Archie Goodwin’s shot will come. It will.
It’s hard to think otherwise after witnessing the latest chapter of his last-in-the-gym series this season. Long after the rest of his teammates had left, Goodwin was still on the floor, hoisting up shots with Head Coach Jeff Hornacek looking on.
After a series of misses, Hornacek instructed Goodwin to try a couple set shots. The idea was to keep Goodwin from jumping as much and make the shot one, fluid motion.
After the lesson was conveyed and illustrated, Goodwin swished his next two attempts from the corner.
“He’s really good [in those teaching moments],” Goodwin said of Hornacek. “He was a really good shooter and he had the same problem I did as far as having a hitch in his shot when he came into the league. He said it took him a year or so to get it to where he wanted it. It was frustrating for him and I know I’m going through the same process. I know it’s going to be frustrating, but I have to just continue to work with it and stick with it and fix it.”
In the meantime, the first-year guard is using his quickness in transition and his defense to carve out minutes off the bench. It paid off on Sunday, when Goodwin came up with six points, three rebounds and three blocks in 16 minutes, all of which marked early career highs through seven games.
“He had a lot of energy out there,” Hornacek said after Sunday’s game. “He created one play where he really sprinted down the sideline and crossed underneath the basket…he did that and it opened it up for a trailer three-pointer right behind him. Those are little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. I thought he did a pretty decent job defensively, too. He was active with his hands and he was moving his feet pretty well.”
Daddy Dragic
Suns point guard Goran Dragic took on another nickname that starts with a ‘D’ after his first-born son Mateo was born on Tuesday. Both mother and child were doing well, as is Dragic according to Hornacek.
“He said ‘I want to get out there and play for my new son,’” Hornacek said. “There’s that excitement. It’s a big thrill, obviously, to have your first child and to go out there and play. That child might not know what’s going on quite yet for a couple years, but there is that sense of pride that he wants to get back on that court for him.”
Dragic will join the team in Portland either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning depending on when he and his family leave the hospital.
Power Rankings Push
Phoenix was pegged at No. 29 out of 30 teams in nearly every major Power Rankings poll at the start of the season.
Five wins and two losses later, the Suns logo can be found a lot higher up. Here’s a breakdown:
ESPN.com
This week: 8th
Last week: 16th
USA Today
This week: 10th
Last week: 11th
Sports Illustrated (CNNSI.com)
This week: 7th
Last week: 10th
CBSSports.com
This week: 9th
Last week: 8th