Dragan Bender News, Discussion and Highlights

[RaisingArizona]

Will he ever give us more than 5 points a game... lmao

He's got a career 4ppg average. Over the past 5 games he's averaging 2.5ppg.Not a ridiculous question to ask. But sure, laugh.

[Ettorefm]

It's like he hides behind his defender. It's impressive, he might be the least open player I've seen on the suns in years.

He's both always open and...never open. When he's needed, he's always moving to the wrong spot or just waiting for anyone else to do something.

When he's actually open, he does EVERYTHING he can not to shoot or create something interesting. He's a 3pt shooter that plays like Tyson chandler on the perimeter, always finding someone for the handoff and never takes mid-range shots, no matter how open

I mean, 4 shots a game in over 21 minutes is laughable. And don't come here with ''well the coaching doesn't help'' bs, we all watch Suns games, he could be scoring over 3ppg like he's doing the last few weeks. He has the touches, the opportunities.

If you can't/won't score, at least rebound the goddamn ball, Mr. 7'1.

Against the 76ers, his statline was 3 pts, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 4 blocks in 25 minutes. That's G-league material. ONE REBOUND.

[darealjuice]

Will he ever give us more than 5 points a game... lmao

He's got a career 4ppg average. Over the past 5 games he's averaging 2.5ppg.Not a ridiculous question to ask. But sure, laugh.

I will laugh, thank you. Acting like 5 ppg is the end of the road for a kid that turned 20 about 3 weeks ago is legitimately funny.

[thamadkant]

Suns team as a whole is under utilized. Ball movement is still not ideal.

Booker and Warren are the only ones that actually get touches that they like.


Bender needs a proper system offensively and energy. Defensively he just needs to be aggressive

[RaisingArizona]

Will he ever give us more than 5 points a game... lmao

He's got a career 4ppg average. Over the past 5 games he's averaging 2.5ppg.Not a ridiculous question to ask. But sure, laugh.

I will laugh, thank you. Acting like 5 ppg is the end of the road for a kid that turned 20 about 3 weeks ago is legitimately funny.

I get the age thing and maybe he will pan out. But for now, how is he any different from what Zarko Cabarkapa was?
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/cabarza01.html

[Damkac]

Against the 76ers, his statline was 3 pts, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 4 blocks in 25 minutes. That's G-league material. ONE REBOUND.

Also FOUR BLOCKS but it don't fit yout argument that he is trash so let's not talk about it.

[bobbeaver]

Can we please stop pampering him and admit he's a bust?

How can a guy play 21 minutes and have a statline of 0-2 FG 2 points 3 rebounds? Enough about lack of opportunity, he's just garbage.

I get being young and still developing, but he has shown NOTHING. Two straight 3 pointers a few games ago or two nice passes we didn't expect is not enough.

Bender is on the clock. I'm already done with him, and it's not because it's been too long, because it hasn't. IT's because in two years I have seen nothing that makes me impressed with him.

MArkkanen is what Bender should've been. And it took him what, 3 or 4 games to show some balls and take over games like a real top 5 prospect?

It's either lack of skill or lack of balls. Either way, not interested.

No hes not a bust not even close to that time yet. Nor skill i would say. Development of skills for inside positions varies and can come at later date, although he has shown flashes of the talent. I am doubting they at the Suns are even teaching him the inside game even. Its heart i think with him and what most i have a problem with. He plays scared. Plenty of possible reasons why. But despite of everything its like he is scared of getting hurt. Best show of it is the mask thing. why on earth would you wear it on a healthy face, just cause you got smacked once in the game. Yeah he still has a body of a teenage girl and that doesnt help, but he needs to be more fearless. Even if the coach tells him to play outside for now (outside in) you should still run in crash the boards or do drives even if you screw up. He is doing too many 3s. He should do everything he managed before when he showed some inside games.
But to say he is a bust, no not even close yet. He is to young for that. A freaking teenager. He has to mature. His body has to mature. He needs to toughen up and take charge. Being a team player doesnt mean being a wet rag on the floor. And he needs to be taught inside game aswell.
I will say he made a difference in his 3 pt pct , what coaches wanted of him the most. But he uses it far to often now. Thats why i said i dont like they are teaching him the game ouside in instead of equally. Or even inside out. The head issues and how you approach the game can be changed though. He is still a kid after all.

This was the best "thanks for proving my point for me" post I've ever seen. So basically he has no heart, plays scared, isn't fearless, doesn't take chances, needs to toughen up and settles for 3 pt shots. This is the worst possible scenario for a prospect, even worse than being unskilled.

He doubts himself, has no balls, is always afraid of contact or big moments...why should we develop him again?

Dude, as I said, it has nothing to do with time. Of course he's just 20/21, we know that. Nobody is a finished product during their rookie scale contract. The thing is, even if the dude is bad, he has to show something so we have an incentive to develop him.

Heart? No. Scrappy? No. Bad rebounder. Lazy? All the time. Settles for jumpers.Won't drive. Bad motor. Doesn't like contact. Is scared of injuries. Soft as hell.

Just because he has a great BBIQ, passing and POSSIBLY a reliable 3pt shot (which I'm not convinced yet) we should be hopeful?

I'll take untalented, high motor scrubs over a dude with every single physical tool and skill with no heart.

Again, 20+ minutes with 2 shots and 2/3 rebounds, maybe 2 assists is laughable. He has every single opportunity to prove himself, nobody cares if he shoots 90 shots a game, as long as he develops. Booker always took risky shots and nobody ever criticized him for it, we understand that in a tanking team it's trial by fire.

It's amazing to see an average guy like Mike James give everything on the court and more even though he knows he'll never be anything special in the NBA and watch Bender pass open shots or open dunks because he's afraid someone might contest his shot and hit his pretty little face. Jeez...

Maybe he should talk to Jonathon Simmons or Brandon Paul on what it takes to become an NBA player. Bender probably takes if for granted.

No i didnt make your point at all. On the contrary. Without pussyfooting around the problems I am telling you you cant call him a bust. You read what you wanted to read. You have no nuance and you glossed over certain things i said.
For now i dont like his DEVELOPMENT. He is far from a finished product. When he is close to a finished product you can call him a bust. His age means everything atm.

Again you are recycling the issues. And you are basically saying why should we develop any young player. They are NOT mature adults. Ill give you an example of Nowitzky or Gasol. Both sucked bad with bad bodies, Nowitzky even had same kind of head issues as a kid in this league same as Bender. Both suddenly broke out at a somewhat later age. and btw Bender is 19. Mental things are a thing to be worked on as much as any physical bball skill. Its normal to doubt yourself or emotional or put yourself down as a teenager. But if you are a good coach or even use a sports shrink you can mold that mind into something different. Even you admite its basically that its not about his skill. Any fear can be overcome.
Also to this list ill add Bojan Bogdanovic. He went to play ball into foreign lands at a young age and stagnated. He had to reset his game and his head at 22. Now he is a consistent 15ppg player that Pacers relay heavily on to win.

As far as his skills his 3 pt game has improved alot. By 5%. He is consistant, including his pick and pop game progressed. He even showed flashes of a fade away and driving to the basket. Dont invent stuff. There are statistics for a reason you can check.

This is why i say development. I think if they MADE him fight down low, even with his teenage body, aka teach him the game inside out, He would get used to the aggression and understand he is not made of glass. God knows, perhaps as he gets stronger and fills out he will feel more confident perhaps.
Also this sudden bottoming out has only started relatively recently. Its not a permanent state. Sure he passed on some shots on occasions and drives even before but not even close like this. Also his idea in his head he has to be a team player and not a chucker harms him at this stage i think. But my point is its not an old issue. And ill say it again. Psyche in a player is made and kept and nurtured as much as physical skills by all best athletes. To throw away a player because of something that can be fixed that is simply an idiotic notion.

[Ettorefm]

Against the 76ers, his statline was 3 pts, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 4 blocks in 25 minutes. That's G-league material. ONE REBOUND.

Also FOUR BLOCKS but it don't fit yout argument that he is trash so let's not talk about it.

I mentioned the 4 blocks. You were so anxious to post that you didn't even read mine. Congrats on an useless reply

[Sunsss]

Triano said that he can't see properly with the mask on and he's gonna wear it for 5 more days. Probably was not a good idea to let him play with that.

[bwgood77]

Triano said that he can't see properly with the mask on and he's gonna wear it for 5 more days. Probably was not a good idea to let him play with that.

If he can't see why is he going to wear it 5 more days? Nose still healing or something? Well it's good to know there is some sort of excuse for his low minutes other than him not playing well enough in practice to earn them.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Wasn't there a joke that he should wear the mask all the time as he started making 3s.

[bobbeaver]

i really hope that is the only reason for his games and that is the reason he is wearing the mask. That would make me so happy

[Saberestar]

Read on Twitter

[bwgood77]

If he can't get minutes, that isn't good, and obviously some of it has to do with his mask, but these are somewhat meaningless numbers when you only get into the game 6 or 7 minutes and get yanked.

All they have him do is hang out at the 3 pt line since barely anyone can spread the floor and then play defense. The last two games he played over 15 minutes he was 3-7 on 3's (43%) and had 5 blocks.

[jcsunsfan]

i really hope that is the only reason for his games and that is the reason he is wearing the mask. That would make me so happy

Well. We know how he played before the mask. While he made mistakes, his defensive effort was there and he could shoot. Now, his play and playing time drops off significantly when he started wearing the mask. Then his coach says they are counting down the days until he can get rid of the thing AND that he cannot see properly with it.

So, yeah. Its the mask. Some players are so good that they can overcome something like that. But Bender is not in that category. Its a very competitive league, lots of talented players. A little thing like that can make the difference.

[JMac1]

McD sucks at drafting. When you keep drafting players high on a poor team and they can’t “earn” minutes over the low level NBA player above them......smh. I’m growing tired of this....

We got soooo lucky with Booker.

[Ettorefm]

i really hope that is the only reason for his games and that is the reason he is wearing the mask. That would make me so happy

Well. We know how he played before the mask. While he made mistakes, his defensive effort was there and he could shoot. Now, his play and playing time drops off significantly when he started wearing the mask. Then his coach says they are counting down the days until he can get rid of the thing AND that he cannot see properly with it.

So, yeah. Its the mask. Some players are so good that they can overcome something like that. But Bender is not in that category. Its a very competitive league, lots of talented players. A little thing like that can make the difference.

Yeah. The mask is the problem.

Before that, he was having great 21 minute, 1-3 FG 4 points 1 rebound 2 blocks games with stealth powers on defense. I miss that.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

When I look at Bender, I can't help but think of how Alex looked his first year here. He was so skinny, so physically inferior to his competition. If you had judged him based on that season alone, you would have thought he would not be able to stay on an NBA court. Now, whatever you think of him, you cannot deny that from a physical perspective, he belongs. The strength he's added every summer have made him one of the league's best rebounders.

Bender has a lot of problems that I feel boil down to a lack of relative strength - rebounding, defense, and ball security in particular. He's not Jaylen Brown or Amare Stoudemire, who are/were essentially finished products from a physical standpoint the day they arrived in the league. And so I think he merits additional patience, or at least a normal degree of patience given his age. Yeesh!

P.S. I can't tell whether this guy ettore is trolling or not. I have to hold my tongue (fingers?) whenever I read that sig of his. I mean, I happen to be a tax lawyer -- and, might I add, an exceptional one -- but you're not supposed to be political on these forums, and in any case I have billable hours requirements to meet. Just saying.

[Ettorefm]

When I look at Bender, I can't help but think of how Alex looked his first year here. He was so skinny, so physically inferior to his competition. If you had judged him based on that season alone, you would have thought he would not be able to stay on an NBA court. Now, whatever you think of him, you cannot deny that from a physical perspective, he belongs. The strength he's added every summer have made him one of the league's best rebounders.

Bender has a lot of problems that I feel boil down to a lack of relative strength - rebounding, defense, and ball security in particular. He's not Jaylen Brown or Amare Stoudemire, who are/were essentially finished products from a physical standpoint the day they arrived in the league. And so I think he merits additional patience, or at least a normal degree of patience given his age. Yeesh!

P.S. I can't tell whether this guy ettore is trolling or not. I have to hold my tongue (fingers?) whenever I read that sig of his. I mean, I happen to be a tax lawyer -- and, might I add, an exceptional one -- but you're not supposed to be political on these forums, and in any case I have billable hours requirements to meet. Just saying.

Dude, there is a "current affairs" board, and it's 100% politics. Are you even aware that RealGM is huge and has different forums?

Also, the guy I quoted is crazy. That's the point

[bwgood77]

When I look at Bender, I can't help but think of how Alex looked his first year here. He was so skinny, so physically inferior to his competition. If you had judged him based on that season alone, you would have thought he would not be able to stay on an NBA court. Now, whatever you think of him, you cannot deny that from a physical perspective, he belongs. The strength he's added every summer have made him one of the league's best rebounders.

Bender has a lot of problems that I feel boil down to a lack of relative strength - rebounding, defense, and ball security in particular. He's not Jaylen Brown or Amare Stoudemire, who are/were essentially finished products from a physical standpoint the day they arrived in the league. And so I think he merits additional patience, or at least a normal degree of patience given his age. Yeesh!

P.S. I can't tell whether this guy ettore is trolling or not. I have to hold my tongue (fingers?) whenever I read that sig of his. I mean, I happen to be a tax lawyer -- and, might I add, an exceptional one -- but you're not supposed to be political on these forums, and in any case I have billable hours requirements to meet. Just saying.

I agree with your first two paragraphs. It doesn't sound like trolling...it sounds like personal opinion. As for politics, it's not good to get into discussions about them because they are off topic and derail threads, but there is no rule about stuff in sigs. There is a forum here where people talk politics. That sig appears to be making fun of a statement made by someone else.

Edit: I guess he got to the response before I did.