Dragan Bender News, Discussion and Highlights

[Thespianoid]

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[OnceUponADime]

Well today he was 10 points 2 rebound and 1 assist, and had by far the best +- rating in the team +20.

His defense and disruption is huge...the offensive stuff and passing, ball handling and hitting 3s is great. Have you watched this though?

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=16309924

Just 2 minutes and a great watch.

Awesome video, thanks for sharing. That part about him having the same arch on his 3 ball as Steph Curry and him being defensively similar to KAT had my jaws dropped.

Even watching him play, I have seen the insane defensive impact he makes. He was awful offensively during summer league but he was still good defensively. Most people thought Chriss is more NBA ready than him because of athleticism and scoring but taking defense and basketball IQ into account, Bender is actually more NBA ready than Chriss.

I know PJ Tucker is our current "defensive stopper" guy but honestly it should be Bender. Even at the age of 18 or 19, he's the best defender that we have and he could turn out to be one of the best defenders in the league by the end of his rookie season itself if he gets the minutes.

He was very good against KD in what was like his first or second NBA game ever. I mean look at this, he's doing this against arguably the best scorer in the world









If he got drafted by Boston and got the minutes that Jaylen Brown gets there (plus imagine what an elite coach like Stevens can do with a guy of Bender's skillset and size ) , there would be all kinds of hype around this kid.

[ATTL]

I don't want this to turn into bender vs chriss
They should be playing together

[kennydorglas]

Well today he was 10 points 2 rebound and 1 assist, and had by far the best +- rating in the team +20.

His defense and disruption is huge...the offensive stuff and passing, ball handling and hitting 3s is great. Have you watched this though?

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=16309924

Just 2 minutes and a great watch.

Awesome video, thanks for sharing. That part about him having the same arch on his 3 ball as Steph Curry and him being defensively similar to KAT had my jaws dropped.

Even watching him play, I have seen the insane defensive impact he makes. He was awful offensively during summer league but he was still good defensively. Most people thought Chriss is more NBA ready than him because of athleticism and scoring but taking defense and basketball IQ into account, Bender is actually more NBA ready than Chriss.

I know PJ Tucker is our current "defensive stopper" guy but honestly it should be Bender. Even at the age of 18 or 19, he's the best defender that we have and he could turn out to be one of the best defenders in the league by the end of his rookie season itself if he gets the minutes.

He was very good against KD in what was like his first or second NBA game ever. I mean look at this, he's doing this against arguably the best scorer in the world









If he got drafted by Boston and got the minutes that Jaylen Brown gets there (plus imagine what an elite coach like Stevens can do with a guy of Bender's skillset and size ) , there would be all kinds of hype around this kid.

I guess we cant thank Ainge enough. Maybe it was his move to give us props for letting IT go.

[bwgood77]

I don't want this to turn into bender vs chriss
They should be playing together

Eventually definitely. Not necessarily yet. Both playing time obviously, but I'd be happy with both getting 24 minutes and one being on court at all times.

[Midnight_Suns]

Is there an advanced stat that shows field goal % when a specific player contests the shot? Seems like nothing goes in when bender gets a hand up.

[kennydorglas]

Is there an advanced stat that shows field goal % when a specific player contests the shot? Seems like nothing goes in when bender gets a hand up.

when Bender is the closest defender to contest the shot, opp shot 6.5% worse than theirs normal average. It's huge
http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/1627733/tracking/defense/

[Midnight_Suns]

Is there an advanced stat that shows field goal % when a specific player contests the shot? Seems like nothing goes in when bender gets a hand up.

when Bender is the closest defender to contest the shot, opp shot 6.5% worse than theirs normal average. It's huge
http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/1627733/tracking/defense/

Thanks, homie. Couldn't get the advanced stats on NBA.com to work on my phone.

[Midnight_Suns]

Small sample size but his defensive rating is almost 10 points better than Kawhi. I don't think I'm being premature whatsoever in saying that we have a future DPOY on our hands.

[bobbeaver]

Well today he was 10 points 2 rebound and 1 assist, and had by far the best +- rating in the team +20.

His defense and disruption is huge...the offensive stuff and passing, ball handling and hitting 3s is great. Have you watched this though?

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=16309924

Just 2 minutes and a great watch.

Oh I did great breakdown. but couple that with his mobility and he is still growing the possibility is sick. he could play and did till now in games in NBA positions 3-5 and that is insane.

[bwgood77]

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[NTB]

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[NTB]

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http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/11/11/13596502/phoenix-philm-study-its-time-to-unleash-the-dragan

[RebelWithACause]

Hello guys, huge Bender supporter from Europe.

How has he been for you and what do you expect the upcoming months from him?

[MrMiyagi]

Hello guys, huge Bender supporter from Europe.

How has he been for you and what do you expect the upcoming months from him?

He's shown some encouraging flashes. His playing time seems to be on the rise, so we'll get to see some more of him. Overall, i'm very glad we've got him.

[OnceUponADime]

This kid is such a silent beast. His stat lines might be boring but you have to watch the games to see the difference he makes. Because of Booker's demise this season, Bender is my favorite Sun for this season.

He's a 19 year old rookie and yet he's probably too 5 on the team in highest basketball IQ with Dudley, Chandler, Booker and Warren.

Honestly he probably deserves the starting job more than Chriss but eh I'm glad both are playing. I hope Bender's minutes don't come crashing down once Chandler returns, Bender should take almost all of Tucker's minutes then.

[Qwigglez]

We'll have a dilemma on our hands soon if we don't give him more playing time. Is he going to develop as a 3? Then what do we do with Warren? A 4? Chriss and him will be fighting over that? Tough decision IMO.

[WeekapaugGroove]

We'll have a dilemma on our hands soon if we don't give him more playing time. Is he going to develop as a 3? Then what do we do with Warren? A 4? Chriss and him will be fighting over that? Tough decision IMO.

I don't think its a dilemma yet and might never be. The nba is becoming more positionless all the time and really you are what you can guard on defense. Bender looks like a guy who can guard a wide range of players so i think hes easy to fit in.

Plus were 2-3 years away from really knowing what we have in bender and chriss.

Sent from my SM-G930V using RealGM mobile app

[NTB]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2016/11/13/bender-learned-earn-defense/93782014/

“I learned the hard way,” Bender said. “I came to a big club and thought I didn’t need to play defense because of the shooting ability and everything. But once the coach puts you on the bench and freezes you for a couple games, you realize as a young guy you have to come inside and play defense and bring the energy.”

“Defense is just a will,” said Bender, who turns 19 on Thursday. “It’s just a matter if you want to play it or not. You have to follow the coaches’ instructions about how you’re going to defend those teams. It doesn’t matter if you’re weak or have less muscles than those guys, you just have to fight with them for better position and get them out of there.”

“That’s big time,” Watson said. “I haven’t seen a team do that in a long time, except for OKC when it had Russ (Westbrook), Kevin (Durant) and James (Harden). It’s a gift. That’s why I’m not concerned about 3s. You can’t be concerned about 3s when you got three of the best mid-range paint players in the NBA.”

[bwgood77]

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