Detroit News veterans all know Massimo as an ardent Darko, Memo and Delfino (most things European basketball oriented) fan. He's in Italy and during the summer usually has some interesting offseason reports. I wish I had saved his gem about Memo from last year.

Some folks might not like what he has to say but I have never had reason to believe he was being less than honest.

http://info.detnews.com/pistons/lettersindex.cfm
Mon. 07/24/06 06:53 AM
Why Darko Milicic is no more a Piston

On Saturady I attended the game Italy played vs Serbia Montenegro in the Gianatti tournament in Bormio featuring Italy, SCG, Greece and Canada.

Darko played like 28 minutes and had an average game (best scorer of the game with 17 point but very low %, he was like 2 for 16) but what I saw was pretty enteresting.

He started the game strong with 4 rebounds, one block, one spectacular assist (a touch pass) and a basket on a nice jumper in few minutes then he lost his head for a silly thing: he was fouled two times under the basket but no whistle so Darko erupted for a technical foul and, before leaving the court boiling, he kicked one of the courtside sponsors.

The crowd (a lot of kids with families)booed him and, when he came back in the second half, he got booed every time he touched the ball and, for every miss, people roared louder than when Italy scored a basket...

I saw that he made the 'Serbian three fingers salute' torward the fans (that doesn't mean three points, but it's more like a provocation) every time he hit a three point shot (two times, he was 2/3) while laughting at his opponents at the same time.

Well, the point is that the man is 21 years old but he seems more like a 12 years old kid... He tried hard to dunk the ball to make people shut up but one time was blocked by an Italian player, while the other the shot was rejected by the rim in traffic... I can understand it wasn't the World Championships Final but his behavior was unprofessional and silly to say the least...

He was having fun, laughting but he wasn't able to translate his willingess to take over the game into great basketball.

That said, before losing his head for nothing and starting his personal war with the fans, he played great and you could see why was the 2# pick in the 2003 draft: he's fluid like a guard, he has very soft hands (he scores FT without moving the net...)and has a tremendous reach with his long arms.

Too bad Darko is still a big kid, very immature and not ready for a team like Detroit that needs immediate help and proven players. They just didn't want to wait for him so long: no question he will be a great player in this league but he still needs a couple of years to mature as a person before as a player.

Massimo, Mandello del Lario (LC), ITALY

12 year old sounds about right.

It's nice to hear that he was enjoying himself. I was afraid that after the nightmare here in Detroit, with his confidence shattered by Garbage Time, he might sour on basketball forever.

Great stuff Masssimo. I trust the Massimo viewpoint. He has a Darko bias but gives us a unique viewpoint.

Isn't this description pretty much what we observed during Darko's days in Detroit? Athletic ability marred by emotional instability? Same old story. Same old Darko.

There are really high expectations for him in Europe. I wonder though how much the language barrier may have contributed to both his growth in America, his issues with the Pistons, and his draft position.

Speaking a language "broken" style (in my experience) really doesn't allow you to express yourself effectively. And the less you can express, the less likely you are to communicate.

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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

He really is a 'Serbian Gangstar'....He's a Euro Sheed.

I'm pretty sure bball jay would dismiss this as liberal media propaganda. No need to believe it yet.

Last year, I really looked forward to Massimo's reports. Being of like mind, I never look upon his reports as 'biased' .

I will be looking for them again this year.

Yes, although I have been and still am a fan of DMC, I have never been one who believes that he has no faults. This one, I believe he may have picked up from Sheed and a couple
of others.

I have always believed that when you are 'put-apon', it is so childish to show that it is getting through to you. Just raise your level of play and get back at them in that way.

I hoped that when I saw he did not play yesterday in the defeat of Canada, it was because the coach sat him down for a game to show his displeasure. Nip it in the bud!

I am looking forward to the slightly possible event that the Serbian team will meet the USA in the finals. Would it not be great to see that deep draft represented so well on the floor at the same time: Dwayne, LeBron, Carmelo, Bosh, and Darko.

I cannot wait !!!

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Things appear to be at their darkest . . . . . . . . . just before they go totally black!!

Nice avatar lazy! Looks a lot like Jerry West!

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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

Lazy. You are saying that Darko picked up his attitude problems from Sheed? That's another headscratcher for me. How would you come up with a theory like that and upon what facts do you base this theory?

I think some of you Darko guys just pull these theories out of thin air because they are convenient to your internal Darko myth. I believe the facts before my eyes...you create them.

Agreed, bills. Before Detroit ever drafted Darko, there were stories from Serbia about his attitude. On the whole I think he did a good job staying patient during three difficult seasons with the Pistons, but he didn't use the learning opportunities presented to him. The biggest barrier to his success seems to be from the neck up.