I think the first time Joe saw Darko was during the 2003 ECF with the Nets and they were trying to avoid getting swept. The hype was already there and our scouting punked Joe and all other GM's into the hoopla and as soon as we secured the second pick, we fell for it. If we had gotten the 6th pick, Chris Kaman would still be our starting center today and could have played a part in beating either the Heat, Cavs or Celtics and at least getting to the finals at least one time with Flipper.. As far as the Bismark being to raw, some Piston scout should have 24 hour Earth Cam on him for the next few weeks leading up the draft so that the Piston brain trust can see if he is worthy of # 7 or should they go with someone else..
Then I guess none other than Tony Ronzone did all the punking. Tony knew international talent (and still does), but JD failed at the gut-professional level. The level of international talent is now more exposed and very little slippage gets by. This is especially true for the current contract that may end in a lockout. Combined with a weak draft, shortened contract player terms, and massive player movements, all but guaranteed...can work in favor of the big men. This is the best year, in a long time, for quality big man talent and most all of it from overseas. Even if I had the number one choice, it would not be on a guard. Leave that for the class of 2012.
Bismack, Monroe, Jerebko has potential for a decent frontcourt. They would still need to find a PG and ship out some of the extraneous pieces.
Perhaps the most ironic thing about this years player placement is that from the pick of 11 going back to say, 40, is not going back-wards and just as solid as those in-between. JD needs to pick a big at seven. Here you will have some talent to work with Monroe. Get a coach that understands this and you should have a winning hand with another big at 33. It will only be a few inches shorter, but there is some very good hidden talent at the 6-8 and 6-9... gems that might drop to this number. This latter position will be at the 3 position, which is a sleeping-bear desert drift on this team.
Not just Ronzone. Venerable Will Robinson was the one that punked the majority of us. The same guy that plucked Rodman and Dumars himself from near anonymity was yelling "Jackpot!"...comparing DM to a "young Wilt"...saying he'd "own the game", no one will be able to guard him, we're going to have to build a new arena and such.
I kinda like Kanter but Bismack, while raw, compliments this team rather well. We suck at rebounding and sign guys who suck at rebounding. It would be great to have another Ben Wallace waiting in the wings.
I can understand the skeptical views on Biyombo... however it's slim pickins at #7... a bottom 5 team defense has to be considered a priority... any player hinting at Ben's potential needs a serious look. I like the idea of Ibaka mentoring this kid... Unless we win the lotto we should eliminate Kanter and the other consensus top three picks.
I agree. I think we got a little lucky with Monroe in that he is a future starter, but with this year's draft class you either take a flier on someone boom or bust, or settle for a potential role player off the bench. I think Biyombo could be that guy, giving you 15-20 mins of solid disruptive defense.
I hope Biyombe comes to Detroit. He's exactly what this team needs. This guy has a huge arm span and is a deadly defender and a rebounder. With this guy in the paint with Monroe, our 2-guard/point guard Stuckey should be able to handle the plays quite nicely. In the other hand, we can also put Stuckey in shooting guard to get a solid point guard, someone like Chauncey. It's pretty obvious that Prince and Rip won't be with us by next season. But that's just me. What's wrong with giving expectations to Daye? The guy actually has potential. He just couldn't show it majority of the time because of our coach's weird rotations.
I'm okay with Daye as 4, but just saying, Daye can actually produce some offense on court as a starter. The guy hasn't even reached his 5th year yet. He's increasing his value each season from Day 1.
