If Bender was in the USA he'd be in high school.
One can only imagine the stats he'd be putting up against high schoolers over here and even US college teams.
He's played 10 games for Maccabi.
Ten games ...and his critics are suggesting that's enough of a sample size at 18 years old.
Ultimately none of us can judge Bender properly from our limited exposure.
Danny will bring him.in and work him out and see what he is.
The thing that the Bender fans totally fail to accept is that the "small sample size" argument goes both ways. Not only is it too small a sample size to confidently say he's going to be a bust...it's also too small a sample size to confidently confirm he's going to be any good.
All these people use "we haven't seen what he can do" as a positive thing. Why do all of the pro-Bender guys fail to acknowledge that this is just as much a negative as it is a positive? That fact that we haven't seen him do much increases the risk of drafting him exponentially. Taking Bender with a top 5 pick is a massive, massive gamble...and I'm just not convinced that his upside is high enough to justify taking a gamble that huge.
I don't see anything close to superstar potential (and most people seem to concur), so why gamble such a high draft pick on a guy you HOPE could become a fringe all-star?
It doesn't cut both ways though because those who don't like him are cherry picking some Macabi stats from 10 games.
He has looked very impressive on the international stage.
Comparing him to Vonleh is a moot comparison because Vonleh has rocks in his head and the IQ of a street lamp.
Bender's wingspan is 7'2" (measured last year) and his standing reach is 9'2". Those are very impressive for an NBA PF even without a great vertical.
Let's just confirm a few things here:
* he's certainly not soft
*he's got excellent length and reach
*although his vertical isn't great and he isnt explosive, he's an excellent athlete because of his agility. You've seen him move his feet on D. We've seen him protect the rim. We've seen his beautiful form on the 3 point shot and his ability to run the floor and beat opponents up the floor.
He's not perfect but he's got very special potential.
And that's why he's different to Vonleh...Bender's IQ is touted as his biggest strength and he's 18 years old. A US high schooler!
If he was in high school here last year he would have KILLED everyone.
Anyway, I think Bender is a solid prospect. I'm not all in for him but i feel he's being underrated bybthose saying he's overrated.
You can't ignore size, footwork and agility with a shooting stroke likenthat and toss him out the window when he's 18 years old is all I'm saying.
Vonleh had NBA size (6'9", 7'4" wingspan, ~240 pounds), decent athleticism (pretty mobile with a 35" max vertical), an excellent shooting stroke (49% from three on an average of 1 attempt per game) and he was one of the best rebounders and one of the better shot blockers in all of college basketball and was an incredibly good ball handler for a PF - all at the age of 18. You can't ignore all of those things and toss them out the window either.
Bender has BBIQ over Vonleh. Vonleh had a better inside game, was a far better rebounder, was a better rim protector AND he had a far superior pro-ready body.
Yet where is Vonleh now?
I'm not by any means trying to say that Bender is going to be a massive bust and will never ber a useful NBA player - I think he definitely has skills and attributes that should translate to the NBA game. All I'm saying is that there is
nowhere near enough information on Bender to indicate he is worthy of a top 3 (or even top 6) selection.
* He's horribly skinny with a narrow frame, so it's hard to see if he has the potential to actually add much bulk.
* His jump shot has potential, but he's hardly a knock down shooter. It needs work and he only seems capable of hitting outside shots when he is absolutely wide open.
* His post game seems to have major limitations - I've seen a bunch of videos where it's taken him 2 or 3 attempts to finish 5 feet from the basket against significantly smaller opponent. He seems to be a terrible finisher around the basket for a 7 footer, and he only ends up getting the points because he managed to keep getting his own rebound (again - against much smaller guys). In the NBA he's not going to be up against guys who are so much smaller - he's not going to be able to get 3 attempts every time he touches the ball.
* While he works hard (credit for that) he seems to struggle to rebound against bigger and more physical opponents, who seems to push him around like a matchstick. In the NBA
everybody is big and physical, so if he can't bulk up significantly he's going to get killed.
* Most of the blocks he gets seem to be sneaking up on guys and blocking it from behind when they don't see him coming. He doesn't seem to get a lot of blocks when defending bigs one-on-one
* He seems to be 100% dependant on his height/length advantage for his offense. He doesn't have any ability to create his own shot. He doesn't have any post moves. He doesn't seem to have any signs of a consistent hook shot, fadeaway jumper, up and under - nothing. The only way he seems to score inside is when he catches a pass against a much smaller opponent, and then basically shoots over them. He's not going to get those easy looks in the NBA nearly as often. Most likely he (like Olynyk and Sully) will only be able to get his shot off when he's up against favourable matchups here and there, which likely won't happen all that often
* Defensively, in the post, he seems to battle hard..but he's way too light / weak and gets pushed off his spot way too easy. You're gabling entirely on the hope that he'll put on significant weight. Olynyk had a similar problem as a rookie and has put on a bunch of muscle mass, and he STILL gets pushed around a lot by more physical guys. I don't like Bender's chances.
* He is playing in Europe coming off the bench in limited minutes, against second tier European players, in a league which (to my understanding) is not especially strong. Even in that league, I don't see signs of him dominating.
* The European leagues tend to be more fundamentally sound then the NBA, but nowhere near as athletic (on the whole). Just because Bender can stick with some European guards and blow by some European bigs, doesn't mean he'll be able to do the same in the NBA.
There are a ton of question marks with Bender. So many weaknesses that could be exposed at the NBA level. His absolute ceiling IMHO is a nice two-way big who can give you maybe 14 and 8 (at best) along with some solid team defence.
That's a nice thing to get, and if you're picking in the 8-14 range you'd be pretty thrilled to get a guy who can give you that. But if you're picking top 3 (or even top 6) you want either:
1) A really high ceiling (potential to become a bonafide all star)
or
2) A really high floor (low risk of a bust)
Bender is a high bust risk (since nobody has seen what he can do against college competition) and he has a good, rather then great, ceiling (since he doesn't really have any one dominant skill/talent).
Guys who fit that description are the type of guys you gamble on in the 6-14 range, once all the potential studs (Simmons, Ingram) and safe starters (Hield, Dunn, Poeltl, Ellenson, Murray) are gone...in the hope that you can sneak one under the radar and end up with a surprise package.
I don't really agree with the people who claim that Bender Is a clear bust, but I don't believe he's a 'top 5' talent either. I think he's a 6-12 range talent who has the potential to be a good two-way starter (think Lamar Odom) offset against a high risk of busting out.
I wouldn't mind trading up with the Mav's pick and taking Bender in the 7-12 range if he somehow slides that far because I think he's worth the gamble there...but I do mind taking him with a top 5 pick. I think that would be a big mistake.
Topic: Why is everyone down on Bender? (Read 11625 times)