Player Profile: Goran Dragić
“It might extend Steve’s career five or six years if Dragić keeps playing like that.” – Greg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs Head Coach)
I remember when I used to have the time to watch almost every NBA game scheduled for the week on television.
But work, coupled with our version of an NBA channel moving into a pay-channel format, has limited my options to enjoy NBA Basketball.
But not today.
Game 3: 2009-2010 Western Conference Semi-Finals – Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs
The Suns Goran Dragić shoots over the defense of the Spurs Tim Duncan.
As I tuned in, I see Suns backup point guard Goran Dragić throw up one of the most awkward three point attempts ever and it goes in! Subsequent replays showed that Dragić had intended to initiate contact from the outstretched arm of his defender (most likely San Antonio Spurs guard George Hill) and go to the free-throw line for three shots. But he got something better—the three-point basket and a foul—for the possibility of a rare four-point play.
The television announcers then fill me in on game.
The San Antonio Spurs were down by about nine points after the 24 year-old Dragić’s And 1 free-throw and were playing catch-up basketball. The Spurs had given up a considerable first-half lead with the heady play of Goran Dragić —who spelled Suns starter Stephen John Nash with about two or three minutes left in the third quarter.
After a time out several possessions later, I see the Dragić masterpiece unfolding through several replays: post up-and-under moves, jump shots, drives into the lane.
The native of Ljubljana, Slovenia was certainly in the zone.
Hitting everything he threw at the basket certainly opened up the lane for Suns guard Goran Dragić.
Being in “The Zone”
In their book entitled “Flow In Sports” (1999) by Susan Jackson and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describe “The Zone” as a heightened level of performance that every athlete aspires to reach. It is a moment that cannot be attained at a whim—rather an instant that an athlete prepares for when that moment does arise.
This is one of the reasons why athletes practice.
So that they know what they have to do when they are fortunate enough to be in “the zone.”
That special moment wherein “everything seems to fall into place” and “they can do no wrong.”
All Dragić in the 4th
In less than 18 minutes, the 6’4’’ Goran Dragić was simply on fire.
He hit 9 of 11 shots on an assortment of hard drives to the basket, step-backs, post-moves, and cold-blooded three-point shots (Dragić connected on 4-4 from downtown in the 4th).
It was a performance that allowed the Phoenix Suns to stick with their second unit—comprised of Leandrinho Barbosa, Jared Dudley, Louis Amundson, Channing Frye, and Dragić —for most of the fourth quarter.
On a night where Suns center Amar’e Stoudemire only scored 7 points. Dragić, who coming into Game 3 had only averaged 7.9 points in the regular season and 5.6 points in the playoffs, had a perfect game (outside of those two missed foul shots and heat check jumpers) to lead his team to victory.
Here is his stat line for the game:
Goran Dragić – 17:27 minutes, 10-13 FG%, 5-5 3PFG%, 1-3 FT%, 3 (1) rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and no turnovers.
Suns forward Grant Hill (left) considered Dragić's fourth quarter playoff performance as the best he has ever seen.
Arrival into The Valley of the Sun
Touted as the second-best point guard after Memphis’ Derrick Rose in the 2008 NBA Draft, Goran Dragić impressed Suns’ Director of Player Personnel Todd Quinter and Suns’ senior vice president of basketball operations David Griffin with his speed and quickness in a camp held in Treviso, Italy, two weeks prior to the NBA Draft.
The Arizona Republic’s Paul Coro shares that the Phoenix Suns were ready to take Dragić with the 15th pick in the draft had Stanford center Robin Lopez not been available. Fortunately, the Suns were still able to snag their man after working a deal with the San Antonio Spurs to trade second-round picks (An agreement that involved giving the Spurs $500,000 and a future second-round pick that turned out to be Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair).
After drafting Dragić, the Suns then bought out the point guard’s contract with his Spanish ACB club CB Murcia and rewarded him with a lucrative $7.6 million dollar contract spread over four years.
Tonight, that financial investment certainly paid off.
