirt freshmen, injured players, transfers and on an occasion, guys who are good enough to play for the majority of teams out there but won't get very minutes b/c the guys ahead of them are the best in the country. You don't redshirt juniors b/c they suck and won't contribute to the team.

I would agree with you if I thought DJ Bennett sucked and wouldn't contribute to the team.

 

[campbest]

Hopefully Bennett can live up to recent JUCO studs such as Kyle Cannon and Orlando Allen.

 

[BigTime]

Hopefully Bennett can live up to recent JUCO studs such as Kyle Cannon and Orlando Allen.

Hopefully Kruger evaluates JUCO talent better than FJCIII.

 

[bgrch1350]

Hopefully Kruger evaluates JUCO talent better than FJCIII.

I hope so too...So far he hasn't.

 

[boksooner]

I hope so too...So far he hasn't.

Was Capel recruiting Grooms, before he was fired? Because Grooms is considerably better than any juco brought in during Capel's tenure. I'm not sure it's even close. I loved C.J. Washington, but his production was no where near Grooms, and he is arguably the best juco under Capel.

Someone should rank them. Omar Leary might be #2.

 

[garyeb2]

Was Capel recruiting Grooms, before he was fired? Because Grooms is considerably better than any juco brought in during Capel's tenure. I'm not sure it's even close. I loved C.J. Washington, but his production was no where near Grooms, and he is arguably the best juco under Capel.

Someone should rank them. Omar Leary might be #2.

Grooms was a Capel recruit. Kruger did a good job of getting on him quickly and holding him together.