[font=Tahoma]7-footer Benas Griciunas transferring to @Charlotte49ers from Auburn. Avgd. 2.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg last year. Sits out 14-15, 3 years elgblty left[/font]
[quote=“NinerWupAss, post:1, topic:28889”][font=tahoma]7-footer Benas Griciunas transferring to @Charlotte49ers from Auburn. Avgd. 2.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg last year. Sits out 14-15, 3 years elgblty left[/font]
[font=tahoma]Looks like our kind of player - can’t shoot.[/font]
[font=tahoma]I know I know practice body or something like, #nextyear, everything is great.[/font][/quote]To be fair to the guy, he’s a huge Euro style player that probably has to acclimate to the U.S. game. He was also only a freshman.
Looks like when Auburn stopped playing Benas, they went on a 6 game loosing streak…ok…ok…that just happened to come about the same time they stopped playing the “Ark- Pine Bluff’s” and started conference play, but still ;D
In all seriousness, I gladly welcome Benas to Niner Nation and hope he can become competitive for playing time. The year off and thin frontline of our future should provide plenty of opportunities. Welcome aboard!
based on his numbers, maybe that’s not a bad thing. i dont really understand this signing.[/quote] Using that logic, we never should have signed Mike Thorne. Thorne sucked his first year.
you can’t just say, okay mike sucked his first year also so it’s not a bad signing. this kid barely played on a bad auburn team. he was clearly run off. can’t we sign someone better or does the staff not have the confidence that they are able to do that?
[quote=“ninerfan55, post:11, topic:28889”]you can’t just say, okay mike sucked his first year also so it’s not a bad signing. this kid barely played on a bad auburn team. he was clearly run off. can’t we sign someone better or does the staff not have the confidence that they are able to do that?[/quote]Thorne barely played on a team with no depth in the post that wasn’t really very good either.
When he did play, he looked completely lost.
Last year he looked solid. Not great, but solid. No reason this guy can’t do the same thing.
Looking at what a freshman big man does and saying that he clearly can’t play is hilariously short sighted.
The guy could turn out to be complete crap, but freshman stats aren’t a good thing to judge anyone by; especially not a big.
And considering we haven’t signed anyone better, I’d say no, we probably can’t do better. Who would want to play here at this point? We’re lucky we’re still landing 3* guys. Our coaches must be some of the best recruiters in the country because they’re doing a really good job getting solid players to come play in a bad conference and an empty arena.
I gotta admit, I was hoping we would get a big that was immediately eligible. Seems like we are going to have a go at it with Thorne, Clayton, Sully, and…well, Blakely. Better pray for no injuries and that Clayton doesn’t foul every other play. If Blakely can give us something, anything…that would be a win.
That being said, who knows if this guy will pan out? 7 foot freshman who can play right away are rare in college and impossible for us to get. He played some, and struggled. Mike just now starting paying some dividends and had a redshirt year and a year he hardly played under his belt. Benas is ‘supposed’ to be a big who can stretch the defense, which would be different from Thorne and Clayton. Will he ever achieve that or will he be another in the long line of Sirin and Phaler experiments? Time will tell, but I’m not rooting against him.
as has been pointed out ad nauseum, very tall 18/19 year olds often need time to “catch up” with their bodies. this might not suit ninernation fanatics , but it is a well accepted fact.
i hope the kid comes here and turns into a 3-point-shooting, bring-the-ball-up-the-court, shot-blocking fool!
welcome, kid! show us what you can do!!!
I don’t see how adding a 7 footer with 3 years of eligibility is a bad thing. And him sitting out a year is the best thing that could have happened. Give the coaches a shot at him. Worst case is he rides the bench and transfers. If like to have a 7 ft project on the team every year. It only takes that one.
And to comment on blakely, if he gives 3-5 minutes of solid play a game, he should get most improved. His freshman showing made me question his scholarship. But some take longer than others so it’ll be interesting to see I he’s improved. If not, he may be transferring after another year of riding the bench.
[quote=“cibik02, post:19, topic:28889”]I don’t see how adding a 7 footer with 3 years of eligibility is a bad thing. And him sitting out a year is the best thing that could have happened. Give the coaches a shot at him. Worst case is he rides the bench and transfers. If like to have a 7 ft project on the team every year. It only takes that one.
And to comment on blakely, if he gives 3-5 minutes of solid play a game, he should get most improved. His freshman showing made me question his scholarship. But some take longer than others so it’ll be interesting to see I he’s improved. If not, he may be transferring after another year of riding the bench.[/quote]
