Ben 'Hands' Maegi
(co-written w/JP)
Position: Center (5)
About the Picture: Asked him to pose in a muumuu*, but he wouldn't go for it.
*-alternate spelling is mumu
High School: I’m pretty sure dinosaurs didn’t go to high school…
Interesting Fact: Those ankle braces he always wears actually keep his feet from falling off entirely (freak childhood farm accident…don’t ask…)
Source of his strength: ‘The orb’
You know he’s old because: No, it’s not the masters…or the wife…or the kids…or the job…it’s the fact that he remodeled his kitchen!
League Background: Ben's been around since the inception of Friday night basketball. A 'creator' if you will.
Strengths: Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding...fairly dominant on the offensive glass; very unselfish and great at setting picks for his teammates; formidable post presence on both ends of the court.
Weaknesses: Lack of touch around the basket; ‘putbacks’ can lack control; not the fastest guy on the court, but one can’t really fault him for that - since when is that usually the case with centers?
Grades-
Offense: B
Defense: B
Rebounding: A
Passing: B+
Hustle: B
Attitude: B
Overall Grade: B+
19 comments:
"Lack of touch" and "lack of control" is putting it politely. You were far too generous with his Offense grade. No one misses easy baskets more consistently than Ben. Offense no higher than a "C." What're you afraid of, that he'll pop you one on the court and make it look like an accident?
And a "B+" overall? Better than the Nervous Hitman? As good as Petey? Ya gotta be kidding me.
Where to start here. I think the grading needs to be refined although the description of Ben is pretty good. Let me start with his D since I seem to see it frequently. "Bull" is a very good position defender. He keeps himself between the man and hoop well and moves his feet surprisingly well for a big man. He is also not shy about poking at the ball. In addition, he blocks out extremely well- something most players do not even attempt. Obviously the Bull can hold his own on the defensive block and in a zone he occupies a great deal of space. Thus, he is more than a solid defender. On the down side, you can bounce to the goal on him if you have a quick first step and his lack of hops allows you get a fairly good look over him if you cannot get by him. overall, he is a good position defender who pays attention to the little things and that makes him a very good defender.
It is much the same on the offensive end. Bull is not a great shooter from the outside but occasionally can hit the 15 foot set shot. His ball handling is not very good but these two abilities are not critical to his position. The positive aspect of Bull's O is that he sets screens well helping his mates get free, he tends to make good passing decisions and moves to keep the offense flowing. His trouble comes in the post. For a center his post moves are lacking and as mentioned in the profile his touch around the basket could be better. As a result, he can pile up the boards but often not convert those boards into scores. Overall then, Bull plays a smart O and can be a force inside especially on the boards but his lack of ball skill prevents him from being a dominant presence in the paint. In many ways, Bull reminds me of John Thomas when he played for the Big Ten Champion and Final Four gophers. I mean Thomas was a solid defender for the gophs, he did not have a lot of athletic ability in terms of jumping or quickness but he played good position ball gobbled up plenty of boards and proved to be an important if not primary option on offense. Bull's game is a lot like Thomas's was then- it isn't always appreciated and it ain't always pretty but it's effective in the end. And I'm not sure why attitude grade is B
By the way, I understand the "hands" nickname but somehow Bull just seems to fit him better in my mind.
My grades for Da Bull
Offense B-
Defense B+
Rebounding A
Hustle C+
Attitude A
Ball-handling C-
Passing B+
Stamina B-
Decision Making A-
Shooting C
I just got home from a long day and maybe its the exhaustion but I literally can't see much I disagree with on this ranking. The only grade I literally would take issue with is the Attitude -- why only a B?
However, the text is literally a problem. On offense, Ben has a good post up game when he gets it going. He also has a decent medium range "jumper." When he's hitting that shot he is a formidible offensive presense. From what I can tell, since I literally seldom find myself in this position, those who guard Ben on D do not like to come out and defend this shot. When he's hitting it Ben literally has a "fast" (enough) first step to drive his opponent to the basket.
I've got to watch the Simpsons but believe me, I will respond to accusations of being a nickname recycler!
Alright a few more tidbits for Shaq's file:
Ben is not the fastest guy on the court but he absolutely loves to leak down the court when his defender is not paying attention to him. He gets this kind of guilty grin as he rumbles through a few defenders, all of whom can't believe that no one has accounted for the biggest guy in the fieldhouse and let him meander on by. And when you do show enough trust in his pass catching and lob the ball over the defense's head, that grin turns into a full blown smile, his eyes get enormous, and if the stars have aligned just right, he catches the ball and lays it in, all before the defense has a clue.
And have I ever told you about the time I threw my back out trying to jump against Ben's massive arms. Here I am, wandering down low, where Ben reaches out to box me out. I'm slightly shorter than he is, so I'm literally, and I do mean literally, under his arm.
The ball hops off the rim and I, using the full force of both my legs, try to jump up to get the ball. I don't believe Ben even noticed, he held that right arm firm and I crushed my spine like an accordian against that arm. I have never injured myself in any way approaching that before or since.
Unlike Burt, I have no problem breaking the message board etiquette of not posting several times in a row. You all know I love to hear myself talk.
Alright, so if anyone's curious I've gone back and posted MY, ever so important, ratings for all here as well. I do plan on grading myself as well, and I think the commie should have graded himself as well, just so we could tease him about grading too low. But, that's here nor there, as we are now discussing Ben's prowess on the court.
I'd hate to see how these rankings would change for all of us if we were forced to play with the orb every week.
I'm not sure I've ever experienced the concrete shoes, but my knees have been bruised many-a-time after guarding Ben in the post.
Ben is easily the best position rebounder we have, however his afore mentioned lack of jump in the jump shot means that SOMETIMES he can be out-rebounded, even though he has position.
Also, I have to say that 9 out of 10 of my best passes have gone to Ben in the post, and I think he missed all of the shots. All I'm saying here is Ben is a good finisher, and when he gets an offensive rebound you can be sure he'll get the next two or three before he gets the bucket, however, don't make any spectacular passes to him or you only let both of you down.
On to the grades:
Offense B-
Defense B
Rebounding A-
Hustle C+
Attitude A+ (Ben and Jason are the
two most consistantly
pleasant people to
play with, and I'd be
hard pressed to
decide between the
two)
Ball-handling D+
Passing B+ (esp give n go)
Stamina B-
Decision Making A-
Shooting C
Overall B
ps your fans are starting to anger at the slow pace of new profiles (or maybe that's just me, and my GenY patience)
Shaq is one of the smartest basketball players we play with. Ben knows the game, he knows where he should be, when he should be there and what to do when gets there. When Ben is on your team, you have to be happy about the fact that he's going to play tough, hard, and smart.
I think that's the offensive lineman in him coming out on the basketball court.
I don't think think Ben's hands are any worse than most and I think of Ben as a pretty good finisher when you get him the ball and he's in control. Yes, he can misfire from directly under the basket and he can do so repeatedly. But I have no problem dishing the ball to Ben because I think he's going to drop the ball or miss the shot. A solid pass to an in control Ben is money.
I'm going to take a shot at this grading thingee:
Offense: B
Defense: B+
Rebounding: A
Hustle: B+
Attitude: A
Ballhandling: C
Passing: B+
Stamina: B-
Decision Making: A
Shooting: B
Overall: B+
Ben doesn't much care that there are no officials on the court. He plays position Defense and doesn't wildly slap at the ball.
Hustle ranging from a "C+" to a "B+"? Do ya think all those offensive boards just fall into the hands of a slacker, especially one so slow and so lacking in hops? How does he get such good position? Just by standing still and hoping the ball comes to him? Year-for-year and pound-for-pound only Jay outhustles Ben.
As I say to my sudents:
A B+ is a good grade. As the last person who graded Ben, I was confused by those low Hustle grades. I think Ben hustle's a lot, more than most and I think the B+ is a fair hustle grade, I could be convinced to raise my grade to an A-.
I agree, a "B+" is a good grade and it's fair; an "A-" might be stretching it, but is certainly a valid possibility. Have we had full letter grade discrepancies before?
And what are the criteria for "Attitude" anyway?
Are you questioning my criteria for 'attitude.' Its basically do you get angry on the court. I seem to remember Ben drop-kicking a ball not so long ago, and he often gets pissed at himself (verbally) on the court. Thats why I gave him the 'B.' Not a bad grade, but not the best either.
I'm not questioning the grade (for now), but just asking upon what the grade is based.
So, criteria for attitude thus far: 1) angry outbursts; 2) muttering to oneself.
This seems to be a rather negative way to define this category of assessment. How about some positives, e.g., complimenting play, cracking jokes, etc.?
I guess I agree with that, but its hard to seperate people on those. Most people compliment the play of others from time to time. But I see what you mean.
MarxistGopher is (for now) the outlier on the question of the Bull's attitude. Aside from his B, Ben has earned an A and A+ for attitude. I certainly think about a players general demeanor throughout the game as I think about Attitude. I might suggest, although such an Apple Pie kind of category is like fingernails on a chalkboard, that I think of attitude as akin to sportsmanship.
How can you be confused by the hustle grade Jay. Everyone knows that offensive lineman never hustle. I mean they are never farther than 3 yards from the huddle so what makes you think they hustle. I had to run back to the huddle every play and I was 20 30 and sometimes 40 yards downfield. A lineman hustle, please! They are naturally adverse to hustling so I think the grade is fair. But my grade is not about past jealousy or resentments against those loafing offensive lineman. Really it's not. He deserves a low grade for hustle, OK!
I will probably not be as complimentary of any other player. As one of our few post players, I would rather anyone else guard me. He allows you to take a post position in a spot you don't want, then sidles under your equilibrium. A spin move can get by him, IF you have any position at all. I usually gave up on getting good position with him and resolved to drive around him, or got frustrated and passed out of it. I can't even remember being on Ben's team much if at all--even less than I was on Matt's team.
His offense wears the opponent down as well. By the third game your thighs feel like you've been squatting a Geo Metro for an hour. The poor vertical makes shots easy to defend, but putting you through the exercise of the post up with or without scoring is his best weapon. It's the basketball version of body blows in a prize fight.
Bull's strength is lost in part in the zone defense. He is an assist killer, as am I. His misses close to the basket are probably due to a lack of discernable vertical leap. That, in turn, is probably caused by those ski boots he wears. I have permanent dents on my shins from those. He'll never replace those shoes or the orb.
Totally off-topic, but the best moniker award definately goes to the Maadison Blaahger. Way to go Fargo on all our asses!
My moniker prize should be that you guys promise not to play zone just once. Aside from being more fun, a more active defense may help trim the collective waistline and avoid contests on who is fatter. The Bull would benefit. See my analysis above.
You'd be proud of us then Blaahger. Last week both teams played man all night.
I know I feel a little thinner this week...
Interesting fact about Offensive Linemen:
About a year or so ago, some scientists studied the level of contact in football, especially wicked hits which would ring one's bell or inflict a stinger. I think they used D-I college football practices as their data base. Anyway, they concluded that it was Offesnive Linemen that experienced the most contact, withstanding the equivalent of one or two car accidents per session. They noted that this sort of prolonged contact probably should lead to some kind of brain damage.
I'll leave it at that.
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