Dragic on struggling Suns offense: 'There's only 1 ball and we're all point guards'
The exciting brand of up-tempo basketball employed by the Phoenix Suns is yet to yield results in 2014-15.
The league's No. 8 offense a season ago, the Suns have stumbled to a 6-5 start with just the 17th-ranked offensive attack. That's contrary to expectations, as the run-and-gun, spread-heavy assault head coach Jeff Hornacek employs had reinforcements added to it in the offseason.
While floor-spacing big man Channing Frye has departed, the team added Isaiah Thomas to be the third guard in a rotation that will always have two dangerous creators on the floor. Thomas has been excellent off the bench, too, but incumbent guards Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic have been good rather than great.
Dragic thinks he knows what's at the heart of the issue, and it may just take some time for everyone to adjust. That, or a dramatic NBA rule change that would let teams play with two balls on the court.
"Because there's only one ball and we're all point guards," Dragic said to Paul Coro from azcentral in an article published Monday. "It's hard. That's sacrifice. If Isaiah's playing well, he's going to stay in."
That means that one of Dragic or Bledsoe - or at other times, Thomas - may have to ride a key stretch out on the bench, no easy task for players accustomed to playing in all situations.
"It's the way it is," Dragic said. "We need to embrace that."
So far, the overall minutes load has only really been cut for Thomas, but Bledsoe and Dragic have been used for fewer possessions, and Dragic is playing a bit less in fourth quarters.
| Suns Guards | Dragic | Bledsoe | Thomas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13-14 MPG | 35.1 | 32.9 | 34.7 |
| 14-15 MPG | 32.5 | 31.1 | 23.9 |
| 13-14 Usage% | 24.5% | 24.9% | 26.3% |
| 14-15 Usage% | 21.5% | 21.7% | 28.5% |
| 13-14 4th MPG | 8.4 | 8.7 | 8.6 |
| 14-15 4th MPG | 6.8 | 8.5 | 8.2 |
| 13-14 PPG | 20.3 | 17.7 | 20.3 |
| 14-15 PPG | 15.6 | 13.5 | 15.6 |
| 13-14 APG | 5.9 | 5.5 | 6.3 |
| 14-15 APG | 3.2 | 5.5 | 4.3 |
| 13-14 PER | 21.4 | 19.6 | 20.5 |
| 14-15 PER | 15.9 | 16.5 | 22.3 |
One way to keep all three on the floor would be to play them all together, a risky defensive strategy but one that could pay major dividends on offense. Hornacek has experimented with it conservatively so far, playing the three together for 20 minutes, mostly alongside Markieff Morris and Alex Len.
The early returns aren't promising, with the Suns scoring 102.6 points per-100 possessions and assisting on just 42.9 percent of field goals, below their full-season marks of 107.8 and 52.4 percent, respectively. Opponents are also making hay against the three-guard look, scoring 133.3 points per-100 possessions.