Iran Bennett

[GK4Herd]

Sugarcoating is exactly what has been happening. Ever since this summer it’s been nonstop he’s doing great cutting weight he’s going to dominate etc etc. here we are 3-5 month later and he’s still out of shape and overweight. I’m sorry I can’t get excited for a kid that has been hyped for a while but at best will give us 8-10 min a night. That doesn’t mean I don’t root for the kid,cheer for his successes and want him to be great.

I don’t think anyone disagrees with you and I’m not doubting that you wish him well. I just think that you overestimate that you somehow see the the world more accurately than others. DD himself made the comment in yesterday’s HD article that IB was playing with 40 pounds too much weight. I don’t think there’s a single person here that doesn’t understand that IB needs to lose weight. But what I see in your calling IB fat under the guise of honesty and telling it like it is is really just uncalled for rudeness. And if you’re going to go down that road of exercising your right to call out a kid on a message board, then you shouldn’t be surprised when others exercise that same right in criticizing you.

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

I think we can all agree the kid was overhyped by a few on this and other boards. Especially those who attend practice and said he could play at his current weight and be effective.

We all want him to succeed and thrive here. As with other recruits in the past, it’s probably best to temper our expectations until we see the kid on the field or court in an actual game. Jmo

 

[GK4Herd]

And for accuracy, IB didn’t arrive at Marshall till the summer of 2017. He was playing in his final season at Hargrave earlier that year. That puts him at Marshall for a total of 16 months at the most. Reports have him near 390 at one point. Reports now have him around 330. By every metric I know, losing around 60 pounds in that time frame is a great success. Kudos to the people at Marshall who provided him with the nutritional information he used to have that type of success and kudos to IB for his hard work to get there. We’re rooting for his continued success.

When I saw IB his senior year play against Huntington Prep at Teays Valley, I saw a kid in a charged environment on a floor with probably more talent then any high school game in the nation. Hargrave won the national championship the year prior...

https://hargravesports.com/news/201...ave-wins-2016-national-prep-championship.aspx

...and had 10 to 12 division 1 players on the floor the night I saw them. HP’s talent level goes without saying. Iran scored around 28 points that night and was a force.


I’m choosing to be positive about Iran’s progress and look forward to him realizing his potential here. I’ll do that despite the risk of being called a snowflake from all the “realist.”

 

[GK4Herd]

I think we can all agree the kid was overhyped by a few on this and other boards. Especially those who attend practice and said he could play at his current weight and be effective.

We all want him to succeed and thrive here. As with other recruits in the past, it’s probably best to temper our expectations until we see the kid on the field or court in an actual game. Jmo

I agree with this. There has been a lot of raised expections by those diehards who attend all the practices
But I’ll also point out that those who are raising expectations of Iran were also the very ones that were criticized thoroughly here for raising the expectations of last year’s team early in the season. When we didn’t meet expectations early they were called out. You might recall that team...they won 25 games, a CUSA Championship, and went further in the NCAA than any team in Marshall’s history. So there’s that going for them.

 

[W-S HerdFan]

429 - just calling them as I see them, same as you. It’s fine to disagree, but you (a person) can do it w/o body shaming one of the players you are supposedly a fan of!! As to playing time expectations: No one on here thinks he’s 30 mins per game type. But I also think you’re selling him short @ 8-10. As others have stated, give him a chance to adjust to real game situations. Let’s come back to this thread after the @ MD contest. We’ll have a lot more “danalytics” to pour over then!!
It’s all good bro - I’ve got nuthin’ but love for you guys.....
Kanye

 

[Herd1972]

Sugarcoating is exactly what has been happening. Ever since this summer it’s been nonstop he’s doing great cutting weight he’s going to dominate etc etc. here we are 3-5 month later and he’s still out of shape and overweight. I’m sorry I can’t get excited for a kid that has been hyped for a while but at best will give us 8-10 min a night. That doesn’t mean I don’t root for the kid,cheer for his successes and want him to be great.

It's called being civil, not sugarcoating. I trust our Coach and he has earned that trust from all of us and his players. You do not have to agree with everything. But he and his players do deserve some respect. I was taught by my parents to keep negative concerns I have about folks to myself until I am willing to go to the person or persons involved to share my concerns with them. Have you considered sharing your concerns with Iran and our coach? I have taught my son the same. I agree somewhat with GK4. Folks in the public eye, and being paid, are certainly open game for message boards and any other social media. Our kids, in various stages of development, both mentally and physically, and trying to make a place for themselves in this world, working to get an education first and possible pro sports career secondly, are not fair game. If you will simply do what you said in the last line of your post, you would not be getting any flack from most people. I am sure you know this, but words do matter. They can help or hurt, encourage or discourage, lift up or put down, motivate or dishearten! I'll say it again. You would not want a child of yours to read such comments. You have no idea what he is going through or how he thinks about himself. For god's sake just encourage the guy to keep doing what he is doing. You know that is best for him, the team and our basketball program.

 

[W-S HerdFan]

So, how did Bennett's performance vs Hofstra affect your perception of his abilities? For me, I was impressed. He occupied the post, grabbed some boards, showed me a flash of those scoring skills with the reverse layups and stood his ground when the Hofstra player came at him. Iran is just going to get better and better. I also thought his stamina was pretty good. How many minutes did he end up logging?

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

Bennett will continue to improve hopefully. Once more weight comes off, that will help him immensely. It’s gonna be a marathon and not a sprint with him.

 

[RhinoD]

So, how did Bennett's performance vs Hofstra affect your perception of his abilities? For me, I was impressed. He occupied the post, grabbed some boards, showed me a flash of those scoring skills with the reverse layups and stood his ground when the Hofstra player came at him. Iran is just going to get better and better. I also thought his stamina was pretty good. How many minutes did he end up logging?

The box score says he played 19 minutes and finished with 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block and 4 fouls... Better than game one against EKU and I think a closer representation of what he is going to contribute this season.

 

[Herd1972]

Oh no. Someone on a message board said something negative about a player. Whatever shall we do?

Not saying I agree with the comment, but let's be realistic. When someone plays college ball, they are in the public eye. People are going to say negative things about them. Hell, if you find that offensive, please don't ever get on an SEC message board, you'd likely sh*t yourself. Again, I'm not saying I agree with the comments, but this is a reality in today's world of college sports. Some of the same people b*tching about 429's comments will be throwing Green or Thompson under a bus the next time one of them throws a pick or takes a sack. If you're offended, you probably need to stick to watching the games and stay off the interwebs.

A little late in responding to you ThunderCat. I ask you to review a random sample of any of my posts and possibly some of the others that expressed concern over 429's comment about Iran. You would be hard pressed to find what you are suggesting. Folks can and should be critical! We need to be very specific about what we are observing and at the same time avoid using demeaning, mean spirited labels. Criticize coaches and administrators, that are being paid, all you want with specific comments about what you perceive to be shortcomings. Players are a different ball game. Civility in comments can go a long way to improve the things we want to change.