NBA Comparison: Dragan Bender

Strengths: Versatile forward with a guard skill set … Excellent size and length … Has unique coordination for a player of his size and age … Great body control … Has rare versatility and has been used in four positions, from shooting guard to even center due to his size and intangibles … Can do just about everything on the floor … Dribbles like a guard and runs the floor like a wing … Great feel for the game … Has point forward potential … Excellent basketball I.Q … Very good ball handler for a player of his size, can dribble with either hand … Great touch around the basket … Excellent shooter from the 3-point line … Very good in Spot Up and Catch and Shoot situations … Moves well around screens to get open for a shoot … Has an interesting Pull up game and although his shooting release isn’t that high he can shoot over shorter opponents … Very good free throw shooter … A rare case of a player who can play the Pick and Roll either as the ball handler or as the screener … Very Good in Pop Out actions after he sets a screen on the ball … He is also very good on Short roll situations, since he can either shoot or find the open teammate … Has good court vision … Great passer, he can see different angles and be really creative at times … Very good passer on the move … Good defensive rebounder … Very good on the open floor either as the ball handler or filling the lanes … Likes to take the rebound and starting the break … He can have at least a couple of coast to coast plays in every game thanks to his skill set … Smooth and fluid athlete, runs the floor well and can finish plays at the basket with finesse, utilizing the Euro-step, which is made more impressive considering his size … Uses his length on defense … Knows how to cover the passing lanes on defense and make steals … Rim protector, who takes advantage of his length and timing to make a lot of blocks …

Weasknesses:  Has a really thin frame … Narrow shoulders, makes it more difficult to bulk up in the future … His hips are also narrow … Lacks elite explosiveness … Not fast enough for a wing and not strong enough for a big … Struggles against physical play due to his frame … Can be too emotional at times, allowing the moment to get the best of him with emotional swings … He doesn’t often take over games as much as he should against inferior competition… Doesn’t really have a true position, which for now is uncertain if it will be a negative in this non-positional era … Still needs some work in Pick and Roll situations as the ball handler … It’s more than obvious that he prefers to either Pop Out or make the short roll after he sets a screen … Has major problems finishing through contact … He has a tendency to force things on offense … His basketball I.Q is exposed at times, since he tries to do things or make passes that either aren’t there … He is a streaky shooter for now … His Post up game needs a lot of work … Can’t really take advantage of any mismatch on offense against a shorter opponent, since he is not strong enough to do it … He must learn to finish plays harder and not just use finesse … His shooting selection can be a little erratic at times … He could be more active on the offensive boards and put pressure on defense … He depends too much on his length on rebounding and has the tendency to forget to box out… Average lateral quickness… Not strong enough to defend on the post … Can’t really bang bodies due to frame, he can be bullied by stronger, more physical opponents … Has problems chasing wing players around screens … He gambles on defense or be a step too slow on defensive rotations …

Stefanos Makris 10/17/20