U-18 European Championship: The Wings August 31, 2007 Perhaps the most freakish combination of size relative to his position, Benzing plays like a real wing despite standing around 6-10. However, he’s a very raw player, particularly in terms of his physical profile. He’s a long and skinny kid who shows a pretty average frame, enough for a perimeter player but rather underwhelming if we envision a possible future at the power forward position. His lack of strength limited his effectiveness on court, not allowing him to operate comfortably on both ends of the court.
Anyway, it’s pretty remarkable to see a 6-10 guy like Benzing putting the ball on the floor as easily as he does. He’s not the quickest guy around, but he can attack the basket going both ways and shows nice footwork. Still, he struggles finishing his slashing attempts, lacking some ability to score around the basket in traffic, but also some aggressiveness to attack the rim. He can pass the ball off the drive with mixed results: his intentions seem pretty interesting, but he’s not that precise with his passes. In the shooting department he looks quite inconsistent. He enjoys range out to the three point line, but his mechanics probably need to be polished. Benzing barely uses his size to post-up his opponents, emerging as virtually a pure face-up player at this point. Perhaps when he gains some strength he will try harder to cash in off his size. Defensively, he enjoys the lateral quickness of a small forward, although again he sometimes gets outmuscled.
A long term prospect, Benzing displays raw, but intriguing characteristics. Still, we’re yet to see how much of that potential he can fulfill, because he looks a bit of a soft player at this point. [Read Full Article]
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