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Originally Posted by FreshPrince22 Yes, he was given a few garbage minutes (as Darko was), and he played well in them. Thus, he has earned a larger role on the team. Darko, on the other hand, did not earn more minutes. Whether it be from the games he was playing in to start the season or in practice (for all we know it could be mostly about what they've been doing in practice). Delfino has played well, Darko hasn't. That is the difference. |
darko didn't earn more minutes because he had to be better than 4 former all stars. delfino just had to be better than mo evans. there have been games where darko comes in and shuts down the paint. yet he gets no more playing time. i don't think darko's lack of playing time is because of a lack of skill or lack of playing well only. it's politics and loyalty (loyalty to the big old frontline) also.
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If we play him and he starts doing fairly well (not better than Ben/Sheed/Dice, but good enough to demand minutes) what do we do then? You think he's going to re-sign with us to keep his limited role on the team in that situation? I don't know, but I doubt it. Either way I can't see him sticking around. I think Larry wen't about things wrong to begin with, and Darko just ended up in a bad situation. His fragile mental state certainly doesn't help any.
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yes. he is more likely to resign with the pistons if we play him and he starts doing well and feels like a part of the team. yes. he will be more likely to stay because he knows as his contract goes on his role on the team of a nba champion will grow.
yes. lb went about it the wrong way definitely. i don't think darko is any more fragile than any other 18 - 21 year old entering the league as a high draft pick. any other draft pick that had been treated like darko would have demanded trades, been late to practice, cussed out the coach. darko only answers questions asked to him by the media. he just wants to play.
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Darko's "kinks" hurt the team a lot more than Dice's shot not falling. Darko's biggest "kinks" are not offensive things. It's defensive rebounding, man-to-man defense, etc. These are things that Dice brings no matter if his shot is falling or not. Darko really brings nothing to the table if he isn't blocking shots (or if the refs are getting whistle happy).
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the thing about darko is he is always blocking shots. so you can't say if he isn't blocking shots. darko defends the pick and roll better than any of our bigs. players rarely score on darko one on one. he blocks turnarounds, hook shots, whatever comes at him. in
garbage time yes darko will concede a layup instead of risking injury but that's another issue. ( i agree with him though on not risking your future in gt)
you are also very wrong about darko's kinks hurting worse than mcdyess. mcdyess is supposed to carry the second unit offensively. with mcdyess shot not falling the second unit would lose leads very quickly and be right back off the court. now that dice's shot is falling better now the second unit is doing better. it's no coincedence that delfino started playing more and better once on the floor with mcdyess and his shot falling. everybody looks better when mcdyess plays well.
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He hasn't made "huge" mistakes in the scope of things, but he makes bigger mistakes than anyone on the team. Lazy turnovers, letting players get too many easy putbacks, fumbling rebounds, commiting cheapy fouls (he must have an NBA record for 3-point plays against him per 48 minutes), etc. It's not that he does these once a game either. He does them on almost every possession.
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mo evans dribbles the ball out of bounds very often. mcdyess sets more moving screens than any big man i've watched. ben jacks so many free throws it's crazy. rip is a turnover waiting to happen. which one of our big men isn't getting dogged on the boards nowadays??
his fouls is just an example of inexperience and lack of respect from the refs. watch rip on screens he holds, grabs and pulls all the time but rarely gets called.
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As for preseason minutes. Obviously his minutes were going to plummet coming into the regular season. I don't think anyone thought he would get close to the ~23mpg he saw in the preseason. I was hoping for 10-12 mpg, and at the beginning of the season he was getting close to that. But he was just a different player. I really can't explain it.
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no i wasn't expecting his minutes to stay at over 20. i just point out the preseason because when he was getting the minutes he was responding and getting better. in the regular season his minutes dropped to basically nothing. he had a bad game in new york then he was back to
garbage time only like in the lb era. did flip think an inexperienced player like darko wouldn't have a few bad games??? you don't sit a player that was doing well on the bench just cause he has a bad game.
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That's funny because Sheed is a crap rebounder as well (part of the reason I like Dice so much). You saw Memo kill us on the offensive glass against Utah. The same thing happens on a nightly basis. Just because Sheed does it doesn't make it right. Sheed gets away with it because he can strech the defense, hit some shots, and defend the post. And sure, I'd love to have a young 7 foot shot blocker, but right now he's just not ready to contribute to this team. Any minutes we give him would be a detriment to the team, and would be for the future only. That's something Joe D. and Flip have to work out.
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the future is important. flip and lb don't exactly think about the future. joe d does that's why darko is still here after all these years. i disagree that the minutes would be to the detriment of the team. it is not a given that it will hurt us. playing darko has not lost us a game yet. if he isn't doing well take him out of the game. but put him back in the game the next game.
your point would be valid if other players weren't allowed to come in and stink it up quite a few games in a row. (mcdyess, evans, arroyo) yet game after game they are put right back in.
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I agree his D has been lackluster, but he definately did help fill a need. We were in desperate need of a swingman off the bench who could knock down some shots and provide and energy boost. He does that (though he's streaky with his shot). The most important thing is that he's a body to put in there in place of Rip to get him some rest. Darko's problem is that we already have Dice there to rest Sheed/Ben.
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look at ben /sheed/dice minutes per game. they are not resting more than they did last year. look at how our bigs perform on back to backs. look at how our bigs perform against the younger bigger big men. either it's they aren't getting enough rest or they are getting old and it's time to think about moving them.
darko playing more only extends thier career and saves them for the playoffs.