Dragan Bender News, Discussion and Highlights

[Bogyo]

Nothing to see. He did not get too much playing time, as game was much closer for most of the time than it was anticipated.
He moved OK in limited minutes and missed a corner 3 - becouse the shot was too flat.

Hey, I hope you don't mind me burging in like this, but just wanted to add that he was on the floor for the whole 4th quarter, and his good penetration defense is big part of the reason why Croatia allowed only 3 points in first 9 mins of the last quarter, which basically won them the game.

On off he was mostly invisible, but Croatian offense was completely out of flow today, they rely too much on Saric and Bogdanovic individually.

Not at all. Yeah, he was on the floor for most of the 4th, but I did not really see anything "special" from him. His D was solid, as usual and looked like his athletic self - but our team is just weak, especially withouth Hanga in the 2nd half. And I m probably one of his biggest believers around these parts. He is just a 19 year old kid, with all the talent in the world - just a bit hidden under the surface for whatever reason (youth, inexperience, coaching style/playing style).

[realEAST]

Nothing to see. He did not get too much playing time, as game was much closer for most of the time than it was anticipated.
He moved OK in limited minutes and missed a corner 3 - becouse the shot was too flat.

Hey, I hope you don't mind me burging in like this, but just wanted to add that he was on the floor for the whole 4th quarter, and his good penetration defense is big part of the reason why Croatia allowed only 3 points in first 9 mins of the last quarter, which basically won them the game.

On off he was mostly invisible, but Croatian offense was completely out of flow today, they rely too much on Saric and Bogdanovic individually.

Not at all. Yeah, he was on the floor for most of the 4th, but I did not really see anything "special" from him. His D was solid, as usual and looked like his athletic self - but our team is just weak, especially withouth Hanga in the 2nd half. And I m probably one of his biggest believers around these parts. He is just a 19 year old kid, with all the talent in the world - just a bit hidden under the surface for whatever reason (youth, inexperience, coaching style/playing style).

Croatia really had problems defending penetration from Hungarian guards ( Vojvoda and Perl) while Zoric and Planinic were out there. Bender being much more mobile was able to stick with them all the way to the rack, and that's why they missed most of them, as well as why Croatia controlled defensive rebounds much better in my opinion. It didn't translate to his stats, but had effect on result. Far from him having special game, but this part was good. And agree with the last part.

Honestly, I don't even think it was plan for him to play that much in 4th, he was there for Zoric and Planinic to rest, but I think he forced Petrovic to leave him in there.

[realEAST]

Just as I expected, he wasn't involved in offense. I remember one missed 3-pt and thats about it.

On a bright side, he played great defense in fourth quarter on C spot, when we finally made a difference. If our coach has anything in his head (probably not), he will be starting center in the next game tommorow.

He hit one layup after Saric pass. It was funny how Popovic refused to pass to him, he was skipping him on every possession they were in together.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Nothing to see. He did not get too much playing time, as game was much closer for most of the time than it was anticipated.
He moved OK in limited minutes and missed a corner 3 - becouse the shot was too flat.

Hey, I hope you don't mind me burging in like this, but just wanted to add that he was on the floor for the whole 4th quarter, and his good penetration defense is big part of the reason why Croatia allowed only 3 points in first 9 mins of the last quarter, which basically won them the game.

On off he was mostly invisible, but Croatian offense was completely out of flow today, they rely too much on Saric and Bogdanovic individually.

Not at all. Yeah, he was on the floor for most of the 4th, but I did not really see anything "special" from him. His D was solid, as usual and looked like his athletic self - but our team is just weak, especially withouth Hanga in the 2nd half. And I m probably one of his biggest believers around these parts. He is just a 19 year old kid, with all the talent in the world - just a bit hidden under the surface for whatever reason (youth, inexperience, coaching style/playing style).

I thought it was encouraging to hear him talking about wanting to play more in the post. Indicates to me that he's comfortable moving long-term to the C spot. We all believe he can play PF, and even I - a big Dragan as SF enthusiast - now believe he's a big, long-term. He can switch onto wings and occasionally PGs, but you don't want him doing that constantly throughout an 82 game season. He needs to spend time at C. Some guys fitting his profile seem to want to avoid that spot at all costs. I'm encouraged that he wants to learn the skills to play there.

The question is - how much bulkier can he get? It's clear he'll never be a leaper, so if he's going to have any chance on the glass, he needs to occupy more space... I say he'll never be a leaper, but I once thought the same of Alex. Alex has no touch, which was not expected, but he can definitely jump. Not the always does, mind you, but he can. Maybe Dragan has "athleticism" that I have yet to see.

[darealjuice]

Gonna try and catch Croatia playing Romania in about an hour. Hopefully Bender gets some decent playing time against a weaker Romania team, not expecting a lot of freedom on offense for him though considering he's the youngest and it's the Bogdanovic and Saric show for Croatia.

edit: Croatia looks awful to start this game. Romania is the home team, so they're definitely playing against the crowd.

edit 2: 26-4 run right after I make that edit lol

[sunsbg]

One banked 3-pointer from Dragan, which made it look like a luck and another miss from the corner left completely open. Hope he improves his shooting as this is basically the only thing the Suns and the national team are expecting from him on offense so far - standing in the corner and shooting open jumpshots.

Btw he is the tallest guy on the court.

[darealjuice]

One banked 3-pointer from Dragan, which made it look like a luck and another miss from the corner left completely open. Hope he improves his shooting as this is basically the only thing the Suns and the national team are expecting from him on offense so far - standing in the corner and shooting open jumpshots.

Btw he is the tallest guy on the court.

It's not like he hasn't been screening and cutting to the basket, they just never pass to him. Feels like every other player gets a ball screen or cutter right when they catch the ball, but when Bender gets it everyone just stands there waiting for him to pass to them. Seems all Croatia does is give it to Bogdanovic and Saric, set a ball screen, and let them improvise.

[sunsbg]

One banked 3-pointer from Dragan, which made it look like a luck and another miss from the corner left completely open. Hope he improves his shooting as this is basically the only thing the Suns and the national team are expecting from him on offense so far - standing in the corner and shooting open jumpshots.

Btw he is the tallest guy on the court.

It's not like he hasn't been screening and cutting to the basket, they just never pass to him. Feels like every other player gets a ball screen or cutter right when they catch the ball, but when Bender gets it everyone just stands there waiting for him to pass to them. Seems all Croatia does is give it to Bogdanovic and Saric, set a ball screen, and let them improvise.

I don't remember a play where he was open under the basket, but somehow his teammates refused to pass him the ball. It's true around the 3-point line he was passing it back to his teammates without doing much more. On one play he tried to dribble thru the defender and the ball was stolen. All this talk make it sound like there is some conspiracy against him while the truth is he has not shown anything to suggest that he is the playmaker Saric is, or the shooter of Bogdanovic's caliber.

[Revived]

One thing about Bender is that he doesn't seem very assertive on offense. Reminds me of Earl Clark offensively. I certainly think he can improve though because I find him to be more skilled than Clark.

[darealjuice]

One banked 3-pointer from Dragan, which made it look like a luck and another miss from the corner left completely open. Hope he improves his shooting as this is basically the only thing the Suns and the national team are expecting from him on offense so far - standing in the corner and shooting open jumpshots.

Btw he is the tallest guy on the court.

It's not like he hasn't been screening and cutting to the basket, they just never pass to him. Feels like every other player gets a ball screen or cutter right when they catch the ball, but when Bender gets it everyone just stands there waiting for him to pass to them. Seems all Croatia does is give it to Bogdanovic and Saric, set a ball screen, and let them improvise.

I don't remember a play where he was open under the basket, but somehow his teammates refused to pass him the ball. It's true around the 3-point line he was passing it back to his teammates without doing much more. On one play he tried to dribble thru the defender and the ball was stolen. All this talk make it sound like there is some conspiracy against him while the truth is he has not shown anything to suggest that he is the playmaker Saric is, or the shooter of Bogdanovic's caliber.

I never said he was either of their caliber right now, I'm just saying they don't feature him in offense at all which is 100% true. I remember multiple times where he made a cut to the basket off a screen and the ball handler wouldn't even look at him, but it's okay if you want to pretend he just stood in the corner all game.

[sunsbg]

It's not like he hasn't been screening and cutting to the basket, they just never pass to him. Feels like every other player gets a ball screen or cutter right when they catch the ball, but when Bender gets it everyone just stands there waiting for him to pass to them. Seems all Croatia does is give it to Bogdanovic and Saric, set a ball screen, and let them improvise.

I don't remember a play where he was open under the basket, but somehow his teammates refused to pass him the ball. It's true around the 3-point line he was passing it back to his teammates without doing much more. On one play he tried to dribble thru the defender and the ball was stolen. All this talk make it sound like there is some conspiracy against him while the truth is he has not shown anything to suggest that he is the playmaker Saric is, or the shooter of Bogdanovic's caliber.

I never said he was either of their caliber right now, I'm just saying they don't feature him in offense at all which is 100% true. I remember multiple times where he made a cut to the basket off a screen and the ball handler wouldn't even look at him, but it's okay if you want to pretend he just stood in the corner all game.

Cutting to the basket doesn't mean you should get the ball if you are not open.

[darealjuice]

I don't remember a play where he was open under the basket, but somehow his teammates refused to pass him the ball. It's true around the 3-point line he was passing it back to his teammates without doing much more. On one play he tried to dribble thru the defender and the ball was stolen. All this talk make it sound like there is some conspiracy against him while the truth is he has not shown anything to suggest that he is the playmaker Saric is, or the shooter of Bogdanovic's caliber.

I never said he was either of their caliber right now, I'm just saying they don't feature him in offense at all which is 100% true. I remember multiple times where he made a cut to the basket off a screen and the ball handler wouldn't even look at him, but it's okay if you want to pretend he just stood in the corner all game.

Cutting to the basket doesn't mean you should get the ball if you are not open.

Would I be talking about it if I didn't think he was open lol?

[sunsbg]

OK, I see. Bender is a bad character and his teammates hate him, so they don't pass it to him on basic plays even when open.

[bwgood77]

OK, I see. Bender is a bad character and his teammates hate him, so they don't pass it to him on basic plays even when open.

A lot of young players can get ignored on offense when open when there are more veteran players leading the team. It's not abnormal for any team.

[jcsunsfan]

They need an offensive set where Bender gets the ball at the top of the key and then passes out of the high post. They do it some, but not enough. Diaw used to do this all the time. It can be quite effective.

[sunsbg]

OK, I see. Bender is a bad character and his teammates hate him, so they don't pass it to him on basic plays even when open.

A lot of young players can get ignored on offense when open when there are more veteran players leading the team. It's not abnormal for any team.

True, but it was not the case in this game. I catched a replay on TV and watched again all 12 mins of Bender to see did I miss him being left open and ignored. Once he rolled to the basket, but was covered, another time he actually received a pass, but the ball slipped from his hands and the team lost possession. That's it. On his teammates not setting him screens - well, you rarely see the smaller guys setting screens for the tallest guy on the floor at the 3pt line, where Dragan is hanging 80% of the time. Also his drives to the basket were less than impressive-once ball stolen, two more not very effective with the ball almost stolen that I remember. His shot looked flat as already pointed out by other posters. He is playing hard on D, but again zeros in rebs and steals columns of the box score.

To summarize my opinion, Dragan is a jack of all trades, master of none player at this point, so if I was the coach I will also treat him as a role player. It's up to him to improve and show to the coach that he deserves a bigger role.

I'm watching a replay of Finland - Slovenia. Nobody is ignoring Markannen and Doncic.

[Saberestar]

Read on Twitter

I can only think about Bender after reading this tweet.

[sunsbg]

Read on Twitter

I can only think about Bender after reading this tweet.

One can also think about Bogdan(25y). I'm not expecting him to become the next Ginobili, but he should do just fine with the Kings.

[realEAST]

Bender started, playing smart so far, one nice block, one rebound, one missed 3pt, but he got the ball down low on two occasions and used missmatch to score - 4 pts total.

BTW, Spain took 5mins to score from the field, and now prayer 3pt in last sec.

15-6 at the moment for Cro

[bwgood77]

Bender started, playing smart so far, one nice block, one rebound, one missed 3pt, but he got the ball down low on two occasions and used missmatch to score - 4 pts total.

BTW, Spain took 5mins to score from the field, and now prayer 3pt in last sec.

15-6 at the moment for Cro

Nice to see that more most of the game so far he had the third most minutes, until picking up his second foul late in the 2nd. Looked good on D, sticking to his man well. A couple of blocks.