What's your track record with potential for you to say he doesn't understand it? Have you followed any other players outside of Darko that you were right about? Players that are not still in the could be good someday zone. Just curious.
I'll give my track record, players I thought would be good: Zelly-strike out Okur-home run Delfino-hit Darko-going deep, outfielder on the warning track it's a ...... BTW, Darko 21 and 8, with 4 assists and 2 blocks tonight
I think I understand potential. What I don't understand is the constant excuses for the fact that Darko hasn't lived up to his.
not excuses, explanations. the player darko compares the best with is jermaine oneal. and if you compare their career stats, you'll see that both did squat, until they were traded to a team that played them. that both had slightly above average years when they first became starters, and the in the next year, jermaine broke out, becoming almost a 20-10 guy. there is no reason for me not to think that darko won't be a near 20-10 guy next year, my early guess (18-8).
Darko did put up a good game tonight, I must admit. It appears he's gaining some momentum. We'll see how this pans out.
In the first half, all of his hoops were dunks or baby hooks. He was posting up with actual aggression, and then making some good decisions between committing to a post move or kicking the ball out. I guess he was just probably more patient than usual, which made it so he didn't telegraph as much. The whole thing looked easy for him with 3 dunks out of the half court set. This style the Magic are going with with Milicic in the starting lineup is truly the opposite of small ball. The Magic may be the only team going that direction. They already have the slowest tempo in the NBA by a wide margin and have slowed it down even more with Darko. There are about 11 fewer possessions for each team in an Orlando game than in a Phoenix game. Arroyo also had a nice game with 15 points and 7 assists.
Darko appears to be scalable. Although it is much too early to tell. In 4 games as a starter (which includes a great game, a bad game, and 2 average games), his numbers have been proportional or better to what he was doing in limited minutes. As a starter per 40 min: 15.9 pts 9.1 rebs 2.5 ast 3.1 blck 0.94 stl FG%- 51% FT%- 100% (13-13) Brian Hill has announced that even when Tony Battie is back, Darko will remain in the starting role. That means that we will see him matched up with Rasheed Wallace in back to back games after the all-star break. Will Sheed get him in quick foul trouble with veteran pump fakes? Or will Darko block his shot and laugh at him like Mutumbo?
I don't know if y'all heard, but apparently the Magic were trying to trade for Melvin Ely before the Spurs grabbed him.
They need a 4th big, they offered Diener and Outlaw. I'm surprised they didn't approach Detroit, I'd take Diener and Outlaw for DD.
As their fourth big, I think from what I have seen of James Augustine, and from what I heard about him at Illinois, he would be usable. At least, he would be before Par Garrity. But at last night's game, Dwight was laughing it up with someone during the last few moments of the game, during garbage time, and the announcers said he was laughing at the play of Augustine. I don't know why but apparently he thought it was funny. Maybe because James was out there trying or something. Maybe Dwight does not take him seriously as the 4th big. I don't know. He tore up the DLeague and cannot get any PT with the big team. I would not give up Deiner and Outlaw for DD, though. DD would be nice to have, maybe, but not at the cost of Deiner. I would trade Jameer and Bo before Deiner. The way Carlos played last night, I would start him and have Deiner off the bench. I have believe from the time I started following the Magic that Jameer is not the starting PG to lead them to the promised land. He might be a bench PG or maybe better, a bench SG. He can fill it up but he is not big enough or a pass-first PG, and that makes two strikes against him. How about Jameer and Bo for DD and Delphino?
As much as I would hate to see Dale Davis go, Diener would actually be an attractive pick-up for Detroit. From what I have seen of him, I'd be comfortable letting him be our backup point... assuming we can't land Chucky or MJames. Diener is a pass first point guard who plays smart and has very dangerous range. He's like Blalock with a 40% 3-ball. Outlaw is a hustle player extreme. I'm not sure if he does anything that Dupree can't do.
I haven't seen Diener play much in the NBA. For what it's worth, for those who don't know or don't remember, he was Dwyane Wade's starting backcourt mate in college, at Marquette.
"In the 2006 Pepsi Pro Summer League, Diener averaged 20.3 points, 6.5 assists, and 1.0 turnovers per game. Diener finished with a 34 point outburst on 7-10 three point shooting to lead the Magic over the Chicago Bulls, before missing the final game with a slight foot injury." Travis Diener - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia That is what he is capable of.
MAGIC: 2006 Pepsi Pro Summer League - Rosters It looks like it was a notch above the D-League. All I know is their 3-point line was the same distance. The Suns were reportedly interested in Travis too, so maybe they see a little Nash in him!
do you guys make excuses about why when he does do it that it doesn't count??? just observation can tell you why he hasn't lived up to it. he hasn't played enough. watching him as a starter people are starting to see more than just potential. i'm scared of thier twin towers for the future.
How bout Nazr for Deiner and Bo? Now wouldn't that be ironic. The guy we sign to replace Ben and Darko ends up being Darko's backup.
