Goran Dragic strikes out in first Eurobasket 09 game

by Seth Pollack on Sep 7, 2009 11:34 AM MST in Phoenix Suns News

The Slovenian wonder kid who was going to, then not going to, then eventually decided to play for the Slovenian National team failed to contribute in the first game of the Eurobasket 2009 tournament. Goran put up a highly unimpressive 0 pts, 1 ast, 2 reb, 2 TO in 14 minutes of play against Slovenia's easiest opponent in group play.

The Slovenian's defeated a Great British team lead by Pops Mensah-Bonsu (18pts and the best name in the NBA today) 72-59.

With Beno Udrih and Sasha Vujacic sitting this one out due to knee injuries (which are believed to be unrelated but that has not been confirmed) we assumed that Dragic would start and get significant minutes. Instead some other guy I've never heard of got the nod at point, Jaka Lakovic.

Jaka, or Jele to his friends, apparently isn't chopped liver or whatever the Slovenian equivalent is. Here's his write up:

Jaka Lakovic is a general on the court, the kind of player who leads his team to success. For the past seven seasons, Jale has been the leader of two of the greatest teams in EuroLeague in Panathinaikos and Barcelona, but he hasn't won the competition yet. This season he finished in third place with the Spanish team, scoring 14 points against Olympiakos in the third place game. Back in 2001, he shocked all observers, pouring in 38 points for Krka Novo Mesto against Real Madrid in Spain in just his second game in the EuroLeague. Since then, he has shown his above average offensive skills for club and national team. Along with his good court-vision and great passing ability, Lakovic is famous for his very smooth hands behind the three-point line. He's never better than in money time. No doubt, Jaka is one of the best clutch players in the EuroBasket. Lakovic was the main reason Slovenia clinched seventh place at EuroBasket 2007 against France.

The Slovenian now have to face the Serbian and Spanish teams which should be a real test...for those who care about the actual outcome beyond the performance of our NBA players. Although it might be fun to see Goran match-up with Ricky Rubio if such a match-up is even conceivable.

I didn't watch this game nor do I have any idea how the Slovenian team plays. They seem to have lots of classic Euro bigs that like to shoot the ball. Perhaps their style of play isn't suited for Goran's uptempo ways. Or perhaps they just don't like young players or perhaps Goran just played like warmed over dog poo. If you watched this game and have any more insight (notice how low I've set the bar) then please chime. English or Slovenian are accepted.

Goran's unimpressive opening game performance comes on the heals of Leandro Barbosa running through the FIBA America's tournament like a hot skewer through a pound of Churrasco. Here's Mr. Coro's write up of that:

azcentral.com blogs - Coro's Suns dish: LB's good as gold

Congrats to LB. He certainly ran the doors off the "competition". It is nice to see but really, anything less would have been a complete disappointment considering the best opponent he faced was Carlos Arroyo.

In other completely unrelated news is this bit of great Tim Thomas trivia...

Tim Thomas Trivia Time - Clips Nation
Who knew Tim Thomas could be so much fun? Seriously. Who knew?

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Comments

I wonder why Dragic is flaming out so badly. I assume those reports of his potential, the claim that he could get into people’s grills on defense, wasn’t made up. I guess he’s probably a bust.

by lonesomepoint on Sep 7, 2009 1:55 PM MST reply actions

Correction: weren’t made up.

by lonesomepoint on Sep 7, 2009 1:57 PM MST up reply actions

Dragic+Lopez=waste

I was never impressed with either of them. Too bad we didn’t grab Ramon Sessions a few years back, and maybe JMcGee or Speights instead of Dragic and Lopez.

April 29, 2008 Total Eclipse of the Sun. Is the sky falling?

by Hawk42 on Sep 7, 2009 2:04 PM MST reply actions

Woke up in time to see the 2nd half

Dragic’s play seemed to regress back to the first half of 08-09 year (the dreaded terry porter era) where it felt like he was trying to do way too much. That explains his turnovers late in the game where he was a bit out of control and tried to force things. His playing time (or lack thereof) also seemed to contribute to this as he couldn’t find any rhythm on the court. IIRC, Dragic said in an interview that this was the same problem that attributed to the abysmal first half of his rookie campaign.

All in all, I don’t expect Dragic to tear it up in the Eurobasket. (Hoping Dragic is just a slow starter and needs time to warm up) The predominant half-court style of play and slower tempo doesn’t quite compliment Dragic’s strengths. Also he’s often playing off-the-ball in a sg role (being more of a pass-first pg I don’t think he’s always looking to light it up).

Kind of weird Dragic isn’t getting more burn since he’s considered the future of the Slovenian team. I wish they would just let him loose and see what he can do but Euro style is all about team work.

by sunfire0112 on Sep 7, 2009 3:16 PM MST reply actions

thx for the insight

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Sep 7, 2009 4:13 PM MST up reply actions

The 2008 Draft

I wasent a fan of either pick..I thought Lopez was more Ready but was more impressed with the skills of McGee and D’Andre Jordan..I thought Lopez would be able to contribute faster but hasent and he wont be as good as either..and i have no problem with dragic other than we gave up way too much to get him..that pick we traded along with hairston ended up being DaJuan Blair..i figured if we did all that to get dragic we should have bought an additional 1st round pick this yr in a loaded point guard class

by Lebrontophx2010 on Sep 7, 2009 3:19 PM MST reply actions

I’m down on Lopez, because someone pointed out that he “spazzes out,” presumably meaning he’s not focused or aggressive. It suggests to me that he perhaps can’t turn up his intensity when the game matters, as Dennis Rodman (a player whom I admired) talked about doing; possibly that he doesn’t desperately want to play, and is in the NBA only because he thought playing basketball was the thing for a tall and athletic man to do.

by lonesomepoint on Sep 7, 2009 5:20 PM MST up reply actions

P.S.

[cough] I admired Dennis Rodman only for his play on the court, not his ridiculous personal life.

by lonesomepoint on Sep 7, 2009 5:21 PM MST up reply actions

I don't think

I’ve seen one player ever contribute in the NBA like they did In Euroleague. And I highly doubt Goran is gonna be the first to do so.

by Batmanthesunsfan on Sep 7, 2009 4:10 PM MST reply actions

I watched the last 2 mins of the game on bbc (British broadcasting cooperation) website and sunfire is right, Dragic looked like he did in the TP era and more like a SG wondering around. Lets hope he warms up quickly.

What do you guys think about Pops Mensah-Bonsu I think we should have signed him as our 13th player on the roster, not because of the performance today but just because I think he would be a better fit than Griffin in terms of his reputation for rebounds and at 6-10 we need more height.

by phxuk: Ap on Sep 7, 2009 4:43 PM MST reply actions

I love Pops

but he’s already under contract in Houston…

On 21 August 2009, Mensah-Bonsu verbally agreed to a deal to join the Houston Rockets for the 2009-10 season to provide frontcourt depth after the injury to Yao Ming. The signing was made official on 3 September 2009.

According to Hoops Hype, he signed a 1 yr deal for the min…about $855k which is about double what Taylor will make assuming his entire contract is even guaranteed (which I am not sure about)

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Sep 7, 2009 4:55 PM MST up reply actions

I’m not a redneck, and know Pops is simply a foreign name, but I have to laugh. I wonder if his nickname is Old Man.

by lonesomepoint on Sep 7, 2009 5:11 PM MST up reply actions

Well, shut my mouth—no, Wikipedia says Pops isn’t his real name, as I thought.

by lonesomepoint on Sep 7, 2009 5:12 PM MST up reply actions

Pops is 6’10 i never knew that..hes a helluva player

by Lebrontophx2010 on Sep 7, 2009 9:46 PM MST up reply actions

I still haven't got to watch Slovenia this campaign

Their Wednesday game against Spain should be aired in Israel, so maybe I’ll catch some of Dragic’s matchup with Rubio :)
Anyway, Slovenia has a massive frontcourt. you probably already know Boštjan Nachbar (he’s a superstar in europe). Matjaž Smodiš, Primoz Brezec and Erazem Lorbek are big stars too (although Brezec signed with the 76ers this year). Those are great dominating offensive bigs, and therefore their guards can’t run much and create for themselves.

BTW, I believe Pops Mensah-Bonsu could fit perfectly with the Suns. He brings hustle, energy, defense and freakish athleticism at a reasonable price range. The Rockets’ got a steal.

by Oren on Sep 7, 2009 5:24 PM MST reply actions

Sounds like a taller Lou Amundson.

by lonesomepoint on Sep 8, 2009 12:23 AM MST up reply actions

With more hops. I believe he has a better shot at the 5 (and he’ll get a lot of minutes as a center with the Rockets).
Today he matches up against the Gasols.

by Oren on Sep 8, 2009 3:41 AM MST up reply actions

Let us

all now note that Goran played much better today against Serbia. Granted, he had no assists, but they had him at 2 guard today apparently.

I think what we have here is a young player who is…inconsistent. Not that remarkable.

Also: Lakovic = 2 time Greek League MVP. He’s kind of a big deal.

Don't feel bad, Channing. We can't rebound either.

by rosewood on Sep 8, 2009 11:21 AM MST reply actions

So should we flip out the other direction and now say he's bound for stardom?

I say yes. Still 4 weeks to the first preseason game. I’ll start – 16 points? Has Goran turned the corner? Will he be starting over Steve Nash by December? Seems like a lock if you ask me right now.

http://seasonsofdiscontent.com/

by Scott Howard on Sep 8, 2009 11:41 AM MST up reply actions

Nice satire of our criticism of Dragic, but assuredly we’re not bandwagon critics.

by lonesomepoint on Sep 8, 2009 12:17 PM MST up reply actions

Oh I'm well aware you're balanced

I’m just bored.

http://seasonsofdiscontent.com/

by Scott Howard on Sep 8, 2009 1:18 PM MST up reply actions

Also, I dislike Robin Lopez more than I dislike Goran Dragic. Whereas I don’t have a conclusion on what’s wrong (if anything) with Dragic, I think Robin Lopez is passive.

by lonesomepoint on Sep 8, 2009 12:19 PM MST up reply actions

Did you see the game?

The stats look nice and I will post on that later but just curious if you saw him play

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Seth Pollack on Sep 8, 2009 12:31 PM MST up reply actions

No

It went on while I (and probably you) were at work. I think you might be able to watch all of these through JustinTV maybe. Blazersedge always has links.

Don't feel bad, Channing. We can't rebound either.

by rosewood on Sep 8, 2009 12:42 PM MST up reply actions

Dragic game 2

http://www.eurobasket2009.org/en/cid_toT,ovGDH2EaLKL67XnPo2.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2009.gameID_6365-C-4-2.html#{1B1FCE4B-ACC2-4DAF-80EE-2DAEAC8D40D7}

“That would be as close as they would get though as Nachbar and substitute Samo Udrih scored the next four points for a 22-15 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Goran Dragic took over at that point, scoring eight of his 10 first-half points to help Slovenia go up 31-17 with just under six minutes left before the break.

The back-up guard hit a long three-pointer and then knocked the ball out of Milan Macvan’s hands near midcourt, before going in for an uncontested lay-up. He later used his quickness to knife his way into the defense for another deuce."

by dontTradeAaronNelson! on Sep 8, 2009 1:22 PM MST reply actions