Dragic, Dudley help fuel Suns' offensive rebirth

For all the bashing GM Steve Kerr took for slowing down the run-and-gun Suns with the Shaq trade, it might be time to give him some credit for building them back up again with some lesser-name players and savvy moves.

Amar'e Stoudemire's healthy return (and his All-Star-quality play) and the resurgence of Steve Nash in Phoenix's up-tempo style are no doubt leading the charge, but don't overlook guys like Jared Dudley and Goran Dragic. Both were crucial last week in wins over contenders as Phoenix stretched its mark to 9-0 at US Airways Center.

Nash landed Dudley as the throw-in player in last season's Jason Richardson trade while Dragic was nagged by Kerr on Draft night 2008, in a trade for Malik Hairston, cash and a 2009 second-round pick (which eventually became rookie DeJuan Blair).

Dudley delivered a monster game against the Magic, scoring with ease from the perimeter and hitting clutch 3-pointer down the stretch to give the Suns one of their biggest wins of the season. In the Suns' next home game, Dragic tormented the arch rival Spurs with a solid all-around night that included a career-best 18 points in 25 minutes of turnover-free play.

Both players were playing time casualties during the ill-fated Terry Porter regime last season and found themselves languishing on the bench most games. Once coach Alvin Gentry took over mid-season, Dudley and Dragic got the playing time they needed and were crucial role players for the Suns as the season reached its end.

With usual backup Leandro Barbosa nursing injuries all season, Dragic has stepped in as Nash's backup and filled two roles well: that of the No. 1 backup and Barbosa's role as a fan favorite.

Dudley, who exceled around the basket in college, struggled to find a consistent outside shot his first two seasons in the league. But since joining the Suns, he (much like starting center Channing Frye) has worked with assistant coach Dan Majerle to develop a reliable 3-point stroke.

"Jared is a great player. He's smart," said Nash. "He's skilled. He's turned into a really good three-point shooter. He's a skilled defender. We love playing with him. He has become a huge part of our team and a huge part of our depth."

NBA.com's Five on the Rise is a weekly look at which young players (and resurgent veterans) have yet to reach stardom and have made the biggest impact for their team in the last week. These rankings are just one man's opinion and are released every Thursday during the season. If you've got an issue with the names on this list, or have a question or comment for Jeff Case, send him an e-mail.

G. J.J. Barea, Mavs

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
26	24.1	9.2	2.4	4.0	0.5	0.1	.439	.417	.848

Last Week's Rank - N/A
Erick Dampier, Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd have secured spots (as long as they're healthy) in Dallas' starting five. All season, coach Rick Carlisle has tinkered with the shooting guard spot, though, trying out Quinton Ross, Rodrigue Beaubois, Jason Terry and (most recently) Barea to solidify things. With his play of late, though, Barea may be forcing his way into a permanent spot with Kidd, Nowitzki and Co. The Mavs have reeled off five straight wins since Barea joined the starting lineup and has (much like he did in occasional starting duty last season) meshed well with Kidd in the backcourt. Barea has had more than five assists in three of his five starts and is averaging 11.8 ppg on 28-for-38 shooting (.583 pct). Perhaps the moment that solidified Barea's grasp on the starting job may have come on Monday night, whe he scored 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting against the Hornets. New Orleans focused its defense on slowing Nowitzki and Barea was the beneficiary, slicing through the Hornets' defense with ease. "We just didn't give Barea enough respect in terms of his ability to impact games," Hornets forward David West said. "He kept getting layup after layup. We didn't have an answer."

G. Goran Dragic, Suns

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
25	16.3	6.9	2.2	2.6	0.6	0.1	.461	.392	.590

Last Week's Rank - N/A
We mentioned above how Dragic went turnover-less in the Suns' big win over the Spurs on Tuesday, which is a topic worth delving deeper into. Among the NBA's backup point guards, Dragic trails only Rafer Alson, Andre Miller, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, Will Bynum and Ramon Sessions in terms of total turnovers, an astounding stat considering the breakneck tempo at which Phoenix plays each night. The Spurs for their part took Dragic for granted and got burned by him on a consistent basis. "Steve and Amare did what they do. They played well. Dragic kind of shocked us a little bit," San Antonio's Tim Duncan said. Dragic's solid play at point guard and his role in managing the Suns' offense during Nash's brief breaks are helping to preserve the former MVP as the Suns hope to make another push at a championship run.

C. Kendrick Perkins, Celtics

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
24	27.3	12.0	7.5	1.0	0.2	1.9	.649	---	.614

Last Week's Rank - N/A
Perkins got his spot here last week for his old school play and simple approach to offense and defense. He put all of that on display last week in wins over the Bulls and Grizzlies as he held his own against fellow bruisers Joakim Noah and Marc Gasol. He was especially solid in the win over the Bulls, posting 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks to Noah's two points and 13 rebounds and kept Noah frustrated all night as he went 1-for-8 from the field. While Paul Pierce and Rudy Gay were locked in a solid one-on-one matchup on the perimeter, Perkins and Gasol had a good undercard going under the basket. Perkins put up 13 points and six rebounds to Gasol's 15 points and eight rebounds as both big men provided a physical presence for their teams as Boston escaped with a win. It's hard to deny Perkins a spot on this week's team as long as Boston keeps rolling along as it has.

F. Carl Landry, Rockets

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
25	26.6	16.6	6.0	0.6	0.6	0.9	.573	---	.872

Last Week's Rank - N/A
Last week, we got an e-mail from James Philip asking simply: "Have you seen Carl Landry's play recently?" when we left him off last week's list. Let's give James a point for his prognostication skills as Landry once again finds himself on the Five on the Rise. Landry is playing four minutes per game fewer than starter Luis Scola, but is still giving the Rockets almost the same production each night. And here's a stat worth mentioning in case you haven't heard it: Landry's 6.6 ppg in the fourth quarter is No. 2 in the entire league. He's ahead of Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James, is tied with Jason Terry and trails only Dwyane Wade in that stat. "That's just the time that I play," he told the Houston Chronicle. "Two, three minutes left in the third quarter, that's when I'm getting in. I think it matters who's in the game at crunch time. Coach (Adelman) and the coaching staff put trust in me to be in there. It's a good feeling." True to his word, Landry had plenty of clutch baskets last week as the Rockets handled the Sixers and ended the Pistons' five-game win streak. While he and Scola are often in the game together at the end, Landry is often one of the Rockets' go-to guys down the stretch.

F. Jared Dudley, Suns

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
25	23.4	9.1	3.7	1.1	1.0	0.2	.448	.482	.727

Last Week's Rank - N/A
Dudley had a career-best 19 points and hit four 3-pointers as Phoenix pulled away from Orlando. We mentioned above that Dudley has made improvement in his 3-point shooting this season, but improvement means he might have actually been a DECENT 3-point shooter in the past. Consider that in his one-and-a-half seasons with Charlotte, Dudley made 29.8 percent of his 3-pointers and was 12-for-49 in his career. Since joining the Suns, Dudley has gotten comfy shooting the deep ball (and more than proficent at it, too). He is 67-115 in his Phoenix career and boasts a staggering 44.4 shooting percentage from 3-point range. He's fourth this season in 3-point shooting percentage (.482) and along with Frye (who is 10th in the league at .449) and Nash (.456), the Suns are the only team in the NBA to have a trio of players ranked in the top 10 in 3-point percentage. Dudley has learned, too, how to make his shots count. "I always knew I could be a consistent 3-point shooter," Dudley told the Arizona Republic. "The key is the good shots you take. It's not like I'm Ray Allen coming off screens and curling. It's spot up, transition, corner. The defense determines if I shoot a 3. If they roll to Amar'e (Stoudemire) and I'm open, I'm going to shoot that. I try not to force the issue. But with the injuries, I try to be more aggressive."

G: Raymond Felton, Bobcats -- After an awful eight-point night against the Spurs on Friday, Felton stepped in with two of his better games of the season. In an OT loss to Dallas one night later, Felton had 20 points and eight assists against the Mavs' pesky backcourt of Barea and Kidd. On Tuesday, Felton had 18 points and six assists but had his biggest baskets at the end of the game as he scored two layups that helped Charlotte snap New York's four-game win streak. The win was crucial as the Bobcats (like the Knicks) have faint playoff aspirations themselves and gives Charlotte a 2-0 lead in the season's four-game series. Felton is fitting in well with new backcourt mate Stephen Jackson and over the last 10 games has upped his averages in nearly every category.

G: Ersan Ilyasova, Bucks -- Ilyasova made our list a couple of times earlier in the season for his rebounding prowess and defensive toughness during Andrew Bogut's absence. The Bucks' starting power forward struggled through a tough first week in December, but is regaining his form that we raved about so much early in the season. He had 11 points and eight rebounds in a thrilling home win over the short-handed Blazers and had a solid 24 points, five rebounds and four assists against the Lakers' talented and long frontline in Wednesday's 107-106 OT loss. He's grown into a must-have player on the court for coach Scott Skiles, evidinced by the fact he's averaging more than 30 minutes per game in the last month (and is averaging 26.1 mpg this season).

F: Corey Brewer, Timberwolves -- Our Rookie Rankings guru Drew Packham gives point guard Jonny Flynn some love for his breakout game against the Jazz last week. While Flynn's quickness and outside shooting acumen that night were the headline-grabber as Minnesota improved to 2-0 this season against Utah, we can't overlook Brewer's solid night at EnergySolutions Arena. Brewer has been working lately with Wolves vice president of basketball operations Fred Hoiberg after practice to straighten out his shooting stroke. The time with "The Mayor" seems to be paying off as he burned the Jazz for 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting and hit some nice jumpers throughout the game. Since his 5-for-13, 11-point showing in a one-point loss to the Hornets on Dec. 12, Brewer is shooting 56.3 percent from the field and might finally be starting to get his legs under him on his shot after missing all of last season with a knee injury.

F: Troy Murphy, Pacers -- Murphy missed six games in the middle of NOvember with a back injury and came back a bit tenuous as most would expect. But he's found his form lately and had perhaps his best game of the season last week in a thrilling win over the Wizards. Murphy had 28 points and 12 rebounds in the victory and followed that up with a 14-point, six-rebound game against the Magic. Murphy told The Indianapolis Star that his film sessions with assistant coach Frank Vogel have paid off of late. ""Troy's starting to regain his stroke and he knows we're depending on him," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien told the newspaper. "He's starting to find his rhythm. Troy was terrific."

C: Ben Wallace, Pistons -- Every week, we check to see when the 35-year-old Wallace will begin to drop out of the top 10 among the NBA's rebounding leaders. Yet each week, there's Big Ben, almost single-handedly keeping Detroit among the NBA's leaders in rebounding differential (+3.40) and helping them stay in the playoff picture in the East. During Detroit's recent five-game win streak, he averaged 11.2 rpg and throughout the season has ranked among the NBA's best offensive rebounders, a surprising feat given his age. Coach John Kuester credits Wallace with Detroit's ability to stay in most games despite injuries that have ravaged the team. "He's given us extra possessions -- whether it's off the free throws, whether they're off of offensive rebounds themselves. He's playing at such a high level: defensively to rebounding to offensively to get us extra possessions," Kuester told the Detroit Free Press. Another perk for Wallace? Those in the Detroit media who doubted his worthiness as a contributor for the Pistons are already starting to send in their apologies.