# D.J. Benga



## TheseNamesrPtless13 (Jul 15, 2004)

soo.... has ne1 seen him play? What's nellie said? your take? basically just tell me whats with the newest international mav if you know.


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## Tristan (Jan 13, 2003)

A Who's Who scouting report of the three Mavs' summer-league rookie headliners, with thumbnail sketches from Mavs assistant/summer-league boss Charlie Parker: 

D.J. Benga: 

“Benga he's my man. A tremendous athlete from Africa. He runs, he jumps, he can block shots. When the season starts, I expect him to be a defensive presence, and I expect him to play. He’s a little raw, and he needs to learn the NBA game. But he has a chance to be an impact player. I would be totally shocked if he didn't see some time this year. He’s young. He’s only played basketball for 5-6 years. And a knee injury kept him out for two straight years. But now, he’s our secret weapon. Nobody knows about him – but once the season starts, they’ll find out quickly. 

He is so raw, but he's physically strong like Ben Wallace, he has the reach and shot-blocking potential of Mutombo, and because of his quickness to the ball, he can be a great rebounder in mold of a Rodman. You hate to put labels on a guy, and those are all outstanding players, but D.J. can be somewhere in between there, because he can do some of the things of those guys do.’’ 

Lofty comparisons... do the Mavs have something special here? The signs are everywhere... LLE contract, no real trade rumors for a center, comments noting that he's a foul machine but the European game is called differently & he just needs to learn the NBA game, during summer leagues Michael Thompson says he Benga be the Mavs starting center right now...


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## TheseNamesrPtless13 (Jul 15, 2004)

thanks. guess we'll all hope hes right


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## mavsman (Jun 11, 2003)

I have seen Benga play twice. Once live against the Chinese
National team and once when NBA TV played one of the Mavs
Summer League games.

I will tell you that when I went to the game against the Chinese
National Team I did not know who he was but I was watching the
team warm up and I could not take my eye off of the guy. I was
thinking who is this guy.

He was clearly a 7 footer with a very muscular upper body and
looked incredibly athletic. I later read that he is 7 foot even with
a 7'6" wingspan. He can touch the rim flat footed and he has
over 30 inch vertical leap. He is built for blocking shots and he
had some really impressive blocked shots in the game.

The description posted by Tristan is about what I thought about him. I would
have described him as a much taller Theo Ratliff.

Now maybe we are putting too much in the way of expectations
on this guy but he has all the physical tools to be exactly what we
need on this team. A physical inside defensive presence. 

He also is a black belt in Judo and has that nasty attitude I want
to see. He and Menke Bateer started getting really physical with
each other and the ref had to step in a warn them and this was
in a pre-summer league game. He is so physical that right now he
is committing too many fouls. But I think he will learn quickly how
to play in the NBA.

Obviously the Mavs think alot of this guy since they signed him to
a two year deal.


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## Charlotte_______ (May 18, 2003)

a few pics:


















Spinning on Pavel


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## mavsman (Jun 11, 2003)

Thanks for the pics. Where did you get them?


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## Charlotte_______ (May 18, 2003)

I have sources   

Actually, I did a google search for DJ Benga.

http://p089.ezboard.com/finsidehoopsfrm57.showMessage?topicID=38.topic

http://www.mavtalk.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000968


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## Knicksbiggestfan (Apr 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>TheseNamesrPtless13</b>!
> thanks. guess we'll all hope hes right


If you were gonna trust anyone about a foriegn second round pick. You should trust Don Nelson. Seriously that guy is a scout extraodinnare.


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## andras (Mar 19, 2003)

hi, Mavs fans!

Didier - D.J. if you prefer - played in Belgium and since I live over here, I'm somewhat familiar with him. now, don't expect incredibly detailed scouting reports from me. basketball isn't too popular over here, it's almost never on television, that's why I barely watch Belgian ball

I actually know more about his roots and story than his game. let's start with the latter

Mbenga is a physical freak: he's big, strong and surprisingly athletic. however he only started playing a few years ago, and he's still VERY, VERY raw. willy steveniers - a Belgian basketball legend (domestically that is!!  ) who discovered him and teached him some fundamentals the first years describes him as a quick learner, but his skills are still pretty poor. IMO mbenga is a project. an interesting project given his physical skills, but clearly a project. a lot depends on the improvement of his skill level and understanding of the game. best case scenario: poor man's ben wallace. worst case scenario: a total bust, with few offensive weapons and who's totally lost when he's in the game. my prediction (again: my knowledge of Mbenga is limited, so take this with a grain of salt): his offense will always be lacking, and he'll never be much more than servicable. he's definitely not your starting center, and probably never will be. that might seem pretty harsh - I really hope I'm wrong: he's the first Belgian in the league - but to me it seems to be the most probable outcome

his story (as I recall it): convicted to death during the congo war because of his ethnic roots (he's actually from the same town as Mutombo), friends helped him escape from his death cell and board a plane to Belgium (Congo is our former colony). Mbenga asked political asylum over here and lived in a refugee center. while waiting at a bus stop a personal friend from Willy Steveniers got intrigued by his size and arranged a date with the former star player. Steveniers got extremely impressed by Mbenga's physical talent and started learning him the game. Mbenga first played a year in a lower Belgian division (Damme I believe), got recruited by Belgian powerhouse Charleroi (a good team but still a level below the European top). since he wasn't up to the task yet, Mbenga went on loan the following two years. he first played a year in the Belgian second division for Gilly (a satelite club of Charleroi) and the next year in 1st division for Leuven (my hometown team). last year he played for Charleroi. his playing time was limited and his stats never were overly impressive. Mbenga clearly has still a lot of improvement to do. but OTOH he made enough progress to play significant minutes at Charleroi, which says a lot about the improvement he made the last few years

Mbenga's story is a remarkable one and it will be interesting to see whether he keeps improving the way he has been doing in the past. I'm definitely cheering for the guy


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Charlotte_______</b>!
> a few pics:


Holy mother of God.


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## trees (Jun 11, 2003)

that picture is impressive and all, but Im wondering why he's hanging on the rim
if he had just thrown it down, shouldnt the ball be somewhere in the picture? Also the other players are all looking in the opposite direction...


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## DatSupadoopaballer (Aug 26, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Charlotte_______</b>!
> a few pics:
> 
> 
> ...


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## Jacres318 (Jun 8, 2003)

DAMN. One of the few guys who is over 7 foot and doesn't have two left feet. athletic, strong, tall. 

hey not that it means a damn thing, but he has a pretty good name.

I can see marv alberts saying DJ Benga. Do you really see people talking about those guys names Sjndkfiiskikfj? like the guy from greece? God I'm an ***.

also if the guy was great, why did everyone(including the Mavs) not pick him in 2 FULL rounds? eccspecially when it's basically project mania.

they don't teach height and athleticism. Maybe we're sitting on a gold mine.


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## Jacres318 (Jun 8, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>trees</b>!
> that picture is impressive and all, but Im wondering why he's hanging on the rim
> if he had just thrown it down, shouldnt the ball be somewhere in the picture? Also the other players are all looking in the opposite direction...


LMAO, that's a buzz kill, I was wondering that too.

looks like he muffed a dunk.


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## Outkast (Jul 20, 2004)




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## Outkast (Jul 20, 2004)

Hes a monster


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## Drewbs (Feb 16, 2004)

I pray to god he can play better defense than Dirk or Bradley can.


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## HeinzGuderian (Jun 29, 2004)

I would rather have him than a 7 foot tall stiff...


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## ostend (Jun 8, 2003)

2 Andras: blij van nog iemand van leuven hier te zien  

About Mbenga: i wish i could say that he got all of his chances with his former team... but he didn't. I recall games of Charleroi against ostende where he just sat on the bench and his team didn't use his talent. I still have an article here off him where he says himself that he feels that he wasn't getting enough chances. To be honest, and i think andras might feel the same way, is that he got more chances with Leuven then with his last team Charleroi. Well i saw a lot of more of him back then. While in Charleroi he had to compete with a bunch of other big names. Hopefully now that he made it to the league he'll get every chance.
Also i read yesterday that Didier Mbenga was officially declared belgian... so i guess first belgian player to hit the league...

And for the people who are interested in seeing more pictures, videos, wallpapers and e-cards, you can always surf to the site of charleroi
http://www.spiroucharleroi.com/Spirou/site.nsf/.Photo?Readform&Key=menu3 here for the pics
http://www.spiroucharleroi.com/Spirou/site.nsf/.VideoW?Openview&Key=menu3 2 videos, i think they were from the finals in the playoffs
Enjoy


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