By JOSH REESE

Editor

HOUSTON — After suffering through a poor shooting night (13 points on 5-of-14 FGs), a technical foul and an unexpected loss to the beaten-up Rockets, it seemed difficult to turn the frown of Goran Dragic upside down.

The Suns locker room looked depressed, having fallen from the high of a double-digit win in Dallas the night before to the low of losing to a Houston group missing four rotation players and starring an ailing James Harden, who shot just 5-of-21 while dealing with lower back spasms.

Dragic, who played a team-high 41 minutes in Phoenix’s 100-95 loss, appeared especially down.

“I don’t… We just looked tired,” Dragic said with a sigh in postgame commentary on Saturday night. “Especially in the first half, we didn’t have that energy.”

Very little changed the sad tone from Dragic until he was asked to give his thoughts on Houston coach Kevin McHale. While Dragic only spent two seasons with the Rockets and just one with McHale, Dragic seemed to think very highly of McHale.

“He’s a great coach, he is one of the best coaches I ever had,” Dragic said of McHale. “I had a great good times with him. He gave me the opportunity to become the player I am now.”

Before the Dragic-McHale connection happened, Dragic had only started eight games in his first three seasons,scoring no higher than 7 points/game.

But in his first and only season with McHale, Dragic became a starter (28 games) and had increases in his stats all across the board.

“This was my second home,” Dragic said when asked about his thoughts when coming back to town. “When I was in Phoenix, the first time when they traded me, I was going through some tough times.”

“I established my name here,” he added.

Dragic definitely did that. Under McHale, he became a starter and moved toward the path he is now, which is becoming one of the top guards in the league and on pace for a possible maximum-salary contract in the summer of 2015, when Dragic has a player option for free agency.

“They understood I could play” said Dragic, speaking of the Rockets.

General manager Daryl Morey wouldn’t have traded for Dragic had they not seen something from him, and this tweet shows just how much the organization wanted him to stay during his last stint in free agency, back in July 2012.

Rockets fans,tell Goran Dragic how much U want him 2extend his time with Hou. I will get your message 2him. Hash tag #HouLovesGogi in reply — Daryl Morey (@dmorey) April 27, 2012

“It’s just always nice to be back here,” Dragic said. “In Houston, I got the real opportunity I was waiting for during my first four years in the league, and I will always be grateful.”

It certainly seems the Rockets and Dragic remain on excellent terms, and with any luck, they might find themselves with a second opportunity in the months and/or years ahead. Stay tuned!

For more on Dragic’s potential fit with the Rockets, check out last week’s Red & Orange Report podcast with Kelly Scaletta of Bleacher Report, who helped us break down how a reunion could happen. Goran himself actually favorited it!