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Listen, I get that the following is trite, but if Drag-on's problem is confidence and Bud's mentality is "let if fly," this has to be one of the better environments for him to deliver on potential. I'll hang up and listen to your answer.

AussieBuck wrote:Mids is right enough about Brook. The D is designed around Giannis and Bledsoe's strengths and Lopez's weakness. (mobility)
This is why I got so excited about DJ maybe being a thing. I want to see what we can with an athlete next to Giannis who doesn't have to retreat on every pick and roll.

That was mostly my thought as well. Brook is a massive human and he isn't an idiot. That is what he has going for him. He didn't transform from an above averagish defender to elite defender in his 30 year old season. He is just playing in a system that allows him to mostly avoid his weaknesses.

Garbs_7 wrote:Great signing for the last roster spot / low money. That Phoenix team and system was an absolute **** show and we take a tiny chance now to see if we can get anything out of him. Had so much potential and we only just need him to become a competent role player. Love it Horsty

Agree with your post and I am definitely #teamhorst, but this move has Bud written all over it.

soxperry wrote:would have been nice to get that third year, especially if it were partially or non guaranteed. if he develops into something, we will have a very tough time re signing him without bird rights.

Yeah team option 3rd year, would have been ideal he wont do much in his 2 years here but might blossum by 25 or so...

crkone wrote:

ackypoo wrote:

crkone wrote:
I thought it was a goat?

no. its **** the dog.

its an alternative way of saying **** **** **** ****, or the more well known colloquialism of screwing the pooch.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/03/suns-robert-sarver-goats-ryan-mcdonough-office

FOUR YEARS AFTER naming McDonough general manager, Sarver acquired some live goats from a Diana Taurasi event at Talking Stick Resort Arena and planted them upstairs in McDonough’s office. The stunt was both a practical joke and an inspirational message — the Suns should find a GOAT of their own, one who dominates like Taurasi. The goats, unaware of their metaphorical connotation, proceeded to defecate all over McDonough’s office.

Never gets old!

Of course they tried to play him at PF cuz "Phoenix Suns things", which probably F'd his development somewhat. Gotta love that Bud-friendly shot chart though. He took only 1.5% of his FGA's from mid-range. 62% of his FGA's are from 3PT. And he actually converted 78% of his attempts at the rim last year, albeit small sample size alert. There's something to work with there at least.

chonestown wrote:Listen, I get that the following is trite, but if Drag-on's problem is confidence and Bud's mentality is "let if fly," this has to be one of the better environments for him to deliver on potential. I'll hang up and listen to your answer.

He might have ‘til mid-season to show something. Now that he’s 21, maybe drinking will help settle his nerves. It’s his **** moment in life. Who knows? If he doesn’t work out, he was just holding down a roster spot until the post-deadline buyouts become available anyway.

Dick Tate wrote:

chonestown wrote:Listen, I get that the following is trite, but if Drag-on's problem is confidence and Bud's mentality is "let if fly," this has to be one of the better environments for him to deliver on potential. I'll hang up and listen to your answer.

He might have ‘til mid-season to show something. Now that he’s 21, maybe drinking will help settle his nerves. It’s his **** moment in life. Who knows? If he doesn’t work out, he was just holding down a roster spot until the post-deadline buyouts become available anyway.

I think the things he shows are going to be behind-the-scenes as I just don't see the on-court opportunity for him with the big club this year. Even if we have some injuries it's hard to envision him seeing more than mop-up duty unless something really clicks for him in a hurry. But if he can show enough progress with the Herd and/or in practice he's worth having in the event that we have to cut Ersan free next summer or sooner. That said, I thought Pat last year was a deep bench type and he cracked the rotation, so I guess we'll just have to see how Bender takes to Bud-ball.

jute2003 wrote:

AussieBuck wrote:Mids is right enough about Brook. The D is designed around Giannis and Bledsoe's strengths and Lopez's weakness. (mobility)
This is why I got so excited about DJ maybe being a thing. I want to see what we can with an athlete next to Giannis who doesn't have to retreat on every pick and roll.

That was mostly my thought as well. Brook is a massive human and he isn't an idiot. That is what he has going for him. He didn't transform from an above averagish defender to elite defender in his 30 year old season. He is just playing in a system that allows him to mostly avoid his weaknesses.

Yeah, him being massive in the restricted zones, forces players not to take it to the rim, which forces a lot of pull up off the dribble mid range shots with guys like Bledsoe and PatC trailing. It is important to our scheme, and I think playing up on guys to force them to go to the lane is somewhat the design for guys like Bledsoe and PatC. Doesn't work for everyone, but with their backside blocking ability, I am pretty confident they are coached into it.

M-C-G wrote:

jute2003 wrote:

AussieBuck wrote:Mids is right enough about Brook. The D is designed around Giannis and Bledsoe's strengths and Lopez's weakness. (mobility)
This is why I got so excited about DJ maybe being a thing. I want to see what we can with an athlete next to Giannis who doesn't have to retreat on every pick and roll.

That was mostly my thought as well. Brook is a massive human and he isn't an idiot. That is what he has going for him. He didn't transform from an above averagish defender to elite defender in his 30 year old season. He is just playing in a system that allows him to mostly avoid his weaknesses.

Yeah, him being massive in the restricted zones, forces players not to take it to the rim, which forces a lot of pull up off the dribble mid range shots with guys like Bledsoe and PatC trailing. It is important to our scheme, and I think playing up on guys to force them to go to the lane is somewhat the design for guys like Bledsoe and PatC. Doesn't work for everyone, but with their backside blocking ability, I am pretty confident they are coached into it.

This is why some fans think Bledsoe and Pat are poor defenders. They expect them to play defense like their jr. high coach taught them.

Pat overracts a lot and gets himself into a bunch of useless positions, he's not much like Bledsoe.

AussieBuck wrote:Pat overracts a lot and gets himself into a bunch of useless positions, he's not much like Bledsoe.

Yeah, he is a 1.7M dollar player that gives great effort, rebounds well for position and is one of the best trailing defensive shot disrupting wings. He is definitely a flawed player, but he is a positive plus/minus on this team, on this scheme, on both sides of the ball. That works for me, find me five more like him frankly.

And I am not suggesting this that you don't like him, just trying to illustrate he is a high bargain player on this team.

engelmartin wrote:

blazza18 wrote:

SupremeHustle wrote:Young 3 and D big with unlimited offensive potential who is not afraid to mix it up. I wish we could have signed a guy like that instead.

This is why you're a future Emmy winner.

he hasn't won one yet?!

I competed for a girl named Emmy in high school and won. If you count getting herpes as winning.

stellation wrote:This is 70% Bobby Simmons quality signing, which is good in my mind.

70% of the hookers in Milwaukee mind this post.

Antinomy wrote:

SlovenianDragon wrote:

Sigra wrote:
I just watched this like 10 times in the row. The most impressive thing for me here is not that he decided to make pass there. Its the way how he run after he made pass (like he did something good)

good point some people think he just doesn't have the passion for bball.

They’re down 29-5 & instead of taking the open layup, he decides to kick it out for a 3 from MARQUESE CHRISS of all people. Unbelievable.

Yeah this play was a good example of what drove suns fans crazy with him. I don't think it's really a lack of 'love for basketball' more just he was very passive/tentative.

But really the crux of his issues was physical. I've never seen a player less physically ready to battle NBA player than Bender his first couple seasons, like 90% of guards could absolutely bully him so you can imagine what grown men bigs did to the dude. He probably would have been best served playing in Europe or college until now frankly. He was a little better last year but still got absolutely worked by some of the stronger bigs and he just couldn't make a 3 to save his life last year for some reason.

It's funny the suns took him and Chriss in the top 10 and Bender wasn't physically ready and Chriss had all the physical tools but wasn't mentally ready to play or really be an adult in general. If only the could have morphed the two into one person with their best traits they might have had something lol

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Our best former #4 overall pick up since Fizer.

This is great. He's basically taking the spot of Thon for half the price and we assume he's happy with the role they offered him when he signed. Looks like he can catch the ball, too. I like it.

If he can shoot the 3 from the Splash Mountain Range … he can be useful at stretching the floor for Giannis.

The "problem" with the Euro players is that the EU Coaching System doesn't include weight lifting and bulking up your body as an important procedure to become a pro.

That's why you see that the majority of euro players have really good Basketball IQ , but can't stand the physicality of the NBA.

Yeah, Thon could not bulk up either, so they are pretty similar.

Fotis St wrote:If he can shoot the 3 from the Splash Mountain Range … he can be useful at stretching the floor for Giannis.

The "problem" with the Euro players is that the EU Coaching System doesn't include weight lifting and bulking up your body as an important procedure to become a pro.

That's why you see that the majority of euro players have really good Basketball IQ , but can't stand the physicality of the NBA.

Yeah, Thon could not bulk up either, so they are pretty similar.

To be fair if we use the Jokic model of water polo and doughnuts we could have a perennial all star on our team.

H2tObes wrote:

midranger wrote:

bizarro wrote:
‘Did not watch any defense’. (Writes onto yellow notepad next to: ‘Hates boxing and will kill all fans of boxing over time in a merciless fashion’)

Nah. I watched. His defense was largely moving from the restricted area, to almost the free throw line, dropping back to the restricted area and raising his arms. He had good timing and instincts when he’d go for a block vs switch to the roller but he moved like 10 feet on most defensive possessions. Being tall, raising his arms, and standing in the right spot was pretty key.

I have a couple problems with this. For one, if it was this easy then there would be more elite defensive big men in the NBA. It's not easy, basketball is an extremely fast paced sport and knowing where to be and when to go for a block is a unique skill that not many possess, Brook is great at this and it is the reason he is a great rim protector. Secondly Brook is a massive human being, he might have 40-50 pounds on Bender without looking. It is not apples to apples.

You're not wrong in essence, but you're framing it as if everybody could be Giannis if they knew when to drive to the rim. It's not that simple, it takes a unique mind and unique physical capabilities. Bender has shown none of this.

Playing next to Giannis made Brook seem elite. What's great about Bender is that his lateral agility will allow him to play in other schemes besides a drop scheme. As we seen in the playoffs, a 3 point shooting center kills our drop scheme.