Dragan Bender News, Discussion and Highlights

carey · Post #761 » by **carey** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 5:35 am

I just saw that Bender is now up to 39% from 3 on over 3 & 1/2 attempts per game. That is really good for a kid that just turned 20 and is 7'1".

Also, don't look at his February stats. You could be fooled into thinking he's good.

Post #762 » by **Qwigglez** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:04 pm

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Von Bismarck · Post #763 » by **Von Bismarck** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:21 pm

I'm still not sure all of you guys realize what kind of a player you have in Bender.

But first, let me tell you something. You have a 20 year old 7'1 PF/C that can defend from 2-5 and shoots the ball beyond the arc at almost 40%. On top of that, his defense, especially perimeter defense is already above average at the age of 20! He's one of the youngest guys in the league in his 2nd year. Oh, did I mention his court vision, passing and BBIQ are astonishing for a guy his age?

His injury last year slowed him down a bit, otherwise ''this, current Bender'' would have been from the start of the season.

What you need to do with Bender is to have patience. He needs to gain weight (muscle) in order to become better rebounder and better 1v1 defender against the C's. That process will take for about a year or two more, to get his real, adult shape of the body. It takes long because with 7'1 guy, you need to take care of his knees.

You may laugh at this, but I firmly believe that in about 3 to 4 years he'll be an All-Star / borderline All-Star in the league. At that time he'll be only 23 or 24, it blows my mind tbh.

So PHX fans, I'm sure if you realize what you have. You can quote me in given time. Or I'll come here tell you - ''I told ya so''

ImNotMcDiSwear · Post #764 » by **ImNotMcDiSwear** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:25 pm

Von Bismarck wrote:I'm still not sure all of you guys realize what kind of a player you have in Bender.

But first, let me tell you something. You have a 20 year old 7'1 PF/C that can defend from 2-5 and shoots the ball beyond the arc at almost 40%. On top of that, his defense, especially perimeter defense is already above average at the age of 20! He's one of the youngest guys in the league in his 2nd year. Oh, did I mention his court vision, passing and BBIQ are astonishing for a guy his age?

His injury last year slowed him down a bit, otherwise ''this, current Bender'' would have been from the start of the season.

What you need to do with Bender is to have patience. He needs to gain weight (muscle) in order to become better rebounder and better 1v1 defender against the C's. That process will take for about a year or two more, to get his real, adult shape of the body. It takes long because with 7'1 guy, you need to take care of his knees.

You may laugh at this, but I firmly believe that in about 3 to 4 years he'll be an All-Star / borderline All-Star in the league. At that time he'll be only 23 or 24, it blows my mind tbh.

So PHX fans, I'm sure if you realize what you have. You can quote me in given time. Or I'll come here tell you - ''I told ya so''

I love you. Pls stay.

Post #765 » by **Qwigglez** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:00 pm

Bender just needs to show this kind of effort and intensity every game. When he plays at this level he is a dynamic player. I believe what he has been averaging over the last 5 games is something he can do over the course of the season.
He should be shooting 6-7 3's a game to open up the floor for our guards. On top of that he should be getting other opportunities inside the arc. I like seeing him cut and go to the basket, when he's aggressive we are a different ball club on the floor. Everyone should give him praise on Twitter as he seems to respond to fans and that may actually help motivate him to some small extent.

sunsbum · Post #766 » by **sunsbum** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:02 pm

Von Bismarck wrote:I'm still not sure all of you guys realize what kind of a player you have in Bender.

But first, let me tell you something. You have a 20 year old 7'1 PF/C that can defend from 2-5 and shoots the ball beyond the arc at almost 40%. On top of that, his defense, especially perimeter defense is already above average at the age of 20! He's one of the youngest guys in the league in his 2nd year. Oh, did I mention his court vision, passing and BBIQ are astonishing for a guy his age?

His injury last year slowed him down a bit, otherwise ''this, current Bender'' would have been from the start of the season.

What you need to do with Bender is to have patience. He needs to gain weight (muscle) in order to become better rebounder and better 1v1 defender against the C's. That process will take for about a year or two more, to get his real, adult shape of the body. It takes long because with 7'1 guy, you need to take care of his knees.

You may laugh at this, but I firmly believe that in about 3 to 4 years he'll be an All-Star / borderline All-Star in the league. At that time he'll be only 23 or 24, it blows my mind tbh.

So PHX fans, I'm sure if you realize what you have. You can quote me in given time. Or I'll come here tell you - ''I told ya so''

Over half the posters on this board couldn't see tomorrow if it was today and they were holding a calender while standing in a coo coo clock shop.

Saberestar · Post #767 » by **Saberestar** » Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:32 pm

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Post #768 » by **lilfishi22** » Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:13 pm

Pressed play for Lindsey

m1chal · Post #769 » by **m1chal** » Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:41 pm

lilfishi22 wrote:Pressed play for Lindsey

So did I, I could care less about Dragan

MathiasPW · Post #770 » by **MathiasPW** » Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:47 pm

#play4lindsey

kennydorglas · Post #771 » by **kennydorglas** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 3:25 am

Do you know the way, Lindsay?

sasquatchBob · Post #772 » by **sasquatchBob** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 3:36 pm

bwgood77 wrote:

Read on Twitter

1:14 - Couple of whores :lol:

ImNotMcDiSwear · Post #773 » by **ImNotMcDiSwear** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 4:02 pm

Saberestar wrote:

Read on Twitter

Man, looking at game tape of Dragan's first game, you realize just how skinny he was coming in. He must have added 15 or so pounds since then. I expect he'll add more, too.

No worries that it will affect his leaping ability, obviously, since he can't jump anyway. But I expect he'll keep his agility even after he adds some size.

kennydorglas · Post #774 » by **kennydorglas** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 6:27 pm

ImNotMcDiSwear wrote:
Saberestar wrote:

Read on Twitter

Man, looking at game tape of Dragan's first game, you realize just how skinny he was coming in. He must have added 15 or so pounds since then. I expect he'll add more, too.

No worries that it will affect his leaping ability, obviously, since he can't jump anyway. But I expect he'll keep his agility even after he adds some size.

It's weird because his face is starting to get chubby but he almost dont have muscle definition on his upper body.
That's his main task in the offseason. His lower looks ok to me atm.

Fo-Real · Post #775 » by **Fo-Real** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 4:08 pm

Both Bender and Chriss look like absolute garbage BUSTS in the first game after the all-star break. Gonna start to refer to Bender as The Cowerdly Lion from the Wizard of Oz. Every time his 7 foot ass revives a pass 1 foot from the basket with a 6 footer guarding him, and he passes it back out, I wanna kick my **** tv off the stand! Chriss is the goddamn Scarecrow!!

Mjee · Post #776 » by **Mjee** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 5:24 pm

Fo-Real wrote:Both Bender and Chriss look like absolute garbage BUSTS in the first game after the all-star break. Gonna start to refer to Bender as The Cowerdly Lion from the Wizard of Oz. Every time his 7 foot ass revives a pass 1 foot from the basket with a 6 footer guarding him, and he passes it back out, I wanna kick my **** tv off the stand! Chriss is the goddamn Scarecrow!!

They both looked like complete garbage. No heart, desire, or aggression from those guys. At least JJ gives a s**t. I am ready to give up on both these guys if I don't see heart from them these last 22 games.

jcsunsfan · Post #777 » by **jcsunsfan** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 6:10 pm

I see Bender completely differently than Chriss.

darealjuice · Post #778 » by **darealjuice** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 6:37 pm

I can get over Bender's problems if continues developing. His over-unselfishness can be annoying, but it's not exactly the worst negative trait to have. 7 footers that shoot the 3 well and typically play good defense don't grow on trees, so it'll be tough for him to be a complete bust if he progresses like he has at points this year. At least we've seen some clear improvement from last year, even if it's only baby steps. That's not to say he hasn't been frustrating, but at least I can see a path to him being a good player.

Quese is getting tough to back right now though. He just has no basketball IQ. Bringing the ball to his knees in traffic, trying to dribble after getting an offensive rebound in traffic, missing "highlight" dunks instead of just making the simple play, constant foul problems, you name it. His offense has completely fallen off a cliff now that we don't run lob plays especially for him multiple times a game. Dude just pouts and sulks at all times on the court if he's not getting the ball or playing well, which is all of the time considering how terrible he's looked most games this year.

thamadkant · Post #779 » by **thamadkant** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 7:55 pm

Bender is just soft... he's got that Beta type personality, he doesnt want to offend his defender lol

He needs a bit of Josh Jackson in him... metaphorically of course lol, he needs to want to beat his defender in every aspect of the game... whether its driving pass him, making a great assists around him, dunking or laying the ball on top of him etc... or even just getting them to make contact with him to draw the foul...

He is SO scared of contact its ridiculous... really frustrating to see a supposedly professional athlete avoid obstacles in the game.

jcsunsfan · Post #780 » by **jcsunsfan** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:11 pm

1UPZ wrote:Bender is just soft... he's got that Beta type personality, he doesnt want to offend his defender lol

He needs a bit of Josh Jackson in him... metaphorically of course lol, he needs to want to beat his defender in every aspect of the game... whether its driving pass him, making a great assists around him, dunking or laying the ball on top of him etc... or even just getting them to make contact with him to draw the foul...

He is SO scared of contact its ridiculous... really frustrating to see a supposedly professional athlete avoid obstacles in the game.

Yes. But that is not how he was taught to play. It will take some time to get that out of him.

Would you bring back Bender?