Five signs this season has been a failure
By Adam Maynes
Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender: Busts? Or were they never going to be that good?
To be “two years away from being two years away” would mean that as Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss‘ sophomore NBA seasons come to a close, that they are about halfway towards finally proving just how good they can be in their primes.
Or how mediocre.
Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender have not taken any serious strides towards proving their worth as top-8 picks. If they were both two years away from being two years away then they are still two years away, but that’s working under the assumption that they were ever actually only four years away.
Neither have been consistent for any stretch of time this season, Bender literally disappears while on the court – recently being mentioned as someone who may have already checked out, not something you want to notice about a player who has struggled this season and needs these final games to prove that he has turned a legitimate corner in his career – and Marquese Chriss hasn’t played any better this season than last, in many ways even taking a step back, while his negative attitude and constant complaining have both gotten him in trouble and taken him completely out of games.
But that’s just two of the team’s young players who needed to take a step forward and never did.
Alex Len was finally handed the reins of the starting center position while Tyson Chandler was essentially shut down for a neck issue, and yet Len has shown zero offensive motivation. Tyler Ulis has had a nice few games at the end of March, but over the course of the season has looked absolutely terrible and nowhere near the quality of a backup point guard a team looking to eventually compete would want.
In the end though, Chriss and Bender’s lack of an honest and obvious step forward this season is disconcerting. While showing flashes on occasion, neither made too big of an impact, even with starters minutes. Hopefully they each take their summer time serious and add aspects to their game that makes them hard to give up on, because at the moment neither appears to be a lock for the 2018-19 roster, and should either be moved, not too many fans will be all that disappointed.