Tony Bennett update

[Da Coach]

Tony Bennett is playing for Kaarinan URA Basket of the 1st Division League in Finland--

http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=FIN&Team=11618

His team is off to a 2-1 start in the 14 team league. There are still 5 teams undefeated, so Tony's team is in 6th place.

But Tony is leading the league with an amazing 36.7 points per game!
The 2nd leading scorer is at 31.0 ppg, and the next in line is at 26.3 ppg.
Tony has had 31 points, 41 points, and 38 points in his 3 games.

Standings and scoring averages are down the right margin--

http://www.eurobasket.com/FIN/FIN.asp

[BradleyBrave]

Good for Tony...but what kind of competition is he playing against if he's averaging 36.7 points a game? I don't think he could average that in Illinois' Class A!

[Da Coach]

Tony Bennett had a 36.7 ppg average after his team's first 3 games with games of 31, 41, and 38 points (Kaarinan URA Basket of the 1st Division League in Finlan)..

But if you thought he couldn't keep up with that pace, he scored 39 points Saturday in a win, and he scored 38 more in a loss last night! Tony's team is 3-2 now, and he leads the league in scoring with an average of 37.2 ppg.
Tony is also 5th in the league in assists with an average of 4.0 apg.
The scoring leaders are in the right column, below the standings.
http://www.eurobasket.com/fin/fin.asp [click on the (+) next to the Oct. 25 and Oct. 21 stories to read about Tony]

Note that the leading rebounder in the league is Baboucarr Bojang, formerly of Illinois State.

[BradleyBrave]

Not to rip the kids, but this league must be the equivalent of intramural basketball. But hey, as long as they're getting paid, it doesn't matter. Nice job Tony!

[Da Coach]

Tony Bennett continues to put up awesome numbers for his team in the Finland 1st Division League. Kaarinan Ura Basket is now 4-4, and Tony has a scoring average of 36.6 points per game.

In their most recent game, a win on Sunday, Tony had 30 points (his lowest scoring output this season), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 10 steals! His scoring average leads the league, and his average of 3.7 assists per game is 4th in the league.

[Da Coach]

Tony Bennett scored 38 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in his last game, and raised his scoring average a little to 36.5 points per game. He has been over 30 points in every one of his team's 11 games. He leads the league in scoring by a big margin, and he is 4th in assists.
Baboucarr Bojang, a former ISU player, still leads the league in rebounding at 16 per game.

http://eurobasket.com/fin/fin.asp

[BUBraves06]

Good for Tony. If he keeps up his high-scoring #'s hopefully he can catch on with a better team in Europe.

[BradleyBrave]

Tony Bennett scored 38 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in his last game, and raised his scoring average a little to 36.5 points per game. He has been over 30 points in every one of his team's 11 games. He leads the league in scoring by a big margin, and he is 4th in assists.
Baboucarr Bojang, a former ISU player, still leads the league in rebounding at 16 per game.
http://eurobasket.com/fin/fin.asp

Not to knock Bennett or Bojang, but they must be playing against marginal class A caliber players. Wow.

[tornado]

Ex-ISU Redbird Trey Guidry also played professionally in Finland,
In 2006-2007 he was voted "Guard of the Year", an award just slightly under their "Player of the Year".
And was also voted 1st Team Al-Finnish League.
It appears that the Americans do well in Finland, so I, too, suspect the level of competition is sub-par.

[Les is More]

Maybe POB could get some playing time over there and average 40!

[jasonpeoria911]

Question is, how much dough is TB receiving? If I was making $50 grand a year against marginal competition, you wouldn't see me complaining LOL.

Jason

[Da Coach]

That sounds about right. I have heard American players in countries like Finland, where basketball is not a big sport, make somewhere between $50-$100,000 and have other perks like free living arrangements, taxes paid, and free transportation for a few trips per year to and from America.

[Ruffin=UNREAL]

Even if the competition isn't the best ever, at least they are playing well. It's nice to see these guys having success after college. Would this league be similar to the league Dee Brown is playing in at Turkey?