Watching the game I tried to pay close attention to Len and Bender a lot while they were on the court, primarily Bender on the offensive end and Len on the defensive and Len looked better than I've seen him play as a Sun. I know it's early but he's been picking up fewer dumb fouls which was an issue he's had since entering the league. He's not a great center or above average but I think he is worth a fair contract in between the $6-8 million dollar range for 4 years and I suspect he'll get that this offseason if he can keep up how he's been playing. What sucks for him is that Chandler seems rejuvenated now with Triano coaching because with how Chandler has played I don't see Len taking the starting spot but we're getting about 45 minutes of quality center play from the 2 of them. Each are guilty of taking a couple plays off a game but at this point that't not surprising with how old Chandler is and also how it takes Len a play or two to get into the flow of the game when he first enters.
Bender on the other hand looks really good defensively but still seems to struggle on offense some. I'd be fine with him staying out by the 3 point line if he was better at setting screens and picks that allow him to help team mates move without the ball but it seemed when players would get near him, trying to get a screen, he'd start moving like the offense was rotating in a triangle sort of a formation. I wonder how much of his play has to do with a language barrier. I know he speaks English but it's not his first language and he's getting used to the NBA game and an actual offensive system. Since he seems to understand his role defensively I'm not nearly as worried about him being a bust. Defense usually comes secondary but with Bender it's come first. I don't know how many saw Favors manhandling Bender though, I think he only got called for doing that once, but when Bender was guarding him in the post off the ball, Favors was just bullying him. That might have gotten in his head some and caused him to be less aggressive offensively against him or at the least kept him out of the post himself. It didn't stop his defense though, which is a plus. He has confidence on that end of the floor but he needs to put on some more muscle so he doesn't get tossed around i fthe Suns hope he'll be a Center down the line fro
