Dragan Bender News, Discussion and Highlights

Saberestar · Post #782 » by **Saberestar** » Sat Mar 3, 2018 5:18 pm

kennydorglas · Post #783 » by **kennydorglas** » Sat Mar 3, 2018 5:36 pm

Dragan was open in a lot of pick&pop and never got the ball.
I kinda admire him for not forcing his hand... it was pretty clear we didnt wanted him to get the ball AT ALL.
Which was odd because he drained 6 3pt on them in his last game against OKC.

Jarlaxle0204 · Post #784 » by **Jarlaxle0204** » Sat Mar 3, 2018 5:52 pm

kennydorglas wrote:Dragan was open in a lot of pick&pop and never got the ball.
I kinda admire him for not forcing his hand... it was pretty clear we didnt wanted him to get the ball AT ALL.
Which was odd because he drained 6 3pt on them in his last game against OKC.

I noticed the same thing. What worries me is that Payton may be freezing him out. The first couple games after he joined he was passing to Bender a bunch. I'm worried he now realizes Bender's passive nature and isn't getting him the ball when he should.

Revived · Post #785 » by **Revived** » Sat Mar 3, 2018 6:14 pm

Jarlaxle0204 wrote:
kennydorglas wrote:Dragan was open in a lot of pick&pop and never got the ball.
I kinda admire him for not forcing his hand... it was pretty clear we didnt wanted him to get the ball AT ALL.
Which was odd because he drained 6 3pt on them in his last game against OKC.

I noticed the same thing. What worries me is that Payton may be freezing him out. The first couple games after he joined he was passing to Bender a bunch. I'm worried he now realizes Bender's passive nature and isn't getting him the ball when he should.

Payton seems hesitant to pass to him because it’s a waste of a pass since Bender won’t shoot it and usually just gives it right back.

I think Bender must care too much about his FG% or something because it’s pretty rare for a player to turn down so many open looks (in game before yesterday) when you’re actually capable of knocking it down.

Post #786 » by **bwgood77** » Sat Mar 3, 2018 6:35 pm

Jarlaxle0204 wrote:
kennydorglas wrote:Dragan was open in a lot of pick&pop and never got the ball.
I kinda admire him for not forcing his hand... it was pretty clear we didnt wanted him to get the ball AT ALL.
Which was odd because he drained 6 3pt on them in his last game against OKC.

I noticed the same thing. What worries me is that Payton may be freezing him out. The first couple games after he joined he was passing to Bender a bunch. I'm worried he now realizes Bender's passive nature and isn't getting him the ball when he should.

Yeah, if he is open on the 3 pt line he will shoot it, and he's been draining them. They should have gotten him the ball some. He passes it up some when inside the 3 pt line, but usually for solid passes with his 4 assists last night...though he did have the 1 turnover last night.

Ettorefm · Post #787 » by **Ettorefm** » Tue Mar 6, 2018 8:39 pm

Can we please stop the excuses for Bender? He's too passive to play in the NBA.

It amazes me how a guy can play 30 minutes and have 2 FGA, 4 rebounds, 2 assists...it's like he didn't even play. He just hides behind his man afraid someone will pass him the ball.

I'm glad Payton stopped feeding him the ball.

ImNotMcDiSwear · Post #788 » by **ImNotMcDiSwear** » Tue Mar 6, 2018 8:43 pm

Ettorefm wrote:Can we please stop the excuses for Bender? He's too passive to play in the NBA.

It amazes me how a guy can play 30 minutes and have 2 FGA, 4 rebounds, 2 assists...it's like he didn't even play. He just hides behind his man afraid someone will pass him the ball.

I'm glad Payton stopped feeding him the ball.

Revived · Post #789 » by **Revived** » Tue Mar 6, 2018 11:04 pm

I wish Bender could’ve played with Kobe. I remember reading about how Kobe once ripped into Kwame Brown because Kwame asked Kobe to not to pass him the ball as he wasn’t confident he could make the shot.

Since Booker is our mini Kobe, maybe he can do the honors....

Post #790 » by **bwgood77** » Tue Mar 6, 2018 11:21 pm

Read on Twitter

Skillmatic · Post #791 » by **Skillmatic** » Wed Mar 7, 2018 7:50 am

wow he is averaging some assists. But nothing more. Watching him play makes me angry. When he is near the basket and getting the ball, every f***ing time he is just running away from the basket an pass ist. He is getting so much minutes and doesn't shoot (despite some threes). We need more inside presence and scoring from our bigs. The opponents big men are laughing about our frontcourt.
Chriss has a very low BB IQ, bute the last couple of games he really tries to help us. He plays with energy. Bender always plays like a p+++y. I can't hear the excuses anymore. Of course he is young, but the passiveness is his nature. It won't be better in 2 years.

Ettorefm · Post #792 » by **Ettorefm** » Wed Mar 7, 2018 11:12 am

Skillmatic wrote:wow he is averaging some assists. But nothing more. Watching him play makes me angry. When he is near the basket and getting the ball, every f***ing time he is just running away from the basket an pass ist. He is getting so much minutes and doesn't shoot (despite some threes). We need more inside presence and scoring from our bigs. The opponents big men are laughing about our frontcourt.
Chriss has a very low BB IQ, bute the last couple of games he really tries to help us. He plays with energy. Bender always plays like a p+++y. I can't hear the excuses anymore. Of course he is young, but the passiveness is his nature. It won't be better in 2 years.

Thank you

5 assist doesn't change the fact that he's glad not to shoot at all for a few games. Actually, he might prefer it, no pressure, no expectations.

I'm serious, I've said this a few times and some people think I'm joking, but it really seems like he's HIDING behind his man. He sometimes moves to the worst spot possible so no dude would pass him the ball.

He never cuts, he never takes risks, he never takes contact...I actually think the more open he is for a 3, the more he gets nervous he has to take it.

Saberestar · Post #793 » by **Saberestar** » Wed Mar 7, 2018 11:34 am

Ettorefm wrote:
Skillmatic wrote:wow he is averaging some assists. But nothing more. Watching him play makes me angry. When he is near the basket and getting the ball, every f***ing time he is just running away from the basket an pass ist. He is getting so much minutes and doesn't shoot (despite some threes). We need more inside presence and scoring from our bigs. The opponents big men are laughing about our frontcourt.
Chriss has a very low BB IQ, bute the last couple of games he really tries to help us. He plays with energy. Bender always plays like a p+++y. I can't hear the excuses anymore. Of course he is young, but the passiveness is his nature. It won't be better in 2 years.

Thank you

5 assist doesn't change the fact that he's glad not to shoot at all for a few games. Actually, he might prefer it, no pressure, no expectations.

I'm serious, I've said this a few times and some people think I'm joking, but it really seems like he's HIDING behind his man. He sometimes moves to the worst spot possible so no dude would pass him the ball.

He never cuts, he never takes risks, he never takes contact...I actually think the more open he is for a 3, the more he gets nervous he has to take it.

I think that he needs to improve his skillset and his strength, and that would give him confidence.
He is afraid, yes, but that is not only for his mentality...it is for his lack of abilities too.

He is not sure about cutting to the basket because he does not elevate enough and he can not finish at the rim with contact. If he gets stronger or improves his ability to finish around the rim he would get there.

And he needs to work on his ball handling. He has tried to go to the rim a few times in the last couple of games, but his defender stopped him easily because he is not a good ball handler at all. If he improves he could be a dangerous player as a face up PF in the next few years.

Ettorefm · Post #794 » by **Ettorefm** » Wed Mar 7, 2018 11:37 am

Saberestar wrote:
Ettorefm wrote:
Skillmatic wrote:wow he is averaging some assists. But nothing more. Watching him play makes me angry. When he is near the basket and getting the ball, every f***ing time he is just running away from the basket an pass ist. He is getting so much minutes and doesn't shoot (despite some threes). We need more inside presence and scoring from our bigs. The opponents big men are laughing about our frontcourt.
Chriss has a very low BB IQ, bute the last couple of games he really tries to help us. He plays with energy. Bender always plays like a p+++y. I can't hear the excuses anymore. Of course he is young, but the passiveness is his nature. It won't be better in 2 years.

Thank you

5 assist doesn't change the fact that he's glad not to shoot at all for a few games. Actually, he might prefer it, no pressure, no expectations.

I'm serious, I've said this a few times and some people think I'm joking, but it really seems like he's HIDING behind his man. He sometimes moves to the worst spot possible so no dude would pass him the ball.

He never cuts, he never takes risks, he never takes contact...I actually think the more open he is for a 3, the more he gets nervous he has to take it.

I think that he needs to improve his skillset and his strength, and that would give him confidence.
He is afraid, yes, but that is not only for his mentality...it is for his lack of abilities too.

He is not sure about cutting to the basket because he does not elevate enough and he can not finish at the rim with contact. If he gets stronger or improves his ability to finish around the rim he would get there.

And he needs to work on his ball handling. He has tried to go to the rim a few times in the last couple of games, but his defender stopped him easily because he is not a good ball handler at all. If he improves he could be dangerous player as a face up PF in the next few years.

So he's not a great player with amazing skills that is just mentally weak , but he's a VERY FLAWED PLAYER with tons of problems and needs to work on EVERYTHING to be able to be an NBA caliber player AND is mentally weak?

This is even worse than I thought then. Why are we giving him 30 minutes then?

maRioGrande · Post #795 » by **maRioGrande** » Wed Mar 7, 2018 11:46 am

What a waste of talent. Never seen anyone so frightened on bb court. Just pathetic.

Fo-Real · Post #796 » by **Fo-Real** » Wed Mar 7, 2018 2:37 pm

He deserves to be benched for being a nothing on the court lately, dont continue to reward him with starts. Hell, start Josh!

Revived · Post #797 » by **Revived** » Wed Mar 7, 2018 2:54 pm

Ettorefm wrote:So he's not a great player with amazing skills that is just mentally weak , but he's a VERY FLAWED PLAYER with tons of problems and needs to work on EVERYTHING to be able to be an NBA caliber player AND is mentally weak?

This is even worse than I thought then. Why are we giving him 30 minutes then?

Because the alternate option is Marquese **** Chriss.

Post #798 » by **bwgood77** » Wed Mar 7, 2018 4:56 pm

Ettorefm wrote:
Saberestar wrote:
Ettorefm wrote:
Thank you

5 assist doesn't change the fact that he's glad not to shoot at all for a few games. Actually, he might prefer it, no pressure, no expectations.

I'm serious, I've said this a few times and some people think I'm joking, but it really seems like he's HIDING behind his man. He sometimes moves to the worst spot possible so no dude would pass him the ball.

He never cuts, he never takes risks, he never takes contact...I actually think the more open he is for a 3, the more he gets nervous he has to take it.

I think that he needs to improve his skillset and his strength, and that would give him confidence.
He is afraid, yes, but that is not only for his mentality...it is for his lack of abilities too.

He is not sure about cutting to the basket because he does not elevate enough and he can not finish at the rim with contact. If he gets stronger or improves his ability to finish around the rim he would get there.

And he needs to work on his ball handling. He has tried to go to the rim a few times in the last couple of games, but his defender stopped him easily because he is not a good ball handler at all. If he improves he could be dangerous player as a face up PF in the next few years.

So he's not a great player with amazing skills that is just mentally weak , but he's a VERY FLAWED PLAYER with tons of problems and needs to work on EVERYTHING to be able to be an NBA caliber player AND is mentally weak?

This is even worse than I thought then. Why are we giving him 30 minutes then?

Because he's one of the few guys who can actually spread the floor with his 3 pt threat. Sure, his lack of aggression and passiveness is infuriating, but that doesn't mean the fact that he has knocked down 3 pt shots at a good rate and is making some nice passes should simply be overlooked.

He's actually playing somewhat like Steve Nash did his first year in Dallas. Don Nelson got so pissed that he was so passive and didn't shoot and only looked to pass....he said he needs to be a scoring threat.

That was Nash's third season after 4 years in college and he was 24. I know it sounds crazy, but if you look at the comparison, and think about Bender's assists the last 5 games, the numbers are close...shot attempts per 36 are close.

http://bkref.com/tiny/ak6jh

Dallas fans booed him when he struggled....

That did not always come easily for Nash, who waded through some tension in his early days in Dallas. Much like Santa Clara coach Dick Davey, Nelson implored Nash to shoot more often. His instinct is to pass first, the mantra of traditional point guards.

"It's almost like I have to try to be greedy," he said. "I really believe in the true point guard, someone who has his team in mind first. But there's an effective balance -- if a point guard can score, that puts more pressure on the defense."

https://www.sfgate.com/sports/kroichick/article/From-Canada-with-quirks-Steve-Nash-has-taken-2747717.php

Preacherpj · Post #799 » by **Preacherpj** » Wed Mar 7, 2018 5:21 pm

I really don't get the anger with Bender, I don't know if its just the expectations of being the #4 pick or his style of play, but while I'm not thrilled with what I've seen, I'm not dismayed either.

For starters, people get sick of hearing he's only 20 years old -- but the fact of the matter is -- HE IS ONLY 20 years old, that matters. We're talking about a kid who didn't play a ton overseas and missed most of his first season - he's played in about 100 career games. I think we're looking at a guy who could easily develop into a really versatile big man who makes people better, plays solid defense and spaces the floor. That may not be the sexiest ceiling for the 4th overall pick, but it is very much a winning player in today's NBA.

I'm already seeing a guy who in his second season has bumped up his 3PT% to almost 40% and is becoming proficient at making the right passes. I see no reason why with continued health and development he can't be a consistent ~40% shooter from deep, that's going to open up the floor and give him the ability to make more plays off the bounce and with his vision.

The idea that this guy is who he is after 100 NBA games seems far-fetched IMO. Keep in mind who he's had as head coaches as well.

Skillmatic · Post #800 » by **Skillmatic** » Thu Mar 8, 2018 7:40 am

He has so many problems in his game. He has to work so much on his game to be an NBA player. So why did we pick him 4th??? The description of Bender ( long term prospect from Europe)sounds like a typical 2nd round pick.
And if it is not a mental thing, but rahter a lack of skills, so why in Hell is he starting and playing 30 minutes? He is far away from being ready to play in the NBA. put him in the G-league to learn the skills.

Would you bring back Bender?