Scouting Report: Beno Udrih

One year after having his 2007-2008 team option picked up by San Antonio, this past last October the Spurs traded Udrih to the Timberwolves for a 2008 second round draft pick and cash. That day, Minnesota waived Udrih allowing him to join the Sacramento Kings. With Mike Bibby sustaining a thumb injury at the start of the season, Udrih was installed as the teams point guard on November 14. Since then, he has been one of the few bright spots in a difficult year in Sacramento.

Player Name: Beno Udrih
Current Team: Sacramento Kings
Ideal Position: PG
Drafted: 28th (San Antonio Spurs)
Height/Weight: 6'3"/200
Birthdate: 7/5/82
Hometown: Celje, Yugoslavia
College: -
Agent: Marc Cornstein (Pinnacle Management Corp.)

Contract:
2004-05 $841,680
2005-06 $904,800
2006-07 $967,920
2007-08 $761,544

Notes:
Left handed; Made his professional debut with a brief stint in the Slovenian secondary league in 1997, followed by three seasons in that country's premier league.; Named the 2000 Slovenian League Rookie of the Year, and has played for the Slovenian National Team since that same year; Played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 2002-2003 season, and split the 2003-2004 season among Avtodor Saratov (Russia) and Breil Milano (Italy); His father Silvo played for Lasko, and brother Samo is currently playing in Europe.

Strenghts:
Excels in transition; has shown the ability to run a team effectively; free throw shooting; always looking to push the ball ahead; likes to shoot off the dribble, especially pull-up jump shot; Ballhandling with both hands; Splits double teams effectively.

Weaknesses:
Committment to defense; Looks like he'll never be a top knotch lead guard but very competant, especially for a team looking to push the pace; Needs to look to create more frequently - more of a pass-first guard; Needs to gain some weight in his upper body; Has struggled in big-game situations in the past; Has struggled previously to play well consistently in big games; Shooting off the catch; Needs to be able to shoot more effectively in the screen-and-roll game.

Outlook:
Udrih has really made the most of an excellent opportunity with Sacramento. It looks like he never will be an excellent scorer, but he prefers to get his points in the flow of the offense. His ceiling appears to be the starting point guard on a team that is looking for more of a distributor than a scorer. His man-to-man defense is clearly his biggest weakness. He needs to make more of a committment to defense if he wants to lead a playoff contender.

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