So far this season, Dragan Bender has attempted 232 shots. 161 of those, or 69%, have been three-pointers. I feel like he’s supposed to have an all-around scoring game, but he’s playing like he’s strictly a three-point specialist right now. And I don’t know if I should blame the coaching, the teammates, Bender himself, or the people of Croatia.
For reference, three-point gunners like Ryan Anderson, Davis Bertans, Patrick Patterson, and Zhou Qi (?????) also take around 70% of their shots from thre three-zone. But those guys are well aware of their limitations scoring inside, or, in the case of Anderson and Qi, they play for the Rockets and aren’t allowed to shoot any other shots. Bender hasn’t been in the league long enough for him to know with certainty that he’s incapable of scoring in the paint.
That is why I’ve started a new Twitter campaign that everybody should be using when they tweet stuff: #ForceFeedBenderPostTouches . There is a secondary hashtag that you can use as well: #DraganBenderIsNotJustAThreePointSpecialist