Game 43 : Houston Rockets (29-11) at Phoenix Suns (16-26), Friday, Jan 12, 8:30PM MST

[Hesh]

I didn't get to watch the game, unfortunately, just by looking at the box score though I'm seriously surprised that people are saying he played terribly.

14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 block, 2 assists on 50% 3 point shooting -1 on the floor (I know that +/- is a terrible stat). I mean, this is a guy that we're usually getting 5 points and 3 rebounds from.

Was he lost defensively? did he miss a lot of rotations on offense? did he miss easy buckets?

Can someone explain why Bender had a bad game?

Thanks

He didn’t. He got switched off on Chris Paul like 3-4 straight possessions and CP3 schooled him every time. I thought Bender played good defense every possession but from watching the game from a far it seems like his defense killed us but honestly wasn’t that bad. Kinda hard to explain lol

He missed some easy shots, he’s so soft in the paint. Hopefully he will get better in that area. Right now, he’s just a good 3pt shooter and that’s okay. I thought he played well tonight.


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Thanks, if the main criticisms of Bender are that he got schooled by Chris Paul, and that he shy's away from physical contact - I'll take it. Paul would make about every 7 footer looks silly, and I have hope that once Bender adds strength he'll be more comfortable dealing with the physicality of the NBA (kind of like how Len has developed positively in that aspect as well).

Yeh I was wrong in saying that it was his worst game ever, it wasn't that bad. I looked at the boxscore after I watched the game and was shocked with his statline. His numbers show that he was efficient and rebounded well. But he was late switching off and closing out at times which lead to Ariza sinking the 3ball like it was practice and I think one or two times from Anderson. It probably seemed worse than it was when watching the game because the consecutive times Chris Paul got him as mentioned above but yeah it's expected when your going against CP3 especially being a 2nd year 7 footer. Add in the easy shots that he missed and one that was basically a layup.

[thamadkant]

Bender being schooled by CP3 is not an issue, CP3 is unguardable 99% if the time.

[Bogyo]

I have a great idea! We should make an all-in move, and aim for the playoffs! We don't need no stinkin' top5 draft pick, becouse this team is a lot better than it seems,(even though we have 5 one-or-two point wins against the mighty Conley-less Grizzlies and Sacramento plus the tough-as-ever Hawks)!

[pepe1991]

Bender's objective weakness is his complete lack of strenght that hurts his inside game because he gets pushed around easly.
Getting schooled by CP3 is given when you are center no matter who you are.
On other side his shooting from outside is pretty damn good and when you figure he is one of youngest players in NBA you can only be exited about his future when he learns how to play in post and puts some muscles on that frame.

[Blackification]

Ok, just finished watching the game.

One noticeable thing that i saw was us getting KILLED on 2nd chance points. Its amazing to see how much Dantoni's system has evolved from his days with us. Back then as soo as someone shot the ball, everyone was already running back down the court to get in place for the fake defense, where now, they stick around more going for those offensive rebounds on the missed shots, something that helped contribute to us getting slaughtered (14 offensive rebounds compared to our 4). Thats LOL worthy.

Dont have the exact stats on how many of those offensive rebounds lead to 2nd chance points, but i'd just like to point out that:

They had 10 more offensive rebounds.
If they score a FG on everyone of those, thats 20 points.
We lost by 17 points.

We need to work on having a better presence in the paint and cleaning up that glass.

They killed us on the boards and I think Cappela was their only center active. Just a pathetic effort overall after the Rockets started to actually try.

They are a very good team and a bad match up for our play style especially since we play at their pace with a lot less talent, but our defense was pathetic, they got every shot they wanted and it was a wide open lay up or three, sometimes multiple attempts a possession and our guys were clueless. Team was very soft tonight and I don't usually like using that word but they were missing point blank lay ups. Len got blocked by **** Cp3 of all people.

[Blackification]

Bender being schooled by CP3 is not an issue, CP3 is unguardable 99% if the time.

Very true, I'd say the issue was how he kept getting caught in that situation, poor team defense. Sure we were shorthanded but it took forever to make an adjustment even after a weeks worth of game planning for something that isn't new.

The team has made huge strides as far as passing the ball on offense, but unfortunately outside of TJ and Booker we are currently lacking on that end. We don't really have defensive personnel but the coaching on that end leaves a lot to be desired. Triano seems to be a very offensive minded coach.

[Saberestar]

The Rockets, even without Harden, are on another basketball's level.

Long shot, long rebound. We were rotating on defense and a lot of times we could not box out our man because we were trying to run to a spot.
It was not a lack of effort, they are a great shooting team.

Paul and Gordon were salivating every time they had Bender in front of one of them. Bender did not play a good game (on defense or offense) but I think he is getting better.
He needs to get stronger, this is a must this summer.

Booker was our best player by a mile IMO.
He tried hard all game long and he made a lot of great assists.

Daniels...he is so bad at everything except shooting. And he did not shot well against the Rockets.

Ulis played a horrible game. Josh Jackson and Canaan were missed.

[Saberestar]

Read on Twitter

[RaisingArizona]

I have a great idea! We should make an all-in move, and aim for the playoffs! We don't need no stinkin' top5 draft pick, becouse this team is a lot better than it seems,(even though we have 5 one-or-two point wins against the mighty Conley-less Grizzlies and Sacramento plus the tough-as-ever Hawks)!

A quality pg would make up about 20 games better.

[TOO]

I have a great idea! We should make an all-in move, and aim for the playoffs! We don't need no stinkin' top5 draft pick, becouse this team is a lot better than it seems,(even though we have 5 one-or-two point wins against the mighty Conley-less Grizzlies and Sacramento plus the tough-as-ever Hawks)!

A quality pg would make up about 20 games better.

A quality PG isn't gonna make a team full of bad shooters shoot better.

[RaisingArizona]

I have a great idea! We should make an all-in move, and aim for the playoffs! We don't need no stinkin' top5 draft pick, becouse this team is a lot better than it seems,(even though we have 5 one-or-two point wins against the mighty Conley-less Grizzlies and Sacramento plus the tough-as-ever Hawks)!

A quality pg would make up about 20 games better.

A quality PG isn't gonna make a team full of bad shooters shoot better.

I know. Not saying we're a piece away. I'm saying the next piece needs to be a pg because Ulis is just not capable.

[hollywood6964]

I have a great idea! We should make an all-in move, and aim for the playoffs! We don't need no stinkin' top5 draft pick, becouse this team is a lot better than it seems,(even though we have 5 one-or-two point wins against the mighty Conley-less Grizzlies and Sacramento plus the tough-as-ever Hawks)!

Anybody who even condescended to say that is a buffoon.

[ATTL]

I have a great idea! We should make an all-in move, and aim for the playoffs! We don't need no stinkin' top5 draft pick, becouse this team is a lot better than it seems,(even though we have 5 one-or-two point wins against the mighty Conley-less Grizzlies and Sacramento plus the tough-as-ever Hawks)!

A quality pg would make up about 20 games better.

Is bledsoe a quality point guard?

[RaisingArizona]

I have a great idea! We should make an all-in move, and aim for the playoffs! We don't need no stinkin' top5 draft pick, becouse this team is a lot better than it seems,(even though we have 5 one-or-two point wins against the mighty Conley-less Grizzlies and Sacramento plus the tough-as-ever Hawks)!

A quality pg would make up about 20 games better.

Is bledsoe a quality point guard?

He quit on us.

[RunDogGun]

Ok, just finished watching the game.

One noticeable thing that i saw was us getting KILLED on 2nd chance points. Its amazing to see how much Dantoni's system has evolved from his days with us. Back then as soo as someone shot the ball, everyone was already running back down the court to get in place for the fake defense, where now, they stick around more going for those offensive rebounds on the missed shots, something that helped contribute to us getting slaughtered (14 offensive rebounds compared to our 4). Thats LOL worthy.

Dont have the exact stats on how many of those offensive rebounds lead to 2nd chance points, but i'd just like to point out that:

They had 10 more offensive rebounds.
If they score a FG on everyone of those, thats 20 points.
We lost by 17 points.

We need to work on having a better presence in the paint and cleaning up that glass.

Some of those rebounds just bounced right back to the Rockets. Some were just bad boxing out, but many of them just bounced right over our guys’ heads, which there isn’t much one can do about that. The bad boxing out seemed to be from lazy play, not paying attention to where your man is at. Plus the Rockets smelled blood, and with a good team, stayed aggressive.

[Bogyo]

I have a great idea! We should make an all-in move, and aim for the playoffs! We don't need no stinkin' top5 draft pick, becouse this team is a lot better than it seems,(even though we have 5 one-or-two point wins against the mighty Conley-less Grizzlies and Sacramento plus the tough-as-ever Hawks)!

A quality pg would make up about 20 games better.

CP3 or Curry, Westbrook yes - rest of the PGs in the league now, not so much.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Bender's problems were three:

1. Early on, he failed to get his hands up. He got a little better at this as the game went on.

2. He kept defending the drive rather than the shot. This is related to the first problem, but this was more about him not guarding too close in order to avoid getting blown by. This really is a problem about our defensive scheme more than anything else. We kept switching everything. Bender's switching ability is really about prolonging your defense; it's not wise to use Dragan as your go-to defender on every possession, which is what happens if you just switch everything. When the opponent's offense generates mismatches, those mismatches can be mitigated be Bender's switching ability, not eliminated. Deeper in the clock, Bender can more aggressively guard the shot rather than the drive, because the blow by occurs with five rather than fifteen seconds left on the clock. If you switch everything like we were doing, Bender has to guard the drive every time, because any blow by is more likely to end up in an uncontested shot.

3. Bender's predictable. He always gets down in the proper defensive stance, doesn't bite on fakes, and contests the shot. He's always careful not to let the defense collapse. This is what you're supposed to do but if you're too predictable, the offense can just raise up for the shot every time, because they know Dragan's not going to go for the steal or the block. You shouldn't expect a player with his youth and lack of strength to be too tricky early in his career. Part of the problem here is that we don't we really have other disruptive defenders on the team, so if Dragan goes for the block and gets blown by, TJ Warren's not going to come in for the surprise block, and Devin's not going to sneak over to the weak side to intercept the pass.

It's notable how many of these problems would be fixed or mitigated by having a longer PG defender on the court, so you didn't have to switch with Ulis all the time, or just by having a guy like Josh Jackson running around on help D.