Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

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bajanguy008
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by bajanguy008 »

Wow, who is this guy ? Lol

https://twitter.com/esidery/status/1114387584937889792

SUNS Fan from the Land of Sun, Sea and Sand ;)

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LazarusLong
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by LazarusLong »

carey wrote:
Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:50 pm
bajanguy008 wrote:
Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:36 pm
carey
Way too much laughing and smiling from Chewing Gum Bender tho :) . Guess even he couldn't contain his excitement with his stat line tonight
He played well! Could be one of the rare cases of a player getting his 4th-year declined and then re-signed. Guess we'll see!
That's an option I'm sure management will consider. Bender has value has a #10/#11 player.
Window is open again ... blue skies ahead?

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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by djy2j »

I’m happy Bender had a good game. And I’m happy for those who are happy for him. I just think we should all remember that he did this against the Pels B team. A team that is also playing for absolutely nothing just like the Suns.

He’s the guy I’d give the last roster spot to next year. AFTER the Suns cleanup the rest of the roster mess that’s higher priority than Bender
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by Split T »

djy2j wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 8:34 am
I’m happy Bender had a good game. And I’m happy for those who are happy for him. I just think we should all remember that he did this against the Pels B team. A team that is also playing for absolutely nothing just like the Suns.

He’s the guy I’d give the last roster spot to next year. AFTER the Suns cleanup the rest of the roster mess that’s higher priority than Bender
I’ve been all for moving on from Bender, but his recent play has changed my mind a bit. By no means would I make sacrifices to keep him, but if he wants to stay and will take something like the bi annual exception(2 years 7 million) I’d keep him around. He’s been much more aggressive lately and at 21, he still has a lot of potential growth. Take the aggressiveness since the all star break and combine that with his shooting from last year and you’ve got a decent backup.

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LazarusLong
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by LazarusLong »

At the end of the first half, it looked like the Suns were ready to go down for the count.

Then the guys came out in the second half re-energized -- kicking ass and taking names.
It wasn't textbook defense, but shows what can happen when there's commitment to hustle/effort/chutzpah.

Aside from Bender, it would be wise to keep Crawford as a sage presence in the locker room and on the bench as the team (hopefully) starts to transition to success.
Window is open again ... blue skies ahead?

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Mori Chu
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by Mori Chu »

I have said it for years and I continue to say it. Dragan Bender is good. He is a legit NBA player who deserves to stay here and be in our rotation. I know he has big ups and downs and sometimes has those games where he just disappears. But the dude is barely 21 and has been stuck on a horrible team with completely inconsistent minutes and role, with almost nobody to help him, teach him, coach him, encourage him. He hasn't gotten good practice in the D/G-League consistently. He doesn't know his role or whether he has a future here. There's no PG here to help get him easy baskets or looks. And the team has a horrible defensive identity which minimizes the impact of Bender's otherwise very solid defensive play. We have done almost everything we possibly could to minimize his chances of success. And yet he is still showing a lot of talent and competitiveness in this little role we've given him to close out the season.

Igor shouldn't have benched him for so long to start the season. We just play better when Bender is out there. We should offer him a multi-year contract at a modest salary and hope that he takes it. Make a big pitch to the guy about how happy we are about his big improvement and how we want him to be a career Sun. etc.

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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by MightyMoog »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 9:06 am
I have said it for years and I continue to say it. Dragan Bender is good. He is a legit NBA player who deserves to stay here and be in our rotation. I know he has big ups and downs and sometimes has those games where he just disappears. But the dude is barely 21 and has been stuck on a horrible team with completely inconsistent minutes and role, with almost nobody to help him, teach him, coach him, encourage him. He hasn't gotten good practice in the D/G-League consistently. He doesn't know his role or whether he has a future here. There's no PG here to help get him easy baskets or looks. And the team has a horrible defensive identity which minimizes the impact of Bender's otherwise very solid defensive play. We have done almost everything we possibly could to minimize his chances of success. And yet he is still showing a lot of talent and competitiveness in this little role we've given him to close out the season.

Igor shouldn't have benched him for so long to start the season. We just play better when Bender is out there. We should offer him a multi-year contract at a modest salary and hope that he takes it. Make a big pitch to the guy about how happy we are about his big improvement and how we want him to be a career Sun. etc.
He does a lot of things well, but if he can't shoot the 3, especially when he's wide wide open then he's more of a liability then a help. Sad part is, it does look like he can shoot it, but either lacks the confidence, or needs a a small tweak to his mechanics. But basically when he's out there, the other team has a 5 vs 4 advantage when we're on offense.

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Nodack
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by Nodack »

Warren’s weakness was his 3pt shooting and he turned that around in one off season. I am sure Bender knows what he needs to work on.

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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by Superbone »

djy2j wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 8:34 am
I’m happy Bender had a good game. And I’m happy for those who are happy for him. I just think we should all remember that he did this against the Pels B team. A team that is also playing for absolutely nothing just like the Suns.

He’s the guy I’d give the last roster spot to next year. AFTER the Suns cleanup the rest of the roster mess that’s higher priority than Bender
A Pels B team that featured Randle who is their starting PF. Bender effectively had his number in the 2nd half and OT. The 7 blocks, many of them against Randle is nothing to sneeze at. I think Bender may just now be realizing his potential.
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by carey »

Superbone wrote:
djy2j wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 8:34 am
I’m happy Bender had a good game. And I’m happy for those who are happy for him. I just think we should all remember that he did this against the Pels B team. A team that is also playing for absolutely nothing just like the Suns.

He’s the guy I’d give the last roster spot to next year. AFTER the Suns cleanup the rest of the roster mess that’s higher priority than Bender
A Pels B team that featured Randle who is their starting PF. Bender effectively had his number in the 2nd half and OT. The 7 blocks, many of them against Randle is nothing to sneeze at. I think Bender may just now be realizing his potential.
I'd like to see Bender and Melton be a little more aggressive scoring the ball. Melton in particular. They both only had 7 shots. Meanwhile Jackson had 29 and Jamal had 21.
Go Suns!

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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by djy2j »

Superbone wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 11:21 am
djy2j wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 8:34 am
I’m happy Bender had a good game. And I’m happy for those who are happy for him. I just think we should all remember that he did this against the Pels B team. A team that is also playing for absolutely nothing just like the Suns.

He’s the guy I’d give the last roster spot to next year. AFTER the Suns cleanup the rest of the roster mess that’s higher priority than Bender
A Pels B team that featured Randle who is their starting PF. Bender effectively had his number in the 2nd half and OT. The 7 blocks, many of them against Randle is nothing to sneeze at. I think Bender may just now be realizing his potential.
Fair. But this is classic Bender. Have an eye opening game then back into hibernation. Going to have to see this consistency the final 2 games before I give him any real credit. We've been fooled before.
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by Superbone »

djy2j wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 11:40 am
Superbone wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 11:21 am
djy2j wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 8:34 am
I’m happy Bender had a good game. And I’m happy for those who are happy for him. I just think we should all remember that he did this against the Pels B team. A team that is also playing for absolutely nothing just like the Suns.

He’s the guy I’d give the last roster spot to next year. AFTER the Suns cleanup the rest of the roster mess that’s higher priority than Bender
A Pels B team that featured Randle who is their starting PF. Bender effectively had his number in the 2nd half and OT. The 7 blocks, many of them against Randle is nothing to sneeze at. I think Bender may just now be realizing his potential.
Fair. But this is classic Bender. Have an eye opening game then back into hibernation. Going to have to see this consistency the final 2 games before I give him any real credit. We've been fooled before.
That's a very good point as well.
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INFORMER
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by INFORMER »

Yeah, we saw this from Josh Jackson last season. It does nothing for me.

Dear Josh,

Please don't spend the first 60% of the season looking abysmal, only to play well when the season is virtually over, all the good players on the roster are out, and opponents are running their JV teams at us.

Sincerely,

INF
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by Split T »

He didn’t shoot this well from 3...was under 30% from 3 after the all star break last year. Over 40% this year.

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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by INFORMER »

That's fine. I'm just talking about his general level/quality of play.
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by Split T »

Gotcha...then ya he did do this last year. The improved shooting gives me hope, but we’ll see. I think we’ll keep him...I wouldn’t be upset if we moved him though. That 4th year player option is scary...9 million is a lot to commit to a guy who hasn’t been a good player yet.

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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by specialsauce »

INFORMER wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 5:45 pm
Yeah, we saw this from Josh Jackson last season. It does nothing for me.

Dear Josh,

Please don't spend the first 60% of the season looking abysmal, only to play well when the season is virtually over, all the good players on the roster are out, and opponents are running their JV teams at us.

Sincerely,

INF
This.

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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by Superbone »

He’ll just have to prove you guys wrong next season.
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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by specialsauce »

Superbone wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 9:35 pm
He’ll just have to prove you guys wrong next season.
Yeah, hopefully not like he did in summer league again.

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Re: Game Day: Pelicans (32-47) @ Suns (18-61), Fri 4/5/19

Post by Superbone »

specialsauce wrote:
Superbone wrote:
Sat Apr 06, 2019 9:35 pm
He’ll just have to prove you guys wrong next season.
Yeah, hopefully not like he did in summer league again.
I wonder if he’ll play SL. But yeah, he needs to start next season where he left off this one otherwise you guys have a right to give up on him.
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