2. How can Hornacek get Dragic back to his dragon ways?
Zimmerman: I think Dragic is the least of Phoenix’s problems and will do what he needs to play well off the ball. I do like that Hornacek has made a point to at least give him enough touches and pick-and-roll plays where he can find a little rhythm.
Chasen: I actually thought Dragic was pretty solid against the Clippers, scoring eight of the team’s first 15 points and ending with 19, so I’m not sure there’s much more that needs to be done. I think Dragic just needs to continue to attack, especially early on in games, and he’ll get back into Dragon-mode soon enough.
Weisert: Let him play by himself. Last year, even with Bledsoe healthy, Dragic got to play as the only point guard for at least two stretches in every game. This year, with a trio of point guards, that hasn’t happened. The Dragon needs some backcourt space to stretch his wings.
Schall: Bring back Channing Frye or someone like him (maybe 10 players in the NBA fit that description). Dragic doesn’t have nearly the same space to operate as he did last year, as the Morrii/Anthony Tolliver aren’t shooting close to well enough to warrant the same attention Frye did. A quicker fix would be to play him with Gerald Green more and other situations where he’s the lead ball handler. The fact that Dragic (who’s actually been shooting well of late) is averaging fewer than 3 assists a game this year is just as much due to the amount of time he has the ball in his hand, as it is his relatively poor play.
Saar: Play him more minutes. Get him on a roll. Have him play on-ball more, instead of having Bledsoe run the offense. Hornacek is going to have to balance those two in terms of who is initiating the offense. As weird as it sounds, Dragic needs to be needed as the All-NBA player he is to reach that potential.