A common cliche among announcers today is to give a seriously quick point guard the divine “one man fast break” label. Yes, there are situations where one man does in fact steamroll a defense by going coast to coast—from defensive rebound to dunk—but it’s rare. By mixing crafty flair with not so subtle determination, Goran Dragic has elevated his transition game to the point where adjectives like “elite” shouldn’t be laughed at.
Goran Dragic is one of those players who forces you to like him. He always plays hard, with a fearlessness signaling his want to compete as a starter in this league, and a mental inability to take plays off on either end. He initiates action as good as anybody at his position (which right now is about as high a compliment as can be said), all the while holding a crusty “underdog” sign high above his head.
Almost every single player who makes it to the NBA has more desire than the equally skilled counterpart who never makes it. Once the lucky few who arrive are judged against one another on a relative scale, words like “assassin” and “lazy oaf” are thrown around, with some guys taking plays off and others taking literal days off their life through sheer effort. If at any point in his career you’ve watched Dragic play for an extensive period of time, you’d agree placing him in the league’s top five percentile of “guys who really want it” is an accurate description.
When I think of him on the court, the first thing that springs to mind is the childish glee he unsuccessfully tries to mask when he’s running with the ball in his hands, only one backpedaling defender standing between him and the basket. It’s like a starving dog, slobbering his way through a field on his way towards a long lost sandwich. Just as that hungry dog craves his food, Dragic wants his basket.
Here are a few stats that validate Dragic’s nature to let loose on the break. Brace yourself, they may shock you.
- At 1.45 PPP, Dragic is the league’s 12th most efficient player in transition. When he’s out and running, Dragic shoots 74.3% from the floor.
- He’s is one of the best point guards in the league at finishing around the rim. He attempts just over two shots a game there, and makes just under two, for an insane 75% average.
- One out of every five of his shots at the rim come by way of an assist. He’s a lonesome assassin who takes over single possessions at a time.
- Dragic draws a shooting foul twice as often as he turns it over. Even more impressive, he’s turned it over just twice this entire season when running a one man fast break. That’s uncanny.
After re-watching every transition basket Dragic has scored this season, I’ve identified four key ways in which he manages to wreak all that havoc.
1) Jumping a passing lane and going the other way in pick six fashion. This is half instinct, and half hustle. Dragic rarely gambles, instead he bides his time, waiting for an opportunistic moment to take advantage of an opponent’s mistake.
2) After a turnover, leaking out behind the defense to receive a lengthy pass. This method of producing in transition is one his coaches probably aren’t too fond of, (he’s usually left his man and is heading the other way before the Rockets have definitive possession) but they always lead to unguarded bunnies at the rim.
3) Making himself available by streaking down a lane and receiving a pass after crossing half court. If Dragic isn’t dribbling in transition, Kyle Lowry is. The Rockets’ starting point guard has been phenomenal this season at making the right decision out there in the open court, and when Dragic is flanking his side the results are usually positive.
4) Capitalizing off a steal, one on one with a single opponent between him and the basket. When there’s one defender in his way Dragic will NEVER slow his pace. With most basketball players this can lead to a reputation of wild play, but Dragic remarkably manages to keep his body under control in the few instances where he can’t blow by his man, absorbing contact and acting as if he were all alone.
With a mid-range game and three-point shot that appear as the tomalley to his close range lobster meat, Dragic is far from perfect as an offensive player. But when he’s flying in transition, forcing reaction and then doing what he wants anyway, placing delicate spin or dainty touch shots that for most others would qualify as a miracle, you know it’s unique, and you recognize it as special.
