Breakdown Bonanza: The Phoenix Suns’ Three-Headed Point Guard Monster
Sep 29, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic (left), guard Isaiah Thomas (center) and guard Eric Bledsoe pose for a portrait during media day at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Goran Dragic
Offense
Even though Dragic really became a break-out offensive performer during the prior season, he’s always been known for his ability to cut to the rim on a consistent basis. With a fantastic first-step and solid ball-handling ability, Dragic is consistently able to drive past the opposition and work his way in the paint. While in the paint, Dragic is able to work his way past the front-court opponent by contorting his body mid-drive to get an easier look around the rim.
Another way that Dragic was able to utilize that penetration prowess to his advantage as a three-point shooting threat. When he’s working around the perimeter, Dragic exhibits a high-amount of confidence which is clearly showcased by how the majority of his three-point shots come during ISOs. That confidence helped push Dragic to shoot a career-high 41% from the perimeter.
Distribution
The aforementioned aggression that Dragic showcased on the offensive end definitely apparent when you take a look at his abilities as a distributor. By utilizing basic pick-and-rolls or just working the ball around the perimeter, the majority of his success as a distributor comes when he’s being passive and not trying to force the issue. In those pick-and-roll situations, Dragic has showcased an ability to quickly work the ball to a penetrating opponent, which paid dividends when he worked alongside Gerald Green, PJ Tucker and Eric Bledsoe
While the majority of Dragic’s success as a penetrator comes from when he’s being passive, the Suns guard still tends to occasionally force the issue on the offensive end. Probably the biggest example of this is that Dragic is prone to push the ball towards the paint, even if there’s a crowd of opposing players that are anticipating his arrival.
Another issue that Dragic showcases is that he does occasionally tend to try to find an open teammate when he’s in the midst of his shooting motion.
Defense
While being in the midst of a middle-of-the-road defensive scheme in Phoenix, Goran Dragic was able to showcase a knack for successfully defending against penetration. By utilizing his 6’4 frame and solid lateral quickness, Dragic is able to consistently keep his body in front of the opponent until he forces them to take an extremely difficult, off-balance shot.
Eric Bledsoe
Offense
In a similar mold to Dragic, Bledsoe is able to rely on the combination of a great first-step and solid ball-handling ability to make himself into an excellent penetrator. Akin to Dragic, Bledsoe is able to utilize his strong, athletic frame to be able to work around the opposition and get an easy look around the rim.
As he works away from the rim, Bledsoe is still able to maintain that efficiency.By utilizing his abilities as a ball-handler to consistently get open looks around the perimeter, Bledsoe was able to hit 35% from beyond the arc and a career-best 41% from mid-range. That aforementioned ability will be vital for Bledsoe during the upcoming season as he’ll look to continue to make strides as a shooter.
Distribution
While Dragic’s facilitating success comes by his passive approach, Bledsoe is much more aggressive. By utilizing the same traits that made him into an excellent force around the rim, As the prototypical “penetrate and kick” style of facilitator, Bledsoe showcases a knack for being able to spot the open perimeter shooter or cutter while working his way towards the rim.
Even though that ability has allowed Bledsoe to have an ample amount of success, that aggressive approach has shown some negative effects. In a similar mold to Dragic, Bledsoe tends to penetrate into traffic which would either lead to an errant pass or an opponent being easily able to strip the ball from his fingertips.
Defense
Defensively, Bledsoe is able to maintain that excellence by consistently able to apply pressure to the ball-handler. Similar to Dragic, Bledsoe has a knack for being able to utilize his muscular, athletic frame to keep pace with a penetrating opponent. In pick-and-roll situations, Bledsoe does a brilliant job of quickly being able to decipher how to be able to work around the offensive screen to be able to stay in front of the opponent.
Isaiah Thomas
Offense
With one of the quicker first-steps in the league, Thomas is constantly able to work past his perimeter defender as he works his way towards the paint. While Thomas shares the same level of success from around the rim as his Phoenix counterparts (Bledsoe and Dragic), the 5’9 Thomas is able to differentiate himself from the duo by having an extremely lethal running floater.
Away from the paint, Thomas is able to counteract having an extremely small frame by having a sharp, quick shooting stroke. While that stroke is mainly showcased during catch-and-shoot situations, Thomas was also able to have success in the pick-and-roll, which should lead to some success as he’ll be paired alongside Miles Plumlee and Markeiff Morris.
Distribution
As Thomas transitioned to his role as Sacramento’s starting point guard, he struggled to be able to work as a consistent and effective facilitator. Even though Thomas definitely seems comfortable with working alongside his pick-and-roll teammate or penetrating and kicking it to an open teammate, he can still tend to get a little over-aggressive. An example of that over-aggression is showcased when Thomas tries to work the ball to a guarded teammate rather than taking an open shot.
During the prior season with Sacramento, those issues were apparent as Thomas had a career-low 2.12 Ast/TO ratio.
Defense
As opposed to Dragic and Bledsoe who can utilize their solid frames to help become solid defensive players, Thomas needs to be effective despite of his short 5’9 frame. However, Thomas has seemingly been able to counterbalance that natural weakness, as he has become one of the more underrated backcourt defenders in the league.
Perhaps the main reason behind his solid defensive ability rests on the same lateral quickness that allows him to be an impactful penetrator on the offensive end. By utilizing that speed, Thomas is able to stick close to the vast majority of opposing guards.
However, the area where Thomas is most lethal is being able to defend against the pick-and-roll. Per Synergy Sports (RIP), opponents averaged .83 PPP (points per possession) against Isaiah Thomas. Similar to Bledsoe, Thomas showcases a knack for being able to quickly know about whether how he should be able to work around the offensive scheme and stay close to his opponent.
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As the upcoming season nears, coach Jeff Hornacek and the rest of the Phoenix Suns staff will definitely have a lot of potential flexibility in regards to how they’ll be able to use their slew of backcourt players. When it comes to the trio, it would appear that Dragic and Bledsoe will be able to maintain their starting spots, while Isaiah Thomas will go back to the same 6th man role that he familiarized himself with during his time with Sacramento.
Even though Thomas has proven himself a very good starter during his three-year career, that spot may be best for him to be able to transition into Hornacek’s offensive scheme and become a more effective facilitator.
In regards to the pairing of Bledsoe and Dragic, it’ll be interesting to see who can capture the reigns of being the team’s main facilitator, since both men have yet to prove to be consistently effective in that particular aspect.