Chicago Bulls fans have much to look forward to with the signing of Goran Dragic. After the Bulls were a bit hesitant in allowing Dragic to play for his country, Slovenia. They finally gave Dragic permission to go get buckets overseas and that’s exactly what he did.
Dragic and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic led Slovenia to victory in a tough match against Turkey in Instabul, which came down to the wire. Dragic finished with 28 points including the game-winner and Luka finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Every time Slovenia made a run, Turkey answered back, but they ultimately did not have an answer for Dragic’s dagger.
Here’s a tweet by NBACentral, showing Dragic’s game-winner.
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1558192732421689348?s=20&t=y_AwlU0PUpuhrnCIH-C2QQ
Chicago Bulls fans have a lot to look forward to after Goran Dragic’s intense battle against Turkey’s NBA duo.
With Slovenia limiting Doncic’s minutes and not playing him in overtime. Dragic had to get in the driver’s seat and lead Slovenia to victory. It wasn’t going to be an easy feat, considering Turkey had a two-headed dragon of their own.
On Turkey’s side, they had 76ers guard Furkan Kormaz and Cavs forward Cedi Osman. They both were playing absolutely bonkers, hitting threes from the parking lot. Korkmaz finished with 33 points and Osman chipped in an additional 24 points, combining for almost half of Turkey’s points.
As good as they both were playing, Dragic had an answer despite not having his co-star for a majority of the game. Overtime was all Dragic, scoring and assisting with a plethora of moves. He single-handedly put Slovenia on his shoulders.
As the clock winded down with about 20 seconds left and Slovenia down two, Dragic made his move. He attacked his defender and stopped on the dime, hitting a behind back right into a step back. He then let the shot fly, shooting a high arcing three and hoping that it falls right in the bread basket.
As the ball was in the air it was as if the oxygen got sunken out of the building, you could feel the stadium holding their breath. All you could hear was the swish of the net, as the ball went through. Turkey was unable to get a basket in the last possession of overtime.
If you are the Bull’s front office, allowing Dragic to play overseas does not seem like such a bad decision right now. After only playing 21 games last season and dealing with nagging injuries, in-game reps are exactly what Dragic needs.
With a Chicago Bulls team that is already guard-heavy, some may wonder how Dragic will get a crack in the rotation. But if he keeps playing with the confidence he is playing with Slovenia then there is no reason why he can’t be an important piece to the Bulls next season.