Right now, it looks like Darko is providing value to everyone but the Magic. Memphis gets Pau a buddy, and Detroit gets Stuckey to back up Flip. It's all good, unless of course Flip decides that he can't get over his love for Flip Jr.
Halfway through the 4th quarter, DM has the most points, rebounds, blocks... and turnovers. Pretty good off the bench. Edit: scratch the rebounds and blocks... Pau has 1 more of each.
I know that it is still very early but through tonights games now that Darko is starting he is averaging more rebounds per game, about 9, this year than any other player drafted with him in 2003, except for Kaman.
Too bad he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn tonight, he was 3-13 including some dunks that got sent back by Pryzbilla. He's a nice guy to put next to Pau, but his conditioning must improve, he's sucking major wind out there.
As a fellow chain smoker, I feel Darko's pain when it comes to conditioning. During the summer, the only conditioning I get is air conditioning.
Well, Darko looked pretty valuable tonight as he played excellent defense on Yao Ming and he scored 20 pts himself on 9-14 shooting. He did a great job of fronting Yao and making his life miserable as he tried to establish position in the paint.
Aside from a bizarre airballed FT that fell at least 3 feet short of the rim, Darko did have a pretty great game last night. The Grizz will be pretty solid if they can get him going consistently.
that's the biggest thing that is overlooked about darko. i think lots of people look at stats of the other 2003 draft class and say darko isn't on thier level. i think darko was the right pick for the pistons because we used to be a defensive based team. darko in my opinion can pretty much check all centers in the league. defense wins championships. darko was the right pick at that time because defense wins championships and we played the right way and darko is very unselfish offensively and that would have fit right in. in my opinion darko gave yao all he could handle offensively and defensively. i think if memphis had have went to darko more yao would have fouled out. i have watched all but 1 of darko's games this season for memphis. i know he's a team guy but i wish he would be more selfish and stats oriented. i mean darko could average a double double. mike miller and the guards grab lots of rebounds after he boxes out for them. he did look gassed out there against the rockets. i think it's more the extra weight he's carrying around. yao looked huge compared to darko and darko is a huge guy. it's a tough matchup and that will take a lot of energy out of you. darko didn't do a tayshaun by playing good defense at the expense of offense. i feel that if he loses 10 more pounds and the grizz keep him involved in the offense he won't look tired by mid season.
When Darko was here we were all waiting for him to bulk up...now he's bulked up and folks want him to slim down?
I may be the only Darko supporter that thinks that he SHOULD be 290 and banging in the paint all day long. He's proving LB right by being effective as a defensive minded traditional center who allows Memphis to play inside out bball. His ability to hit outside shots is a bonus, but Memphis has better shooters and needs him down low to board.
Well, when he was making all of those 3 pointers during warmups, people wanted him to shoot, but now that he blocks shots, people want him to defend. Darko is the Swiss Army Knife of expectations. He can excite you in ways that LeBron James can't, and he can disappoint you in ways that Mateen Cleaves only dreamed of.
Well he had another nice stat line against Milwaukee, He puts in 10 pts on 4-10 shooting, 2-4 FTs, and has 13 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
Mind-boggling, roscoe, just mind boggling. Nicely put. But those disappointments "seem" to be getting fewer and further between. I can easily see him averaging 12-14 points and 10-11 boards within a month or so. One very important improvement he seems to have made now is not trying to block so many shots that are pretty much beyond him so that he can stay in the games. With being able to average more like 30 minutes, his contributions to his team will improve, and that will be borne out by his stats. I think I am going to enjoy seeing the Pistons-Grizzlies game in Memphis in December.
