The Phoenix Suns have been hoping to get Dario Saric back to his old self.
That's not to say Saric has been dreadful, but since tearing his ACL in the 2021 NBA Finals, he's yet to regain that full light that made him shine on the court.
He played with his national team prior to the season and saw flashes of his versatile game with a 6-foot-10 frame. A stacked lineup has prevented him from getting consistent/regular minutes but a recent plague in injuries has led to more playing time.
Though Saric has seen flashes of his old self this season, Tuesday's win over the Charlotte Hornets saw him tie a season-high of 19 points while also adding eight rebounds, three assists and one block on the night.
Head coach Monty Williams believes he's finding his confidence again.
“I think, I hope so. I hope he feels that way. It looks that way, but I hope he feels that way. Anytime you are coming off that kind of injury, we have heard anywhere from a year and a half to two year before you start to feel like yourself again. We are at that point where he should be moving into that area where he is not even thinking about it anymore," Williams said.
"Where he is just playing natural instinctive basketball. The last few games he is getting the ball and taking off in transition. Tonight, he tried to dunk one, but I think the rim moved. I won’t mess with that, he is starting to get back to that kind of reckless, somewhat chaotic style he can play. He can do it under control, he just looks like a warrior out there when he is knocking down threes, attacking the paint, finding guys, setting screens.
"We try to not put a boundary around his creativity. I am hopeful that he can keep progressing, I think we can use him as a weapon especially when teams go big against us. We feel like his shooting, his defense, his creativity will be a weapon for us.”
Saric himself agreed.
“Maybe. I feel good, of course sometimes it takes some time. I don’t know, it’s really hard, what happened, how I started moving a little bit better or that kind of stuff is hard to describe. I thought I was moving well before, but maybe it didn’t show very well. So, I feel more comfortable," he said.
"I think guys trust me, I think Coach trusts me more, so I feel good out there on the court; feel free more. Maybe it was in my head, I don’t know, but I try to do the best that I can every time, so sometimes things change after a certain time.”
When asked if he feels like he's growing back as part of the team, Saric answered:
“Yeah, of course when you play more minutes of course you feel more part of the team. When you don’t get the minutes, you kind of have a rough time, I think not just me, but everybody. But I was trying to stay focused, work on my game every day, stay positive, wait for my chance. A couple guys get injured, I get a chance to play and started to play. So, it’s hard to describe. I needed to be positive all the time, kind of forget what’s going on, work hard every day and wait for your chance. Next man up.”
The Suns will need all hands on deck for a potential playoff run. While Saric won't be the determining factor, his healthy presence only pushes Phoenix's bench production when it really matters.
It seems as if Saric is finding his old footing, which is good news for everybody in the Valley.
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