Beno's latest interview

[Cherry]

Manu's second season on the Spurs he averaged 29 minutes per game with 12.8 PPG; 4.5 RPG; and 3.8 APG. Even his rookie year, he played 21 MPG in the regular season and 28 MPG in the play-offs.

Exactly.

God, this interview is so lame

[ducks]

beno and james would a great fit they are both y

except james plays actually and backs some of it up on the court
beno just whines to the press

[remingtonbo2001]

I wonder if we could ship his ass to MEXICO, maybe for an illegal immigrant or two. At least they'll work hard and not about it. And I'm sure Holt would be thrilled to save all that cash.

[timvp]

I remember when Beno was drafted and Slomo said that Beno could be a very good player if he shows that he can master the mental part of the game and show that he wants it bad enough. Slomo nailed that analysis about as perfectly as possible.

I have held out hope for Beno this upcoming season and have always wished that he figures it out. But in these interviews lately, especially this one, he comes across so pathetic that I'm not even sure I want him to succeed. He's a miserable person who absolutely doesn't fathom at all how lucky he is to be where he is or to have the opportunity he has. It's quite shocking, really.

One problem is he's dumb as a sack of rocks. He's actually a pretty nice guy but he just isn't bright at all outside of the basketball court. Dumb, arrogant and ungrateful aren't qualities you see in many success people.

How this guy is still around is a mystery. Hopefully he just has no trade value and it's not that the Spurs still hold out hope that he's a player in the making.

haven’t had the opportunity to have some real holidays in the last 7 years. I wanted to show to my American girlfriend some of the beauties of Slovenia.

Um, Beno, your livelihood is on the line. Now wasn't the summer to go on vacation for the first time in seven years.

We were happy to help them and the feelings were great since they are, with the exception of the people of Lasko – who honored me two years ago, the only organization that felt the need to thank me, something similar from the National Basketball Organization never happened.

Man, quit your crying. No one should thank you. Thank you for what? Rotting at the end of the bench? Losing your backup job for the second year in a row to a borderline NBA player?

If anything, you should be thanking Slovenia for being the basketball factor that it is and basically making it possible for you to be where you are. Without the basketball programs in Slovenia, you'd have nothing and probably be nothing.

The firs ring I keep at home in Slovenia, I haven’t received the second one. A funny anecdote that happened at the first ring ceremony was a banner in the locker room that read “World Champions”, Manu striked out the word “world” and wrote in “NBA” instead and followed to write that he was the only world champion present.

That was random anecdote.

Before the season the coach promised me that I would get a chance to play during every game. Playing with stars like Manu and Tony I knew I could get 10 to 15 minutes max. The first part of the season (approx. 40 games) I played great, since I was averaging 8 points and 3 assists playing the aforementioned minutes.

What a liar. He played "great" in the first game of the season. After that he sucked in 99% of the games. Pop let him try to play through it longer than he should have. Now he's turning it around on Pop as if Pop broke a promise and Beno doesn't realize how bad he was playing?

Pathetic.

The reason for me not playing was a small mistake that snuck up on me during a game against Dallas. During that game I played 1 minute and 30 seconds and during a play I didn’t play aggressively enough. The coach immediately yanked me out of the game and to my bad luck the player that replaced me dove after a lost ball and hit the coaches bench. The coach told me after the game that that was what he demanded from me.

First of all, that's another lie. He didn't lose his job after that game. That was the 13th game of the year. By his own admission, he was the backup point guard for the first 40 games of the season. In fact, after that Mavs game, he averaged 17 minutes per game over the next 12 games.

And it's not "luck" that Vaughn hustles and Beno doesn't. I can't believe Beno is trying to paint the picture that he was a victim of a dishonest coach and bad luck.

The non-American (especially European players) in the NBA are discriminated against and have to pay dearly for every mistake we make.

I don't have a response for a take that stupid.

Of course I was. During 40 games I proved I had what it takes. I knew I was in excellent form, but couldn’t do anything because I wasn’t given a chance. You have no idea how much that influences one’s psyche.

Does he not realized how bad he sucked last year? Excellent form? He shot 35% and 25% on threes. His defense was horrible with him trying to lug around the 20 extra pounds of beer weight. He was just horrible.

And yes Beno, you've been given more chances than any player in recent Spurs history. Players like Jackie Butler, James White, Romain Sato, Linton Johnson, Andrew Gaze, Brandon Williams etc. can say they were never given a chance. But freakin' Beno has been given literally dozens of chances.

After good performances you are forced to seat on the bench and support you teammates, tell them to get over mistakes and comfort them that it’ll be better next time. At the same time you know you could do a better job than them if you would only get another chance – a chance that never came.

After good performances? He's acting as if Pop benched him when he was playing well? He lost his job in January, in the middle of a stretch in which he missed 20 out of 21 three-pointers. Beno was sucking and his benching was long overdue.

That’s life and with luck will also come injustices and you have to take them in your stride.

@ injustice

I know that my fans will understand that I ‘am drained psychically and that I am still struggling with my recovery.

Drained from what? Recovering from what?

Next year my contract with the Spurs runs out and I have to be prepared to the max for this season. After the 07/08 season I’ll be a free agent and will get the opportunity to pick the team where I’ll continue my career. I will definitely be at the disposal of the NT coach next year. My personal wish would be to continue playing in the NBA. But when deciding where to play I will pay special attention to the playing time that they will be able to offer me.

So basically Beno is saying he's not satisfied with the playing time he gets on the Spurs. In that case, GTFO. The Spurs don't need you.

Manu had a similar experience to mine in San Antonio where he spent the first two years riding the bench and waiting for his opportunity. We all know how big a star Manu is now. I hope I will not brag too much when I say that Manu and I are very similar players. We are both left handed, we’re both shooters and distributors while capable of penetrating to the basket, I do feel however that I am a better play organizer (leader would probably be a better translation?), since Manu plays the number 2 spot more. That this is true is best proven during one on one training sessions where Manu always picks me as his opponent. If the Spurs would offer me a new contract, and of course more playing time, I would definitely sign with them. You don’t change from a championship winning team. But playing time is my main priority right now.

Oh my gosh. Beno just compared himself to Manu. And not only compared, he's kinda saying that he's better than Manu.

The only thing he got right is that they are both left-handed. Manu can actually make the shots he shoots. Beno can order tequila shots. Manu can drive and finish at the rim. Beno can drive to the nightclub and finish at some ho's house. Manu can play defense. Beno can hop over da fence when the ho's parents get home.

Manu is a million times better than Beno could ever be in his wildest dreams. Beno should kiss the ground Manu walks on ... not insinuate that he's actually better but can't show it because he's some sort of victim.

But it does backup my point that not even Beno sees himself as a point guard. As I've been saying for years now, Beno isn't a point guard. He's a small combo guard who needs to play on the court with a point guard. That's how the Slovenian NT uses him and it makes the most sense.

The problem is Beno is too short and too slow to guard shooting guards, so the Spurs are forced to try to play him at point. Unless Beno works hard on his ballhandling and gets in shape, there's no way he could be an NBA point guard.

Enormous. Above all you must understand that in America basketball is a business where there's no room for sentimentality. The spectators demand a show and the owners demand a profit. Two seasons ago they brought Nick Van Exel to the Spurs, a 13 years veteran NBA basketball player. Us the younger players did not get a chance to play since the spectators demanded to see a legend of basketball play who on top was also an American.

Amazing.

So not only is he still bitter about Van Exel, he still doesn't realize that Pop gave him every opportunity in the world to beat NVE out of a job. And much like this season, he lost his job to a borderline NBA player. Beno was the original backup PG that season ... he just sucked so much that Pop was forced to ride the broken down Van Exel.

I can't believe Beno thinks there's some sort of conspiracy against him. He's also insinuating that Spurs fans root against international players. That's another amazingly ludicrous take. If anything, Spurs fans give international players even more leeway than American players. The majority of Spurs fans still support Beno, while NVE was hated even during his time with the Spurs.

Another difference is the organization itself. As an example I’d like to tell you that I have already earned my NBA pension. Any player that plays in the NBA for more than 3 years will after he reaches the age of 65 receive a pension from the NBA. Of course the value of this pension depends on the number of years played and the value of the contract(s).

Beno is really testing karma by counting on a pension he hasn't really earned in the first place.

This year I really suffered mentally, after all that I experienced while following the games from the bench somebody in Slovenia had the audacity to write an article led “Beno reaches his second champions le without breaking a sweat”.

I'm torn between a "" and a "".

The writer was telling the truth. Beno did nothing in the playoffs. He didn't even have a token game in which he provided any sort of spark.

Slovenia was telling the truth and suffering mentally is just another weak excuse.

This writer doesn’t have the faintest idea that I’ve attended all the training sessions that are even more strenuous for the bench players. After the training is finished and the starting 5 and their backups leave, the rest of us that are waiting for an opportunity have to do another full hour of hard work in the training facility. In you head you are full of doubt and keep wandering why you’re not playing, you are sweating rivers and then you read a le like that…

So Beno needed his vacation because he was exhausted from all the practicing?

Most NBA players trying to break in don't mind working on their game. This guy hates it. Beno even came out earlier this year saying that he doesn't understand why the Spurs are forcing him to practice his game since he's never had to practice before. That just shows you how lame he is.

Hopefully Beno can rest up from his rigorous 14 hour work week of practicing basketball for six months out of the year. I mean, really, he deserves that vacation and sour at ude because he was *gasp* force to practice an extra couple hours a week

As I said earlier, I'm now just counting down the days in which this failure is off the team. At this point, he has no redeeming qualities at all. He miserable human being with a crap at ude, no drive and doesn't even respect his surrounding or his Slovenian roots.

The day he fails out of the NBA and then goes to Europe and fails out of those leagues, the only person to blame will be Beno. But, of course, he'll have his chorus of excuses lined up to shift the blame to everyone else.

[velik_m]

A funny anecdote that happened at the first ring ceremony was a banner in the locker room that read “World Champions”, Manu striked out the word “world” and wrote in “NBA” instead and followed to write that he was the only world champion present.

em... Manu never won a world championship...

[Pero]

The only thing he got right is that they are both left-handed. Manu can actually make the shots he shoots. Beno can order tequila shots. Manu can drive and finish at the rim. Beno can drive to the nightclub and finish at some ho's house. Manu can play defense. Beno can hop over da fence when the ho's parents get home.

It`s no wonder then why Beno is sucking. This way of life looks like much more fun.

[aaronstampler]

Obviously I am extremely disappointed with Beno's comments and I agree that he has no future on the Spurs. Really it sounds as if he's trying to force them to cut him with those comments. Most of his opinions are delusional and he's exaggerating about a lot of stuff.

However, there are a couple of things where I disagree with LJ. First off, Beno did have a better season overall in his sop re season than his rookie year. Per 40 minutes he averaged more points and more assists and was generally playing pretty well as Tony's backup. In fact, the Spurs had this nice little rotation going in the middle 40 games or so of the year with Beno, Brent and Manu all playing together as a second unit and that was working pretty well as I recall. Pop basically yanked Beno as soon as NVE got healthy the final dozen games of the regular season or so because his plan all along was to have the veteran backup PG for the playoffs. He even said after the season he made a huge mistake doing this. The game that Beno haters point to for Udrih deserving his playoff benching was a miserable performance against the Rockets in Game 82, but really the team had the 1 seed clinched and it was a meaningless game.

The way I see it, just about any criticism/shot at Beno for '06-07 is warranted, but I do think he got a raw deal in '05-06. I guess his at ude never recovered properly from that.

Also, I think LJ is exaggerating a bit when he says that Beno played terrible in 99% of the games after Game 1. Just off the top of my head I can remember at least four good games from him, all on the road. Both the games at Houston, one at Portland where we literally stole it in the last three minutes and Beno had the go ahead three, and a game at Memphis where Beno started because Tony was out.

Anyway, at this point I expect nothing from Beno, so anything he can give us next year, if he's even on the team, will be a bonus. He is in a contract year, so maybe his agent can convince him to bust his butt to save his career, but from the sound of the interview, it's unlikely.

[aaronstampler]

em... Manu never won a world championship...

I'm guessing he was referring to his Olympic gold.

[Kori Ellis]

The game that Beno haters point to for Udrih deserving his playoff benching was a miserable performance against the Rockets in Game 82, but really the team had the 1 seed clinched and it was a meaningless game.

Umm ... that's exactly the point. He couldn't even handle pressure in a meaningless game. If he couldn't handle it in a meaningless game, what would make anyone think he could handle it in a game that mattered?

[timvp]

However, there are a couple of things where I disagree with LJ. First off, Beno did have a better season overall in his sop re season than his rookie year. Per 40 minutes he averaged more points and more assists and was generally playing pretty well as Tony's backup.

Beno peaked in December of his rookie year. It's been downhill since then.

In fact, the Spurs had this nice little rotation going in the middle 40 games or so of the year with Beno, Brent and Manu all playing together as a second unit and that was working pretty well as I recall.Pop basically yanked Beno as soon as NVE got healthy the final dozen games of the regular season or so because his plan all along was to have the veteran backup PG for the playoffs.

Did you miss the part where Beno twisted his ankle in his second start of the season (Game #71)? By the time he was healthy, the season was almost over and the playoffs were around the corner. If Paino hadn't gone down with a minor tweak, he'd have kept the job.

The Spurs doctors didn't regard Beno's injury as anything major. Beno insisted he was hurt. At the same time, NVE was getting his elbow shot up just to try to get back on the court. It was an easy decision for Pop.

Nice attempt at the change of history, though.

He even said after the season he made a huge mistake doing this.

CIA Pop trying to instill confidence in a player. You think he's going to back NVE after he's gone?

The way I see it, just about any criticism/shot at Beno for '06-07 is warranted, but I do think he got a raw deal in '05-06. I guess his at ude never recovered properly from that.

Beno has had this sour at ude ever since he entered the league.

Also, I think LJ is exaggerating a bit when he says that Beno played terrible in 99% of the games after Game 1. Just off the top of my head I can remember at least four good games from him, all on the road. Both the games at Houston, one at Portland where we literally stole it in the last three minutes and Beno had the go ahead three, and a game at Memphis where Beno started because Tony was out.

There is no such thing as 99% in an 81 game schedule. Of course I was exaggerating. And by your count he sucked in 95% of the games.

I apologize for my exaggeration being off 4%.

I'm guessing he was referring to his Olympic gold.

[TDMVPDPOY]

to beno

[carina_gino20]

thanks for the translation slomo, though I must say that that's the most pathetic thing I've read in awhile. I had high hopes for Beno during his rookie season, but the problem with him is that he's stuck on potential mode...probably downgraded by now because of his lame at ude. I wasn't even annoyed about him comparing himself to Manu. I just laughed because it was so pathetic.

And his comment about discrimination against international players is BS. The NBA is embracing them now more than ever. He just couldn't accept the fact that he's not tough enough to stay with the Spurs.

[Obstructed_View]

Never has a single interview put someone into such sharp focus. Spoiled pampered athlete syndrome. He wants to be honored as a basketball hero for sitting on the end of the bench and handing guys towels during timeouts. Suggesting that there's a bias against foreign players when he's on a team full of them just makes no sense.

Beno's so full of crap it defies logic. He's either delusional, or just an outright liar. At no point did he average close to the numbers he claims. There was no Dallas game where his numbers suddenly dropped. It looks like he only missed eight games the entire season, and his stats took a nosedive after the first 20 games of the season, with the exception of his turnovers per minute, which is only limited by the number of times he's allowed to touch the ball. He doesn't stay in shape, doesn't give effort on defense, and milks minor injuries.

I've seen him getting pulled for a single mistake before, and I've pointed it out. Pop was pulling him for being lazy or for not doing something that he's been told to do in practice. I'm sure Pop has very little patience for guys who don't give effort, especially when they don't listen. Why the Spurs kept him still boggles my mind.

Never let it be said that America is the only country that produces pampered primadonna athletes, because Beno is exactly that. If the Spurs can't instill any semblance of a work ethic in this blob, then nobody can, and that's probably why he has no trade value.

[ploto]

Beno's comments especially irk me because of the experiences of those players who paved the way for a guy like him to come from Europe. Some of those players did deal with the at udes and the less than friendly welcomes because they were from Europe but it is insulting to them for Beno to put himself in the same boat as them. He got drafted to a team with many international players- who have become All-Stars playing for the Spurs. Pop loves these international guys. I always wished that a whole lot of Rasho's humility and work ethic would wear off on Beno, but it never happened.

[Spurs Dynasty 21]

when Beno has his head on straight he can be a really good back up, I hope he rebounds next season

[50 cent]

Beno. I don't know that I have ever disliked a Spur as much as I do Beno.

Can't we just ship him to the Toros or something?

[ashbeeigh]

to beno

Where is the Personal Attack Police Troll?

[aaronstampler]

Beno peaked in December of his rookie year. It's been downhill since then.


Did you miss the part where Beno twisted his ankle in his second start of the season (Game #71)? By the time he was healthy, the season was almost over and the playoffs were around the corner. If Paino hadn't gone down with a minor tweak, he'd have kept the job.

The Spurs doctors didn't regard Beno's injury as anything major. Beno insisted he was hurt. At the same time, NVE was getting his elbow shot up just to try to get back on the court. It was an easy decision for Pop.

Nice attempt at the change of history, though.

I forgot about the ankle injury. Still, I noticed that you didn't deny he was playing well before he got hurt. And I don't see why if any other Spurs player said he was injured you'd give him the benefit of the doubt, but with Beno you're saying he was making it up. What player wouldn't want to play if he could? This guy spends a whole interview saying he wants to play in the games.

Again, trashing him for last season is justified, and being pissed off after this interview is more than justified, but I think it's cheap and revisionist history to bash him for a a pretty decent 05-06 campaign. Pop is a great coach but even great coaches make mistakes sometimes, and not letting Beno take the backup job back in the playoffs that year was a mistake. NVE was that awful.[/quote]

As I remember it Beno did give the team a spark in Game 3 at Sacramento when Pop brought him in in complete desperation since everyone was playing awful and Beno did a nice job and the team made a comeback and should have won the game if not for a bad Manu turnover and a lucky lay-up at the buzzer from Martin. But even after that game Pop still went back to NVE.

Basically, everyone here can hate Beno as much as they want, and I don't blame them, but that doesn't change the fact that

Vaughn >>> Beno >>>>>>>>>>>>> NVE

Udrih can stink the rest of his career and slap my mother and it still wouldn't change my opinion that NVE was the worst backup point we've had under Pop, even worse defensively than the fat Slovenian.

This thread isn't totally depressing though. It took Udrih comparing himself to Ginobili for you to say nice things about Manu. So that was nice to see at least...

[RussN]

Man, Beno is terrible, I was really looking forward to seeing him play well this year, especially when there were statements at the begining of the season from some spurs members that he was possibly the "best shooter on the team" stuff.
Him making excuses like Nick played because the fans wanted to see him play because he was an american, WTF, we dont care if they are american, If we did we would obviously not be spurs fans or even NBA fans at this point of the due to all the foreign players in the NBA . We want to see hard working, non whiny/ y, team players.
When he was crying about not playing he reminded me of ty players/and there parents that sat on the bench and made excuses like....I don't play because coach likes Manu better than me, I'm really better than manu, but I just don't play because coach doesn't like me,,,blah blah blah. They have something right, coach doesn't like the way you PLAY not, not like you. You suck, practice harder and maybe you will get better, don't about it.
Beno is lucky he is not on a team where the players are assholes, we used to haze the out of guys like him on a team, They would usually quit which was eventually better for the team, because all they did was bring the team down with there negative at ude. Essencially it sounds like he has quit. I can't believe there are pro athelets like this, especially on the Spurs, CUT HIS ASS!!!

I hate being negative towards are own players but we should all get the Beno Sucks Shirts and wear them to the games next year. That or have the words read CUT BENO on it.

I'm really pissed at him after this article, I hope his teammates or Pop don't get ahold of it.

[E20]

Is there anyway we can just cut Beno and give him the remaining on his salary and be done with him?

[timvp]

I forgot about the ankle injury. Still, I noticed that you didn't deny he was playing well before he got hurt.

He wasn't playing well compared to the first couple months of his career. If you want to compare it to how he sucked at the end of his rookie season, then I guess you could say he was playing well compared to a sucky Beno. Not exactly a high standard.

On top of that, Beno's defense tailed off tremendously his second season in the league. He want from a slightly below average defender to a horrible defender.

Considering his defense and how he never played as well as he played for stretches in his rookie season, I'd still rate his rookie season as the better season. I'd take a couple months of very good and a couple months of very bad over a season of bad.

And I don't see why if any other Spurs player said he was injured you'd give him the benefit of the doubt, but with Beno you're saying he was making it up. What player wouldn't want to play if he could? This guy spends a whole interview saying he wants to play in the games.

Seriously, do you even know the history of Paino Udrih? Search on the site and find his questionable injury history.

Beno is so notorious for being a wimp that Pop has called him out numerous times. Pop has even instructed Sevening not to attend to an "injured" Beno during a game unless Pop gives him approval.

Talking about that time specifically, Beno played through a "sprained ankle" in that game. The Spurs said he was fine and there was minimal swelling. Beno insisted ... and ended up missing six games.

And this is the same season in which almost the whole team came down with the flu. Some players missed a game, most didn't. Beno was out two weeks.

I really don't think you want to travel down a road in which you end up defending Beno's injury history.

Again, trashing him for last season is justified, and being pissed off after this interview is more than justified, but I think it's cheap and revisionist history to bash him for a a pretty decent 05-06 campaign.

Have you watched him attempt to bring the ball up the court or play defense since the middle of his rookie season? Revisionist history is pretending that Van Exel was simply given the job for no reason for the final dozen games as you claimed. Revisionist history isn't pointing out a bad player as being a bad player.

Pop is a great coach but even great coaches make mistakes sometimes, and not letting Beno take the backup job back in the playoffs that year was a mistake. NVE was that awful.

Pop went with the player who was working hard to get on the court over the drama queen who had ballooned and could no longer play defense. It didn't turn out that well, but I don't think Beno could have done much more.

As I remember it Beno did give the team a spark in Game 3 at Sacramento when Pop brought him in in complete desperation since everyone was playing awful and Beno did a nice job and the team made a comeback and should have won the game if not for a bad Manu turnover and a lucky lay-up at the buzzer from Martin. But even after that game Pop still went back to NVE.

Talk about some revisionist history.

Nick Van Exel didn't play in Game 4 of that series. Udrih had the backup job all to himself ... and went 3-for-10 from the field, played horrible defense and led the Spurs to a 20 point loss. But yeah, let's revise that history and pretend Beno got benched after Game 3.

Basically, everyone here can hate Beno as much as they want, and I don't blame them, but that doesn't change the fact that

Vaughn >>> Beno >>>>>>>>>>>>> NVE

2006-07 Beno < 2005-06 NVE

Udrih can stink the rest of his career and slap my mother and it still wouldn't change my opinion that NVE was the worst backup point we've had under Pop, even worse defensively than the fat Slovenian.

Van Exel was a bad defender because he knee was shot. Beno is a bad defender because he's fat and doesn't really understand the concepts. I'll go with the gimp over the guy who lets himself get out of shape and hasn't learned the defense after three seasons.

This thread isn't totally depressing though. It took Udrih comparing himself to Ginobili for you to say nice things about Manu. So that was nice to see at least...

Now only if you liked Parker as much as you like Beno, the universe could even out.

[Clutch20]

I posted this thought back in Mar. :
"Beno plays as if a string has snapped, probably Pop cut it at some point and so now Beno's freefloating."

It felt weird for me to see him play like that. It was such a contrast to see him play like that alongside other Spurs during SPAM time.

[L.I.T]

Indefensible comments.

Of course, now this makes that sequence during one of the championship games when Barry shoved Beno away from him understandable (I think Beno was trying to dry hump him though).

[ducks]

if spurs cut beno does beno get his nba pension?

[Dex]

Beno just graduated to face level.

We don't need any faces on this team.