Official Darko Watch

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rorschach

You're entitled to that. But maybe Joe D figured out he was tanking it. You dont keep a Tanker. You dont keep a guy whose purposely not giving effort on a team all about effort. Its delfino's effort that i like. Same for everyone else. Darko didnt want to put in any effort, so we gotta let him go. I give Joe D credit for giving him a chance to prove himself this year. And by not trying he spit in Joe D's face and handcuffed him out of getting a good trade.

But if he had played some minutes would he have still have been a "tanker"? The point is that we should have never found out if he was that kind of person. He should have played a few minutes.

I would be interested to here what kind of "promises" they made to Darko before the season. Or if he just made that crap up. If they did in fact promise him minutes behind the scenes, then maybe that is why he acted the way he did??

This isn't a lottery team. We could not afford to give Darko 20 minutes that he didn't earn. Things don't work that way on an elite club.

Shit, we GAVE him 5-7 to start out, and he did nothing with it.

Darko never wanted to work for anything here. Anybody who defends that is out of his mind.

Darko could have played his way into the rotation, or he could take the easy way out and suck his way on to another team. He chose the latter.

I'm happy Darko's in his enviornment now, but I REFUSE to blame Joe D for anything other than drafting him in the first place.

I think its fucked up because Joe D backed Darko in spite of alot and Darko didnt give a shit because he wasnt playing 20 minutes a game. Selfish lil brat couldnt even respect what the guy did for him enough to keep his mouth shut. Even after Dumars lied and said cutting Darko was a cap move foremost. He didnt say why it became a cap move. Which is Darko wasnt putting any effort out for the millions he was getting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FP22

But if he had played some minutes would he have still have been a "tanker"??

See i dont like that. Delfino has a coach damn near working against him and he's earning minutes. Theres no one else on our team tanking. So how do we give minutes to the one guy tanking. Maxiell, acker, amir, and dale davis play hard every second they get. So what exactly should we be "giving" to Darko. This aint orlando. Here you earn your time. Sometimes in spite of your coach.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kstat

Exactly.

Darko was playing 5-7 minutes early on, and he showed next to nothing.

The game vs NY on National TV was the final straw. Darko went out and made Jerome James look like a hall of famer. He played like a bust in front of a national audience. At that point, Darko was embarrassing us.

He gave us no reason to play him that much. He was tanking from game 1.

He did play a few good games at the beginning of the season (Bucks game comes to mind) despite very little minutes. Then he was starting to gather DNPs between little 4 minute stints. That's when the bottom fell out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rorschach

I think its fucked up because Joe D backed Darko in spite of alot and Darko didnt give a shit because he wasnt playing 20 minutes a game. Selfish lil brat couldnt even respect what the guy did for him enough to keep his mouth shut. Even after Dumars lied and said cutting Darko was a cap move foremost. He didnt say why it became a cap move. Which is Darko wasnt putting any effort out for the millions he was getting.

Look, I agree that he was a punk. But I don't agree that you throw out an extremely talented big man just because he doesn't like playing garbage minutes. Darko was drafted between 2 pre-NBA superstars, and by association, he was one too. I would imagine there are plenty of "star" players out there that would do similar (if not worse) things if they were in his situation. Does that mean I wouldn't want to have them on the team? No. I would play them, and it would negate the problem.

It's not like he was causing a disturbance in the locker room or something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FP22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kstat

Exactly.

Darko was playing 5-7 minutes early on, and he showed next to nothing.

The game vs NY on National TV was the final straw. Darko went out and made Jerome James look like a hall of famer. He played like a bust in front of a national audience. At that point, Darko was embarrassing us.

He gave us no reason to play him that much. He was tanking from game 1.

He did play a few good games at the beginning of the season (Bucks game comes to mind) despite very little minutes. Then he was starting to gather DNPs between little 4 minute stints. That's when the bottom fell out.

The few he played in earned him time in others. His response then was to tank it. he felt he couldnt get more than 5-7 minutes a game so he gave up and it showed.

1) how the hell would we ever know if darko was tanking? he wasnt EVER given a chance. he had to outplay 3 allstars (on a team that obviously gives veteran experience as a tie breaker). under the way we ran this team, darko wasnt getting pt for probably 2 years, regardless of how he played.

2) people act like we gave him every chance in the world in the regular season. he was still on a short leash, it was just temporarily lengthened by a degree.

orlando has given darko 20+ min a night every game. you dont get the rust off in a night. you dont become a member of a team over night. and most likely, hes going to look like a total stranger to us by the end of the season.

dont tell me it couldnt have worked out here with darko. thats fucking rediculous. dumars (yes dumars) decided it was best to store darko on the shelf and say he doesnt play till he earns it--and then he made it damn near impossible to earn it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FP22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rorschach

I think its fucked up because Joe D backed Darko in spite of alot and Darko didnt give a shit because he wasnt playing 20 minutes a game. Selfish lil brat couldnt even respect what the guy did for him enough to keep his mouth shut. Even after Dumars lied and said cutting Darko was a cap move foremost. He didnt say why it became a cap move. Which is Darko wasnt putting any effort out for the millions he was getting.

Look, I agree that he was a punk. But I don't agree that you throw out an extremely talented big man just because he doesn't like playing garbage minutes. Darko was drafted between 2 pre-NBA superstars, and by association, he was one too. I would imagine there are plenty of "star" players out there that would do similar (if not worse) things if they were in his situation. Does that mean I wouldn't want to have them on the team? No. I would play them, and it would negate the problem.

It's not like he was causing a disturbance in the locker room or something.

But he is a problem in the locker room for players busting they ass. If you bust your ass at work and the new guy slacks off, you're gonna have an issue with it. You may not be vocal out loud about it. But you wouldnt like it. Its not fair to give him minutes when Maxiel and Johnson play harderer. I still think Amir has more athletic potential than Darko anyways.

And i said before, he handcuffed Joe Dumars with that tank move. I'd give him a crobar to the shin next time i saw him if i was Joe Dumars. I mean you act as if keeping him was a legitimate option. We get even less for him at the end of the year and he gets into a lame duck year tanking it next season. We had the potential to get NOTHING for him. Do you understand that? its not an option. If Darko didnt want to be here, get what you can and move on. you cant always get a steal for your losses. Sometimes you take a hit, just to drop a guy either way. He was gone regardless. We just spoed up the process and got something in return. We woulda got more if we dumped him at the beginning of the year. But i dont fault Joe Dumars for getting darkos back. I fault Darko for saying fuck him regardless.,

look, did darko handle himself the best way possible in his detroit days?

absolutely not.

but then again, he was a 17-20 year old put under tremendous scrutiny, asked to do the impossible.

its called burning out, it happens to everyone. LB didnt give lebron, carmelo, or amare in the olympics, he pissed them off then, too (regardless of what they say).

the fact that darko didnt give it his all in the last 2 min of a blowout, imo, should not be held against him. and while its not ok that he apparantly gave up in detroit, it is understandable.