I can't speak for anyone else. But in my case, there were several reasons I have been more patient with Bender than Chriss. Bender seems to have much better defensive and rebounding instincts than Chriss, according to the eye test. Bender has much longer arms, which help him bother shots, and he just hustles much more and stays much more active on D than Chriss ever did. Also, Chris had a bad attitude. Bender is too passive, but I'd rather try to fix a passive player who plays within himself than a guy who is too much of a hothead and won't listen. Lastly Bender has a much better 3-point shot than Chriss. His form and fundamentals on his shot just seem so much better.specialsauce wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 8:20 pmDoes race play a role in why people were so quick to give up on Chriss but refuse to give up on Bender? Because he is a gentle, soft-spoken white guy?
Ultimately I suspect you could show me stats that contradict some of the above, but when I have watched both of the young bigs play, I saw more raw material from Bender that I thought was worth cultivating. It felt like Bender just needed time to get comfortable and more confident, and that once he grew into the game and into his body, he would be a really valuable role player for us. I still think he can do that, but his summer league and preseason have been dreadful.
He must have seen my post.