What do we know about what he can do defensively, though?
What about his career so far demonstrates he will be able to defend the perimeter at the NBA level?
A fair question about any prospect and any skill -- will it translate to the NBA?
FWIW - I've been grinding through Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv game highlight videos from their games this season, parsing out the segments that have Bender on the floor. If you go to their website they have a link to their Youtube channel buried in their 'fan zone' menu. They have highlights of every game posted. They have highlight videos profiling some of the 'stars' on the team, but not Bender -- these are the veterans who are actually featured on the team. They have whole game vids from prior seasons but not yet full games for this season.
The game-highlight vids are pretty comprehensive, though, because they tend to include most scoring possessions (for both teams) and you can extract quite a bit from them. These are more useful than highlight vids featuring Bender because they don't focus on him, but rather the game in general - more often highlighting his teammates and the big plays by the other team. So you get to see Bender sometimes, "just doing his job" on a play. Sometimes that meant he was the guy who scored, blocked a shot or grabbed the rebound. But most of the time, he's just guarding someone or setting a pick or whatever.
On the defensive question -- Bender seems to be frequently used by his current coach as a defensive substitution late in games and of the total minutes of vid I could find with him on the floor, most are on defense. If you grind though these you do see him as pretty good at switching on the perimeter. He's got very good lateral footwork and is able to stay in front of much faster guards. I think this is legit and why he's got the attention of NBA scouts.
There was not much vid on how well he holds the block. He looks bigger now than in the vids from prior years that you find on most draft web sites, but I wouldn't expect him to hold Brook Lopez on the block yet. I suspect he'd get crushed.
His offense is harder to gauge because he's not 'featured' much and his scoring is generally as a secondary or 3rd option in their offense. His 3PT shooting looks good, scoring those mainly from the corners on kick-outs. I don't recall any highlights of him shooting threes while contested so I can't attest to how he shoots with pressure. There are only a couple of events where he posts up and he looked okay, but the sample is to tiny. There are several moments where he shows very good court awareness as a passer. He seemed quick and accurate starting outlets. Seems to have a decent handle for a big man, and there were several plays where he'd use his footwork and stride to clear himself for short-mid-range jumpers.
Basically, my $.02 take is that there is enough positive there - the perimeter defense especially - that I'd want Danny to at least bring him in and give him a workout. Beyond that, I couldn't extract enough info to form a hard opinion on whether I'd take him over one of the other candidates at #3. I do think he deserves to be drafted though and will likely be a successful NBA player. His physical potential is too good and he seems at least too competent to be a complete bust. I'm just not sure how high he should be drafted.
Look, I agree that having a seven footer with the ability to switch on pick and rolls and hit an open spot-up three is undeniably valuable.
I just don't think you need to use a top 5 pick on that sort of guy.
Yeah, it all depends on what more Danny sees (or not) in him with his much more in-depth access. He'll have access to a lot more information and, of course, work outs.
The way I see it, the Celts are really missing two basic things:
- A pure 18-20+ ppg scorer on the wing, ideally with good positional size
- A strong interior rebounder, finisher, and shot-changer/deterrer/blocker
If at all possible, I would like to see the BRK pick used on a guy with the potential to become one of those things.
While I concur that we need improved scoring (from all positions and both from outside and inside) and sure, improved interior defense is always nice, I don't really think Danny should draft with particular positional needs in mind.
I would prefer he take the best player available at each pick and then worry about specific needs afterwords, in free agency and trades.
Topic: Derek Bodner's Big Board (very interesting) (Read 8003 times)