Goran Dragic Speaks

by Seth Pollack on Aug 19, 2008 9:01 PM MDT in Commentary Comment 18 comments

Here's Goran's first interview with the Phoenix media

Dragic interview on Sport 620 KTAR

Audio provided by Sports 620 KTAR:

Here's the cliff notes:

Goran's bags got lost on the way over so he only has a T-shirt and pants. Send donations of clothing to www.savegoranfromburinghiswhiteassinthearizonasummersun.com
He debunked the scurrilous rumor posted on this wikipedia page that he ran a cigar shop. Could wikipedia be wrong? My world view is shattered!
On second thought and third listen perhaps he thought Gambo was asking him for a cigar and Dragic's response of "I have nothing of this. I don't smoke" wasn't an actual denial of the wikipedia report. My faith is restored in the truth of the Internets.
Nope....sorry in the next bit he does in fact flatly deny having worked in a cigar shot claiming he's a "basketball player". Whatever.
He "do really well in work out with Suns" but didn't know he was going to be picked. He was happy. Happy enough to give up the cigar shop business? hmmm
In response to a brilliant question Dragic reports that playing as a kid helped him play better now
He's excited to play with Steve Nash. I guess he doesn't get the Internets in Slovenia
When he was "young" he watched Nash, Shaq and Stoudemire on TV at 3 in the morning. God, I am old...
He was nervous if he was going to be able to get the buy out done. He's very happy to be here. Me too. I love it here.
Breaking news at the 7:59 mark. Goran's father is Serbian! No wonder the Suns didn't resign Giricek. Everyone knows you can't have a Serb and Croat on the same team. They fight like cats and dogs.
Playing in the NBA was his boyhood dream...ah.
Mine too except I am 5'10" and have a 7 inch vertical leap. I am a lefty though so maybe there's hope...
"I defend really good Tony Parker...I was really happy. We won."
"I love to play defense. In Europe everything is defense." Really? Defense in Europe? I thought they invented NATO so we could defend Europe.
Boris Diaw is taking him to dinner. Pictures should be posted soon.
"Now that I am on the team the Suns surely won't pick up the team option on DJ Strawberry's contract and will instead use the final roster spot for another big man to be Shaq's whipping boy in practice."
ed note: That last comment is not an actual quote from Dragic but an imagined version of what I figure must be running through his mind right about now. Its certainly what's running through mine.

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Comments

nice

love the NATO comment. So very very true

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Aug 19, 2008 9:04 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

fun interview. I’m very happy for Goran, it’s good to have him here and learning under Nash. I just hope that people dont over hype him too much. He has the potential to be a very solid PG, but I dont think that year one will see him making a huge impact. Then again though, just about anything is better thank Banks

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Aug 19, 2008 9:28 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Lame

I spent way too much of this evening registering this domain and trying to build a “website”. Clearly I am not cut out for a) a career in the NBA or b) a career as a website design er.

Anyone want a domain?

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Aug 19, 2008 10:28 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Regardig your domai ame

There are 2 n’s in burning. Or is it supposed to be burying like he’s a Slovenian ostrich? I smell a nickname…

by Mike Lisboa on Aug 20, 2008 10:41 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

NATO

I thought was formed to defend the French so they could send over Boris so he could be pictured out with Goran so the pictures could be posted so that I had something to do with my day besides smoking cigars.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Aug 20, 2008 11:04 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

All Hail Stan!

Tanned, rested, and obviously recovered from the 3rd-degree burns on the bottoms of his feet, he’s back with his razor wit sharpened for the kill!

by SoCalSun on Aug 20, 2008 12:11 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Goran

I really and truly hope that we all realize that Dragic will not be some godsend this season. i can see him being solid on D, but overall he’ll be decent at best. Remember folks, that despite his potential he has a long way to go before he really start producing in this league.

I have to say that even with that in mind I am optimistic, and even if he does shaky this upcoming season I will not be throwing him under the bus just yet. We got a while before we can truly understand this kid’s abilities.

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Aug 21, 2008 12:54 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

The voice of sanity

It took LB about three years to really figure it out….not that he’s fully figured it out

But I do think that was the great thing about getting him this year. That process can start sooner and he gets one more year under Nash.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Aug 21, 2008 9:23 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

amen

I just hope and pray that comming off the bench he can rack up at least a steal a game and hopefully 6pts (or something like that) with a high shooting percentage. Nothing special, just enough so his part as a backup pg can be said to be decent. I sure as hell doubt he’ll be putting up RotY numbers his first time through. i mean havent we only had Alvan Adams and STAT get the Rookie of the Year for us?

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Aug 21, 2008 9:44 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Word

Dragic will not be a ROY contender. I had to reign in someone who thought I was “ecstatic” over the Dragic acquisition. I agree with Stan: I’m happiest that he gets an extra year under Nash. And he’s a true point and not a makeshift point like LB.

by Mike Lisboa on Aug 21, 2008 11:25 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

yup

in the long run he will certainly be better at point than Barbs or Banks every could be, and making sure he can start along that path now is key

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Aug 21, 2008 11:36 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Extra year with Nash

I have a feeling that Nash will take him under his wing and try to groom him to be a great NBA PG since he knows that the Suns want him to be the future at PG after him.

by brian13 on Aug 21, 2008 12:57 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yep, I get cha

But at least its cool to have a true PG backing up Nash. No more LB running the offense. Do you remember how much that sucks?

"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"

by PanamaSun on Aug 21, 2008 9:45 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

From what I've read, he's definitely not a pure PG

the majority of his scouting reports say that he has a lot of trouble running half-court sets and has a pretty crap A:TO ratio. They’re trying to market him as the next pure PG that will run our team, but the way I see it, he’s a combo guard who can defend both positions and can’t make shots unless he’s wide open….which sounds like a less athletic, less NBA-ready DJ Strawberry to me. At best, IMO, he’ll learn how to shoot and maybe turn into Sacramento Beno Udrih. At worst…well, at worst, he’s out of the league in a few years, like San Antonio Beno Udrih.

I’m glad we have him, but I think they’re overhyping him like crazy, and if we don’t pick up DJ’s option, I’ll look at it as a net loss.

I think Strawberry’s more ready to contribute to this team right now.

by rsavaj on Aug 21, 2008 1:19 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the info rsavaj

I’ll be certainly rooting for him. Anyway you see it, we have to agree its a nice addition. Playing in Europe is not easy, and according to his numbers, he can be a great asset. About the overhyping issue, well, I’d have to agree in a certain degree on that but if the Front Office went thru hell just to get him…its gotta be because they saw something special. I honestly don’t think that DJ is going to come back, I wish we would have given him a chance to develop his skills a little bit more. It’s a business and it sucks…

"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"

by PanamaSun on Aug 21, 2008 1:51 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

with you that he’s really getting overhyped and that he’s not a great PG at this point, but his PG skills are clearly beyond what Strawberry could offer. And while Strawberry is more athletic than Goran, I think that’s more a tribute to D.J. exceptional athleticism than anything that Goran lacks. He is not a typical fundamentally sound Euro who shies away from defense and is slow. Instead, Goran is very much an NBA caliber athlete who’s best asset is his defensive ability. One of the major events that put him on the draft scene was when he D’d up Tony Parker at the EB. That caught a lot people’s eyes.

Also, Udrih probably isn’t the right comparison for Goran, although they’re both Slovenian. Udrih is a very much a pure point who has ample playmaking ability and appears to have really improved his shooting. But he’s also just a little slow and soft and can’t play defense. Goran is like the opposite of that. He’s quick, large for a PG, excels at defense, and loves to take it to the rim. But he can’t shoot and his playmaking is average at best.

The way I look at it, he’s got the upside of Rajon Rondo, the downside of Jason Hart, and will most likely fall in the Earl Watson range or, in other words, a solid PG contributor/borderline starter.

Purchasing my Dragic jersey

by rosewood on Aug 21, 2008 3:42 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

All rookies are over hyped

Potential is always more exciting then the known quantity….

In the Dragic case is certainly is helped by the moves the team made to get him and his potential as described by the team.

I don’t think in general though anyone around here has called him the second coming of Nash so perhaps “hype” isn’t quite what we are seeing as much as intense interest during a time in the baskball year when there is NOTHING else going on.

Btw – I agree w/ you on his comparison to DJ and Rondo. I am hopeful that he has a better basketball IQ then both though. Especially DJ who unfortunately is really too small and ineffective of a shooter to ever stick at a 2 guard and clearly can’t play the point in the NBA. He got more of an opportunity then most late late 2nd rounders get and in the end he is what he is. Maybe in a couple of years he can pop back up. Remember it took Bell several years before he was able to really figure it out and “make it”.

The Suns have now made a huge committment to Dargic and have nothing left they owe contract-wise to DJ. Pretty clear who they are going to give minutes to which makes DJ’s roster spot much more valuable to fill with a big man.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Aug 21, 2008 4:11 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

How does the boyout work?

Does the money count against the cap? Or, is it just from regular old funds for team business expenses? I suppose it doesn’t really matter, I’m just curious.

by KJ7 on Aug 22, 2008 9:07 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs