The sad thing to me was that Darko only expected 10 minutes and to learn. He wasn't talking All-star team or Starting 5 or any of that BS. Instead he got stomped on.

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Well, I think it was a two way street. There was no room for him to play on an all star championship caliber team and as a result he got apathetic and as a result the team said "you haven't earned minutes".

He'll do fine in Orlando, or at least get every opportunity to shine. Detroit drafted him for the future. Understandably, Darko wanted to play now. Detroit (right or wrong) did not feel that would be in the best interests of the organization.

He is 21(or so). His whole career is ahead of him, and he learned from Larry Brown, Flip Saunders, and a great group of teammates. Darko's going to be ok, and if not, it will be for reasons to do with himself.

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"Quite simply captain, I examined the problem from all angles, and it was plainly hopeless. Logic informed me that under the circumstances, the only logical action would have to be one of desperation. Logical decision, logically arrived at." -- Spock

What's clear to me is that Joe D., who once believed that Darko would develop into an elite, Nowitzki-type player, no longer has those kinds of expectations for him. Something about Darko's personality -- his toughness -- or maybe even his intelligence -- convinced Joe D. that that kind of potential is just not there. Otherwise, Joe would have held out for higher trade value and gotten a proven player who could help the team right now. That said, I hope the ideas I am attributing to Joe D. are wrong -- and I wish Darko the best. I do not revel in Darko's misfortune.

a tough one- Fans have to accept the Pistons maybe gave up one of the biggest chances in NBA history like back then when the Spurs were able to optain Duncan.
Add a great player to an already great team.
But when I remember all that Darko hype, it's udnerstandable that everyone wanted him. And with RIP and Billups, there was no real need for Wade or Anthony. Kaman is a solid, but not a great player.
And from the standpoint back then, no one expected Bosh to be that good and overhyped Darko to have such a lousy attitude. I hope Joe D's gonne learn from his failures but doens't get afraid tot rade foreign player.
SA has shown that they can be pretty good too.

The thing that you just can't forget is that Darko is even still, just a boy. Most kids his age are just learning to be responsible adults in a college atmosphere, or maybe in the army, and getting it wrong alot of the time. Without this structured growing experience, most people his age would not fluorish. LeBron James did it, but LeBron is a 20 year-old with unbelievable maturity. He is one of a very few people in the history of sports who excelled at such an early age. Lots of people have the physical abilities to thrive, but very few do. The list of current NBA superstars who took years to come to their potential (Bryant, J. Oneal, Garnett) is very long. But all of these guys were handed the keys to the kingdom, and allowed to fail miserably. Darko got none of this. He was told to succeed now, make no mistakes, or you can't play. He walked into an extremely difficult situation, and was not mature enough to handle the pressure. Very very few people are.

I'm not saying that its Joe's fault that this happened. I just think that in general, there is no place for lottery pick projects on successful teams.

I wish Darko all the best. I'm glad that Joe finally freed him to explore his potential. I hope that he averages a triple double against us for the rest of his career (and we win, of course).

I wish Darko good luck and expect him to be a star in the NBA. I am also glad that Joe caught up to Darko in assessing his situation in Detroit correctly. Darko Knew two years ago that there was no place for him in Detroit. Joe just found that out.

The first clue that there was no place in Detroit for Darko came with Larry Brown's appearance on the Letterman Show, where he gratuitously trashed Darko on national television. The second came with Joe Dumar's appearance on the same show (possibly Leno's) where he gratuitiously trashed Darko, repeating some of Larry's lines.

Combined with the language problem, Larry's grotesque emotional assault of a kid (see Chauncey), the complete remake of his game in the context of an abusive jerk, and the fact that he hadn't played that many games anywhere, it was long ago apparent that Darko could not remain here, let alone flourish. He, of course, should have stayed in Europe awhile and played.

What is often cited as a bad attitude appears to me as depression, for which he had good reason as alluded to above. His phlegmatic attitude on the court was the subconscious, metaphysical equivalent of crashing the boards, blocking anything near the rim, racking up assists, and scoring from far and near in order to get playing time. And it worked! He'll get plenty of playing time in Orlando.

This may still work out for Detoit, however. It all depends on how Orlando's 07 or 08 pick in the high teens works out.

As for losing Arroyo, maybe Maxiel can take over as backup point guard. He seems to be the right height, although he might have to work on his passing a bit.

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"Dying in your sleep is the next, best thing to immortality, or is it the other way around?"
--Me.

Yeah, Chauncey was a pretty big supporter in the offseason. Odd that his lobbying for minutes didn't impact this trade. You would think he has Joe's ear...

Maxiell was never Darko's problem. Darko's problem was the poor decision (influenced?) to join the NBA well before he was ready. Anyone who has watched him play knows he has physical skills, but his bball IQ is ridiculously low, and his mental toughness is lacking.

Maybe he should not have come over to America and lived alone. I never understood why he has no family around to support him emotionally, to help ease the loneliness and isolation.

But still, I expect cheapshots, and J-Max whose only fault is being a Piston will get plenty of Darko fallout.

Yep a lot of bitter Darko and Arroyo fans out looking for someone to blame.

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

No, he also knew that Darko couldn't flourish here. He wanted what was best for Darko, too. He understood the problem from experience.

Never said that Maxiel was Darko's problem. Was just having a little fun, which I tried to show with the Groucho emoticon. Darko's basketball I.Q. is not low, nor is his mental toughness lacking. He was caught in a dead-end job and down or depressed. Hell, he was in the same state as those prisoners down in Gitmo. He even got one of their haircuts.

Me, too. Probably because he left his home so early to play basketball. But who knows what people's personal situations are?

Once again, just having a little fun--not only "girls just want to have fun," but a lot of boys feel that way, too. Finally, I am not at all bitter. In fact, my wife says I'm sweet. I am actually very happy for Darko. Keeping him here under the conditions that reigned was repugnant.

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"Dying in your sleep is the next, best thing to immortality, or is it the other way around?"
--Me.

I never feel sorry for pro-athletes who make more money in one year than I will ever see. Darko could have flown his family out anytime he wanted to but probably chose to be a free wheelin bachlor. He had some girl friend when he 1st came here. Not sure if he dumped her or if she moved in with him.

Why is Maxiel's name popping up now? Has nothing to do with Darko. Just another guy trying to get some PT. Late 1st rounder. I did not expect anything from it but he has shown some promise. Different situation than Darko. Darko provided the opportunity for a Center. Decent 7' Centers are so rare. There will always be Maxiels available in the draft or free agency.

I'm ordering pizza. That's fun. Giving J-max the business, not fun.
You are very lucky.
Out of the pan and into the fire my friend. I still wish we had not drafted him because the support structure was not in place to make it work. Expectations in Orlando will be high, hopefully he can meet their expectations quickly.

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao