[markfitz14Participant]

 Kevin O’Connors has Dragan Bender ranked as his number 1 prospect. He moves very well for a 7 footer in his highlight tapes. His storke looks decent and he needs to improve on the offensive end though. Seems pretty versatile though. Being a kind of does a little of everything. He ranks him ahead of Simmons mostly becuase he is knocking his out side shot. Saying teams will back off of Simmons when he is on the perimeter. 

http://www.celticsblog.com/2015/11/9/9687054/2016-nba-draft-prospects-top-10-ncaa-college-preseason-simmons-bender-scouting-duke-celtics-picks

 

To me he seems pretty similar to Kristaps which is looking pretty good so far this season. Bender seems to be pretty firey so hopefully he could have some toughness to him to not get pushed around with his slight frame. I like the offensive potential he has. As well as a that he move well so he could be a good defender on the switch. He could make things interisting since Ktop is playing so well. It could boost his hype this year or if he has good workouts near draft time. But still over Simmons come on! lol  

 

[Robb_CParticipant]

 Bender is good, I like his game.. But hes not the talent Porzingis is.. Ive been watching Porzingis since he was 16, some of you dont realize how advanced Porzingis was at a young age.. I think a lot of Bender getting hype is due to Kristaps obvious success in NYC.. I think Benders potential is no where near Porzingis.

[Robb_CParticipant]

 Bender is good, I like his game.. But hes not the talent Porzingis is.. Ive been watching Porzingis since he was 16, some of you dont realize how advanced Porzingis was at a young age.. I think a lot of Bender getting hype is due to Kristaps obvious success in NYC.. I think Benders potential is no where near Porzingis.

[SlickBouncePassParticipant]

Boston and Philly are headed for a draft collision.  

Bender is still somewhat of an unknown.  I’ve seen some interviews and he seems a very heady baller.  Maybe a Kukoc with even better skills and some 2010s flashiness to his game.  It will be real interesting, especially now with the Porzingis highlights.

Can you imagine either Boston or Philly, or LA drafting Bender, and 3+ years from now we’ll look forward to 

Porzingis vs. Bender on Christmas day.  

Could the East All-stars have Porzingis, Bender, Hezonja, and Saric (stretch, think Saric will be a role-player type in the NBA).  

Could Hezonja or Porzingis be like Jordan and Dominique in the dunk contest?  

Will the American crowd accept the new-atheletic-generation European wave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SlickBouncePassParticipant]

Boston and Philly are headed for a draft collision.  

Bender is still somewhat of an unknown.  I’ve seen some interviews and he seems a very heady baller.  Maybe a Kukoc with even better skills and some 2010s flashiness to his game.  It will be real interesting, especially now with the Porzingis highlights.

Can you imagine either Boston or Philly, or LA drafting Bender, and 3+ years from now we’ll look forward to 

Porzingis vs. Bender on Christmas day.  

Could the East All-stars have Porzingis, Bender, Hezonja, and Saric (stretch, think Saric will be a role-player type in the NBA).  

Could Hezonja or Porzingis be like Jordan and Dominique in the dunk contest?  

Will the American crowd accept the new-atheletic-generation European wave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[King CaluchaParticipant]

He has better post moves than Porzingis at the same age, but nowhere near the defensive upside. He will be a top 10 pick for sure.

[King CaluchaParticipant]

He has better post moves than Porzingis at the same age, but nowhere near the defensive upside. He will be a top 10 pick for sure.

[European BasketballerParticipant]

 I like Bender a lot as a talent, and I think hehas huge talent. However, at the moment he is a completely and totally uselesss scrub that is annihilated and destroyed by every single player the moment he steps on the court in Euroleague.

He is a 3rd string player on one of the easily worst teams in Euroleague, and even in that team, he stands out by miles as the worst player on his team.

Porzingis was at least playing average to solid basketball last season in 2nd level Eurocup and ACB (Spanish League), although he was on one of the very worst teams in both leagues.

But at least he had some decent production (although his production was much lower than than he is having in the NBA).

I don’t think these two players can be compared as the same if Bender is coming into this draft. Porzingis was solidly in a rotation of a bad ACB/Eurocup team, which means he would have to be much further developed and advanced than ben der is right now. Right now Bender can’t compete even one second against anyone in Euroleague.

I think Bender is a really good talent, but #1 pick seems like a nonsense. He is not even as developed as Antetokounmpo was and he came from being a role player in Greek SECOND DIVISION league, and was #15 pick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[European BasketballerParticipant]

 I like Bender a lot as a talent, and I think hehas huge talent. However, at the moment he is a completely and totally uselesss scrub that is annihilated and destroyed by every single player the moment he steps on the court in Euroleague.

He is a 3rd string player on one of the easily worst teams in Euroleague, and even in that team, he stands out by miles as the worst player on his team.

Porzingis was at least playing average to solid basketball last season in 2nd level Eurocup and ACB (Spanish League), although he was on one of the very worst teams in both leagues.

But at least he had some decent production (although his production was much lower than than he is having in the NBA).

I don’t think these two players can be compared as the same if Bender is coming into this draft. Porzingis was solidly in a rotation of a bad ACB/Eurocup team, which means he would have to be much further developed and advanced than ben der is right now. Right now Bender can’t compete even one second against anyone in Euroleague.

I think Bender is a really good talent, but #1 pick seems like a nonsense. He is not even as developed as Antetokounmpo was and he came from being a role player in Greek SECOND DIVISION league, and was #15 pick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FrankStallone]

 Bender turned 18 this week. Two years younger than Porzingis.

Porzingis being a future hall of famer, not being as good a prospect as Porzingis is not a bad thing. Neither is Skal. Bender should be like a longer but less athletic WCS with a better head on his shoulders, and better offense. The kind of PnR defender who makes scouts drool and could go top 2-3 depending on team need and patience.

 

 

 

 

[FrankStallone]

 Bender turned 18 this week. Two years younger than Porzingis.

Porzingis being a future hall of famer, not being as good a prospect as Porzingis is not a bad thing. Neither is Skal. Bender should be like a longer but less athletic WCS with a better head on his shoulders, and better offense. The kind of PnR defender who makes scouts drool and could go top 2-3 depending on team need and patience.

 

 

 

 

[circumlocution75Participant]

 & he sits on the perimeter b/c he can’t establish position in the post… He’s shooting 26% from 3pt range…. I like Porzingus as a prospect but slow down…. Let the kid develop

[FrankStallone]

 KP spreads the floor, so even when he’s not scoring he’s making an impact. Just like his awesome positional defense, his floor stretching doesn’t show up in the fantasy basketball stats so nobody notices.

But everybody assumes Anthony Davis is a great defender because he chases steals and blocks but has the toughness of a softer TJ McConnell.

A guy like Porzingis can be a top 10-12 player while scoring only 15 points a game, even less than Kawhi Leonard scored last year.

See some of my OE threads, or at least the most recent one. Just about every center with a 25%+ 3 point shot has a positive +/-. Just imagine how much better the 76ers would be if Okafor or Noel could spread the floor for each other. They’d at least win a couple games, like the Nets who have Thaddeus Young spacing the floor for Lopez.

 

 

[FrankStallone]

 KP spreads the floor, so even when he’s not scoring he’s making an impact. Just like his awesome positional defense, his floor stretching doesn’t show up in the fantasy basketball stats so nobody notices.

But everybody assumes Anthony Davis is a great defender because he chases steals and blocks but has the toughness of a softer TJ McConnell.

A guy like Porzingis can be a top 10-12 player while scoring only 15 points a game, even less than Kawhi Leonard scored last year.

See some of my OE threads, or at least the most recent one. Just about every center with a 25%+ 3 point shot has a positive +/-. Just imagine how much better the 76ers would be if Okafor or Noel could spread the floor for each other. They’d at least win a couple games, like the Nets who have Thaddeus Young spacing the floor for Lopez.

 

 

[circumlocution75Participant]

 & he sits on the perimeter b/c he can’t establish position in the post… He’s shooting 26% from 3pt range…. I like Porzingus as a prospect but slow down…. Let the kid develop

[peZt93Participant]

 

Bender and Porzingis are two completely different players. He is faster, more agile, has better ballhandling, is a very good passer and post player. He is a slightly worse shooter and defender than Porzingis but still very very solid in those aspects with all the tools to be a dominant defender.

I like his potential more than Porzingis but he is having a very hard time adapting to playing with grown men right now. But I expect him to adjust to it very soon.

 

[European BasketballerParticipant]

 I don’t know about "very soon". He clearly is at a huge disadvntage from a strength point in Euroleague against every player he goes against. It’s going to be awhile.

Compare him to someone like Agravanis for example. I think Agravanis was around the same weight as Bender is now at his age, 200-215 in pounds, 91-98 kilos, something like that. But Agravanis I remember even then at that age and weight he was stronger than most of the players in Eurocup (league below Euroleague) and Greek League, and also he was as strong as a lot of the stronger big men already.

Now a couple years later, Agravanis’ main good point in his game is how he can just outmuscle almost any power forward in Euroleague, and he now already plays as a full time center, because he’s even stronger already than most centers.

The diufference is Agravanis was always strong, just naturally strong, even when he was very light and young. Bender does not have that kind of natural strength. So don’t assume it will come just like that, because it’s doubtful it will.

 

 

 

 

[European BasketballerParticipant]

 I don’t know about "very soon". He clearly is at a huge disadvntage from a strength point in Euroleague against every player he goes against. It’s going to be awhile.

Compare him to someone like Agravanis for example. I think Agravanis was around the same weight as Bender is now at his age, 200-215 in pounds, 91-98 kilos, something like that. But Agravanis I remember even then at that age and weight he was stronger than most of the players in Eurocup (league below Euroleague) and Greek League, and also he was as strong as a lot of the stronger big men already.

Now a couple years later, Agravanis’ main good point in his game is how he can just outmuscle almost any power forward in Euroleague, and he now already plays as a full time center, because he’s even stronger already than most centers.

The diufference is Agravanis was always strong, just naturally strong, even when he was very light and young. Bender does not have that kind of natural strength. So don’t assume it will come just like that, because it’s doubtful it will.

 

 

 

 

[peZt93Participant]

 

Bender and Porzingis are two completely different players. He is faster, more agile, has better ballhandling, is a very good passer and post player. He is a slightly worse shooter and defender than Porzingis but still very very solid in those aspects with all the tools to be a dominant defender.

I like his potential more than Porzingis but he is having a very hard time adapting to playing with grown men right now. But I expect him to adjust to it very soon.

 

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