Great job for developing players

[zweistein]

I don't know where can I write this, so I will open new thread.
As you know, Dragic is now playing for Slovenia national team, which will play at Eurobasket. He is second playmaker (first is Udrih) of team.
First, Slovenia have some friendly matches. In first match I couldn't believe how confidence Dragic is. How did Suns do that??? He can shooting from almost every position, and not just shooting, he can made shoots too. He play very smart and his transition and defense is awesome (he was great defender already), but now he don't do stupid fouls in defence. How can one player develop so much in one season??? You probably have one of the best staff in NBA and world.

Is other player, Lopez or something, developing so fast, too? Because I watch two or three games in start of previous season, and to be honest, they (Dragic and Lopez) both suck.

For future, please pick more Slovenian players (Dragic's brother,19) on draft because then our national team will be unbeatable

If you want, I will inform you about Dragic's stats when Eurobasket begin.

Hello from Slovenia!

 

[Mainstreet]

Dragic was tentative as a rookie in his first season with the Suns but he showed flashes of being able to play in the NBA. I think a couple of things really helped his development. He was given significant playing time by coach Alvin Gentry and he was encouraged to be aggressive on offense. Also he was allowed to play through some mistakes. I would be interested in hearing how Dragic plays in Eurobasket.

In regard to Lopez, well I wish I had seen more development in his first season. He will need to improve his play vastly to be effective. I think most Suns fans were underwhelmed when the Suns drafted him. IMO, nothing much has changed.

 

[shazaam6]

Video is good also, if anyone can find some to post.

 

[Superbone]

Thanks, zweistein. I'd love to hear about Dragic's Eurobasket stats.

 

[Errntknght]

I'd like to see Dragic's Euro stats, too... but, to tell the truth I'd rather he wasn't playing. The NBA season is such a long grind most players need a few month break from it to keep their mental edge sharp.

Dragic's success appears that it will controlled by his level of confidence and I'm not sure the Suns had a whole lot to do with that - he's not in a great spot backing up Steve Nash, in whom the coaches have great confidence. But he did stick an entire NBA season and showed enough to be welcomed back, so that probably gave his confidence a boost. The next step for him will be playing with confidence game in and game out - particularly against the better teams. Last year he didn't get on floor much against the toughest opponents and he didn't exactly sparkle when he did. Thats fairly common for rookies but some never do get past it... we'll have to see what happens with Dragic. Naturally, we all hope he does get over the hump but there is a great deal of concern about whether he will or not.

 

[Griffin]

But he did stick an entire NBA season and showed enough to be welcomed back, so that probably gave his confidence a boost.

Not to suggest that Dragic didn't show some progress last year, but Kerr did give him a three-year guaranteed contract at close to $2M per season, so he would have been back regardless.

 

[leclerc]

Nice to hear you're impressed, zweinstein!

I hope the European championship will be a confidence booster for Dragic and get him ready for training camp.

I think it's okay for young healthy players to play on national teams. 6-7 year NBA veterans need to get a rest though.

 

[Covert Rain]

Dragic was tentative as a rookie in his first season with the Suns but he showed flashes of being able to play in the NBA. I think a couple of things really helped his development. He was given significant playing time by coach Alvin Gentry and he was encouraged to be aggressive on offense. Also he was allowed to play through some mistakes. I would be interested in hearing how Dragic plays in Eurobasket.

In regard to Lopez, well I wish I had seen more development in his first season. He will need to improve his play vastly to be effective. I think most Suns fans were underwhelmed when the Suns drafted him. IMO, nothing much has changed.

My guess is that the Suns probably don't care if he plays in the Euro league so he gets court time. I do see how he could look better going back over there though with the level of competition being higher over here. That makes sense.

Lopez?!?! Don't get me started on that stiff. I hope the light switch turns on with that guy but I am not holding my breath.

 

[Mainstreet]

Maybe if Robin gets a haircut like his brother Brook, the Suns might be able to pull a switch and no one would be the wiser... except for New Jersey.

 

[Superbone]

Dragic didn't play well this summer which is not a good sign of progress IMO.

That's not exactly true. Dragic had a few really good games and then some clunkers. He came on at the end. I'd say he was up and down this summer.

 

[Covert Rain]

That's not exactly true. Dragic had a few really good games and then some clunkers. He came on at the end. I'd say he was up and down this summer.

I guess I should rephrase that. Dragic was not horrible but let's not get excited over summer league play anyway. After all Tucker/Strawberry looked good in summer leagues before and well.....they are not burning it up in the NBA.

I will get excited about Dragic when he is playing in NBA games and actually does something.

 

[95pro]

until they(rolo & gd) actually produce consistently in the nba, i'll get excited about something. right now, eh.

 

[Cheesewater]

until they(rolo & gd) actually produce consistently in the nba, i'll get excited about something. right now, eh.

I think you want to rephrase that...

You're not really saying that you'll get excited UNTIL they produce are you? You mean WHEN they produce, right?

I think it's great to get excited about the possibilities when someone shows promise. If even just one game. There's so much negativity to be had, I should hope ANY small victory would be celebrated.

 

[leclerc]

I'm with you on that Cheesewater. I used to get excited when Barbosa had a good game. Last year I really rooted for Dragic to play well the few minutes he got.

Same thing this year except there's more dudes to root for! Firstly Dragic and Clark then Dudley and Frye (I expect them both to play well regularly). Even Lopez, though I don't expect too much from him. I'll still look for the little things and hope he improves over the season!



BTW zweistein, where do you read news about Eurobasket? I've not been able to find any good sites. It would be great if you could post some updates about Dragic!

 

[Ollie]

For Eurobasket related news and stats:

http://www.eurobasket2009.org/en/ (official website)
http://www.eurobasket.com/2009.asp

Slovenian basketball federation: http://www.kzs-zveza.si/kzs/

Dragic info page: http://server4.mbt.lt/prod/kzs/inde...1c2VhY3Rpb249cGxheWVycy5tYWluJnQ9MjAxJnA9MTA=

And of course you will probably be able to watch the games on teh internets (links: http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1880761&postcount=2)

 

[leclerc]

Thanks Ollie. I don't know if I can find an application to stream tv programs for Linux though, maybe through VLC... Due to the fact that I live in Norway I can't stream them live cause it's in the middle of the night. Wish there was some way to download games legally but for now I'll just rely on torrents.

Go Suns!! And go Slovenia!

 

[zweistein]

Hi!
I said that I would inform you how Dragic's game develop.
Firstly I must say that the stats on eurobasket will be nonsense, because in Europe is priority teamwork, in NBA is more individuals.This is especcially in Slovenia, where we have stupid coach, who dissmissed Sasha Vujacic because he shot every time he was "more or less alone".

Dragic looks really well at first, but then he was little lost. OK, he still played perfect defense, but in transition he wasn't so good after few games. He started to play the game he played last year, when he scored most of his points with layups or free throws. Maybe this is because his minutes drop to 10-15 per game, but in last game vs. Germany he was again superb (looks like he need more minutes to develop his game, he will have a lot minutes in Eurobasket, because Beno Udrih won't go with team because of injury)(last game vs.Germany: 22 minutes, 12 points, FG:4/7, 3P:2/2, FT:2/2, REB:3, ASS:4, STEALS:1, TURNOVERS:1).

CONCLUSION:
I must say, in defense, in pair with good SG defender (that should be Vujacic), opponent team have a lot of trouble to go even over half court, his presing is very good, and he can good avoid block.
In offense, he can shoot on every position, but you never know what to expect with his game vision, and passing skills. He is incostant on these elements.

That was last pre-game on schedule, now, 7.9.2009, Slovenia start first real game

SCHEDULE: (time in Europe:GMT+01:00, this mean London time +1 hour)
7.9. SLO vs. GB (time: 18.15)
8.9. SLO vs. SERBIA (18.15)
9.9. SLO vs. SPAIN (18.15)

 

[binkar]

Thanks zweistein. Your updates are very appreciated. Being that this time of year there isn't much basketball in the United States, it is nice to get as much basketball (specifically Suns related) information as possible. Again, your information is appreciated so please keep them coming!

 

[Mainstreet]

Dragic looks really well at first, but then he was little lost. OK, he still played perfect defense, but in transition he wasn't so good after few games.

I think Dragic will get enough minutes with the Suns with Gentry as head coach. The Suns will definitely be pushing the tempo and wanting Dragic to do so as well. He seemed to improve his court vision and passing at the end of last season along with developing his outside shot. I think he will relax more when he returns to the Suns. Gentry will definitely be encouraging him to play with confidence.

Thanks for the update. It is appreciated.

 

[Griffin]

With both Beno Udrih and Sasha Vujacic out with injuries, Dragic is now officially the primary backup point guard for the Slovenian national team behind starter Jaka Lakovic. Dragic played a total of 14 minutes in the first tournament game, coming off the bench. I guess if both Udrih and Vujacic were available, Dragic would have been the fourth-string point guard on the Slovenian team.

Goran Dragic is getting practice at backing up a veteran point guard.

Even with Sasha Vujacic getting cut after a knee injury squabble and Beno Udrih likely out for the tournament after tweaking his knee, the Suns sophomore is coming off the bench for his Slovenian national team at the European Championships in Warsaw.

With 31-year-old Euroleague standout Jaka Lakovic starting at point, Dragic only played 14 minutes Monday in Slovenia's 72-59 victory against Pops Mensah-Bonsu's and ex-Sun Robert Archibald's Great Britain team.

Dragic took one shot, missing a 3-pointer, and tallied two rebounds, one assist and two turnovers (both on passes in the game's final seconds of mop-up duty). He did start the second half, playing alongside Lakovic after Slovenia led by only two at the half. Slovenia was up four when he left late in the third quarter and Dragic did not return until he replaced Lakovic with 2:20 to go in the game and a 15-point lead.

Slovenia figured to have its toughest group game Wednesday against Spain, which has NBA names Marc and Pau Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, Juan Carlos Navarro, Raul Lopez and Jorge Garbajosa. And that Ricky Rubio fella. But Spain lost today to Nenad Krstic-led Serbia, which Slovenia plays Tuesday.

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/62206

 

[zweistein]

"""

With both Beno Udrih and Sasha Vujacic out with injuries, Dragic is now officially the primary backup point guard for the Slovenian national team behind starter Jaka Lakovic. Dragic played a total of 14 minutes in the first tournament game, coming off the bench. I guess if both Udrih and Vujacic were available, Dragic would have been the fourth-string point guard on the Slovenian team."""



If Slovenia had a full squad (Vujacic, Udrih, Nesterovic, Becirovic-MVP of Euroleague), Dragic would still play the same. I guess that he will play 22-25 minutes per game average, but he played less yesterday because of a bad game. We don't have first, second,... players on position, but every game we change starting 5.

I think that this was the worst game Dragic ever played in his carrer.
He couldn't handle ball, he could't even shoot, he vas really bad yesterday.
But I think he could explode today, because Serbia is alergic to fast game, so this is his chance.

Do you, in America, have live maches on TV? And, on what time are they?

 

[LV-Suns]

If Slovenia had a full squad (Vujacic, Udrih, Nesterovic, Becirovic-MVP of Euroleague), Dragic would still play the same. I guess that he will play 22-25 minutes per game average, but he played less yesterday because of a bad game. We don't have first, second,... players on position, but every game we change starting 5.

I think that this was the worst game Dragic ever played in his carrer.
He couldn't handle ball, he could't even shoot, he vas really bad yesterday.
But I think he could explode today, because Serbia is alergic to fast game, so this is his chance.

Do you, in America, have live maches on TV? And, on what time are they?

No, we don't get the Eurobasket games on TV here. ESPN usually broadcasts bigger tournaments though.

 

[Griffin]

Dragic bounced back in the second game with 16 points (6-10 fg), 4 rebounds and 2 steals in 26 minutes off the bench. 0 assists though to 3 turnovers.

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/62287

 

[zweistein]

Dragic had a pretty good game yesterday, but he can still play better. He don't have assists, so thanks to God he score points when if was neccesary (most of them by counter attack).
Most of game he played SG, and succesfully covered opponent's dangerous 3-point shotters. In offense he still makes to many "ball handling mistakes", but with his speed and quickness
this is totaly normal. He played PG when opponent started to play very aggressive defense, and I think he give most of his points at that time

Dragic have some problems with his free throws (3/6), and 3-point (1/4), but his Field goals (6/9) was still good. He had 4 rebounds, and 2 nasty steals. He have 3 turnovers and 0 assists, and this VERY bad for 26 minutes.

Today he play against Ricky Rubio, and I think Dragic is in this moment bettter than Rubio. I think that he will increase his form game by game.

 

[JoRain]

yeah, though Slovenia lost to Spain in overtime (90 - 84), but Dragic was the best player for Slovenia with 19 points. He also had 6 steals, 3 rebounds, a block and assist. the guy shoot pretty good % too.
Rubio wasn't that bad too with 9 points, 3 steals and 2 assists, though he had 5 turnovers and fouled out.