Wow dragic

[NashDishesDimes]

Has anyone else noticed what dragic has been doing for houston? This franchise is trash..


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4507/gamelog;_ylt=AvZNCavZ7e0R12eLuKm3emT4PaB4

 

[BC867]

Back when a poll was started on this board about who would emerge as the Suns backup Point Guard this season, Telfair finished last, if I recall.

It took time, but he has become the one.

Since Steve came back from Dallas, no other Point Guard, including Dragic, had been able to fill the role successfully.

It is too bad we had to go through so many to find one who could handle it. The benefit and curse of an aging Steve Nash.

 

[sunsfan88]

Don't worry, we'll sign Dragic in free agency just like we signed Nash after we traded Steve away.

 

[Budden]

What really gets me is that, not only did we trade Dragic, but we traded Barbosa for nothing. In Dragic's case, at least we traded him a) for another quality player (in Aaron Brooks) and b) after it became clear that the Suns team makeup did not have the pieces that anyone could possibly thrive in.

The way I look at it is that the Dragic trade is a symptom of the Suns front office's complete lack of understanding of how to build a cohesive basketball team. When Dragic was in the game, he had to do everything for the team, because the bench was severely depleted with guys like Warrick and Childress, who shouldn't really be on the court ever, or with a mashup of the 1st unit's worst players and the 2nd unit's garbage. So, Dragic didn't fit in, and he played poorly, and we moved forward by getting personnel that might fit better into the new team.

When I say that the Barbosa trade irks me more than the Goran trade, it's because Barbosa was expendable on the 2009-10 Suns roster, and so the Suns brass thought that he would be expendable on a completely different team. It's clear to me that Steve Kerr understood the process of building a successful basketball team is more intricate than just filling a roster. My hat is definitely off to Alvin Gentry for finding out ways to get the most out of the Suns 2nd unit (i.e. everyone not named Nash or Hill) and the 3rd unit (everyone who will be out of the NBA in the next 2-3 years).

 

[mojorizen7]

Its too bad the Suns didnt have the foresight to scrap Nashball and hand over the car keys to this guy last season. In a conventional NBA offense he's proving to be a legit NBA PG. Not a guy you'd want to build around necessarily,but a young,talented piece of a future core of 2 or 3 players.
(sigh)

 

[Mainstreet]

It could be Houston's style of play making the PG. IMO, Lowry, Dragic and Brooks need to start to be the most effective. That seems to be the MO from the way I see it.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

He had done it multiple times as a Sun so you knew the talent was there. It just had to be brought out. Trading him for Aaron Brooks was awful.

 

[Chaplin]

What terrible memories everyone have. Dragic was HORRIBLE for a good 3 months before we traded him. Everyone that is now praising him was wanting to get rid of him. Granted, the trade wasn't great, but Dragic was hardly worth anything WHEN WE TRADED HIM. Was it a mistake? Sure, in hindsight, it was. But all you guys were completely off the Dragic bandwagon the last few months while he was here. That's a simple fact. And he WAS terrible for a while before the trade. And after the trade as well. It's only recently he finally has become a more consistently good player.

 

[slinslin]

He had done it multiple times as a Sun so you knew the talent was there. It just had to be brought out. Trading him for Aaron Brooks was awful.

Dragic was the WORST PG in the league that season and a handful of great performances that were a year in the past hardly matters in that context.

Aaron Brooks on the other hand was a proved 6th man of the year capable 20ppg scorer.

Btw Sebastian Telfair is probably having the most impressive run of games I have seen from a Suns backup PG in almost forever. If he can consistently bring that kind of effort and production we don't have to worry about our backup PG position right now.
Brooks is no great player but probably good enough at the starting PG position if he is the #4 or #5 guy on the team and paired with a strong SG.

In hindsight the trade looks bad now but you can't really blame them and I am not too worried about our PG position anyway even if we lose Nash. When was the last time a team won a championship build around a PG?

 

[Chris_Sanders]

What terrible memories everyone have. Dragic was HORRIBLE for a good 3 months before we traded him. Everyone that is now praising him was wanting to get rid of him. Granted, the trade wasn't great, but Dragic was hardly worth anything WHEN WE TRADED HIM. Was it a mistake? Sure, in hindsight, it was. But all you guys were completely off the Dragic bandwagon the last few months while he was here. That's a simple fact. And he WAS terrible for a while before the trade. And after the trade as well. It's only recently he finally has become a more consistently good player.

I was always against the trade, especially since it was just another way to dump a draft pick.

 

[AzStevenCal]

What terrible memories everyone have. Dragic was HORRIBLE for a good 3 months before we traded him. Everyone that is now praising him was wanting to get rid of him. Granted, the trade wasn't great, but Dragic was hardly worth anything WHEN WE TRADED HIM. Was it a mistake? Sure, in hindsight, it was. But all you guys were completely off the Dragic bandwagon the last few months while he was here. That's a simple fact. And he WAS terrible for a while before the trade. And after the trade as well. It's only recently he finally has become a more consistently good player.

You're right, he was horrible for us that season. Also, we were very much in the thick of a playoff race at the time.

Steve

 

[SactownSunsFan]

I was always against the trade, especially since it was just another way to dump a draft pick.

This. I thought it was God awful then, and my opinion has never waivered on the subject.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

This. I thought it was God awful then, and my opinion has never waivered on the subject.

Mine waivered slightly because Brooks had a few good games but then he was back to being the same old black hole of basketball he always is.

He also makes Nash look like a good defender.

 

[boisesuns]

What terrible memories everyone have. Dragic was HORRIBLE for a good 3 months before we traded him. Everyone that is now praising him was wanting to get rid of him. Granted, the trade wasn't great, but Dragic was hardly worth anything WHEN WE TRADED HIM. Was it a mistake? Sure, in hindsight, it was. But all you guys were completely off the Dragic bandwagon the last few months while he was here. That's a simple fact. And he WAS terrible for a while before the trade. And after the trade as well. It's only recently he finally has become a more consistently good player.

Chaplin! are you back now? Did you go away for a bit?

Anyways, good to see you back on here.

 

[AzStevenCal]

This. I thought it was God awful then, and my opinion has never waivered on the subject.

You weren't alone, a lot of people thought it was a bad trade. I wasn't one of them. Our single biggest problem that year was lack of quality play when Nash went to the bench. Dragic was just killing us for some reason. We were in the middle of a playoff battle and Brooks looked like a reasonable gamble. I still can't fault them for the effort. You have to take a gamble now and then and unfortunately, not all gambles pay off. And whether it was going to work out or not, a 2nd round pick is pretty inconsequential in the scheme of things.

Steve

 

[slinslin]

Plus you never know if Dragic would have been able to make that breakout here. He needed Lowry to get injured and maybe he needed a chane of scenery.

Not sure how he could have snapped out of the downward spiral he was in when he was here and which sent him to the bottom tier of all backup PGs.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

You weren't alone, a lot of people thought it was a bad trade. I wasn't one of them. Our single biggest problem that year was lack of quality play when Nash went to the bench. Dragic was just killing us for some reason. We were in the middle of a playoff battle and Brooks looked like a reasonable gamble. I still can't fault them for the effort. You have to take a gamble now and then and unfortunately, not all gambles pay off. And whether it was going to work out or not, a 2nd round pick is pretty inconsequential in the scheme of things.

Steve

It was Dragic and the 23rd pick (not a second round pick, which could have been Marshon Brooks) for a guy with an expiring contract who was shooting 35% from the field.

I had no problem with Dragic for Brooks straight up. Throwing in the 23rd pick is part of the same stupidity that gives this franchise very little hope for the future.

 

[slinslin]

If the Suns really wanted they could have easily bought a pick in that range on draft day.

That trade is not the reason we did not draft Brooks or whoever else.

 

[AzStevenCal]

It was Dragic and the 23rd pick (not a second round pick, which could have been Marshon Brooks) for a guy with an expiring contract who was shooting 35% from the field.

I had no problem with Dragic for Brooks straight up. Throwing in the 23rd pick is part of the same stupidity that gives this franchise very little hope for the future.

You're right, I had that wrong. I think the point still stands though, the 23rd pick in a weak draft is going to miss far more often than it hits. I don't think they threw it in as part of a plan to divest themselves of a draft pick. There was competition for Brooks and reportedly, the pick was necessary to beat out another team (Minnesota?, someone like that).

I have no problem with gambling away a late first round pick if it's done for a good reason. Until we're clearly shown otherwise, I'm going to believe they learned their lesson about giving away draft picks because of a dislike of draft picks in general.

Steve

 

[jagu]

Dragic has looked better than Lin has and for a longer period of time. No one cares though.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Dragic was the WORST PG in the league that season and a handful of great performances that were a year in the past hardly matters in that context.

Aaron Brooks on the other hand was a proved 6th man of the year capable 20ppg scorer.

Btw Sebastian Telfair is probably having the most impressive run of games I have seen from a Suns backup PG in almost forever. If he can consistently bring that kind of effort and production we don't have to worry about our backup PG position right now.
Brooks is no great player but probably good enough at the starting PG position if he is the #4 or #5 guy on the team and paired with a strong SG.

In hindsight the trade looks bad now but you can't really blame them and I am not too worried about our PG position anyway even if we lose Nash. When was the last time a team won a championship build around a PG?

I had high hopes at the beginning of the season for Telfair because I believed the Suns system was more suited for him than anything he had been in before. We are seeing a pattern. It seems to take players about half a year to sort of find their groove with the Suns system, let's call it Gentry's. He has a modified version of DAntoni's decision that includes defense. There is no way the Suns could run SSOL now with Nash at the age he is.

I am all for keeping Telfair in the fold. He seems to be a solid backup. Does he have the stuff to become a starter?

 

[mojorizen7]

Every PG who has put on a Suns uniform since Nash has been here has been either a big disappointment or just plain awful. Coincidence? I think not. You've got to ask yourself "why?"

Dragic showed flashes when put on the 2nd unit a couple yrs ago as we remember. A unit that did a really nice job of running an offense that didnt ask Dragic to be Nash,and a unit that could get some critical stops occasionally. Gentry did a nice job there. That bench got demolished and Dragic struggled.

I dont blame Nash,but only Nash can run Nashball....or Sunsball,whatever you want to call it.

Dragic can run an NBA offense. He's been doing it successfully since he left here for the most part. It doesn't matter how he got a chance to do it. Take nothing away from Dragic just because the guy in front of him got injured. Thats a silly argument too.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Every PG who has put on a Suns uniform since Nash has been here has been either a big disappointment or just plain awful. Coincidence? I think not. You've got to ask yourself "why?"

Dragic showed flashes when put on the 2nd unit a couple yrs ago as we remember. A unit that did a really nice job of running an offense that didnt ask Dragic to be Nash,and a unit that could get some critical stops occasionally. Gentry did a nice job there. That bench got demolished and Dragic struggled.

I dont blame Nash,but only Nash can run Nashball....or Sunsball,whatever you want to call it.

Dragic can run an NBA offense. He's been doing it successfully since he left here for the most part. It doesn't matter how he got a chance to do it. Take nothing away from Dragic just because the guy in front of him got injured. Thats a silly argument too.

You're missing something here Mojo. The Dragic that is playing today is simply not the same guy that played here last season. Even if "Nashball" was part of the equation, how do you explain the lackluster effort on defense? My guess, he became convinced that he would be stuck for years behind Nash and decided to play his way out of town. And it wasn't just his play with the backups that had declined, he was a shadow of his current self even when playing with the starters. I had a friend that started calling him Goran Hedake Dragic and the nickname seemed appropriate.

Steve

 

[mojorizen7]

You're missing something here Mojo.

Thats definately possible. I've missed alot lately.... on purpose

The Dragic that is playing today is simply not the same guy that played here last season. Even if "Nashball" was part of the equation, how do you explain the lackluster effort on defense? My guess, he became convinced that he would be stuck for years behind Nash and decided to play his way out of town. And it wasn't just his play with the backups that had declined, he was a shadow of his current self even when playing with the starters.

I might feel and play the same way if i was a young confident PG being asked to back up Steve Nash,orchestrate every point that's scored and not have the uncanny ball skills to do what Nash does....just sayin.

My point was that the difference is... its the offense that's been run here for years. Its almost like replacing an NFL QB like Payton Manning....or even Kurt Warner. Its more than just replacing or supplimenting with talent.....some guys are just unique. Your entire offensive dynamic is predicated on a single player. You can't backup Nash because Nash IS the offense and NO ONE can do what he does or even shadow what he does. Some may disagree,but i feel that they just don't have a clue as to what Nash really means to an NBA offense dynamically....one of a kind.

But not necessarily ideal when trying to put talent around them in the traditional way when that unique talent gets old.

Let go.

 

[Cheesebeef]

it really kinda sucks that we had the PG of the future on the team and instead of rebuilding with a really good young piece, we decided to ride trade him for a shot at 8 seed glory which we didn't get... and another year of 8 seed glory which we might not get...