great minds think a like.

Any thoughts on getting Eddie Griffin? Dwayne Casey no longer plays him or Jaric. I dunno exactly who we'd need to send in a deal for Griffin but I think he's got a great upside. If he can learn to be a more selective shooter and stop the stupid fouls he could be great. He's already a defensive force, he currently ranks above Big Ben in blocks per game at 2.3 compared to 2.2 from Ben and 16 more minutes per game for Ben than Griffin. He could be an excellent player to develop and could immediately help us off the bench on D and can also make shots in the paint (he takes too many stupid 3's right now ). I think this would be great for us if we could move a couple of expendable guys for him and maybe someone else. I'm pretty sure it was Flip who took the shot on him last year after he went unsigned for most of the year so I say do the damn thing Flip!

If Darko and Arroyo were traded for Cato alone Dumars would have to be canned. That's just absurd.

From Bball-Jay

Better than Cato? I'm sure you have some stats to prove that one. And you base this on what?

Precisely. What better way to achieve that than to move the dead wood at the end of our bench.

Yeah Flip should be tarred, feathered and run out of town for his failure to play Darko. While we're at it, let's string-up Joe D too. He's the one who keeps bringing these meanies in to coach our team.

Very simple solution. We can trade Darko for one of those guys and everybody's happy. In a year or three, Darko may be able to crack the starting lineup for one of those bottom-feeders, and have a career year for himself as well.

Darko not playing against Orlando, with the lead we had and Miami next up; says a whole lot about his ability to contribute.

I do think Flip needs to just give Darko another shot at the few minutes per game that he got at the beginning of the year. I mean, did we lose any of those games when he came in early? I can't think of any.

In fact, I just looked it up, and Darko has only played in 1 loss all year. That was the Dallas game where the starters got down about 30 in the first quarter. And while he did have a couple bad showings, so has everyone on the team. How many games has Sheed mailed in, or Tayshaun? I can think of a bunch of them. You can't expect a 20 year old to be that consistant right now. Just give him those 5 1st half minutes, and see what happens. But sitting on this kid isn't going to do anything. You have to find out if he can be salvaged.

FreshPrince22
Exactly! Sounds like a player who only get's off the bench in a blowout.

No comparison. Darko ain't no Sheed or Tayshaun.

I would argue that sitting this kid is preserving his value, since he hasn't earned a few minutes in a blowout lately. I think we know that the only way to "salvage" him is to move him. This is his third year. For whatever reason, he ain't cuttin the mustard.

When you're right you're right... we have indeed been beaten more than expected by young bigs... so wht's the answer?... Is Darko gonna fix the problem?... based on what evidence?... I can tell you for sure he will not slow down these young 4/5's... they take it to him also... worse he's been beat by 2nd and 3rd stringers... he hasn't had to go up against real talent yet.... show me the money my friends.... sounds like vaporware so far.... suck kit up ya wimpy sob!

I'm not talking about the blowouts. I'm talking about the 10 games when he came in during the first half.


Dec 02 vs. Knicks 106-98 W 5 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 1 2 0 0 0 2 1 0
Nov 30 at Nets 93-83 W 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0
Nov 26 at Bucks 85-76 W 10 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 2
Nov 23 vs. Nuggets 114-89 W 9 0-0 0-0 1-4 1 1 2 1 0 3 2 1 1
Nov 18 at Rockets 78-70 W 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 0
Nov 15 vs. Celtics 115-100 W 5 2-3 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 0 0 0 1 1 4
Nov 08 at Kings 102-88 W 6 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 2 2
Nov 05 vs. Raptors 117-84 W 16 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 1 0 1 1 3 2
Nov 04 at Celtics 82-81 W 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 2
Nov 02 vs. Sixers 108-88 W 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 1 1 1 2

He played in the first halves of ALL of those games, and we still won them all. I can see sitting him against San Antonio or Dallas, but if we're playing some mediocre team it's obvious that those few minutes aren't costing us games.

Obviously, but don't tell me there aren't games where they look like they could care less out there. Tayshaun with his 1 rebound games. Sheed with his 1 for 11 three pointer outings. Or 2-3 rebounds for a near 7 footer in big minutes. And these are in real minutes that mean something.

And I would argue that if we've got to throw in Arroyo with him just to dump his contract (Cato), then it's as low as it can get, and we might as well just give him a try. If we can get something decent for him, then sure. But if we're talking Cato, then this is just ridiculous. Trading a young 7 footer with upside that won't see minutes (and our backup PG) for an injured, old 7 footer that won't see minutes is just stupid.

FreshPrince22

Yeah but both of those guys play excellent defense, and find other ways to win. They can contribute even with "stats" like that. Sheed is a legit all-star. Darko is flirting with the inactive list. No comparison.

I KNOW you're not tryin to say Darko would grab half as many rebounds as Sheed would. Does he even know what a rebound is, much less where to find them? The kid barely sticks his big toe in the paint most of the time he's on the floor. You can't be 7-1 and play from foul line to foul line. Especially when you're tryin to TAKE some PT.

Good work on the stats Fresh!