Darko's Foul Trouble

It's been getting to me so I thought you all would be able to have an answer. Darko has been doing great the first 4 games, but he always has 4 or 5 fouls, and he can't stay agressive. Do you guys think he needs to earn the refs respect to get called for less fouls, or do you guys think he actually fouls too much?

Fouls

It was just quoted by Darko's assistant that he is now trying to get blocks on every defense since he has had such success this preseason. I would definetily agree with this. On many occasions where a simple hand in the face/stand position would do, Darko goes for the block--this is where he has been picking up many of his fouls.

part of the learning process

darko gets a lot of dumb fouls. he gets over the back fouls very often. he will learn when to pick his spots to go for the block. but right now i wouldn't want him not being active on the defensive end. i like it that he is trying to block every shot and the other team knows he's blocking every shot down there in the paint. i only think this is an issue right now because it's the preseason he won't play as many minutes in the regular season for it to be a problem. he has impressed me though with his ability to play with foul trouble.

but who cares if darko fouls out. we can just bring dice, ben wallace, rasheed wallace, dale davis into the game that's the beauty of the pistons impervious to foul trouble.

Yes you're right this won't be that big of a problem come regular season, and playoff time.

Foul Trouble

The good thing about Darko's propensity to foul is that he will only be playing 10-15 minutes per game maximum. There is no way he should ever foul out.

And once he has a couple of extra fouls to play with during the regular season, maybe Darko can start swinging the elbows to "accidentally" coldcock the guys trying to strip him on rebounds. If he doesn't do something, he'll always be a target.

He needs to punch down Wade, and Manu when ever they try to penetrate. Show them who's boss.

Good point. Darko is getting more comfortable and aggressive but the mean streak we heard about on draft day hasn't shown itself yet.

Oh and himat, I think Darko's physical tactics should be a little more subtle than "punching down" players that come in the lane...the refs are starting to crack down on that.

Darko comes from ancient feudal stock with genocidal tendencies. He'll pogrom your azz.

Seriously, the Central European vibe could work for him. Brother layin on the ground and Darko just chewin his gum.

LOL. I just pictured that in my mind.

Darko has zero respect in the league right now. The refs are going to call him for everything. Also Darko has almost zero real game time in front of the refs, so he really doesnt know what an foul is to an NBA official. All he needs is some real pt to gain respect from the refs and stop getting the ticky tac fouls, and to figure out what kind of stuf the refs will or will not call as fouls.

Darko should have an idea of what an NBA foul looks like from watching on the bench for the past 2 seasons, but its one thing to watch and another to experience it in a game situation. He'll get the hang of it after a while and the cheap fouls will go away.

Right now he's trying to do a bit too much and block every single shot that comes his way. He'll get the hang of it soon enough. He has some great teachers in the Wallace brothers.

I'm looking forward to watching him develop this season!

He'll get away with more at home as x2 set the stage. C'Note said for him not to worry about fouls. Be very aggressive. Here's my bodies on the floor rotation: Ham, JMax, Darko, Ben, Sheed. Remember that time BL elbowed Pippen in the eye on a rebound, knocked him out.

Must have been on Scotties mind at the time of this photo...

Not to Worry

Most young bigs have foul trouble. And as some posters pointed out earlier, they're mostly "dumb" fouls (over-the-backs and reaching-in). He'll learn with experience not to commit those.

He won't be playing enough minutes for it to matter. Obviously we don't want to put other teams in the penalty early, which is my only concern. But I'd rather see him playing more aggressively and committing fouls than playing passively to avoid them.

When he picked up the four quick ones, he played another 15 minutes without fouling out, which I thought was encouraging.