The Breakers Have Completed Their Roster With Jerrelle Benimon
And there you go, an even eleven players. All locked and loaded for the upcoming NBL season. The rest of the roster had been sorted ages ago but we were still waiting on a final import and now he’s dropped the ol’ hanckock on the dotted line and bingo.
Jerrelle Benimon is another one of those dudes the media releases get to play up as being a former NBA player but to be fair the bloke only ever played two minutes in the league. And those two minutes were spread out over two games with the Utah Jazz in March 2015. So don’t go for the hype on that one, instead we’re talking about a player who fits extremely nicely into the Breakers’ trend of signing imports who may not be big names but can dependably do big things.
Benimon struggled for minutes at Georgetown Uni initially but came into his own when he transferred to Towson, playing like an absolute star at that school. It wasn’t enough to get him drafted in 2014 but he’s been a regular at NBA Summer Leagues ever since and straight up bossed it at G-League level – making the first team, all-rookie team and the all-star teams in 2015. Last couple years he’s spent a bit of time in China and then over in Germany in 2017-18 where he was a teammate of Isaac Fotu at Ratiopharm Ulm. Hard not to imagine Mr Fotu playing a part in this process.
That’s the career path that’s led to Aotearoa but what about the player? Yeah so the Breakers were obviously in the market for a big man and that’s what they’ve gotten. At 203cm (6’8) he’s not nearly in the height class of an Alex Pledger but the American, who turned 27 on August 1, does have a pretty decent wingspan and rebounding appears not to be something he has any struggles with. He averaged 19.8 PTS, 11.0 REB & 4.4 AST in his single season in the G-League and put up similar numbers in China. He’s a guy who was known in college as a defensive force and with a well-rounded skill set he’s poised to be a dependable scorer in Auckland too.
But don’t expect him to pop any threes, that’s not his game. It’s something he has tried in the past and he’s not at all terrible – shooting 28/71 at 39.4% in one season with Guangzhou – but he took just two attempts, both missed, in 29 games for Ulm. Instead it’s a quality finishing touch in the paint that he relies upon. Quick feet and study shoulders allowing him to play in the post, off the dribble or on the cut and he knows how to make the net swish.
Having a presence inside is going to be very useful for a Breakers team which has some sharp passers and quality outside shooters in the likes of Corey Webster, Jarrad Weeks, Shea Ili and Tom Abercrombie (Ili way more of the former and TA way more of the latter). And Benimon’s passing from out of the post is possibly the tastiest bit of all, good enough to collapse the defence and then good enough still to find his open shooters.
PG: Shea Ili, Jarrad Weeks
SG: Corey Webster, Patrick Richard, Jordan Ngatai
SF: Tom Abercrombie, Armani Moore
PF: Tai Wesley, Finn Delany
C: Jerrelle Benimon, Majok Majok
It all fits with Kevin Braswell’s ideals of playing faster and more mobile. Depending on how well the imports settle, this could be a very good team, better than last season, though you do wonder about a couple of things looking at the chosen eleven. One is that Shea Ili has been given a massive responsibility as a starting PG. He took enormous strides last season and needs to do the same again this time to cover for the loss of Edgar Sosa, the Breakers’ best player last season. Sosa was a scorer, Ili is more a provider. But that shot of his needs to be falling for him to meet his potential.
Corey Webster is primed for a magical season by most accounts but Tom Abercrombie needs to step it up from last season while losing Mika Vukona and Alex Pledger means losing the defensive leaders of the previous incarnation of this team. Having said that, they should be a remarkable defensive team given the calibre of their imports… it’s more whether Richard, Moore and Benimon can contribute a chunk of points each game. Tai Wesley offers some punch alongside Benimon down low, thought the balance there also requires some improved outside shooting. Heaps of changes, that’s for sure. Could be that it takes a while for them all to settle.
The Breakers are definitely not going to be the preseason picks. Not with Melbourne re-signing their overseas stars from last season’s championship side or with Sydney flexing all over the show with a fit and motivated Andrew Bogut. But they’re a team that’s primed to slide under the radar, pleasantly lacking in excess hype considering the way the new owners approached things last season (remember the LeBron billboard? The Obama singlet?).
One day it’d be nice to know what happened between Paul Henare and those owners to encourage him to leave but, credit where it’s due, that old famous Breakers culture still seems to be thriving. Still looking for reliable imports rather than bankable ones, still putting the team ahead of the individual, still happy to chill in the background while the Aussies play the Hollywood game. And that’ll do for now.