Fanster: The Dragic Saga

JohnVancouver · Post #1 » by **JohnVancouver** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:52 pm

http://phoenix.fanster.com/2008/12/09/t ... agic-saga/

--- I haven't been able to see enough games this year due to cable carrier fail; what's the real read on Dragic, divorcing the hype Kerr and the FO put out. Given his contract amount and 4-year term, we've got the lad for the next while. Any signs he'll turn into a player?

Post #2 » by **rsavaj** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:53 pm

He's got good court vision, but he can't shoot, he can't finish, and as of now, he can't hold on to the ball under minimal pressure.

Oh, and he looks like he's 12.

pidi · Post #3 » by **pidi** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:38 pm

yah, he realy looks like he´s 12... haha
that put a smile on my face... haha

TheMoochinator · Post #4 » by **TheMoochinator** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:08 pm

Very similar to what Rsavaj said.

He has good court vision and you can see that he has the ability to be a special passer. He is very good at getting a hand on the ball and getting steals and has the ability to penetrate. But he has poor shooting and finishing abilities as of right now and is being hounded by everyone who guards him cause he hasnt shown that he'll punish you offensively.

It's obvious he's very young and having trouble adapting to the NBA game but I think in some time he can prove to be a solid role player as he obviously has some special abilities.

Phoenix1977 · Post #5 » by **Phoenix1977** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:11 pm

Well he's about to get all of the PG minutes...so he better figure it out QUICKLY.

TXSun · Post #6 » by **TXSun** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:58 am

unfortunately Dragic has picked up the early nickname of "tragic dragic". This should sum it up for you.

garrick · Post #7 » by **garrick** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:00 am

He needs to get stronger so he can finish at the rim, the dude has the thinnest arms in the NBA. He may have been able to do it it Europe but over here the players are stronger and more athletic.

I don't know why the Phoenix FO overlooked his poor ball handling abilities because even I with the limited amount of footage I was able to gleam over the internet noticed that he wasn't such a great ball handler.
Our scouts used to be the best in the business but it looks like we've degressed somewhat.

Rasho Brezec · Post #8 » by **Rasho Brezec** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:28 pm

When Kerr was trying to bring him to the Suns, I was saying he'd be better off staying here in Europe for at least one more year, but I was content with it after seeing how much confidence your front office had in him and he almost had guaranteed playing time. But as of right now, I'd rather see him in D-League to get acclimated to different playing style and get a lot of playing time.

His biggest problem is that he's scared. But he's always been like that. Last year he was struggling here with Union Olimpija when he had to come off the bench. He really lacks confidence, that's why he can't finish at the rim and that's why his ballhandling is so poor, because opponent guards sense that and put more pressure on him. Heck, even his defense is atrocious, and that was one of his advantages. Don't expect much from him this year, just hope he improves until next season.

BurningHeart · Post #9 » by **BurningHeart** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:38 pm

I'd rather him get his chops here than spend one more year in Europe, because one more year in Europe isn't going to help him against NBA competition and he'd have the same problem next year.

Rasho Brezec · Post #10 » by **Rasho Brezec** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 1:05 pm

BurningHeart wrote:I'd rather him get his chops here than spend one more year in Europe, because one more year in Europe isn't going to help him against NBA competition and he'd have the same problem next year.

Not really. He'd be far more prepared to play after one year with Tau Ceramica, one of the best European clubs, playing in Euroleague and Spanish League - best league in Europe - and being coached by one of the best coaches in the world, Dusko Ivanovic. It certainly beats coming to the NBA out of a year playing in top-class basketball organization than playing on a sub-par team in Union Olimpija with sub-par coaching staff.

b-ball forever · Post #11 » by **b-ball forever** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:55 pm

He's got what it takes to become a solid backup for Nash that plays hard D and creates, but he needs to work on his offensive fundamentals bigtime.

The reason he's been such a turnover machine for awhile now is cuz he dribbles the ball from way too high off the floor.
I'm surprised none of his coaches ever taught him how to dribble properly with his hands lower down. I mean even guys who pickup b-ball know that bouncing the ball so high up makes you a much easier target for a ballhawk, since the guy won't have to reach too low to get the steal.

His release isn't as bad as it used to be, but he still needs put in a ton of work on his jumpshooting in practice so that he can knock down open shots consistantly (which he hasn't been doing at all so far).

Sending him to the D-League so that he gets big playtime, learns to play with more confidence, and gets to practice taking lotsa jumpshots woulda been a good idea if we didn't make the recent trade... but now that Singletary's gone the only backup PG options we have are Dragic and Barbs, and we lost Diaw's playmking too, so sending Dragic to the D-League doesn't look like a good idea anymore.

He was bitchin bout not getting enuf playtime not too long ago, so now that he'll get it he's just gonna have to suck it up, play hard and spend more time working on improving his weaknesses.

Rasho Brezec · Post #12 » by **Rasho Brezec** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:06 pm

b-ball forever wrote:He was bitchin bout not getting enuf playtime not too long ago, so now that he'll get it he's just gonna have to suck it up, play hard and spend more time working on improving his weaknesses.

Lol, what? Shaq should smack him. Got a link for that?

Post #13 » by **rsavaj** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:09 pm

He had a decent game last night. 5 nice dimes, he made some good reads.

Still not nearly as good as Sergio though.

b-ball forever · Post #14 » by **b-ball forever** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:49 pm

Rasho Brezec wrote:
b-ball forever wrote:He was bitchin bout not getting enuf playtime not too long ago, so now that he'll get it he's just gonna have to suck it up, play hard and spend more time working on improving his weaknesses.

Lol, what? Shaq should smack him. Got a link for that?

Too lazy to look for the link.

But I remember reading around a week or so ago that Dragic was worried about losing the backup PG role to Singletary since he felt that he needed to get consistant playtime to adjust to the NBA.

GaliSun · Post #15 » by **GaliSun** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:04 pm

I posted this in another thread

GaliSun wrote:
I've watched several Dragic games past year and sure he's not bad.
Hyped in Europe because he is a tall PG, great pentrator and finisher off balance,great lateral quickness,long arms and active hands, above-average court awareness and IQ, and acceptable mid-range stroke.

Reading things like he's Tony Parker with D or crap like that made me cry.
He has the tools to become a capable starter in the NBA, or maybe more(I don't count on it),but he's really far far away from putting it all together.

Nash' backup right away in his rookie year? Gosh, he was going to be backup or 3d string PG in the spanish league after a good (not great) season in the adriatic league.

Time please, youngster in a new world, new language, new game.