Good Luck Darko in Orlando

i didn't quote b. hill. i just wrote what he basically said. he did say darko didn't have his conditioning yet. he did also mention the effect of sitting on the bench for 2.5 years. yes he's had some basketball action mixed in those 2.5 years. no matter how much he played in the summer it doesn't add up to 30 minutes of 82 games of nba action.

darko is young he hasn't learned how to conserve energy like sheed yet.

amir hasn't been basically out of basketball for 2 years. he isn't 7 feet tall either. i'm sure his conditioning is only better than what it was in high school. darko had conditioning and lost it. it will take him a minute to get it back. he's 7 feet 260 lbs not too many big men in the league can play all out for more than 20 minutes.

yup. but he'll pay ben 12 - 15 as a 32 year old = win now then blow it up.

you are 24. i'll bet you can maybe run up and down a full nba size court maybe 20 times in a row. darko is 7 tall that's a lot of body to have to take up and down the court. don't mention that every time you bang up against someone it saps energy. don't forget he hasn't played this much in 2.5 years. his conditioning will return. you can run laps all you want to but it still doesn't compare to actually playing basketball.

darko is pretty ripped and there were reports that he could hang with ben in the weight room during workouts. elden campbell even said he's gotten stronger and can't be pushed around anymore. there was also a pic on the net somewhere of darko looking cut up.

How old is Bill D?

If I were his age, I think that I would belong to the "win now" club too.

before the trade, Arroyo said that he was doing fine in Detroit and that he didn't want do be traded since his kids go to school there, he has the chance to get a ring and that the team had great chemistry.
He surely wasn't unhappy because of the trade because it meant more minutes and more sunshine, but he wasn't unhappy in Detroit either.

he's about 100 and he can't take all that money with him. he needed to open up the checkbook.

having darko coming off the bench would have nothing to do with us winning now. we are going to win now whether he plays or not. keeping darko was about winning now and later.

dumars made a financial decison because of the money limit mr. d gave him. darko is not ready to be a franchise type/ all star player yet. joe had the decision of signing ben and chauncey who are ready or darko who will be ready with the right grooming. joe knew he wouldn't be able to give darko the grooming here so it probably was an easy decision for him given the choices.

and yes plenty of people said darko wasn't going to be a solid player. that is why i intensely defended him. it's weird not too many of them have changed thier tune. they still discount anything darko does by pointing out orlando's record or saying of course he can do that it's a lottery team. the fact is exactly what i always said if darko is given minutes he will produce.

He's gone! Gooooooooooooooooooooooooood Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye!!!!

Initially there was a lot of criticism that Darko was doing OK, but the team wasn't winning. Now, in the last 10 games, two teams are better than the Magic (New Jersey and Memphis). They are wondering what needs to happen for them to make the playoffs. It won't happen, but it is amazing how much better they are now.

Darko's shooting percentage is now up to .560.

That guy can really shoot. All he needed was to be on a team that accepted him for what he was.

I just witnessed Darko's finest quarter of basketball tonight against the Bulls here in Chicago, who are trying to make it into the playoffs. At Chicago, down 9, Milicic's unit started the 4th quarter. Through the first 10 minutes of the quarter, the Magic only allowed 4 points on 1-18 shooting by the Bulls (1 basket and 2 free throws on a shot that Darko blocked). The coach decided to leave them in there through the intentional foul fest that ensued to finish out the game. A shocking loss for the Bulls. The crowd was dead quiet. Darko was rebounding, shoring in the post against double teams, dunking, and absolutely shutting down the paint with blocks. He made Chandler look like the most overpaid player in the league. Dwight Howard sat out the entire 4th during the run.

There is a 0% chance that Orlando misses the playoffs next year. Our draft pick will be > 18.

On the bright side, we will probably win the Championship and don't care who we draft.

you willing to bet on that?

I'm down for that bet. The starters will be:

Jameer Nelson/ $25M Stud/ Turkoglu/ D. Howard/ D. Milicic

With backups of:

Arroyo/ Grant Hill (or $5M scrub)/ Ariza/ Stevenson/ Battie


And all they have to do is win 38 games or so. 23-18 at home and 15-26 on the road should do the trick.

If the Magic miss the playoffs, I will get you a Mo Evans jersey signed by Lee357. If they make it, I want an autographed picture of you and Darko with a note from him that says "I play. Make many baskets."

And what was he Budda?
What you gonna do Warts?

you're on!!

Darko put up decent numbers last nite against the Twolves in a loss. 26 min. 12 pts. 5 boards, 3 t.o. with 2 steals, no blocks.

He did have 2 blocks. It seems like the worst kept stat in the NBA.

He blocked Garnett's sky-hook at one point. The other block he had was also clear as day.

Even though Darko's stats were OK in this one, he and Dwight Howard were manhandled by KG. They couldn't stop him from scoring or rebounding at will.

Still, the main problem with the Magic, which really stands out if you watch a lot of Pistons' bball, is the horrible turnovers by their guards leading to multiple fast breaks.

I always thought that Arroyo should have looked for his shot more when he was on the Pistons so that the defense had to respect it. He has gone overboard on the Magic. All he does is force shots and drive out of control. He never feeds the post or throws those great no lookers anymore.