Nearly everyone (including me), minus some home-country supporters, has been critical of Dragan Bender’s development up until this point. Most acknowledge that he’s young and was raw to begin with (and now his team sucks, which doesn’t do him any favors), but that didn’t fully excuse the anemic production and timidity on the court. What he was doing might have been fine for a later pick, but as high as he went, expectations are correspondingly higher.
But things have been improving for him as this season has gone on. He’s more aggressive, he’s playing the game a little smarter (though that was the one thing he could previously hang his hat on), and most importantly, he’s getting some FRICKIN shots to go in the FRICKIN hoop. Sometimes That’s the most important thing in the NBA, and it seems like he’s getting the hang of it.
This game, in particular, is a culmination of all of his effort. 23 points, 4 assists, 2 blocks, those last two stats are great but that first part is what we’ve all been waiting for. And he did more than just bomb a bunch of threes to get his points. He went inside, he even banged a little bit! Granted, the Nuggets bigs are kind of soft (sorry Jokic but you are one doughy dude), but that doesn’t mean they were just letting Bender score.
He’s had enough good games recently that I’m going to permanently upgrade from ever being considered a “bust”. “Disappointment” is still in the realm of possibility, but being an outright bust is no longer possible for him. Congratulations! Now tell Marquese Chriss to stop sucking because he definitely hasn’t graduated like you have.