Why is everyone down on Bender?

[droopdog7]

Because he's a Euro?  I mean, I've seen the youtube videos and that's about it.  I have no clue whatsoever whether he will be good or not.  But I suspect DA does.

So does anyone know anything at all about this kid to suggest we should stay away from him?

[PhoSita]

Because he could be Jan Vesely 2.0.  Or he could be a mix of Andrei Kirilenko and Danilo Gallinari.

It's really that wide open.  And while the GMs have a lot more information at their disposal, it still might not be possible for them to have a much better sense of how good he will be, because he's likely a few years away from maturing enough to make an impact at the NBA level.

[ederson]

Because he plays against mediocre opponents and he hasn`t done anything against players of the same age. This doesn`t necessarily mean he won`t improve but we are talking about a top5 pick here

As PhoSita says, he can turn into anything between Kirilenko and Vesely (or even worse) but in any case it will take at least 3-4 years to have a definitive answer

i`ve read a lot of posts says "I m not to high on anyone not named Ingram and Simmons so i`d go with Bender"..... I honestly can`t see any logic to that.... 

[droopdog7]

Wasn't this a similar situation with the greek freak?  Lots of people seemed to complain about that one.

[kozlodoev]

Wasn't this a similar situation with the greek freak?  Lots of people seemed to complain about that one.

As it has been pointed ad nauseum by now, Anthetokounmpo wasn't the third pick in the draft.

[droopdog7]

Wasn't this a similar situation with the greek freak?  Lots of people seemed to complain about that one.

As it has been pointed ad nauseum by now, Anthetokounmpo wasn't the third pick in the draft.

Yes, understand.  And I think being the third pick in the draft is important.

But I find it surprising that more people are looking for the "upside", as that is generally the fan way of thinking. So color me impressed that fans seem to be maturing.

[ederson]

Wasn't this a similar situation with the greek freak?  Lots of people seemed to complain about that one.

As it has been pointed ad nauseum by now, Anthetokounmpo wasn't the third pick in the draft.

And now IMHO every scout wants to avoid a similar failure
and BTW Giannis brought a unique  body , even for the NBA standards.

[Androslav]

Everyone is down on Bender cause he is far away.
People are affraid of the unknown.
Saying he can be Vesely is like saying all Eskimos look alike.
It is like apples and oranges in this case.
Bender is a skill player, Vesely is a will player, relying on his athletic ability.
Bender dribles, has vision and his stroke shows range.
He just happens to be 7 footer. Is that a downside to his skillset? Good question
He defends perimiter players very well, especialy for his age. Important thing, his lateral quickness is suprisingly fluid.
Even if he isnt meant to be an eraser at the rim he will at the very least have that. He has good understanding of where the ball will go. As far as his rebounding goes, he lacks streinght, but I would project him to be better than KO.
Imo,  he is a versatile player and CBS just knows how to use those kind of players.
He is 18, so naturaly he has a long way to go to reach his potential.

[loco_91]

Anyone who says they know how good, or how bad, Bender will be in the NBA is bluffing. Do you watch the Israeli BSL league? I sure don't.

[Snakehead]

A lot of people saw the Zinger this year and forgot a bit there have been busts and doubts about Euro players.  Vesley is a great example of a fluid athlete with good size who ended up being a huge bust.

Tough to evaluate these guys as a fan, for sure.  When they're young they often hardly play.  I just have to trust in Ainge.  If he liked Bender that much I would trust his evaluation.  So I wouldn't say I'm down on him at all.  I just really personally don't have an opinion on him.

[cltc5]

He's soft.  He gets love because he's big and young and porzingus comparison.

[alldaboston]

Can anyone honestly say Bender will ever be a good NBA player? I'm sure he can be a fine role player, who can step in and hit 3s. By this is a top 5 pick we are talking about. I can never see him being a star.

[Ilikesports17]

Anyone who says they know how good, or how bad, Bender will be in the NBA is bluffing. Do you watch the Israeli BSL league? I sure don't.

TP.

Im terrified of foreign players.

They way I evaluate prospects is pretry flawed in itself and completely based on scouting reports.

I read the draftexpress reports and then look around to see what other experts are saying and I look at the players stats and try to watch as much of them as I can.

With Heild, you see he is a top 1 prospect, read he is a great shooter, look up his stats against good competition--they confirm that hes a great shooter, then you watch a game or two of oklahomas and you can pretty confidently say OK hes a great shooter. With most prospects its the same thing. With Euros its a lot different. Here its hard to contextualize stats and tape and you are completely relying on scouts. I have literally seen no meaningful footage of Bender. All I know for sure is that he is tall. I didnt want Exum, I didnt want Antetekounpo, I didnt want Kristaps and I dont want Bender.

I cant say that he will be great, I cant say he will be terrible. I can make no evaluation of him, so I am aggressively ignoring him.

[LooseCannon]

Wasn't this a similar situation with the greek freak?  Lots of people seemed to complain about that one.

As it has been pointed ad nauseum by now, Anthetokounmpo wasn't the third pick in the draft.

But Bender has a higher ceiling than Giannis.

[ederson]

Anyone who says they know how good, or how bad, Bender will be in the NBA is bluffing. Do you watch the Israeli BSL league? I sure don't.

I`ve watched him in the few euroleague games he played and in youth tournaments.
i ve also watched a couple of other teams from israel in european competitions and they are really bad. the level of the league is very low