Blame game

The Phoenix Suns are back! Okay, it's way too early to be saying that (especially when we've got the Lakers tonight), but we are riding a 2-game winning streak and have looked good, for the most part, in our last two games, with one glaring exception - Goran Dragic.

Last night, Dragic played almost eight minutes, went 0-2 from the floor for zero points, and he dished out 1 assist to go with his 1 turnover. However, the most telling stat of just how bad he played is his +/- of -9. In the blowout win, no other Suns player posted a negative +/-. Boris Diaw (who didn't have very good stats either) was the closest with a +1.

Since I started this blog I have used stats, pointed out flaws, and talked about just how bad of a player Goran Dragic is. But I guess all of the blame can't be placed on the 22 year old who clearly wasn't ready to play against the best players in the world. Perhaps some, most, or maybe all of the blame has to be placed on the Suns higher ups and scouting team. What exactly did they think they were getting when they went out of their way to bring him to Phoenix?

David Thorpe, an ESPN analyst and NBA talent scout/coach who works closely with young players in the league, had this to say about Dragic, "I've not had a single scout tell me that he can play. Not one."

He also said "they [the Suns staff] love him, but scouts I trust say he's not good."

Yet somehow, according to the Suns, he was the second PG on the draft board behind Derrick Rose. Just look at some of the rookie point guards from around the league and there is no way he is anywhere near the top. Here is a list of PGs who went ahead of Dragic in the draft (obviously they couldn't have gotten a lot of these players, but I'm including everyone to prove my point):

• Derrick Rose


• OJ Mayo (he should be playing PG for the Grizzlies)


• Russell Westbrook


• Eric Gordon


• DJ Augustin


• Jerryd Bayless


• Courtney Lee


• George Hill


• Mario Chalmers


• Sean Singletary

Looking at that list, there is absolutely no way Dragic should ever be ranked as the second best PG in that group. Not only did the Suns screw the pooch with that call, but then you think that these are (I'm assuming the scouting team is somewhat the same but regardless, they are still the Suns scouting team) the same dudes that decided Rajon Rondo and Rudy Fernandez weren't worth holding on to. Can you imagine a better backup PG for Steve Nash than Rondo right now? I mean, he's probably going to be an All-Star this year! But they got rid of those guys and then picked up Goran Dragic and payed him a HUGE amount of money before he ever played a minute.

So, again I ask, what did they think they saw in Goran Dragic? Whatever they thought they saw clearly wasn't there. I have a couple of theories for how this all went down. One involves a drunk night after watching Dragic play which resulted in damaging photographic evidence and the second, involves a fatal disease and a dying wish. Either way, it is time for them to admit their mistake, stop forcing Goran Dragic on us and send him to the D-League. My guess (maybe more of a hope than a guess) is that once Tucker comes back, they send him down, but only time will tell. So once again I ask the Suns, please send Goran Dragic to the D-League.