Phx-Suns.Net

bajanguy008 wrote:First game of EuroBasket for Croatia and it is a win. Only 15mins for Bender though with just 2 FGA for a 2pt , 1reb game . Bojan Bogdanovic and Saric seem to be who everything is going through on offense.

Superbone wrote:

bajanguy008 wrote:First game of EuroBasket for Croatia and it is a win. Only 15mins for Bender though with just 2 FGA for a 2pt , 1reb game . Bojan Bogdanovic and Saric seem to be who everything is going through on offense.

Bojan or Bogdan?

bajanguy008 wrote:Bazz highlights is from him dropping 30pts though on Porzee (18pts) and Latvia today

bajanguy008 wrote:

Superbone wrote:

bajanguy008 wrote:First game of EuroBasket for Croatia and it is a win. Only 15mins for Bender though with just 2 FGA for a 2pt , 1reb game . Bojan Bogdanovic and Saric seem to be who everything is going through on offense.

Bojan or Bogdan?

It's Bojan who was on the Nets then Wizards late last season. he was the top scorer for Croatia during the Olympics. I thought about posting the Bogdan (Serbia) stats but didn't want to put it in the Suns News thread lol. Bazz highlights is from him dropping 30pts though on Porzee (18pts) and Latvia today

bajanguy008 wrote:What I didn't notice in the other vid was the defenders. The fact that it is mostly Danny Green and Kyle Anderson , it is fun just for a lil moment to think of Us beating up on Spurs

The FIBA Eurobasket tournament is under way and there are a number of intriguing storylines to watch.

Obviously #1 for Phoenix Suns fans is Dragan Bender:

Bender's stat line for the Croatia's first tilt against Hungary was underwhelming. 2 points on 1/2 shooting 1 rebound in 15 minutes off the bench.

But as is the case with many of Bender's games, his impact was far more than that. Case and point, after playing just 5 minutes in the first half and not at all in the third quarter, heavily favored Croatia found itself down 53-52 heading into the fourth.

Bender's return immediately improved Croatia on defense as he altered a number of shots, switched onto shorter guards causing two turnovers because of it and all around blanketed the Hungary offense. In fact, Hungary scored just 5 points the entire fourth quarter that Bender played and Croatia pulled away winning by 9.

On the offensive end, Bender had a nice give-and-go with Saric for his only 2 point attempt, and outside of that, it was Bogdanovic and Saric who would make one pass or less and then throw up a contested shot every time down the court. It was a bit horrifying to watch from a pure basketball perspective.

In the end, if you just look at the box score it would appear Bender continues to struggle and had very little impact on the first game of the 2017 FIBA tournament. However, the reality is the Dragan was finally unleashed in the 4th quarter and shined in more areas than one!

Cap wrote:That's kind of what you saw in his season with us. His ORPM was crap, as you'd expect given his shooting stats, but his DRPM was nearly league average, which is remarkable for an 18-year-old on a crappy defensive team.

Superbone wrote:And thanks for the highlights! Devin looking smooth!

The Bobster wrote:

In2ition wrote:Maybe I'm a little sensitive to this stuff, but what's up with all the Booker hate this summer?

https://fansided.com/2017/09/01/premium ... a-players/

The article you link to sums it up pretty well - "He’s also a bad defender, essentially a league-average 3-point shooter and a fairly inefficient volume scorer"

Until he becomes a more efficient scorer and adds other things to his game (average defense would be a nice start), he won't be a great player.

JCSunsfan wrote:

The Bobster wrote:

In2ition wrote:Maybe I'm a little sensitive to this stuff, but what's up with all the Booker hate this summer?

https://fansided.com/2017/09/01/premium ... a-players/

The article you link to sums it up pretty well - "He’s also a bad defender, essentially a league-average 3-point shooter and a fairly inefficient volume scorer"

Until he becomes a more efficient scorer and adds other things to his game (average defense would be a nice start), he won't be a great player.

This is just guys looking at overall stats. He shot .200 from the three in October, .370 in November, and .303 in December. Remember the foot issue that he played through? Then he shot .444, .419, and .351. in Jan through March. He did the last part as virtually the only offensive threat on the team. Other players do not think Devin Booker is average. Its only the number geeks who are not actually watching games.

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:Do the Suns need a combo guard?