SunsFanSSOL wrote:bwgood77 wrote:gaspar wrote:**** Goran Dragic. I'm so done with him.
Yeah we get it. We all understand you and Sunsfanssol hate him.
I don't hate him, I just (unpopular opinion incoming) prefer Bledsoe. I think the 2 PG system is gimmicky and if we're going to have to choose between the two, I choose Bledsoe. I know that Dragic is inexplicably popular in Phoenix, similarly to how Nash was, except Nash was 10x the player Dragic is, and he had a personality, something Dragic lacks. If I profess any criticism of Dragic it's probably inspired by my observation that he is seemingly immune to any criticism by Suns fans whereas Bledsoe is openly critiqued. Bledsoe just had a triple double and played insane defense, yet is not receiving nearly the same amount of praise Dragic would receive had he done the same. I think this situation is similar to when we had Amare and Nash. Both were obviously great players, but it was Amare who fans often directed their ire to while Nash was impervious to negative comments despite having flaws.
I hear ya. I think they work well together, but it isn't something you want to do 100% of the time, and it works well if one of them can always be in the game, but half the time one of them is playing with a pure shooting guard. I don't think the two point guard system should necessarily be used 100% of the time, and you have to have two guys who don't mind playing off the ball at times. It worked well last year and recently because when one sits, the other guy runs everything.
I obviously prefer the athleticism of Bledsoe, but I'm not sure about his basketball iq and decision making at times (leading to tons of turnovers at times). Dragic seems to be the smarter craftier player, but obviously he can't do everything Bledsoe can, particularly on defense.
I like the system now, and I think Dragic should be re-signed, even if it's only to keep him as an asset for later....we shouldn't let him walk for nothing. If Bledsoe is just going through growing pains and his iq and turnovers work themselves out over time, and he proves he can stay healthy, it could make sense to trade Dragic to upgrade elsewhere (it sounds like it makes perfect sense but you never know who will trade what and who wants or needs a point guard...not many teams). I don't think he holds a nearly as much trade value now as an impending free agent though.
Even if the turnovers don't improve much, Bledsoe is still probably the choice (if you had to make one) if he can stay healthy, because of his age, athleticism and potential upside.
I don't know we really need to make a choice though or if we would or could ever get equal value in a trade and whether that would hurt chemistry.
For the record, I think Amare took way too much criticism (and still does). Look at the rest of his draft class. I don't think more than maybe one or two guys from that top 10 are in the league anymore.
Early unexpected success can skew perception and give people unrealistic expectations which is kind of what has also happened with this team and Hornacek. We exceeded expectations by so much last year that now people complain and throw blame everywhere if we lose or have growing pains, whether it be Hornacek, Dragic, or whoever else.
This happened with D'Antoni too, though he certainly had his faults. Sometimes people forget to remember that the team and SSOL era probably never takes place if he wasn't there.
And by the way, Dragic and Nash's numbers at the age of 27 were extremely similar, and as a matter of fact, Dragic had the higher PER. It wasn't until he played with D'Antoni in the SSOL system when his numbers improved.
Here are their numbers side by side at the age of 27.
http://bkref.com/tiny/tgsdL
