Wilfredo Ledezma
12-17-2007, 12:44 PM
Milicic's confidence runs low
The former Magic center says he can't figure out what is wrong with his game.
Tim Povtak | Sentinel Staff Writer
December 16, 2007
Darko Milicic always knew that playing with Dwight Howard made the game a lot easier.
He never quite realized just how tough it was to play against him -- until Saturday night.
Although his Memphis Grizzlies were thrilled with a 123-119 upset of the Orlando Magic, Milicic left the game reeling from the way Howard abused him around the basket, adding to his early season struggles.
"My confidence level right now is really low. It's horrible," Milicic said. "It's weird. I'm with a team now that needs me, and has given me every opportunity to play. I've got a nice contract, but for some reason I can't even do the things I used to do."
Milicic started Saturday, but he played just 16 minutes because of early and constant foul trouble. He had four points, three rebounds and three blocked shots. All he could do against Howard, though, was to foul him.
"I don't know what's wrong with my game," he said. "Last season I felt good about the things I was doing. Right now I don't feel the same way."
Milicic is the 22-year-old, 7-0 center/forward who left the Magic this summer as a free agent after they spent all their salary-cap room on forward Rashard Lewis, leaving him without much choice but to look elsewhere.
Memphis gave him a three-year contract worth $21 million. It would have been nice for the Magic still to have him -- a second young big man on the roster -- but not the way he played Saturday.
Last season he served as a backup to both Howard and power forward Tony Battie, averaging 8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots in 24 minutes. In the playoff series against Detroit, he averaged 12.3 and 4.8 rebounds.
He showed the kind of potential -- the shot blocking, the nice shooting touch, the feel for the game -- that once prompted Detroit to make him the No. 2 pick of the 2003 draft.
As a starter in Memphis he is averaging 7.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots.
"He just has to get to the point where he starts believing that his success can accumulate, like a bank account," said Memphis Coach Marc Iavaroni. "He sometimes forgets success that he has. He has to bank that confidence."
Against Howard, he looked like that bank was empty, hardly putting up a fight.
"Dwight is such a force," Milicic said. "He's big, and he's agile. All I could do was foul. We needed this win. It was a good one for us, but I should have played better."
Milicic said he misses playing with Howard, although he isn't bitter about what happened this summer.
"They got a chance to get an all-star [Lewis] and they had to do that," he said.
The former Magic center says he can't figure out what is wrong with his game.
Tim Povtak | Sentinel Staff Writer
December 16, 2007
Darko Milicic always knew that playing with Dwight Howard made the game a lot easier.
He never quite realized just how tough it was to play against him -- until Saturday night.
Although his Memphis Grizzlies were thrilled with a 123-119 upset of the Orlando Magic, Milicic left the game reeling from the way Howard abused him around the basket, adding to his early season struggles.
"My confidence level right now is really low. It's horrible," Milicic said. "It's weird. I'm with a team now that needs me, and has given me every opportunity to play. I've got a nice contract, but for some reason I can't even do the things I used to do."
Milicic started Saturday, but he played just 16 minutes because of early and constant foul trouble. He had four points, three rebounds and three blocked shots. All he could do against Howard, though, was to foul him.
"I don't know what's wrong with my game," he said. "Last season I felt good about the things I was doing. Right now I don't feel the same way."
Milicic is the 22-year-old, 7-0 center/forward who left the Magic this summer as a free agent after they spent all their salary-cap room on forward Rashard Lewis, leaving him without much choice but to look elsewhere.
Memphis gave him a three-year contract worth $21 million. It would have been nice for the Magic still to have him -- a second young big man on the roster -- but not the way he played Saturday.
Last season he served as a backup to both Howard and power forward Tony Battie, averaging 8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots in 24 minutes. In the playoff series against Detroit, he averaged 12.3 and 4.8 rebounds.
He showed the kind of potential -- the shot blocking, the nice shooting touch, the feel for the game -- that once prompted Detroit to make him the No. 2 pick of the 2003 draft.
As a starter in Memphis he is averaging 7.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots.
"He just has to get to the point where he starts believing that his success can accumulate, like a bank account," said Memphis Coach Marc Iavaroni. "He sometimes forgets success that he has. He has to bank that confidence."
Against Howard, he looked like that bank was empty, hardly putting up a fight.
"Dwight is such a force," Milicic said. "He's big, and he's agile. All I could do was foul. We needed this win. It was a good one for us, but I should have played better."
Milicic said he misses playing with Howard, although he isn't bitter about what happened this summer.
"They got a chance to get an all-star [Lewis] and they had to do that," he said.