Dragan Bender News, Discussion and Highlights

[rsavaj]

lol Dudley said he'd be making a "donation to the Dragan Bender fund" on Gambo's show yesterday

[NapoleonII]

They should bring Nash in to mentor Dragan.

Think of how long and how hard he worked with Dirk to expand their games together.

[pohani komarac]

First time I saw Bender he was 14year old 6'9 skiny kid playing as PG for KK Split ( along with Celtics draftee Zizic), and I said this is most special player we had since Toni Kukoc and we had many good players. I can only hope world will see real Bender who is not just strech 4

Here is his clips playing for Croatian cadet team and as well Kastela, Croatian 2nd division (along with Zizic, Lakers draftee Zubac, prospects Mazalin, Slavica or Vrucinic, this season Tatum teamate)

Some of this clips include him playing as PG. Remeber at that time he was 6'10 15 and 16 year old

https://youtu.be/LNUUew4VPB4

[bwgood77]

First time I saw Bender he was 14year old 6'9 skiny kid playing as PG for KK Split ( along with Celtics draftee Zizic), and I said this is most special player we had since Toni Kukoc and we had many good players. I can only hope world will see real Bender who is not just strech 4

Here is his clips playing for Croatian cadet team and as well Kastela, Croatian 2nd division (along with Zizic, Lakers draftee Zubac, prospects Mazalin, Slavica or Vrucinic, this season Tatum teamate)

Some of this clips include him playing as PG. Remeber at that time he was 6'10 15 and 16 year old

https://youtu.be/LNUUew4VPB4

Thanks for the input! Do you plan on watching him with the Suns? Feel free to contribute more on him and/or the team throughout summer league and the season.

[darealjuice]

First time I saw Bender he was 14year old 6'9 skiny kid playing as PG for KK Split ( along with Celtics draftee Zizic), and I said this is most special player we had since Toni Kukoc and we had many good players. I can only hope world will see real Bender who is not just strech 4

Here is his clips playing for Croatian cadet team and as well Kastela, Croatian 2nd division (along with Zizic, Lakers draftee Zubac, prospects Mazalin, Slavica or Vrucinic, this season Tatum teamate)

Some of this clips include him playing as PG. Remeber at that time he was 6'10 15 and 16 year old

https://youtu.be/LNUUew4VPB4

Jeez that kid could pass. You definitely weren't lying about him playing the point and handling the ball a lot. In recent interviews our coaches and players have been calling him a 7 foot guard, you can definitely see some of that here, even if it is older clips.

[saintEscaton]

Bender's court vision is lazer sharp almost as if he has eyes in the back of his head. Can go coast to cast running a break and his playmaking at the top of the key/high post is a thing of beauty. Dunno if he will attempt those ridicilous outlet passes in the NBA tho. Its just the lack of fast twitch/above the rim explosion that differentiates him from Porzingis who can posterize. Porzingis really struggled converting inside the arc, I don't expect Bender to become as lethal coming off of down screens on the move as a rook but he is more comfortable with his back to the basket at a younger age and a better handle putting it on the deck. If he can improve his off the dribble game and learn to change gears driving that could make him elite offensively

[NavLDO]

suns got a great pick with ulis, size nowadays means much less. Ulis can become an elite shooter and ensure he has a career in the nba, his playmaking will definitely translate as well. Ulis + Booker + Chriss + Bender, wow everyone can pass..

But now that Bender has grown 3", he doesn't have the same handles he used to, which isn't surprising. He's going to hav to learn how to use his size as an advantage. He's obviously very cerebral, but at 7'1", he's going to have to be more aggressive/less timid in the paint. He's no going to have a successful career hanging out at the 3PT line on every possession, and on D, he's going to have to add some weight so he can at least bang a little bit...right now, he can't even show much of that in SL. When he gets to the NBA, he's going to have to change from what he's used to.

Guarding SFs in the NBA, on occasion, is fine, but there are just limitations to what a 7'1" player can do, and he did show that he had some problems keeping up with some of the smaller guys. IMO, he needs to be able to guard 4s and 5s down low. He'll have the athletic advantage, he'll just need to hold his own when they try to back him down.

Anyway, that's my largely uninformed opinion from what I saw in just 3 SL games this year.

[Saberestar]

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[jcsunsfan]

Here is the deal with Bender, Chris and Ulis. If just one of them ends up really doing well, the draft was a success. You don't stockpile picks so you can get many good players. You do it so you can increase your chances of getting one, if you are really lucky maybe two over the course of a few years.


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[MrTwister]

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[Walt_Uoob]

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I love that this reinforces what Watson said about having up to 4 or 5 players on the floor at the same time who are all capable of handling the ball in the pick and roll. Sometimes coaches/officials say stuff like that and are just blowing smoke up the fans' asses (i.e. "we think a three-point-guard lineup is the future of basketball, not just an awkward situation we ended up in while trying to amass assets").

I don't think they were usually P&R sets, but I used to love the Diaw-to-Amare alley-oops we got for a little while when we had those two and they were both healthy. Bender-to-Chriss or Bender-to-Len two-man game has a chance to be a lot of fun like that.

[bwgood77]

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[Maystack]

Interesting that he hasn't played at the 5 at all. I thought they might try him out at least some at that position but I guess they trust in his versatility enough to play him at the 3. Watson played Chandler and Len together last season, can you imagine throwing Bender in at the 3 as well. Complete opposite of small ball

[Damkac]

With Tucker injuried and Warren coming back after injury this may be good time to try Dragan at SF. Right now I think he is more prepared for playing SF than for playing center.

[NTB]

https://twitter.com/QuezHaynes00/status/782281637719486468

https://twitter.com/JaredDudley619/status/782281756569317377

[bwgood77]

For those that didn't happen to see the scrimmage Saturday...

If not for Bledsoe’s late heroics, the story of the second half was Dragan Bender. This was the most confident Bender the Suns have seen to date. Down the stretch, he was firing at will.

This was the series of plays though that Suns’ fans should be losing their minds over: Len posts up Bender, Dragan wins the match up; next possession, Bender hits a three; next offensive possession, Bender throws a half court outlet pass to Goodwin for a transition bucket.

Bender would miss his next three, but he then blocked T.J. Warren the next time down the floor. He followed that with another 3. He would add one more later in the quarter, giving him three 3’s in the fourth alone, to go along with at least three blocks for Bender.

http://valleyofthesuns.com/2016/10/01/phoenix-suns-scrimmage/

[MrMiyagi]

For those that didn't happen to see the scrimmage Saturday...

If not for Bledsoe’s late heroics, the story of the second half was Dragan Bender. This was the most confident Bender the Suns have seen to date. Down the stretch, he was firing at will.

This was the series of plays though that Suns’ fans should be losing their minds over: Len posts up Bender, Dragan wins the match up; next possession, Bender hits a three; next offensive possession, Bender throws a half court outlet pass to Goodwin for a transition bucket.

Bender would miss his next three, but he then blocked T.J. Warren the next time down the floor. He followed that with another 3. He would add one more later in the quarter, giving him three 3’s in the fourth alone, to go along with at least three blocks for Bender.

http://valleyofthesuns.com/2016/10/01/phoenix-suns-scrimmage/

[carey]

I did enjoy his play in the 4th quarter of the scrimmage. He was a non-factor in pre-season game 1 though missing all of his shots while pulling down 4 rebounds and a block. Those jumping on the Chriss bandwagon should probably pump their breaks too though. He had a nice alley-oop dunk and 2 other finishes but he turned the ball over 6 times. He's supposed to have good hands but definitely did not look the part yesterday. It will take some time for both of these guys to get used to NBA defense even if it's played by the JV Spurs. There will be heavy growing pains this season.

[Qwigglez]

Tough for Bender to find his shot when he's trying to put on muscle and is supposedly still growing (stop already you're tall enough!).

[NTB]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2016/10/06/phoenix-suns-bender-old-pro-18-knows-grind/91700532/

“I got experience at a senior level early,” Bender said. “That helped me to trust myself over here. I had to grow up faster and learn some things faster than usual. But in the long run, I see how that is helping me a lot.”

“When I was 18, I was moving from Kansas to Los Angeles, trying to find my way through UCLA,” Suns coach Earl Watson said. “I can’t imagine being 18, being in the NBA, being in another country and you’re defending Joe Johnson, sometimes Kawhi (Leonard)."

“For Dragan, the experience and the opportunity is the most amazing thing he can get at this age. We understand there are going to be some challenges. We also believe past those challenges on the horizon. It’s his journey with his purpose of his pace. You can’t compare him at the same time to any other rookies. Once he arrives, he will arrive and it’s going to be very unique and powerful.”

“Once he finds his rhythm and becomes legal, I think he’ll be a pretty good player,” Watson said of Bender, who will turn 19 on Nov. 17.

“That’s just the will,” Bender said. “If you’re willing to play aggressive on the court on both ends of the floor, you’re going to play. If you’re not willing to play that way, you’re not going to play. My personality is to give 100 percent on the court.”

“Everybody has a question before they step in something big,” Bender said. “When you come over here and spend some time with these guys and these coaches, you understand that you need to work a little bit harder and come every day to be better to compete with these guys.

“It’s a dream come true. It’s amazing to play and I enjoy it.”