Evin Gualberto's video: Goran Dragic - Fantastic Footwork Primetime Playoff Performer 19 20

Goran Dragic. 2014 All-NBA Third Team. 2018 NBA All-Star. The NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2014. FIBA EuroBasket Champion and FIBA EuroBasket MVP in 2017. The LEADING scorer on a team that went to the NBA Finals in 2020. Dragic has the heart of a lion and lives to attack. Dragic aka “The Dragon” dazzles as he darts and dashes to rack, daring defenders to defy his drives. If they jump on any of his myriad moves, he maneuvers masterfully, making most defenders miss. Goran goes full speed and then he’ll stride stop to throw defenders completely off. He gets good defenders jumping because he jukes and jerks with his body and sells some lively lies with his eyes.He’s had phenomenal footwork his entire career and that is the foundation with which Dragic leaves defenders dizzied, dazed, and sometimes, left for dead. Dragic is MIAMI’S LEADING PLAYOFF SCORER going into the NBA Finals. He averaged 20.9 points per game on 45.2% shooting from the field. So far, Goran has shot an astonishing 38/56 on attempts at the rim and 33/66 on short midrange shots (outside of 4 feet but inside 14 feet). His 7.6 made FGs, unsurprisingly, led the team. Couple those with 2.5 made three pointers and 3.2 made free throws, and you have the tale of the tape for Goran’s scoring. He sometimes seems frenetic on his forays to the rim, but the truth is that he’s so fully in control most of the time that it helps him be absolutely fearless as he attacks. If you want some numbers to compare them to in the 2020 playoffs, Russell Westbrook shot very similar to Dragic at the rim. Russ finished with 36/62 attempts at the rim, but only 4/17 on those short midrange jumpers. Jayson Tatum made almost the same number of short midrange jumpers as Dragic with more attempts - 32/76. Jamal Murray made the EXACT same number of short midrange jumpers as Dragic – 33/66. Kemba Walker, in case you were wondering, was 26/42 at the rim and 17/31 on short midrange jumpers. Russell Westbrook’s rampages to the rim are well documented. He is known as a physical force. Tatum is viewed as a true superstar that’s ascending to the highest levels. Jamal Murray is rightfully being talked about as one of the next great players in the league. What I took away from this is that while Dragic isn’t the first option on his team, he deserves to be talked about with at least a touch more respect than he has been. Also, while we’re on the stat-train, Dragic draws fouls on the floor (non-shooting fouls) to the tune of 2.3% through the 15 games before the Finals. That number shows what percentage of the player’s team plays the player drew a non-shooting foul on. If that’s confusing, just know it means he’s very good. For reference, LeBron James draws 3.2% of his team’s fouls on the floor. Chris Paul, for his 7 playoff games, drew 3.2% also. Jayson Tatum drew 2.6% and someone like Anthony Davis drew 2.9%. On top of all that, he's a leader. The Dragon is now as old as his mentor Steve Nash was a decade ago, when he was last in a Conference Finals. For his native Slovenia, he was the captain and mentored the (still) young Luka Doncic. He's taken many a Heat player under his wing. Numerous times this playoff run, Dragic was at the center of an on-court huddle during a break in action. There's so much strength to Dragic's character. Famously, Shaquille O'Neal said that Goran was only one of two players Shaq had to stop hazing because of their toughness. The other? None other than the late great Kobe Bryant. 2017 seemed like it was going to be the last great year Dragic had. At the time, Miami magically rallied from an 11-30 slog to start their season to finish 30-11. They came one Brooklyn Nets tank job away from making the playoffs following their historic turnaround. Then Goran announced that he was going to retire from international competition following EuroBasket 2017. While there, Slovenia capped off an undefeated run through the tournament by beating 2013 champion France in pool play, the 2015 champion Spain in the knockout stages, and the reigning Olympic silver medalist Serbia in the final game. Slovenia, led by Goran Dragic’s 35 points became the smallest country to win a EuroBasket tournament. The Miami Heat and the Slovenian national team showed that opponents should not dare to overlook a team with Goran on it. Stats according to Cleaning the Glass Significant shouts to @Smart Highlights for their tireless work. If not for them, this video might not have been possible. If you'd like to support me: Venmo - @Evin_Gual Cash App - $EvinGual Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/evin_gual https://heatnation.com/videos/shaquille-oneal-says-kobe-bryant-goran-dragic/ https://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameId=300507024