Maccabi Teddy Tel Aviv: Dragan Bender
Bender returns to the ANGT for a second time – this time with a new team. He played for Cedevita Zagreb at Belgrade last season and had a huge third-place game against Mega Vizura Belgrade with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks for a performance index rating of 34. For the Belgrade tournament, he averaged 6.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.4 blocks. The versatile 2.12-meter forward had a huge U18 European Championship for third-place Croatia, averaging 14.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.2 blocks to make the All-Tournament Team. Bender had 34 points and 14 rebounds vs. Lithuania and just missed triple-doubles against Latvia and Greece. There’s really not much Bender can’t do. He’s a great rebounder and passer, he can shoot from outside and drive to the lane. Bender has been playing on loan this season for Israeli second division team Ironi Ramat Gan, where he is averaging 10.7 points, 8.3 points, 2.7 assists and 1.2 blocks.