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Post by municup14 on Mar 18, 2024 8:16:51 GMT -6
Imagine thinking “I’m not sure if I’ll play very well in the CBI, it might hurt my NBA draft stock” LOL Make any of that make sense! So if Ben plays in the CBI and we lose the 1st game,Ben scores 8 pts,5 rebounds how would that show the scouts he is ready for the NBA.But if he scores 30 pts and 9 boards that would keep the scouts interested.Thats what makes sense.
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Post by aces44 on Mar 18, 2024 8:24:28 GMT -6
Imagine thinking “I’m not sure if I’ll play very well in the CBI, it might hurt my NBA draft stock” LOL Make any of that make sense! I don’t think that is the reasoning at all lol He hasn’t been 100% healthy since he came back, but he came back and played in all the games that matter to help the team. He’s been getting interest from NBA scouts all season, so it only makes sense to declare for the draft and get feedback from scouts. If he’s invited to workout for a team, he probably wants to be 100% healthy. Why risk reinjury for a meaningless CBI tournament when you could be rehabbing to make sure you’re 100% for an NBA tryout? He’s got one shot to make an impression in person on them, and I wouldn’t risk it if it were me. Whether you agree with that reasoning or not, I think we can all agree it’s definitely not due to a fear of playing bad in a few post season games. Players Play Sir
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Post by aceslfer on Mar 18, 2024 8:39:08 GMT -6
Quit the NBA talk, it's a pipedream! Doesn't handle ball well, too slow and small, not a great shooter or penetrator for the NBA game.
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Post by ATP on Mar 18, 2024 8:48:27 GMT -6
If Ben is healthy enough to play in the CBI, he will play in it. The chatter about the NBA might be legit, but to be honest, Ben's pro future is on a slightly lower scale than that. Of course, Don Buse ............... There are a lot of guys in the NBA I never heard of, but that's because I ain't listening. All the same, this just seems like peculiar timing for such a conversation -- if one is actually happening.
I do find it intriguing that Marcus Wilson just happened to be wedged in here someplace.
The other part of this is, UE doesn't have to win the CBI. It's not going to move their credentials needle one iota. If I recall looking at the brackets, there are a few of these teams I've caught on "film" a few times while I waited for my toe-leg-neck-shoulder to heal, and most of them resemble Wright State or UT-Martin. Rags can pump up club morale a lot by winning this thing or making a competitive effort.
I can't believe Ben-Hum would not want to be a part of that. If the NBA is interested, they will wait. Trust me on that one. More players who are participating in March tournaments have a higher pro portfolio and none of them are sitting out the rest of the month.
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Post by aceloverlarry on Mar 18, 2024 8:56:46 GMT -6
Quit the NBA talk, it's a pipedream! Doesn't handle ball well, too slow and small, not a great shooter or penetrator for the NBA game. It’s not a pipe dream to Ben and clearly NBA scouts disagree with you if they’re coming to our games for him. I doubt he’s drafted this year, but it would be stupid not to declare without signing an agent and go through workouts and get NBA feedback. I don’t blame him for doing what’s best for his future and making sure he’s healthy for those workouts. He could also likely get offered G League opportunities which would pay more than college and offer better developmental opportunities. I hope he comes back, but you can’t be mad at the guy for doing what’s best for his basketball career.
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Post by ATP on Mar 18, 2024 9:07:12 GMT -6
Quit the NBA talk, it's a pipedream! Doesn't handle ball well, too slow and small, not a great shooter or penetrator for the NBA game. It’s not a pipe dream to Ben and clearly NBA scouts disagree with you if they’re coming to our games for him. I doubt he’s drafted this year, but it would be stupid not to declare without signing an agent and go through workouts and get NBA feedback. I don’t blame him for doing what’s best for his future and making sure he’s healthy for those workouts. He could also likely get offered G League opportunities which would pay more than college and offer better developmental opportunities. I hope he comes back, but you can’t be mad at the guy for doing what’s best for his basketball career. I don't think anybody is "mad" at the guy. If that's the process for building a platform to pro ball, then that's how it works. But he doesn't need to skip the CBI if all he intends to do is get a G-League contract. Put another way, Alec Peters, who played at Valpo, is a slice better overall than Ben, and he hasn't exactly lit up the NBA.
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Post by aceloverlarry on Mar 18, 2024 9:14:31 GMT -6
It’s not a pipe dream to Ben and clearly NBA scouts disagree with you if they’re coming to our games for him. I doubt he’s drafted this year, but it would be stupid not to declare without signing an agent and go through workouts and get NBA feedback. I don’t blame him for doing what’s best for his future and making sure he’s healthy for those workouts. He could also likely get offered G League opportunities which would pay more than college and offer better developmental opportunities. I hope he comes back, but you can’t be mad at the guy for doing what’s best for his basketball career. I don't think anybody is "mad" at the guy. If that's the process for building a platform to pro ball, then that's how it works. But he doesn't need to skip the CBI if all he intends to do is get a G-League contract. Put another way, Alec Peters, who played at Valpo, is a slice better overall than Ben, and he hasn't exactly lit up the NBA. If he’s not fully healthy and thinks these workouts could be the difference between being a second rounder or a undrafted G league free agent, then there’s no reason to play in meaningless CBI games. He missed the final regular season game before coming back to play in the MVC tournament. Clearly he’s still having issues with his leg but came back to try and help us win when it mattered. The CBI doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of anything, so I don’t blame him for opting out. At least he came back to help us try and win when it mattered.
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Post by aces44 on Mar 18, 2024 9:21:26 GMT -6
I don't think anybody is "mad" at the guy. If that's the process for building a platform to pro ball, then that's how it works. But he doesn't need to skip the CBI if all he intends to do is get a G-League contract. Put another way, Alec Peters, who played at Valpo, is a slice better overall than Ben, and he hasn't exactly lit up the NBA. If he’s not fully healthy and thinks these workouts could be the difference between being a second rounder or a undrafted G league free agent, then there’s no reason to play in meaningless CBI games. He missed the final regular season game before coming back to play in the MVC tournament. Clearly he’s still having issues with his leg but came back to try and help us win when it mattered. The CBI doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of anything, so I don’t blame him for opting out. At least he came back to help us try and win when it mattered. I agree. The CBI is meaningless. So why are we playing in it?
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Post by kyace1 on Mar 18, 2024 9:27:00 GMT -6
The Portal, NIL & Draft testing era is a different day. I don't love it, but I am not going to be mad at athletes who take advantage of it. I want UE to be known as a program that is friendly to and always for the kids who come in here, play hard and carry themselves well. Ben definitely fits that description. If he comes back, whether or not he plays at the CBI, I will be ecstatic!
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Post by ATP on Mar 18, 2024 9:27:24 GMT -6
If he’s not fully healthy and thinks these workouts could be the difference between being a second rounder or a undrafted G league free agent, then there’s no reason to play in meaningless CBI games. He missed the final regular season game before coming back to play in the MVC tournament. Clearly he’s still having issues with his leg but came back to try and help us win when it mattered. The CBI doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of anything, so I don’t blame him for opting out. At least he came back to help us try and win when it mattered. Well, now it comes down to whether these games are meaningless. Of course, in another summer, they won't. Hell, most people on this board completely overlook 2015 when discussing Aces history since the Crews years. Hell, the UHSP game in November was meaningless. Even the first game of A.M. was meaningless, since the only inevitable outcome was to lose to Drake. "Us vs. Us" is the part we all bought into. But we can write this script in any way that fits the outcome we want to sell. If he isn't practicing with the team, then he's not going to Florida. I honestly don't care about his reasons. Not sure where I go with this analysis of his motives. Ben appears to be the person who decides what's important for the team/university/fan base. Not sure I would want that guy. Maybe it's why he left Huntington. He didn't care about them.
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Post by ATP on Mar 18, 2024 9:46:21 GMT -6
I think we all should at least gather 'round the campfire to discuss the value of the CBI.
Mainly, it's a "losers" tournament, but that is only a term that defines teams that were a few games (or 1 game) away from impressing the ESPN pundits who have steamrolled the NCAA. The outcomes won't matter, other than to add a win, wins, or a loss to the overall record. Coaching jobs are not at stake here.
But not unlike the 2015 CIT that the Aces won, there are a LOT of us fans who were excited about that tournament, followed it and were in a minute's worth of euphoria when they won it. Coming up on the 2016 team, it made a big difference to some of us. Many of us.
They played 5 games to win the CIT and as my brother chided me about them not winning anything important (he's a Sicko State grad), I told him that being in it and winning it were worth something to me. Even if the main games were home games, they still won 5 post-season games. That is good for the coach and the program.
Rags doesn't need CBI to build his team. He needs other resources for that. But this thing is a lab experiment. It's post-season -- something this team has never experienced. I am as excited for this as I'd be as a First Four team in Dayton with the winning right to play Purdue.
We'd probably beat Purdue. Quinnipiac probably sees this the same way, but I think UE has better fans.
I recall 2016, living here in Valpo and catching them in the NIT -- I went to all 3 games. The place was hot, and it was packed. After they reached New York, I couldn't find a place that even had the game on TV. Most people just blankly shrugged -- so what, they said.
The NIT wasn't what they called basketball. But I did find a place to see it and despite the memory of The Bounce, it was well worth my March.
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Post by aceloverlarry on Mar 18, 2024 10:40:13 GMT -6
. If he isn't practicing with the team, then he's not going to Florida. I honestly don't care about his reasons. Not sure where I go with this analysis of his motives. Ben appears to be the person who decides what's important for the team/university/fan base. Not sure I would want that guy. Maybe it's why he left Huntington. He didn't care about them. I don’t think we should be questioning Ben’s character over this. He gave Huntington 3 years, got a degree, and then moved up a level to prove he could play at a higher level. By all accounts, he is a very high character kid and one of the best leaders on the team. He’s the main reason we made the huge improvement this year. He came back when he wasn’t 100% healthy to try and help us make a post season run. He could’ve sat out until fully healthy but he put the team before himself. Now he’s opting to look out for his best interests over playing in a tournament that your casual P5 fan probably doesn’t even realize exists. I can’t blame him for that and I don’t think we should be questioning his character and how much he cares about the team over that.
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Post by aceloverlarry on Mar 18, 2024 10:44:52 GMT -6
If he’s not fully healthy and thinks these workouts could be the difference between being a second rounder or a undrafted G league free agent, then there’s no reason to play in meaningless CBI games. He missed the final regular season game before coming back to play in the MVC tournament. Clearly he’s still having issues with his leg but came back to try and help us win when it mattered. The CBI doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of anything, so I don’t blame him for opting out. At least he came back to help us try and win when it mattered. I agree. The CBI is meaningless. So why are we playing in it? In prior years, it would be a great opportunity to get more reps in a single elimination tournament and try and build momentum for next season. With all the roster turnover these days, I’m not sure that applies anymore. But even if the games don’t matter in the grand scheme of college basketball, I’m sure they matter to Gage, Kenny, and Antonio since it could be their potentially last games playing organized basketball. I think they deserve to be rewarded for buying into a 5 win team and helping lead the turnaround, even if the tournament doesn’t really matter that much. It’s also good to be able to say we’re playing in the postseason again after the last few years, even if it’s the worst postseason tournament available. It can’t hurt recruiting either, and it gives the fans something to get excited about. All that said, it’s still not worth it for a guy like Ben. I hope everyone else plays and we’re able to go on a run still. Getting on ESPN2 for the semifinals would be well worth the price of admission.
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Post by Tom Servo on Mar 18, 2024 10:49:57 GMT -6
Is there evidence he actually isn't going to play for this reason or is this just some crackpot theory someone has cooked up? It seems like this has quickly grown wings and become fact.
I don't have a problem with him not playing cause he is not healthy. The most important thing in my mind is getting him healthy for November 2024.
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Post by ATP on Mar 18, 2024 10:57:52 GMT -6
I don’t think we should be questioning Ben’s character over this. He gave Huntington 3 years, got a degree, and then moved up a level to prove he could play at a higher level. By all accounts, he is a very high character kid and one of the best leaders on the team. He’s the main reason we made the huge improvement this year. He came back when he wasn’t 100% healthy to try and help us make a post season run. He could’ve sat out until fully healthy but he put the team before himself. Now he’s opting to look out for his best interests over playing in a tournament that your casual P5 fan probably doesn’t even realize exists. I can’t blame him for that and I don’t think we should be questioning his character and how much he cares about the team over that. You are warping this to imply that I am questioning his character. His character has nothing to do with it. I am asserting that there are those -- yourself mainly -- who concluded that his MOTIVES aren't connected to the team. If you want to discuss his character, that's a whole different topic. I don't know anything about people's character or their morality base. If you think he's opting out of the CBI because his own personal interests are different, then at least fess up to having claimed that. I see no evidence he's doing that but it's you who are claiming it's a meaningless tournament that doesn't benefit Ben Humrichous. I don't know how you can conclude the CBI isn't in his best interests. It's in his best interests to retain the character you claim he has. He's a member of the team until he's not. It's up to him. Finally, you seem to be making judgments about his motives and what it means to you to be right about what they are. You rally around the notion that he gave Huntington 3 good years, selflessly, and rose above the fray his last game to play in a game that mattered ... and now when the team has agreed to play a "meaningless" tournament in Florida, suddenly Ben has to look out for himself. I think these dots are hard to connect. I haven't heard he's not playing in Florida. The "inside rumors" say he is going to try out for an NBA deal. What, that has to happen INSTEAD of going to Florida with the team? That's not about character.
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