The 2005 European Basketball Championship, is commonly called Eurobasket 2005.

The FIBA European Basketball Championship is a basketball competition held every 2 years between national teams organised by FIBA Europe, the sports governing body in Europe. This is the third time that championship is hosted by city of Belgrade (previously in 1961 and 1975).

Why we care
Pistons fans are especially anxious to see Darko Milicic make his Serbian National Team (the host squad) and how he performs in the tournament.

Where
Belgrade, is the capital of Serbia since 1404, Serbia and Montenegro (2003–Present) and Yugoslavia (1918–2003). The city lies on the outfall of the Sava river to the Danube river in northern central Serbia, at 44.83° N 20.50° E. The population of the Belgrade region 1,711,800 (2002 census.)

When
Between 16 September and 25 September 2005.

Timezone offset:
All Game Times CEST (http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/eu/cest.html) - Central European Summer Time
Belgrade is currently GMT+2.
Detroit is currently GMT-4 (EDT (http://www.timeanddate.com/library/abbreviations/timezones/na/edt.html) - Eastern Daylight Time)

All of these games are on six hours ahead of Detroit local time.

17:30 Belgrade gametime is 11:30 in Detroit.

PRELIMINARY ROUND

16.09.2005
Slovenia vs. Bosnia & Herzeg. @ Beograd, SCG - 17:30
Latvia vs. Israel @ Novi Sad, SCG - 17:30
Germany vs. Italy @ Vršac, SCG - 18:00
Croatia vs. Bulgaria @ Podgorica, SCG - 18:00
France vs. Greece @ Beograd, SCG - 20:30
Serbia & Montenegro vs. Spain @ Novi Sad, SCG - 20:30
Russia vs. Ukraine @ Vršac, SCG - 21:00
Turkey vs. Lithuania @ Podgorica, SCG - 21:00

17.09.2005
Bosnia & Herzeg. vs. France @ Beograd, SCG - 17:30
Spain vs. Latvia @ Novi Sad, SCG - 17:30
Italy vs. Russia @ Vršac, SCG - 18:00
Lithuania vs. Croatia @ Podgorica, SCG - 18:00
Greece vs. Slovenia @ Beograd, SCG - 20:30
Israel vs. Serbia & Montenegro @ Novi Sad, SCG - 20:30
Ukraine vs. Germany @ Vršac, SCG - 21:00
Bulgaria vs. Turkey @ Podgorica, SCG - 21:00

18.09.2005
Slovenia vs. France @ Beograd, SCG - 17:30
Spain vs. Israel @ Novi Sad, SCG - 17:30
Italy vs. Ukraine @ Vršac, SCG - 18:00
Lithuania vs. Bulgaria @ Podgorica, SCG - 18:00
Greece vs. Bosnia & Herzeg. @ Beograd, SCG - 20:30
Latvia vs. Serbia & Montenegro @ Novi Sad, SCG - 20:30
Russia vs. Germany @ Vršac, SCG - 21:00
Croatia vs. Turkey @ Podgorica, SCG - 21:00

** UPDATED 9-13-05: Israel qualified as the last team in the tournament. They go into Pool D as the 4th team.

13 September 2005

Serbia & Montenegro head coach Zeljko Obradovic has cut Aleksandar Pavlovic and Bojan Popovic from his 12-man squad as the hosts make their final preparations for the European Championship.

After a final training game, played behind closed doors against Zeleznik, Obradovic confirmed that Cleveland Cavaliers guard Pavlovic and new Dinamo Moscow playmaker Popovic would not be part of the Blues' party.

"I've informed the players after our last preparation game that Pavlovic and Popovic are not on the list any more," Obradovic said.

"Both of them have more then enough quality to be in our national team, but we can have just 12 players in this competition."

Squad: Marko Jaric, Igor Rakocevic, Vule Avdalovic, Dejan Bodiroga, Milan Gurovic, Vlado Scepanovic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Dejan Milojevic, Dejan Tomasevic, Nenad Krstic, Darko Milicic and Zeljko Rebraca.

Serbia vs. Spain recap and box score, play-by-play etc (http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/cid_SbGnUV12IgwUcAUu7UmfU1.gameID_4316-D-2-1.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2005.roundI D_3769.teamID_92330.html)

Serbia vs. Israel recap and box score, play-by-play etc (http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/cid_SbGnUV12IgwUcAUu7UmfU1.gameID_4316-D-4-2.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2005.roundI D_4316.teamID_.html)

Serbia vs. Latvia recap and box score, play-by-play etc (http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/cid_SbGnUV12IgwUcAUu7UmfU1.gameID_4316-D-5-3.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2005.roundI D_4316.teamID_.html)

9-18-05, Serbia advances from round robin play to the elimination playoffs.

Thanks for pulling that info together Micro.
I'm hoping there will be some news to report on Darko by tomorrow.
(The scouts have their ears to the streets).

It would be great to see him playing in his home town...
There should be at least some internet feeds on these games... with any luck NBATV will pick up a couple (they're usually tape delayed though)

The kid could sure use the confidence. (fingers crossed smiley inserted here)

Happy to inform all Darko fans that young Darko has earned a spot on his national team for the upcomming euro c'ships.Don't know how much court time he will recieve because 2 nba post players are infront in the rotation,those 2 being Zelly Rebraca and Nenad Krstic from the nets.More info to folow.:)

Darko has made the final cuts,just reported in serbian press.:)

Nice victory for DMC.

This is from "rosaUpodne" at MLive:

http://www.b92.net/sport/vesti.php?style=texts&yyyy=2005&mm=09&dd=13&nav_id=176462
Translation:

SM NT coach Zeljko Obradovic made final decision. Two players were cut - Bojan Popovic (Dynamo Moscow) and Aleksandar Pavlovic (Cleveland Cavaliers). Decision was announced after training match against Zeleznik. Bellow are names of 12 players that made a team:

Dejan Bodiroga, Igor Rakoèevic,Vlado Šæepanovic,Marko Jaric,Vule Avdalovic,Milan Gurovic, Željko Rebraca,Vladimir Radmanovic,Dejan Milojevic, Dejan Tomaševic,Darko Milicic and Nenad Krstic.

Confirmed... he did indeed make the cut.
Great to hear that he'll be extending his summer.
I'd be surprised if he received many minutes with the depth at center... but it sure beats going home depressed about not making the team.
Way to go Darko!
For the folks in Toronto it looks like RAPTORS TV will show games from the quarter final stage all the way to the finals.
Still checking on local staellite feeds... but someone mentioned that there will be 80 satellite feeds... just gotta find out which ones.

Yea for darko!

I suppose this is a good thing from the standpoint that making the team should boost his confidence and any playing time he gets can only help. But...if he ends up doing nothing more than adding European toothpicks to his American toothpick collection will it end up hurting his china doll confidence?

I don't know how many of you have lived overseas for any length of time but there is a certain something about coming home that lifts one's spirits. I think having been home this summer and in the gym and on the court will fellow Serbs will lift Darko's spirits immensely. That along with the fact that he knows that Brown won't be around should have him in an excellent frame of mine when he comes back even if he doesn't play a lot in the upcoming Euro tournament.

I am sure he knows about C-Bill's interview and that will also help his attitude knowing that his teamates support him.

Big deal. Rebraca -- not a No. 2 draft pick, by the way -- is ahead of him on the depth chart. I'll get excited about Dunko when he starts doing something for the Deeee-troit Pistons.

Nice collection of big men with Rebraca, Krstc, Radmonovic, and Darko!

..probably will be hard for him to get some good run...but we can always hope.

I hope to be able to provide some infos. It just depends on how good the german coverage will be.

Here is some info regarding live internet streaming of the euro c'ships.Its on pay-per view basis though.
Here goes www.mediazone.com/channel/basketball/jsp/index.jsp (http://www.mediazone.com/channel/basketball/jsp/index.jsp)

Here are few web sites with regarding european c'ships info(all info is in english).
Here goes
www.eurobasket2005.com (http://www.eurobasket2005.com)
www.24sec.net/news.asp (http://www.24sec.net/news.asp)
www.crobasket.com (http://www.crobasket.com)

One more web site regarding european c'ships info.
Here is is www.eurobasket.com/events/ec/05/ec05.asp (http://www.eurobasket.com/events/ec/05/ec05.asp)
Note this website is different to the www.eurobasket2005.com (http://www.eurobasket2005.com)

Thanks

What Are The Initials For DMC's Team?
I think it is SCG.

Darko played 12 minutes scored 3 pts..2 blks...4 rebs

Coach Obradovic decided to play only Zelly and Krstic in the first half.
Krstic got 5 quick fouls in like 10 minutes giving Darko a chance to play.
Obradovic and Zelly got into an argument and was pulled from the game... that's when Darko came in with about 2 minutes left in the 3rd.

Darko had two impressive blocks and one stupid foul at the 3 point line.
He did provide intimidation in the paint for altered shots.
He didn't get a chance to touch the ball because they were shooting 3's trying to get back into the game.

Darko's score was off an offensive rebound where he got fouled for an and1.

have to be encouraged by what they have seen out of Darko so far this summer. I know that some people wanted to see more out of him during the summer league but from what I saw he didn't have a bad summer league. During summer league, he looked like he was just trying to fit in and run the team plays. He never really asserted himself on the offensive end. He was seemingly content to just run the plays and blend in. I know that isn't what "thirsty" fans wanted to see after him not getting hardly any PT under LB.

Now, in Europe from what we are led to believe through articles and fans who have been generous enough to give us detailed reports, we are seeing a more aggressive and determined Darko. He seems to really be trying to IMPRESS with effort and team play and he is showing signs of being able to become an intimidation factor on Defense. He has been playing team defense and not getting touches on offense. He is doing the little things that should earn him minutes in the NBA. Darko is showing that willingness to boxout and hustle for the basketball. It's good to know that at most times Darko has been the best defensive player in the paint for SCG. It's very very encouraging for ALL PISTONS FANS.

^^^Amen. Even Jonathan Givony of Draft Express (a fairly tough critic of Darko's summer league play) noted that Darko was giving the Serbs good minutes today. He posts at interbasket.net, which is a more European-oriented board. The Serbian fans are all over their coach right now, as you might imagine.

Btw, Good luck loading the eurobasket.com or eurobasket2005.com websites. Those cats obviously underestimated the server resources necessary to cater to the tournament internet traffic.

Hopefully they invest in some load balanced server clusters and pay for it by charging top dollar for advertising. Surely Nike and Chad Ford would love to have their names plastered all over those sites during the next week.

Btw, Good luck loading the eurobasket.com or eurobasket2005.com websites. Those cats obviously underestimated the server resources necessary to cater to the tournament internet traffic.

DARKO = RATINGS

I don't want to get too geeky about this, but those sites are both database driven and when you have 2,000 people hitting a database simultaneously you can't run on a $200 per month server anymore.

Even the Vegas Summer League website couldn't handle initial demand and had to upgrade shortly after opening. And I am sure that the Eurobasket2005 site (which btw features live updates as on NBA.com) is getting hammered by 10's of thousands of visitors from around the world.

The third post in this thread has the postgame wrap up and box score info.

According to hoopshype, Darko and his teammates were roundly booed during the Spain loss. :mad:

Nice how they made sure to put Darko's name in that capsule even though Krstic, Rebraca and the rest of the team were the truly disappointing performers. Sounds like the Serbian guards couldn't stop penetration to save their lives.

Darko's in a photo (http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/files/%7B3022F6A2-EA26-4CA8-BD10-C7E7C2212C18%7Dlarge_v.jpg) of Ignacio De Miguel on the Eurobasket website. It could be one of Darko's two fouls, but still: there he is!

Eurobasket recap:

The much anticipated game between Serbia & Montenegro and Spain failed to live up to the expectations - because of the visitors' near perfect game in an 89-70 rout at Novi Sad.

Behind Juan Carlos Navarro's 27 points, Spain took the lead from the start and never rescinded it, leaving little choice to the Serb & Montenegrin fans but to boo their own heroes and cheer when they missed shots in the closing minutes of the blowout.

'The fans' reaction was understandable because we lost at home,' said Serbia Montenegro's coach Zeljko Obradovic. 'Some people will try and make excuses by saying that we lost because of the pressure of playing in front of our own fans..

'But Spain beat us and that is all there is to say. They won by 19 points, the biggest lead of the game and there is no excuse to be made for our performance.

'I am disappointed that the fans booed us because when we are down, when we are losing, that is when we need them the most. We appreciate their support when we are winning, but it is more important to know that they are on our side when we are having trouble in a game. And tonight they did not do that.'

Serbia & Montenegro did not play particularly badly - just not nearly as well as their opponent on the night.

Navarro could not miss and gave his side the advantage early with a personal barrage from behind the three-point arc. He finished the night shooting 9 of 13 from the field including 5 of 8 from three-point territory.

'I just shot the ball when I felt I had a good shot and it kept going in. I tried not to force anything and be sure not to play out of our game plan,' Navarro said after the game.

But it wasn't just Navarro that Serbia & Montenegro couldn't stop. NBA-bound Jose Calderon finished with 17 points, including several key baskets in the second half to halt runs by the host nation.

It seems the Spanish team can do without NBA star Pau Gasol.

'I don't want to talk about Gasol,' Spanish coach Mario Pesquera said. 'We'd be happy to have him on the team of course, but we don't. So I just look at the players we have and if they can play the way they did tonight in every game, then I'm more than happy to have just these guys.'

Serbia & Montenegro trailed by eight points after the first quarter (21-13) and even though they improved in they were behind by 13 by half-time.

None of the team's NBA elite seemed to be able to get anything going on the night. Marco Jaric of the Minnesota Timberwolves was held scoreless and Zeljko Rebraca could not give his side a much-needed presence in the paint.

Instead it was former NBA player Igor Rakocevic who carried Serbia & Montenegro for most of the night, going into the paint time and time again to create an easy basket for his team-mates or draw a foul. He finished with 20 points.

Obradovic could not stop Spain's run-and-gun style of play and instead went deep into his roster to find some offensive firepower to match the Catalan nation's outpour.

Midway through the second half, Obradovic brought on Seattle Supersonic forward Vladimir Radmanovic and Detroit Pistons center Darko Milicic.

Radmanovic brought some offense immediately with a lay-up and a three-pointer on back to back possessions to reduce Spain's lead to 10 points, 60-50. But he brought little more.

Milicic provided some inside toughness defensively but because of the deficit had little chance of getting touches offensively.

Spain was able to maintain its double digit lead intact for much of the second half with Navarro continuing his impressive display, Calderon joining in on the act and Inaki de Miguel scoring from inside and out.

Through the first three quarters, Spain shot 16 of 27 from two-point range, 7 of 16 from beyond the arc and had made 17 of their 24 free throw attempts.

The boos got louder and louder as the game came to an end and the fans eventually started cheering the Spanish duo of Navarro and Calderon who were making shots from everywhere, with hands in their faces and while being fouled.

Jaric was cheered when he attempted - and again missed - his last shot of the game, leaving Obradovic to give a stern warning to the fans.

'Let the fans come tomorrow, we'll see what they do then. We know we have fans who support us and some who don't. I'm telling the ones who are against us to show themselves tomorrow.'


BOX SCORE (http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/cid_SbGnUV12IgwUcAUu7UmfU1.pageID_Tw3b5iaSGMcQoW9f HJDFl0.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2005.r oundID_4316.teamID_.gameID_4316-D-2-1.html)
-

His stat line was:
14 Minutes, 11 points (3-3 FG, 5-5 FT), 7 rebounds (3 offensive), 3 blocks, 1 steal, ZERO fouls.

He played withh Krstic for a while

Milicic who replaced Zelly was great on defense (and it's not only the great blocks) and terrific on offensive glass (from which almost all his points came from).
Hit one 15 footer also.
10 of his points were all of the 4th quarter when Serbia went for 26-12, after leading only by 2 in the 3rd

More to come

It's believed that Darko moved over to PF when he was in with Krstic... it was too much size for Israel... Israel should not be mistaken for NBA talent on their front line but Darko playing well at PF seems like a logical choice on this team that is shallow at the PF spot.... moving back to center when Krstic went out.

Darko playing PF more as a Piston?
Well maybe if Sheed played more at the 5

Game stats (http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/cid_SbGnUV12IgwUcAUu7UmfU1.pageID_Tw3b5iaSGMcQoW9f HJDFl0.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2005.r oundID_4316.teamID_.gameID_4316-D-4-2.html)

Sweet. Thanks Merc.

http://www.pistonsforum.com/images/darko_eb2005_israel.jpg (http://hoopshype.com/eurobasket.htm)

Hoopshype brackets and summary (http://hoopshype.com/eurobasket.htm)

"Keys: Much better team play by Serbia-Montenegro ... Milicic made a big impact in the fourth quarter ... Rakocevic and Krstic played pretty well."

A slice of the recap from the eurobasket website.

Serbia & Montenegro looked like they had reverted to their bad ways of the previous night against Spain when they could not find or create open shots and had to force several shots to avoid a shot clock violation.

But the unlikely pairing of Nenad Krstic and Darko Milicic gave them a solid inside presence at both ends of the floor.
Krstic provided some much needed offense late in the third quarter while Milicic blocked shots and was an imposing presence defensively. He was also able to contribute offensively scrapping for rebounds and getting putback baskets.

Things were in the hosts’ favour in the final period, as they held Israel scoreless for close to seven minutes.
After the visitors tied the game at 67 all early in the quarter, Serbia & Montenegro went on a 20-0 run thanks to Krstic and Milicic up front and the now efficient backcourt of Jaric and Rakocevic.

Fittingly, it was the home kid, Milicic who capped the impressive run with a jumper from the left wing that made it 87-67.

Rakocevic finished with 15 points and six assists while Krstic had a double double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Milicic was efficient in limited minutes, scoring 11 points, grabbing seven rebounds and three blocked shots, as all the players who took to the court for the hosts got on the scoring sheet.

Merc,
you're psychic, I was about to ask who played PF and who played center. A Darko-Ben front court starting to look like a pretty good thing.

Darko played well again tonight.Actually he's getting better & more confident with more playing time(unusual?).The best part of Darko's play in these euro c'ships is that the head coach is actually putting trust in young Darko by inserting him in crutial situations(in the fire i would say).Yesterday & today Darko enters the game at simmilar stage(midle of 3rd quarter) and sticks with him right through till the end of game.I noticed that becasue i thought the coach might go for experience and play Rebraca in crunch time,instead he chose young Darko.Aslo he's putting up decent stats so far.In only 14 min. per game Darko's averages are 7ppg,5.5rb,2.5 blocks.He's 2nd in tournament in blocks per game just after leader kirilenko from russia.Plus he's perfect from the floor100% and 100% from ft line.So far so good,hopefully he gets more action tommorow.:)

One more thing.I would strongly recomend checking out this pay -per view website.You only pay 24 dollars and get to watch all 36 games from the euro c'ships(all live btw).I have watched all games so far and its like having nba tv(euro style).The website is www.mediazone.com/channel/basketball/jsp/index.jsp (http://www.mediazone.com/channel/basketball/jsp/index.jsp)

That sure is encouraging news! I'm reluctant to get my hopes up on him, though, because it seems like every time we hear something good it's followed by something discouraging and we are right back to square one.

The best news is, Serbia won today and their next game is against cellar dweller Latvia.

The top 3 teams in each pool progress, so Serbia advances with a win, and if they lose I imagine it is head-to-head that determines the tie-breaks.

The next round is sudden death elimination though, so DMC will probably get 2 more games, and with some luck a run to the championship.

Best case scenario is an Israeli loss in their next game against Spain.

Btw, that Spanish guard Jose Calderon is a guy the Pistons were rumoured to be looking at. I'm happy T.O. picked him up. The guy looks like an awesome point guard.

MY BEEF

I was just over at the Nets site and they are pimping Kristic.

http://www.nba.com/nets

Go to the Pistons site

http://www.nba.com/pistons

See the difference?

I was just over at the Nets site and they are pimping Kristic.

http://www.nba.com/nets

Go to the Pistons site

http://www.nba.com/pistons

See the difference?

At least the Pistons' site DOESN'T have a photo that is captioned, "Jason Kidd gets a whipped cream facial from an Urban Promise camper."

I can't stop snickering at that one. :)

Just to keep things in perspective, this is from an Israeli poster:
"He (Drarko) scored because he managed to out-power the Israeli 6-9 C and the 6-6 PF for offensive rebound and then made easy lay-ups, or was fouled doing that and making his FT, or both….Yaniv Green is 6-9, and most of the time Israel plays with Gur Shelef as a PF and he is no more than 6-6. this game he didn't play much, but Cris Watson that replaced him isn't bigger than that, and anyway Shelef played at least half of the 4th quarter".


Next up is another smallish team (Latvia).


At least Darko is building confidence (along with his coach).

To borrow a baseball analogy, Darko is using these 6'9" Euroleague guys like a dumpy slumpbuster*

*Not that I think there is anything wrong with slumpbusters...

Somebody already mentioned, head-coach plays him in crunch time. Could be due to the foul-trouble Darko experienced during the prep.tournaments but in the final 15 min. yesterday Darko went without a single pf...

The thing I noticed about him yesterday is that he was pretty calm, even though the Israelis were tying the game and looking for a steal...he was actually looking for a body-contact down low, and he maintained his composure, was 5-5 from the line, hit a 18-footer, one put-back, made one basket when Jaric passed him the ball down low as he head someone on his back (quickly went up, turned around and laid it in), grabbed 3 huge off.rebounds that got him to the free-throw line, and blocked 3 shots...he was just amazing....

I only hope he continues like this, this is what the team needs...he is on the cover-pages now...

http://www.basket-plus.com/eurobasket2005/eurobasket2005.htm

Just to keep things in perspective, this is from an Israeli poster:
"He (Drarko) scored because he managed to out-power the Israeli 6-9 C and the 6-6 PF for offensive rebound and then made easy lay-ups, or was fouled doing that and making his FT, or both….Yaniv Green is 6-9, and most of the time Israel plays with Gur Shelef as a PF and he is no more than 6-6. this game he didn't play much, but Cris Watson that replaced him isn't bigger than that, and anyway Shelef played at least half of the 4th quarter".


Next up is another smallish team (Latvia).


At least Darko is building confidence (along with his coach).

Gee, so I wonder exactly how that Israeli poster would explain the fact that these so short people were not being taken advantage of by Zelly and Krstic before Darko got into the game. Its hard to downplay a 20-0 run. Go ahead and try, but Darko flat out changed the game.

Gee, so I wonder exactly how that Israeli poster would explain the fact that these so short people were not being taken advantage of by Zelly and Krstic before Darko got into the game. Its hard to downplay a 20-0 run. Go ahead and try, but Darko flat out changed the game.
Actually Kristic also took advantage as he had a double double in that game.

If Darko takes advantage of players shorter than him, I won't complain.

If Darko takes advantage of players slower than him, I won't complain.

If Darko takes advantage of players who haven't had his opportunities to learn from the finest defensive frontcourt on earth, I won't complain.

Guess that leaves very little for me to complain about. :)

Actually Kristic also took advantage as he had a double double in that game.

But his team was not beating the other team, until Darko came in the game. Krstic was scoring and rebounding, but not winning. With Darko in the mix though, adding truly good defense, amongst other things, then some winning was occurring. Taking advantage was occurring. Before Darko was in the game, spinning of wheels with no forward motion was occurring.

I'm not saying Darko wasn't a major factor, but let's keep it real and the expectations reasonable. By all accounts, several guys played a very strong game for Serbia and to be honest, Israel is not a very good team.

It's a one game sample. Hopefully DMC continues this progress, but geez, he's still a long way from tournament MVP let alone his own team MVP.

I'm not saying Darko wasn't a major factor, but let's keep it real and the expectations reasonable. By all accounts, several guys played a very strong game for Serbia and to be honest, Israel is not a very good team.

It's a one game sample. Hopefully DMC continues this progress, but geez, he's still a long way from tournament MVP let alone his own team MVP.

Gee Micro, although you said it in a backwards way, you are admitting Darko was a major factor in this game. Which is all I ever said. As far as keeping it real, look in the mirror.

Gee Micro, although you said it in a backwards way, you are admitting Darko was a major factor in this game. Which is all I ever said.

I don't have to "admit" what I believe to be the truth. I just think it is small to diminish the other players on the Serbian and Israeli teams to make a point about how good DMC played.

As far as keeping it real, look in the mirror.

No seriously, give the kid some breathing room. He'll turn out fine if people don't climb all over every basket he makes, or scream everytime he misses.

Just let Darko be Darko without trying to idolize or demonize him. He's just a basketball player, and one of 12/15 on the team.

The way I look at it is any success Darko has will improve his biggest weakness (confidence)... it's ok to point out his accomplishments and it's ok to point out his failures... somewhere in between lies the truth about his current abilities.
I remember Yaniv Green from the SL a couple years ago... he was a very skilled PF... I thought he would make a good SF in the NBA but was not physical enough to play PF in th NBA.. Darko should dominate him physically... at least he did what is expected...
The more I think of it the more I like DMC at PF... it allows him to free wheel more inside and out... I would really like to see him paired with Ben during the preseason to see how they compliment each other... who knows, in a year or so Sheed may bring some nice players in return.
But I won't get to silly about DMC beating up on smallish Israelis at this moment.

No seriously, give the kid some breathing room. He'll turn out fine if people don't climb all over every basket he makes, or scream everytime he misses.


microwave. just make sure you jump in and correct posters that try to diminish what darko does too. just like you jump in and try to correct lee when he may get too excited about darko's great play. the post lee responded to was obviously meant to diminish darko's great game. no matter what some people are going to try to diminish anything darko does so it's only right that there are some posters that will come in and back up darko and say the things he's doing are legit.

isreal was hanging with serbia until darko showed up on the scene. serbia is definitely nba level talent. the euro's hung with our nba players we sent over for the olympics. these are not pickup basketball teams. atlanta is an nba team. it's like no matter what darko does it doesn't count.

Ok Bball, I guess it's hard to accept that the level of competion could effect darko's performance... we should only say good things about him no matter what the circumstances.

BBall, it's alright to be objective and still root for the kid.... I have pointed out the good in his game (see this first post about Israel game)... are you willing to recognize his current limitations?

The more I hear from people that have been watching these games is that Zelly is really starting to slow down on defense... he's becoming a liabilty.
Let's hope the coach is seeing what others are and give Darko a bigger chunk of minutes.

This is a good time to change subjects.

The Eurobasket website has some nice video highlights for each bracket and day. You can download a big WMV file of Day 2 at the URL below, for instance. First up is Spain-Latvia, then the Serbia-Israel game starts around the the 3:15 mark.

Not much in the way of Darko highlights. The best is a block at the 5:34 mark. But watching some European guy dancing in the stands around the 4:50 mark is definitely a highlight.

http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/cid_SbGnUV12IgwUcAUu7UmfU1.pageID_ZAewB989Inonxo-gOrLSK2.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2005. coid_JoNvZTj3HtQHErvIohsEf2.articleMode_on.html

I tried to download those yesterday but you needed a pay account with mediazone or the chinese broadcast site to watch them. It was like the WMV files were encrypted.

Did you subscribe to these?

Looks like Israel beat Spain so DMC's SCG team will need a win today against Latvia to advance.

The reason they need a win is that a loss would make them 1-2 with Latvia and Latvia having the tie breaker based upon beating SCG.

That's assuming that tiebreakers are a standard head-to-head and not some esoteric system like points for or against.

MW, I don't have a subscription. Instead of hitting the "play" link I chose the "download" link. It's like a 32 mb file, but I downloaded it to my desktop just an hour or so ago and watched it on Windows Media Player ... even though I have a Mac, which seems to be incompatible with the live webcasts.

Dang,

My Windows Media player tries to acquire a licence and demands that I log into one of two sites (which are pay only) in order to view the movie. I tried downloading AND watching from the link. I was going to host them here if I could get the downloads working.

All you have to do is go to their site, The medazone.com one and register for free, you give an EMAIL address and you are registered. Then after registering it will allow you to watch the highlights. It worked for me.

I'm stupid. Thanks! Works like a dream.

Serbia advances by beating Latvia, 82-67. Next up: France.

Not a big day for Darko or the other ESC post men -- in 11 minutes he scored 4 points and got 4 boards, with no blocks. Krstic and Zelly only got 10 points and 4 boards between them, while the Serbian guards did most of the damage. Latvia apparently went 6 for 32 on 3s. Ouch.

Boxscore (http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/cid_SbGnUV12IgwUcAUu7UmfU1.pageID_Tw3b5iaSGMcQoW9f HJDFl0.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2005.r oundID_4316.teamID_.gameID_4316-D-5-3.html)

Hey,
Someone was saying that NBA TV will be playing the games from the QTR finals to the end.
http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/files/%7B4EA42AFB-5BB8-4235-9B22-A49490173B0A%7Dlarge_v.jpg

Do my eyes deceive me or did Boris Diaw shoot 0-11 from the free throw line in France's loss?

And whats up with Tony Parker?

Do my eyes deceive me or did Boris Diaw shoot 0-11 from the free throw line in France's loss?

And whats up with Tony Parker?
Maybe Parker's FT shooting is contagious. We've got a thread on Parker wanting to play in Eurobasket against Pop's wishes.

Maybe he sold Pop on the idea of infecting Phoenix's new guard with a shooting malady. ;)

hehe, yeah possibly. but 0-11?? thats unheard of... (just checked his stats, 74% shooter last season)

and how about kirilenko getting 8 steals, 6 of which in the first quarter. what do you reckon about this guy in a pistons uni?

... downloading Day 3 video highlights of Serbia-Latvia is a lot faster right now. Unfortunately, there's really nothing with Darko. If that's what you're looking for, you can save the trouble.

Merc or Microwave, have you seen anything by Massimo recently? Seems like he may be our only choice for a Darko fix, since the video people seem to be following the same philosophy as his coaches. :mad:

Merc or Microwave, have you seen anything by Massimo recently? Seems like he may be our only choice for a Darko fix, since the video people seem to be following the same philosophy as his coaches. :mad:

I offered to host Massimo's video work and he replied that he would contact me but I have not heard from him.

Authoring video is a time consuming job and I don't blame him for not being able to find the time to do it. I know I wouldn't have the time either.

Let's all keep our eyes open for him and see if he conjured anything up.

The next game for Serbia will be Tuesday @ 2:30 our time.

Serbia & Montenegro finally got what they have worked so hard for over the past two days – a comfortable 82-67 win over Latvia to stay alive in the competition and a standing ovation from the Novi Sad crowd to go along with it.

The hosts came into this game knowing a loss would mean elimination from the competition.

However, the win secures second spot in Group D, with Spain taking first place and a direct route to the quarter-finals.

Serbia & Montenegro will now face France in Novi Sad in an elimination game on Tuesday night.

“After seeing the result between Spain and Israel (Israel winning 85-77) we knew that this game was our opportunity to advance to the elimination round and I think we played very well for it,” Serbia & Montenegro head coach Zeljko Obradovic said after the game.
“We had to overcome a good team of Latvia who play the same way all the time, but in the end it didn’t work for them and they couldn’t hit their shots from outside.

And Obradovic is going straight to work, studying France to prepare for the elimination game.

“I watched the first half of their game against Slovenia this evening (which Slovenia won 68-58) and I will watch the rest of it and their other games tonight.

“We know they are a very good team, very athletic and I have a lot of respect for them. They are similar to Latvia in the way they go about rebounding. We will need to keep them off the boards as much as we can.

“We need to look at how well we were able to play over the last two games and play to that high level if not even higher to beat France.”
Milan Gurovic believes Serbia & Montenegro will not have the chance to let up for just one minute in the elimination game.

“For the first time in the tournament, I think we were able to play well for a full 40 minutes. That’s the kind of effort it will take to overcome France on Tuesday.

Tonight the hosts were led by their backcourt duo of Rakocevic – who had 19 points – and Marco Jaric who added 12 points and seven assists.
The defending champions were firing on all cylinders early on and held a 16 point lead at half time, 47 to 31.

They were not as explosive offensively in the second half, but did well enough at the defensive end to prevent Latvia from getting back in the game.

Latvia were a shadow of the side that forced overtime against Spain the previous night and again relied too heavily on three-point shooting, but this time with no good coming from it as they finished the night on an abysmal 6 for 32 from three-point range.

Like in the game against Israel, Jaric and Rakocevic started together and were in sync instantly.

Serbia & Montenegro’s NBA contingent was ready to answer head coach Zeljko Obradovic’s call as Zeljko Rebraca, Vladimir Radmanovic and Jaric each scored some early points to put the pressure on Latvia.
The visitors played catch up for most of the first half, but their offense was stalling and as in the game against Spain, foul trouble was a problem early on.

Serbia & Montenegro were playing perfect basketball, not forcing shots and sharing the ball so well, that all eight players who took to the court in the first quarter, got on the score sheet.

The second half had a slower pace to it, especially when captain Dejan Bodiroga was on the floor for Serbia & Montenegro.

But once again, they distributed the ball and took the shots available to them.

Latvia meanwhile, were working hard to create open looks but the hosts’ defense was covering their every move, forcing them into rushed shots, most of them from behind the arc.

“We didn’t have a great start to the game and we couldn’t get any easy points tonight,” said Latvian head coach Karlis Muiznieks.

“We tried several things to change the game but nothing worked. And it didn’t help our cause that we made silly mistakes and fouled too much which lead to easy points for them.

Latvia’s captain Roberts Stelmahers was disappointed to see his side dismissed so early in the tournament.

“I’m sad to see that we were only here for three games. But that’s the way it goes. So now we go home and try to recover,” he said.
And Stelmahers also gave his idea of a good final.

“I would like to see Serbia & Montenegro reach the finals and play Spain. I think it would make for a very interesting game.”

An encounter with former Piston Mehmet Okur, from Crobasket.com:

The game went into overtime, Turkey was facing a wall and Bulgaria was on the verge of its first victory in the tournament. That was the situation in which the "flamable" Mirsad Turkcan completely exploded. The cause of his vulcanic reaction was one of the key posessions in which the ball should have gone to him, but it was denied to him by Mehmet Okur. "I think we should learn basketball from teams like Bulgaria, Latvia... they play the game, there are no spoiled NBA brats who don’t even want to run the floor," said Mirsad "Turkish soul" Turkcan in the mix zone.

The story goes on, after that coach Tanjevic called a time-out in which he had to prevent the conflict from escalating to a much higher level. It looked as though Turkcan will attack his teammate as he shouted on him using bad language, while Okur pretended he doesn’t hear him. Eyewitnesses that were in the vicinity of the Turkish bench say that Turkcan even threatened to break his hands.

Anyway, Bosa Tanjevic decided not to make a big deal of it. "What should I do, should I take a gun from one of the police officers and shoot them both?," stated coach Tanjevic to the press trying to joke his way out of it. "These things happen, we’ll talk it over, I don’t think it’s such a problem."

Mirsad Jahovic Turkcan came into conflict with Todor Stoykov too at one point of the game. Novi Pazar native Turkcan took a tough fall, which he thought of as intentional and started pushing the Bulgarian player with the intention of starting a fight. Referee Zoran Sutulovic eventually separated the two players. An interesting squad, one might say...

Now THAT is funny.

I wonder if I will ever look at this dude and not see him as young MEMO. Seems like he's brought his same issues overseas and in Utah. I do miss having Memo on the team though. He played with alot of heart for us.

He doesn't have a lot of competition, but Memo might be the biggest knucklehead to wear a Pistons uni during the Dumars Era. Good guy, very skilled, but you just never know where his head's at.

ESPN is finally starting to report a little from Eurobasket, and had pretty much the same positive writeup on Darko's game versus Israel as everyone else. You can see it at http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2165617

http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/files/%7B0D5DC5DA-1030-4E08-9326-018FD2C2BF6C%7Dlarge_v.jpg



Check out the Darko swat video below

[Roscoe36] Make sure you are logged in with the checkbox selected as "Remember Me?". Some members are experiencing logouts when selecting the movie which at this time are beyond our control.

did you all see darko flex his biceps after his block - a la big ben when he makes a big defensive play!?!?!? unbelieveable!

great way to pay homage to his defensive mentor...hope to see more of that in the future for the 'stones...

He kinda looked surprised that he did that.

Hey, did you guys see that "chipmunk" mascot in the background (after the first camera angle of the rejection) making the hand gestures and pointing toward the far end of the bench after Darko swatted that? I think I saw a catheter tube coming out of the uniform. You don't think the person inside was...??? :rant:Nahhh. Couldn't be. Must be my over active imagination.

THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT!

Thanks for the link!

Gotta love the flex, and then pointing at his bicep. Looks like DMC might come back to the USA with a little bit of an attitude. Bout time. Going out on a huge limb, Darko leads the NBA in blocks this year. You heard it hear first.

Darko leads the NBA in blocks this year. You heard it hear first.

Okay, that may be a tad bit premature....lol

But I will say, I don't think I've ever seen Darko look so confident and "connected" to the game. That was very good to see. Dude actually lookS like a legit basketball player....not the bumbling rook I'm accustomed too. Sweeeeeeeet!!!

I'm glad he's doing something, but you gotta admit that he blocked the shot at about the bottom of the net. Not good enough to break out the flex. Still, good to see that he's into it emotionally.

It was a one armed flex though...not the customary two handed one that Ben usually does. Once he does one of Ben's customary above-the-rim-send-the-ball-back-to-the-player's-face kind of blocks then he should bust out the two armed flex.

BTW: Love Darko's enthusiasm.

Darko seems to be skinnier than I've expected him to be. Nice block though

I'm glad he's doing something, but you gotta admit that he blocked the shot at about the bottom of the net. Not good enough to break out the flex. Still, good to see that he's into it emotionally.

I don't care in the least about the altitude of the block. Like most rebounds, most blocks are below the rim ... and all goaltending calls are above it.

What's important is that most big men who run out to challenge a smaller shooter are DONE. They can't move their feet well enough to suddenly change their balance and slide laterally with the drive. Instead they grab and get called for fouls. So you're looking at freaky agility for a guy 7 feet tall, plus Darko was fundamentally sound and avoided using his hands on the guy while edging him into a bad angle under the basket.

He can move, he can be coached. I'll take it.

LanierFan you hit the nail on the head. The block was OK, it was good to see, but it was not spectacular, nor was it evidence of any type of superior athletecism. That said, Darko rotating out to a smaller player and moving his feet and not getting beat was a demonstration of athletecism. The footwork was the most impressive thing to me on the clip. Agile big men is the secret to why our interior defense is so good. Ben and Rasheed are agile and interchangeable (most of the time), when we get caught in rotations and switches often Ben and Rasheed have to cover for one another, for most players it's not a breath of fresh air to finally shed Ben on a switch and end up with Rasheed and the same could be said vice-versa. Darko has that ability to become one of these card carrying members of the Tall, athletic, strong, agile, interior defenders club. C'mon young fella, I'm rooting for ya.

Draft Express finally giving the kid some luv:

"One of the more intriguing early signs coming out of this Eurobasket tournament so far is the apparent rejuvenation of the #2 pick in the 2003 draft, Darko Milicic. After two listless seasons seeing little to no playing time in Detroit's stacked rotation, Darko is beginning to show signs of coming around this summer with his national team by displaying a high level of performance and energy, while, most importantly, being a difference maker for his team in his time out on the floor.

While he's had to scrap and earn every minute he's gotten so far, and even though his teammates still don't appear to trust him enough to actually pass him the ball unless he is really wide open, Darko has found a way to make his presence felt repeatedly for Serbia and Montenegro and show some of the awesome athletic ability and upside that made him the #2 pick to begin with.

Darko has been coming off the bench so far backing up, and often outplaying, New Jersey Nets Center Nenad Krstic. His biggest contributions for his team have been felt mostly on the defensive end and on the glass, where he's been using his mobility and explostiveness to block and alter countless shots around the rim and come up with many momentum changing rebounds on both ends that have been extremely influential for the Serbians in key parts of the games".

Awwwwww man...please stop with the good news!!! My hopes are getting way too high again.

Too late. ***sigh***:ohwell:

Mannnnnn, I Can't Wait For The Preseason To Start!

It is good to see Darko showinig his talent, he will be a playa in this league and I'm worried it might not be with the Pistons:mad:

It is good to see Darko showinig his talent, he will be a playa in this league and I'm worried it might not be with the Pistons:mad:
He's ours for a minimum of 3 more years unless JD decides he is not worth keeping around and makes a trade or doesn't tender a qualifying offer/match an offer sheet. No need to get paranoid that far into the future. It will be what it will be.

The sad thing is that DMC has not hit the court yet today. He must have really ticked off the coach last game with that previously mentioned "ill advised" shot.

It's 49-44 Serbia halfway through the 3rd and still no DMC appearance as far as I can tell.

Darko? Tick off a coach? Nahhhhhhhhh. Not our Darko. Never ever ever. Not in a million years! Just wouldn't happen. Nope. No sireeee Bob.
Not Darko. That will be the day that we see :flypig: before we hear about Darko getting on the wrong side of the coach.


Seriously though, that really stinks. It just figures. :frusty:

Serbia eliminated 74-71. Darko played 9 seconds.

Darko Milicic (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3705), Serbia Montenegro
Stats: 6.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg
The skinny: The Detroit Pistons (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=det) backup center is having more of an impact than was expected of him. He isn't too concerned with getting his share of shots. His performance against Israel -- 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 15 minutes -- should be shown to Flip Saunders (and Larry Brown) so that he knows what he has on his bench.
Grade: B+


(Not sure if anyone posted this already).

I have a funny feeling Darko's EBC stats won't escape Flip's notice. ;) Nor Joe's for that matter.

Is the young man beginning to show signs of Piston DNA. I'm liking this defense first attitude. The best thing about the block was Darko went after the guy with the intention to swat that shot.

Got this from Draft Express:

Jonathan Givony

One of the more intriguing early signs coming out of this Eurobasket tournament so far is the apparent rejuvenation of the #2 pick in the 2003 draft, Darko Milicic. After two listless seasons seeing little to no playing time in Detroit's stacked rotation, Darko is beginning to show signs of coming around this summer with his national team by displaying a high level of performance and energy, while, most importantly, being a difference maker for his team in his time out on the floor.

While he's had to scrap and earn every minute he's gotten so far, and even though his teammates still don't appear to trust him enough to actually pass him the ball unless he is really wide open, Darko has found a way to make his presence felt repeatedly for Serbia and Montenegro and show some of the awesome athletic ability and upside that made him the #2 pick to begin with.

Darko has been coming off the bench so far backing up, and often outplaying, New Jersey Nets Center Nenad Krstic. His biggest contributions for his team have been felt mostly on the defensive end and on the glass, where he's been using his mobility and explosiveness to block and alter countless shots around the rim and come up with many momentum changing rebounds on both ends that have been extremely influential for the Serbians in key parts of the games.

Against Israel in the 2nd game, Milicic came off the bench in the 4th quarter with the result of the game still up in the air and sparked a 20-0 run that put the game out of hand for the Israelis. Darko's energy on both ends of the floor were clearly the difference for his team, finishing the game with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in only 14 minutes of action. He finished well around the hoop, knocked down a jumper and got to the line repeatedly.

The best sign for Detroit, beyond his newfound aggressiveness and urgency, has to be Darko's willingness to mix things up inside and do the little things to endear himself to his team. Whether it’s by setting solid picks, demanding the ball around the basket rather than on the perimeter, moving off the ball and using his height and passing ability to find the open man, Darko has been extremely active and energetic in everything he’s trying to do.

He's struggling a bit in the set offense when it comes to placing himself, but this time it’s not because of a lack of effort. His positioning is not the best, and he doesn't seem too confident at times about knowing what to do and how to move, particularly against zone defenses.

The Detroit Free Press finally got off its butt and wrote a story, once they had something negative. As for the "inconsistent" tag they put on Darko's play? It's a better description of their own lazy coverage. They couldn't even call one of their team contacts for a quote, preferring to fall back on the Draft Express writeup.

Another title run for the Pistons’ Darko Milicic was cut short by a member of the San Antonio Spurs.

UNDERWHELMING DARKO
Milicic's stats for Serbia-Montenegro at the European Championships:
Opponent Min FG FT REB BLK PTS
Spain, L 13 1-1 1-1 4 2 3
Israel, W 15 3-3 5-5 7 3 11
Latvia, W 11 1-3 2-2 4 0 4
France, L 1 0-1 0-0 1 0 0

His Serbia-Montenegro team was ousted Tuesday by France, 74-71, in the European Championships at Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro.

The Spurs’ Tony Parker, who helped beat the Pistons in the NBA Finals, scored 13 points for France, which advanced to the quarterfinals.

After an inconsistent first three games, Milicic didn’t play until the last minute Tuesday (hmm ... sounds familiar). He finished scoreless with one rebound and a steal.

With France up, 74-71, and 10 seconds left, Milicic grabbed a rebound but missed a short jump shot. Before Tuesday’s game, a writer from www.draftexpress.com wrote Darko has begun to display "energy, aggressiveness and willingness to mix things up inside." But he's still struggling in set offenses. And "he doesn’t seem too confident at times about knowing what to do and how to move."

http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/darko21e_20050921.htm

Yeah i noticed that about the Free Press.Why do they only report b.s about Darko?.Why don't they show the whole stats.Darko only averaged 10 min per game & was 2nd leading rebounder & leading shotblocker on team.Why they always dawg the guy.In my opinion Darko played the best out of all serb big men.Zelly & especially Krstic sucked.I think these free press reporters have a job in talking b.s about Darko cause maybe they want him traded.:mad:

I'm with you. Whose butt does Krstic kiss, anyway? He had about three or four really solid games throughout the friendlies and Eurobasket, but he gets all of the playing time and hardly any of the criticism. If he is such a good team guy, why doesn't he do more of the dirty work with defense and rebounding?

Answer=because Krstic although talented on offense is slow footed and ca't recover back on deffense like Darko.Even Zelly suprisingly sucked on deffense in the euro's.I really don't have the answer why Darko wasn't played in the elimination game,although the coach cussed out few players in post game conference,but didn't mention names.Didn't larry brown say something simmilar about 2004 usa olympic team?.

Yes, it sounded very familiar. Seems like all the powerhouse national teams begin to fall apart when their players become big pro stars with big NBA-style egos. Argentina is probably due for the same thing.

From 24sec.net:

Quarrels between Rakocevic and Radmanovic, quarrels between Rakocevic and Scepanovic ... Players were not talking between each other … Clans in squad … some players didn’t want to give ball to the others…

Director of National team, Zarko Paspalj, after match with France just said: “Only God can help to next coach … ”

What to say…

After cardinal performances on whole tournament, France made surprise of century and eliminated Serbian National team from competition. There are no words to describe what shame is for SCG not to play in grandiose ARENA in quarter-finals. This is the biggest sport debacle in Serbian sport history.

Whole nation expected last 2 years this event and now same nation cries because of irresponsible players who shamed glorious Serbian basketball history. After this catastrophe it is very hard to talk about match, especially for Serbian reporter.

French players were rising from dust several times during 40 minutes. SCG had +12 two times during game, but without love between players, between basic respects between 12 guys in National team – everything was impossible.

French players were coming back and at the end in dramatic finish they had much more quality and knowledge to end game in style.
Cardinal roles by whole SCG team destroyed everything which great fans were building during 40 minutes.

Not even 1 bad word was told to players after the game by fans around the court – and they deserved whole orchestra.

Don't know whats really going on with nba players in FIBA competitions.I remember reading articles about euro's finding it hard to re-adjusting to euro rules all over again.Also iv'e noticed that FIBA rules alows much more phisycal contact.Thats prolly why Krstic is exelling in nba but finding all the no-call rulls hard to adjust to.Notice most of the euro games are low scoring,thats from teams treating every posetion like nba playoff game.To me Darko looks to preffer the rougher euro game under the boards,because in nba he usually would get called for fouls on agressive plays.

I really don't feel it is fair to attack Kristic just because of Darko's situation. Reminds me of a certain poster on another board relentless abusing Darvin Ham, for basically just being on the roster.

There is a guy who should not have played, and his name is Zelly. The coach is the other guy to be upset with for sure.

Kristic has done nothing but play and play well for his country. It does him a disservice to knock his playing in front of Darko (like he can control the lineups). Any rook who can average 18PPG against Shaq in the playoffs is ok by me.

Microwave i'm not attacking Krstic,infact i think he's a future nba all star.I'm just saying he didn't play as good in this tournament,maybe he didn't know his role well.I agree with you regarding the coach,he's a moron & this is his 3rd strait failure with the national team (2000 olympics,2004 olympics & now).I read another article where Darko said he & Krstic will form the the twin towers on the serbian team for many years to come.Looks like he & Krstic are friends after all.

WOW! That is the enthusiasm and energy I've been looking for. I don't even care if he makes mistakes, in preseason or in any regular season minutes he gets, as long as he shows that kind of excitement for the game when he is playing.

That's a long way from the slumped shouldered Darko we are used to.

I can't wait for the preseason to start! Go Darko!

When a major news organization actually bothers to cover something usually limited to fans, it's amazing how much more info is revealed. This is an AP story running in today's Washington Post.

Serbia-Montenegro Basketball Coach Quits
By DUSAN STOJANOVIC
The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 21, 2005; 6:57 AM

NOVI SAD, Serbia-Montenegro -- Serbia-Montenegro basketball coach Zeljko Obradovic resigned Wednesday after his team's early exit from the European Championship and a locker room brawl between several teammates.

France beat Serbia-Montenegro 74-71 Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals, eliminating the hosts and reigning world champions with a 2-2 record.

Team captain Dejan Bodiroga, center Zeljko Rebraca of the Los Angeles Clippers and Dejan Tomasevic also announced they were quitting the national squad.

Obradovic blamed the team's "catastrophic play" on his feuding players.

He said Marko Jaric of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Igor Rakocevic of Real Madrid had a fist fight after the loss to France, as did Tomasevic and forward Vladimir Radmanovic of the Seattle SuperSonics.

"The players had bad personal relations, their egos led to this shameful end," Obradovic said. "My mistake was not throwing three or four of them off the team. They hate each other so much that they don't even look at each other. I've never seen such people before."

Asked if he would stay on as head coach, Obradovic said: "That would lead me straight to a madhouse. I'm already ready for an asylum. That's how I feel. I wish my successor lots and lots of luck!"

Tuesday's loss was the third straight setback at a major championship for Serbia-Montenegro, once the dominant power in European basketball. The team finished sixth at the previous European Championship two years ago and 11th at last year's Athens Olympics.

Serbia-Montenegro and the team formerly known as Yugoslavia have won eight European titles, but this was the team's worst showing at the Euros since a ninth place finish in 1967.

Serbia-Montenegro, led by five NBA players, had been expected to reach at least the quarterfinals. Instead, the team will not place among the top six European teams that qualify for the World Championship in Japan next year. The Serbs now hope they will get a wild card to be able to defend their title.

*removed*

Wow. That Free Press article today on Darko's performance in the EBC's was terribly misleading . Just horrible!

Relatively few people come to this site as compared to those that read the Free Press. So most of the country is going to believe that bunk in the Free Press. I know I would have swallowed it hook,line, and sinker if I didn't get to see the whole picture here.

Thank you pf.com and posters for giving us the opportunity to see the whole story. We could actually watch for ourselves and also read what different people had to say (good and bad) in order to help us make an informed opinion/analysis. We weren't limited to excerpts of one writer's opinion which slanted it in a certain (negative) way.

Yeesh!!!!!

I know summer's a slow period, when reporters are on vacation using up the "comp time" that newspapers give them for working nights and weekends. But this kind of thing is just BS. Zero effort would be required to learn more, just as we do. And when I think how much easier it is with Pistons contacts and press credentials, I get really pissed off.

What we need is a third paper to kick these clowns' butts.

What we need is a third paper to kick these clowns' butts.
Or a Pistons fan based community that presents a professional image and becomes a legitimate sports news source for the team. ;)

It's all about the credentials...

Wow. That Free Press article today on Darko's performance in the EBC's was terribly misleading . Just horrible!


You notice no one signed his/her name to that crap.

Meanwhile the only word out of the Pistons' site is a wire service crawl from the Spurs about Parker leading France to a victory.

Folks at the Palace are astute marketers overall, but their online channel is seriously deficient.

Serbia-Montenegro basketball coach quits

9/21/2005, 6:57 a.m. ET By DUSAN STOJANOVIC
The Associated Press

http://www.mlive.com/images/spacer.gif
NOVI SAD, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) — Serbia-Montenegro basketball coach Zeljko Obradovic resigned Wednesday after his team's early exit from the European Championship and a locker room brawl between several teammates.

France beat Serbia-Montenegro 74-71 Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals, eliminating the hosts and reigning world champions with a 2-2 record.

Team captain Dejan Bodiroga, center Zeljko Rebraca of the Los Angeles Clippers and Dejan Tomasevic also announced they were quitting the national squad.

More here (http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/sports/index.ssf?/base/sports-6/1127300641317881.xml&storylist=sports)

Btw, this means Darko will play more in any remaining games to sort out final overall position. No more Zellie.

How many more games could they possibly play?

It sounds like the mixing of rich NBA players with the Euros has created some interesting dynamics within teams.

I would be good to see what Darko could do in a 30 minute span.

40 minute games, I doubt he would get to play 30. Maybe 20 though...

Yikes. I'm sure glad Darko didn't break his hand in that brawl. :boxing:


Out of habit, he was probably sitting on the end of the locker room bench and observing the fight while waiting for his coach to put him in.:laugh:

Are there any "friendly" games left for the National Team? I don't believe they qualified for any Eurobasket consolation games.

http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/cid_SbGnUV12IgwUcAUu7UmfU1.pageID_ZAewB989Inonxo-gOrLSK2.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2005. html

http://www.eurobasket2005.com/en/files/{64904DCD-6418-41CF-8610-BB38D9776732}large_v.jpg

He looks like a beast though.

Are there any "friendly" games left for the National Team? I don't believe they qualified for any Eurobasket consolation games.

I believe they have to play for positions 9 and up. The World Championship just increased the number of participants to 24, with 4 of those positions to be fill by Invite teams that didn't qualify on their regions. They are doing this because for the last World Championship some of the international powerhouses didn't qualified and the championship wasn't as attractive. This means Serbia-Montenegro have a good chance to be call to participate because they are the World Champs. Puerto Rico is hoping to be call, due to their long tradition of beign one of the America's best.

Ouch! That's probably why he has that scowl on his face. :)

It seems like the poor chap is always getting the raw deal (broken hand, groin shot) when he's out on the court. :eek:

I know about the Freep. I have not read that rag, and have not listened to Albom since he used trash Doug Flutie unmercifully. And for no good reason. If I had not had access to my own intelligence and other outside sources, I would never have believed that Doug could ever turn out to be one of the most exciting football players to ever play the game.

They have absolutely no credibility with me.

Ya that sucks but it sounded as if the team was kinda selfish.But maybe a couple of games to get him going before training camp would be very nice.

Out of habit, he was probably sitting on the end of the locker room bench and observing the fight while waiting for his coach to put him in.:laugh:

ha..ha..ha..ha.. :laugh:

So many things, so little time.
First, Freep takes out of context the only negative thing that Draftexpress says about Darko. Draftexpress was harsh as heck on Darko during the summer league, and now they say some really positive things. Makes me think they report it like they see it, and Darko really has improved.

Second, Darko had to deal with Serbia being bombed by us, then some crazy coach in Serbia, then LB, then that cluster F... going on with the Eurogames, wonder how he responds to Cool hand Flip coaching him.

And last, would have loved watching our Olympic squad doing a Battle Royale after one of their losses, and LB and half the squad quitting.

PS, who's excited bout watching DMC earn some minutes next year?

So many things, so little time.
First, Freep takes out of context the only negative thing that Draftexpress says about Darko. Draftexpress was harsh as heck on Darko during the summer league, and now they say some really positive things. Makes me think they report it like they see it, and Darko really has improved.

You'll notice that today's Freep has tried to do a little damage control--even though there's still a snarky tone and the idiot writer couldn't be bothered to spell Krstic's name right. Sounds like she unconsciously inserted her own.

http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/pistons22e_20050922.htm

After watching France blow by Lithuania, you can't help but notice NBA type athletes on that team. It's as close as we have seen to a team trained for they FIBA game AND bringing real quickness to the Euro games.

We should see guys like Jasikevicius being exposed in our league (he didn't play today).
I'm NOT impressed with the overall quickness of the Euro game.

Do we think Darko will get in position to get all those offensive rebounds (where most of his scoring came from)?... I was hoping to see him score more from shooting and post moves.... but I guess any contribution should be viewed as a positive at this stage.
A couple more weeks and we'll see him matched up against some quality bigs.
Sorry if this didn't fall in line with all the Super Darko posts.

Comments from the Serbian coach's post game and Darko:

Coach Obradovic at his post game press conf. said he's gutted with the so-called superstars ,but he didn't mention names.He just said that he wasn't going to be a police man 7/24 checking up on them if they are in bed at right time.Because apparently some of the players(he said 6 of them,but didn't mention names)instead of of going to bed on time,were noticed partying till 5am in the morming.He didn't mention how many times it happened,but he did say that at practice some of the players couldn't even remember basic plays(again he didn't mention names).

One newspaper asked Darko after the coaches outburst, if he knew who were the guys having fights & arguments.And Darko answered he doesn't know & doesn't care because he never had any problem with the coach or the players.Another question they asked him was if he was going to play for his national team again if invited,his answer was "If there is a god".

Hoopshype post tournament interview with Nenad Krstic

http://www.hoopshype.com/interviews/krstic_sierra3.htm

I followed you guys on detnews during the Euro champs, looking for clips of Darko. Not a bad site you got here.

Anyways, just to clarify what Darko said. He said 'if God gives' , which is something like 'if God allows'. The way you translated it makes it sound like he is being cocky, like, 'if there is justice, I will get to play'.

But, again, this 'if God gives' should not be understood like he is being humble either. It is just a Serbian expression which means - if everything goes as I hope, or something like that.

Btw, France was considered a poor team, even during the tournament, let alone in the practice tournaments. SCG beat them almost 30 points in practice, and in the game we lost to them, we were leading by 14, 9 at the half, and they only took the lead with 4 minutes to go. And still Jaric and Zelly missed two free throws each in the very last seconds which could have tied it...I would expect a team like Croatia, for example, to destroy France, they played much better than us and were robbed by the refs against Spanish.

SCG basically defeated itself.

Basically, all the outsiders did well in this tounament. Greece - champions, Germany, France...

The favorites completely dissapointed.

But I have to say that the best European team is Lithuania. They had 7, read this SEVEN players missing from the team. If the full team played, Jasikevicius, Macijauskas, Ilgauskas, Songaila, France does not have a chance.

I would say that individually we are the strongest but as a team that does not mean much. Lithuania is still the best team.

I expect Jasikevicius to do well in the NBA. He played great against Americans in 2000 and in 20004. If we only had a playmaker like him...

Great to get this guy some action, after two years of inactivity. This years championships had more of court action than on court. Guys crying I'm not paying anymore for that team:frusty: But we saw Darko get some play and it was a good sign that he will be a playa in the future.:mad2:

I thought that Serbia was going to play some consolation games for the wildcard spot. Why did all those players quit the team if there were no more games to be played?

Cause they couldn't stand each other. They needed to fist fight each other. The coach had to be a dork to let this fester. What was that all about?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2175408

One more contribution from BDM22/FreshPrince22

*removed*