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DEL.ICIO.USWhither Bynum, Schenscher?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Watching Will Bynum and Luke Schenscher play Friday night in an NBA Development League game in Fort Worth brought back memories of some great games when they played for Georgia Tech. Speaking with Luke before and after the game, I realized how much he misses what he had at Tech. He really appreciated the college basketball environment, and he welcomed the structure.
He’s a long way from home, though he has seen an Australian basketball player at some of his games, a Texas Wesleyan senior named Ben Hunt. I brought him a lamington and some sausage rolls from Atlanta and asked him whether Fort Worth had the Down Under connections Atlanta has; it doesn’t. “I haven’t come across any Australian bakeries, unfortunately. I’ve been looking, though,” he said. You might think a guy with NBA ambitions would take advantage of his proximity to Dallas to go see the Mavericks play. Luke has watched some Mavericks games, but only on TV. “If you get a free night, it’s good to rest and relax a bit,” he said. Luke’s parents used to be able to follow his Tech games via satellite dish; now, they watch the stat updates on the Web because there’s no TV. He did get to see his sister this season when he played in Fayetteville, N.C., and she drove down from her home in New York.
Will fits in well with the pro game and the pro environment. He’s a star and gets treated like one, even perhaps by the refs. Here’s an exchange that showed it, during Roanoke’s shootaround Friday morning. “You’ve got to get in the lane,” Roanoke’s coach told former N.C. State player Anthony Grundy. “I would go into the lane if they gave me the calls like Will,” Grundy said. Unlike Luke, who is one class shy of a Tech degree, Will has more work to do, and because he started his college work at Arizona he might not finish it at Tech; some of the classes he took as a freshman and as a sophomore didn’t transfer to the Flats. Wherever the degree comes from, Will said, he wants to finish it.
“Luke’s got to get stronger,” Fort Worth Flyers coach Sam Vincent said. “I think Luke makes it to the NBA when he becomes a guy who can defend the post, maybe average three or four rebounds and get the boards. To do that, he’s just got to get a lot stronger. If I’m an NBA coach right now and I see a kid who’s 7-foot-2, long and can give me some good solid defense on the inside … I think he will get to an NBA team. If it’s not during the course of this season, I think it happens to him over the summer or next year.”
And Will?
“People want to see him run a team. People want to see him be a little more of a point guard and be a little less of a scorer. I think it’s just a matter of time for him, also,” Vincent said.
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By Chris
February 7, 2006 01:31 AM | Link to this
Thanks for the info. I’d really like to see both of those guys get picked up by NBA teams.
By T-Bone
February 7, 2006 01:57 PM | Link to this
Both guys have a shot at contributing to an NBA team in the future. Will is similar to Allen Iverson in that what he lacks in height, he more than makes up for with sheer determination. He’s also a great athlete. His quickness and leaping ability make him a different 5-11 player than most. Luke is a guy who has progressed a ton over the past three years. If he can bulk up, he’s got a shot at being a solid backup (possible starter) for an NBA team. He’s got a great touch around the basket and is an excellent passer. I wish them both luck.
By ben
February 7, 2006 02:21 PM | Link to this
I’d give anything to have a guy with Will’s confidence and toughness or a guy with Luke’s heart on this years squad.