Phx-Suns.Net

“He can’t see peripherally so that makes it tough to rebound when you can’t see sideways,” Triano said.

Bender said Monday that the mask is “definitely uncomfortable.” But he also acknowledged he didn’t play well against San Antonio and understood why Triano went with Dudley and Marquese Chriss at power forward.

“JD and Marquese had real good games on both ends so as long as we keep winning the games I don’t really care if I play five minutes or 35 minutes,” said Bender, adding he should be able to play without the mask by the end of the week. “At the end of the day it’s all about winning.”

Except the Suns aren’t winning – they’ve lost three straight and five of six – and Bender’s regression has caused Triano to play the 32-year-old Dudley, who might help Phoenix now but certainly doesn’t fit into the organization’s long-term plans. Meanwhile, Bender, who needs the playing time to grow, finds himself stuck to the bench.

“With our rotations before he had a chance to play through (slumps),” Triano said. “Now I have three (power forwards). There’s going to be an odd man out.”

Triano said there’s a simple solution to Bender getting more minutes: earn them.

Superbone wrote:Bender sounds confused. He thinks we've been winning. Plus, he should be concerned if he only plays 5 minutes.

Hermen wrote:

Superbone wrote:Bender sounds confused. He thinks we've been winning. Plus, he should be concerned if he only plays 5 minutes.

He pulled a wrong fluff response from the bag on that one

bajanguy008 wrote:btw I just realised the subtle thing carey does by putting the opposing teams in the preview in a similar font as their team colours

btw I just realised the subtle thing carey does by putting the opposing teams in the preview in a similar font as their team colours

n4th4n wrote:Ugh. The quotes from Bender in that article are the exact opposite of what I want to be hearing from him. He needs to start playing like he cares. He just never seems highly engaged on the court. I never seem him sprint in transition or crash the boards with force or drive like he means business. He defends fundamentally but not ferociously. All of this could be a case of him just being very young, but he needs to start showing more flashes.

Superbone wrote:

n4th4n wrote:Ugh. The quotes from Bender in that article are the exact opposite of what I want to be hearing from him. He needs to start playing like he cares. He just never seems highly engaged on the court. I never seem him sprint in transition or crash the boards with force or drive like he means business. He defends fundamentally but not ferociously. All of this could be a case of him just being very young, but he needs to start showing more flashes.

Somebody needs to light a fire under his butt!

Cap wrote:

Superbone wrote:

n4th4n wrote:Ugh. The quotes from Bender in that article are the exact opposite of what I want to be hearing from him. He needs to start playing like he cares. He just never seems highly engaged on the court. I never seem him sprint in transition or crash the boards with force or drive like he means business. He defends fundamentally but not ferociously. All of this could be a case of him just being very young, but he needs to start showing more flashes.

Somebody needs to light a fire under his butt!

And he ends up on IR with third-degree burns.

n4th4n wrote:How much does it suck that our one player outside of Booker who has shown genuine improvement this year (Len) is about to walk and leave us with nothing? Oh boy.

carey wrote:

n4th4n wrote:How much does it suck that our one player outside of Booker who has shown genuine improvement this year (Len) is about to walk and leave us with nothing? Oh boy.

It doesn't bother me. I don't think he'll ever be much better than he is now, and he's not worth the money he's asking.

carey wrote:

n4th4n wrote:How much does it suck that our one player outside of Booker who has shown genuine improvement this year (Len) is about to walk and leave us with nothing? Oh boy.

It doesn't bother me. I don't think he'll ever be much better than he is now, and he's not worth the money he's asking.