| A Second Start For Darko Authored by Curtis A Clark - July 25, 2005 - 2:00 am
There has not been a lot to smile about for Darko Milicic in his NBA career. The highly touted 2nd overall pick in 2003 draft is a bench warmer. He has not cracked a lineup that features one time All Stars Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess. He was not able to win over coach Larry Brown, his work ethic is questioned, and he has been lambasted by the Serbian media. Oh and there is the ever present comparisons to the infamous Sam Bowie. Carmello may not be Darko’s Jordan, but Darko isn’t even Sam Bowie yet.
So why is it that on Thursday July 21st, on the heals of a lackluster summer league performance, you can no doubt bet he was grinning from ear to ear? Because Ding Dong the witch is dead, that’s why. Wednesday Larry Brown was canned by team President Joe Dumars and Owner Bill Davison. It was no secret around Detroit that Darko and Larry didn’t see eye to eye. After a few early mistakes Darko has played coy with the media about his distain for Brown. Likewise Larry would only occasionally drop a Darko compliment, usually to satisfy the press and quash rumors of a feud.
So now Darko at the age of 20, coming into his third season, finally has reason to hope. Has a reason to believe he may make something of an already condemned career. He is reborn.
The new coach of the Detroit Pistons, Flip Saunders, is responsible for shaping the career of another versatile 7 footer. Maybe you heard of him, Kevin Garnett. If Larry Brown was the Wicked Witch of the West, then Saunders (probably much to his chagrin) is Linda the Good Witch. Could it be anymore perfect? In a 2003 pre-draft interview Darko is quoted as saying the player he most thinks his game compares to is KG? The stars may not have aliened here, but for Darko they sure have. Saunders will, for a multitude of reasons, give Darko a chance to play meaningful minutes. And with that, a chance to prove why he believes he has similarities to the big ticket.
First and foremost as to why Coach Flip will play Darko is that he will be told to by team President Joe Dumars. Dumars, who claims to still be sold on Darko, cannot afford to wait any longer on giving this kid his shot. Dumars has contracts in Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince to extend and a championship team to add to. Dumars cannot sit around playing the waiting game with a roster spot and 4 million dollars in cap room. Especially while his team is a perennial contender and Darko is still a tradable commodity. If the kid develops for Detroit then great, they are even more deadly. If he doesn’t, Dumars can still pull the change of scenery trick to eager GM’s looking for size.
Another reason Saunders will play Darko is the Piston’s lack of interior scoring. This kid can play. After watching every second Darko Milicic has played in the NBA, I can see the player he should be. He can take your breath away with the ease and grace with which he blows by slower centers. Understand, all centers in the NBA are slower than Darko. He rated in the top 5% of all players tested in lateral quickness in pre-draft workouts. That’s all players, even point guards. We are taking Olojuwon baseline blenders here. Eerily reminiscent of Connie Hawkins or George Gervin in grace, but at 7 feet.
The Piston’s one problem? offensive lulls. Interior scoring is the solution to that problem. Duncan, Shaq, Garnett, Stoudamire, Nowinski, teams\lucky enough to have the luxury of such powerful and versatile interior scorers do not suffer the pains of an 8 minute offensive drought like Detroit. Now Darko wont be any of those players, at least not yet, but he can be a Corliss Williamson. A guy off the bench, coupled with Antonio McDyess, that keeps you going when you hit a funk. That was the missing piece that could have gotten them a second NBA championship in as many years. Flip needs this in his innovative offensive schemes. He needs this because he will have a lot on his shoulders taking over a championship caliber team.
But my favorite reason Flip Saunder will play Darko Milicic is because he is confident enough to. He threw Garnett to the wolves in Minni and look at those results. People always say its hardest to do something the first time. So I see no reason why he wont do it for a second time in Detroit.
``As a coach, you have to have all players play at a confident level,'' Saunders said. ``If they don't, they'll never play up to their potential. The reason Darko has a chance is because he's got an attitude, he's got good character.”
Those sound like the words of a man starting early to win a kid over. They sound like a man that is trying to get a kid to take this opportunity to start fresh and run with it. Saunders will not try and fit a square peg into a round hole with Darko. He realizes this kid is not comfortable in the post yet, and that is the key, comfort. Saunders will need Darko feeling comfortable before he starts trying to shape the kid. That is the mistake Larry Brown made when he tried from the get go to force Darko into an uncomfortable position. The kid was just 18, in a new country, learning a new language, playing a very different game. He needed to be allowed to play where he was comfortable just to get acclimated. If it were not for his great teammates and his young age Darko could have been lost to the NBA.
You see Darko has never lost a game for Detroit. He has only seen but two real segments of playing time in 2 years. One such segment saw him dunk from almost the free throw line against Shaq and the Heat on national TV. The other saw him play fellow countryman Vlade Divac (Then still with Sacramento) to a stalemate in 4 minutes of gift playing time. When he scored his first 2 playoff points against the Spurs in the NBA finals he made a beautiful spinning hook over Rasho Nesterovic. It’s moments like that that make people wonder what this kid could be.
Darko’s problem? He has a severe lack of motivation in garbage time. When other players are trying to show a glimpse of their talents, Darko is walking up and down the court setting picks to get jumpers he clangs off the rim. It’s then that he should be separating himself form lower echelon players. Giving his coaches a reason to play him and a thought to his potential.
So Flip will put him in the situation he has shined in, minutes that matter, with starters that can bring him along. If you think about it, what choice does he have?
Darko knows this and he is licking his chops. When you have as many critics as this 20 year old every second you are on the court is a smack in the face of your distracters. If Darko comes unmotivated this year, I for one will be ready to write him off. Just another great talent that didn’t have a head for the NBA. He doesn’t have to be the second coming of Russell, just bring a motivated effort. If he cannot do that after being marooned on the bench for 2 years and finally receiving is chance. He may well indeed be the next Sam Bowie.
It’s a rebirth. It has everything to do with the Piston’s highest draft pick since Isaiah Thomas, their new head coach, and a chance to start over. Two basketball talents coming into a year that will set the tone for their rebirth into NBA basketball.
Curtis A. Clark is RealGM's Resident Writer for Detroit Sports and he may be reached at RealGM_Detroit@hotmail.com . |
