"The Finals" is featured as a bi-weekly column on bleedblackandpurple as well as kingskingdom.com. It provides analysis on the 2009-10 season for each player on the Kings roster, as well as a grade.
Beno Udrih entered the 2009-10 season as a pariah - a player who couldn’t be traded due to a contract that was a bit of an albatross, and a man who seemed to be out of a job after the Kings drafted Tyreke Evans. He would be lucky to find time in a backup role behind Kevin Martin and Evans and it didn’t look good in camp for that either as Francisco Garcia was more likely going to be the sixth man off the bench to spell the two guards. Udrih wasn’t supposed to contribute that much and was trade bait that couldn’t be traded. Instead, fate intervened and Beno had his best season as a professional.
When Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia both went down with injuries, Beno found himself in the starting lineup once again, and performed well in the role all season long. He was the Kings second most consistent player and went from a player that couldn’t be dealt without a clear spot in the rotation in camp, to a player that the Kings relied upon on a nightly basis. He capped the season off by being named the award winner for the Oscar Robertson Triple-Double Award for his contributions on and off the court this season.
The Breakdown
Here is a breakdown of the 2009-10 season for Beno Udrih:
Strongest part of game: Offensive Efficiency.
Everything about Beno’s offensive game is efficient. He shot a very high 49.4 percent from the field and 83.7 percent from the line and averaged 13.0 points a game on just 10.7 shots. He also only turned the ball over 1.7 times per game while dishing out 4.7 assists. His 2.74 Assist/turnover ratio ranked ninth in the NBA amongst players that averaged over 30 minutes a game. Beno played a very controlled game, which is exactly what the young Kings needed from him. He also is lethal with the mid-range game and was able to consistently deliver the 15-foot jumper all season long.
Weakest part of game: Rebounding.
At 6'4'', Udrih is a poor rebounder, even for a guard. He managed just 2.8 rebounds per game and declined for the third consecutive season even though he improved in virtually every other category. According to the Hollinger rankings over at ESPN, Udrih ranked 295th in the NBA in rebounding, which calculates the percentage of missed shots that a player rebounds based on the total number of rebounds in the game and the players’ minutes. Considering that there are only 360 players active in the NBA at any given time, those numbers are not good. Udrih is one of the bigger point guards in the NBA and needs to do a better job of getting rebounds.
Area of improvement this season: Shooting percentage and turnovers.
Beno’s stats are much better this season than last, but it’s the things that he did better this season that made it appear that his season was just that much better. He improved his shooting percentage to a career-best 49.4 percent, while also averaging a career-high 13 points a game while cutting his turnovers down to 1.7 per game (half-a-turnover lower than the two previous seasons). Everyone questioned whether Tyreke Evans was a true point guard or shooting guard, but it would appear that allowing Udrih more time at the two actually improved his game as well. Evans handled the majority of the ball-handling duties and that allowed Udrih to get more open looks and cut down on those turnovers. The best part of this is that his assists did not suffer as he still managed 4.7 per contest, matching his career high.
Areas to work on: Defense.
Beno’s defense looked much better playing alongside Tyreke Evans over Kevin Martin (funny how that happens), but he will never be confused with a great defender. The unfortunate thing is that Udrih may lack the natural ability to improve his defense. As a player, he is pretty polished at this point and lacks the lateral quickness and explosiveness to be a great defender or explode by his man on the offensive end on a regular basis. His lack of athleticism may doom him to a backup/sixth man role in the future if the Kings hope to truly be a team that contends for a playoff spot, or if they should be fortunate enough to get John Wall in the draft.
Best moment of the season: Beno was a one-man wrecking crew against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 21. With Tyreke Evans on the shelf with a concussion, Udrih assumed the point guard duties and had a career night. He racked up a career high 17 assists with only one turnover and also scored 20 points in the 102-89 victory.
The Grade
Overall grade: B+
Reason: Beno was much better than people expected this season and looked much more like the guy that took over for Mike Bibby two years ago instead of the player who struggled in the starting role in a disappointing 2008-09 season. He played himself back into the rotation and played hard for the Kings all season long. He was one of the better stories for the Kings in 2009-10.
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