Jared Cohen
There would not be much debate to the fact that the strength of the 2013-14 Phoenix Suns is it’s starting backcourt.
Last season the team was led by Goran Dragic who averaged 14 points and seven assists per game. They added Eric Bledsoe, the backed up Chris Paul on the Clippers, who many considered the hottest commodity last off-season after Paul decided to resign.
But can two point guards paired up together work? That is one of the biggest questions surrounding the team this off-season. Suns fans in attendance for the preseason opener against Maccabi Haifa got to see what it could be capable of.
“I think they will figure out what works well,” said Suns head coach Jeff Horneck. “We saw a couple times where Eric got the ball and Goran took off and got the lay up.”
“Sometimes he’s going to handle the ball, sometimes I’m going to do that,” explained Dragic after the game. “But we are just trying to score the basketball and create shots for everyone else.”
If there was any position on the floor that a team would try to double up on in a lineup, point guard could be ideal. They are for the most part unselfish, they create for others and as for Bledsoe and Dragic specifically, they both can shoot.
“I think good basketball players know how to play with other guys in terms of what works best,” mentioned Hornecek. “Sometimes it might be Goran, sometimes it might be Eric, but they seem to have a pretty good relationship there where they are kind of on the same page already which is nice.”
“As a point guard, you will pretty much do anything to win,” added Eric Bledsoe. “You ill sacrifice some for the team and it’s all for the team at this point so now we are working on our chemistry. Not only me and Goran but everybody on the team.”
As the team got ready to take the floor for the first time against an opponent other than themselves, as has been the case during training camp, Dragic mentioned that Marcin Gortat asked in the locker room before the game “if two point guards want the ball, who should I pass too?”
“The closer one,” Dragic answered. “That’s the deal. Then the other one has to run.”
As was the case in the first half of the game on Monday night where Dragic received an outlet pass and then threw a half court alley-oop pass to a streaking Eric Bledsoe. It wasn’t something they had planned, just something Bledsoe knew would be coming because he knows the kind of passer he is teamed up with.
