Phoenix Suns: Breathing life back into The Timeline
Dragan Bender
Bender, who’s been hammered for being “soft” and his lack of aggression on offense, had the best game of his young career, putting up a career-high 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal as the team’s starting center.
Bender actually outplayed Nikola Jokic, shooting 9-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-5 from downtown. He was a +10 in 33 minutes in a game Phoenix lost by 10.
"“I like the way he battled,” interim coach Jay Triano said. “When he’s at the 5 like he was tonight, he’s got to battle and not give in. I thought for the most part he did a pretty good job on that. And then at the other end, we’re trying to drag the big away. When you go that and you get a switch, I thought he did a pretty good job rolling the smaller guy down and scoring inside when he had to, a couple of baby hooks inside.”"
New career high for Bender: 21 points, along with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks. pic.twitter.com/f284RDML3K
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) February 11, 2018
Over his last five games, Bender is averaging 15.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game on 53.8 percent shooting from the floor and 51.9 percent shooting from downtown. Five games is a small sample size, but for those who have forgotten, he’s only 20 years old and has only played 100 games in his career after missing nearly half of his rookie season due to injury.
Doing some research on Dragan Bender for story. He's taken at least 10 shots in 3 of Phoenix's last five games. He took 10 shots or more in 2 of Phoenix's first 51 games. This is the aggressiveness the Suns have wanted to see.
— scott bordow (@sbordow) February 11, 2018
Rebounding and interior strength are still weak spots in this seven-footer’s game, but as he adds bulk to his slender frame and gets more experience, his ability to play the 5 on both ends of the floor could be the key to unlocking this team’s fullest potential.