Interesting read here about Darko Magic face dilemma on deal for Darko - Orlando Sentinel : Orlando Magic
Absolutely sick draft. Using my brain, for Detroit, Darko was the best pick. He was content to sit his rookie year, no disturbances we won a ship. Wade or Carmello would not have been happy sitting behind Rip and Tay. The conflict could have cost us the title. With Bosh we probably still sign Sheed, but what if we don't? Do win the title with Okur and a rookie Bosh? And I guarrantee everyone of those players would have demanded a trade, because I don't see in any situation any player in NBA beating out Rip, Tay, or Sheed as the starter. Can you imagine Wade or Anthony happy off the bench? As for every other team, redrafting these players now (trying to be objective), I'd go: 1. Lebron 2. Wade 3. Bosh 4. Carmello 5. Josh Howard 6. Barboso 7. Heinrich 8. Darko So Darko was drafted 6 picks too early in one of the deepest drafts ever. That's not such a huge crime. BTW, with 20/20 hindsight, trading down and getting Barboso or Howard probably would have been the perfect move by Joe. *edit Give Darko another year of real PT and a real coach, and I wouldn't be surprised if he does move up into the top 5, even beating out Bosh.
how many athletic swingmen, shooting guards and point guards enter the draft yearly. how many of these type of players are available in free agency yearly. that's why in my opinion i'd always take darko in the top 5. he's a 7' tall, athletic, strong, skilled, unselfish, defensive minded center. he can also throw the running 1 handed touch pass on the break. that doesn't come around too often. all those other players will be repeated yearly in the draft. bargs, gasol, dirk and memo are all similar but none of them play offense and defense like darko. i'd go so far as to say darko will be in the top 3 instead of top 5 when he gets a championship ring he will be proud to wear.
The dribble off the foot pass is just showboating. He needs to get back to the fundamentals and pick up Stack's dribble off the foot 2-shot foul.
Here is somehting that goes against the prevailing theory that Darko's mentor Larry Brown played favorites and didn't like foreign players... A May 1 IndyStar article quotes Rik Smits on his former coach. "The thing I liked about (Brown) was he treated everybody equal," Smits said. "That wasn't always the case (under previous coach Bob Hill). Guys were getting preferential treatment, but Brown wasn't that way at all. "He also stressed defense and AOTG more than anything else and at the time that's what we needed." Refreshing change of pace | IndyStar.com
To be fair, it's easy to look good when the alternative is Bob Hill. Smits and Toni Kukoc are AFAIK the only non-Americans (and didn't Smits play NCAA ball?) Brown's ever played without serious problems.
To really be fair, Brown did most of his coaching on teams, and in an era where there were not a lot of Europeans to be found. How many good/great Euros where there in the 90s? Petrovic, Sabonis, Kukoc, Smits are the only ones that come to my mind.
Non-American, not European. I believe he went straight to the NCAA from Nigeria. If we're going to include foreign born players, Larry and Dikembe got along well.
Deke actually came to mind and was forced back down. Your point is well-taken, though. Brown is an old man from a long-gone era, and was unable to adapt to changing times, culturally speaking. (Hello Bobby Knight)
the combination of euro and young player is what lb didn't like. he let smits play his game because he was established. lb probably was offended when this 17 year old euro said he wanted to shoot the 3 ball and pass like a guard.
