Phoenix Suns: Saric’s inconsistent form continues at Eurobasket

If you’re a Phoenix Suns fan hoping to see more positives from Dario Saric at Eurobasket, you would have had very little to write home about. After a bevy of strong performances so far, Saric was unproductive in Croatia’s 90-85 win over Ukraine.

Phoenix Suns big man Dario Saric has been inconsistent at Eurobasket, unsurprising given his return from an ACL injury suffered in the 2021 NBA Finals.

It was a tight contest through with the nations level at the end of the first and third, before the Croatians did enough down the stretch to come away with an important victory.

Saric played just over 22 minutes and recorded just three points, with his lone basket coming on one of his five three-point attempts. He only recorded three rebounds, having been a strong facet of his game throughout the tournament to date.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOfuqU1gmT0

Zero assists and zero turnovers – it was a quiet game all-around. Saric was a -10 in plus-minus, easily the worst of Croatia’s nine-man rotation.

The Utah Jazz might be happy with the form of Bojan Bogdanovic, with the 32-year-old doing nothing to hurt his trade value. He again led the way with 27 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, shooting 50% from the floor which included four three-pointers.

Former Sun Alex Len was relatively quiet for Ukraine, recording six points, three rebounds and four assists in his 22 minutes.

Saric’s inconsistent form isn’t a surprise – playing regularly over the span of a fortnight is difficult for any athlete, let alone one who is making a return from major injury. We’ll like see these kinds of up-and-down displays early in the NBA season as he looks to carve out a consistent role with the Suns.

Fortunately for the 28-year-old, he’ll have another opportunity to respond. Croatia’s 3-2 record in the group stage sees them move through to the round of 16, with Finland awaiting them on Sunday.