What If: Darko Style

[Hermy]

And our organisation should have noticed that GIANT flaw in his character.

Can you explain, in detail, how?

[Zekyl]

Again, reminder, I'm just having fun with this. I'm not saying he'd have been a star and it's all our fault he's not.

Zek, why did none of these things happen? I'm curious to know your answer.

Larry Brown would be a part of that. He's notorious for hating rookies. There were quite a few reports at the time that he didn't give Darko the time of day, had no interest in developing him, etc.
Also, because we aren't very good at developing our own talent. Plain and simple, we talked about that a month or so ago. P brought it up, I believe and everyone seemed to agree.

The big woulda coulda shoulda is Rick Fox breaking his finger when we won the Finals, thus totally fucking up his summer development.

I actually disagree with this. You mean to tell me that you can't develop your game at all because you have a broken finger? Didn't Kobe play with a broken finger for 2 months a couple seasons ago? Heck, you're trying to work on your post game. Develop the other hand while it heals. Work on catching entry passes with one hand. Do conditioning drills. A broken finger is not an excuse.

I claim he wasn't mentally prepared to leave Europe, come to the NBA and work his ass off for his position or his contract or his future.

So leave him in Europe for an extra year while he matures. If we saw his maturity being as big of an issue as it was, that's an easy yet probably unpopular solution.

And just before the Draft they must have had doubts, because they brought Bosh back for one last workout.

Bosh came in for workouts with us KNOWING we weren't drafting him. They were on his insistence. That was supposed to be a big showing of his character (after the fact of course, no one mentioned it until 2-3 years later).

By giving him a role you just back up his idea.

I don't think 5 minutes a game solidifies his entitlement. It gives him enough of a taste to motivate and develop him without being a true role to feel "set" and "secure". Teams do this all the time in order to develop young talent. That's why I never understood why we didn't, other than Larry Brown not liking to play and develop young players.

[Uncle Mxy]

And just before the Draft they must have had doubts, because they brought Bosh back for one last workout.

And yet they still chose Darko!

Someone in the organisation had doubts. Someone thought Bosh was gonna be awesome. Someone had a "gut" feeling.

And yet they made the "popular" choice - and got it wrong!

The way I'd read it in the paper, Bosh _wanted_ to come to the Pistons and prove himself, even after it was 100% clear we were drafting Darko. That's what sold me on Bosh way back when. I didn't get the impression that expected Bosh to do that, that we initiated that contact with Bosh.

[Zekyl]

Can you explain, in detail, how?

Agreed. You meet a kid a handful of times, watch him on the basketball court, have a few talks with him, and you're supposed to know his full mental makeup? How easily we forget that Darko was the jewel of that draft behind LBJ. Hell, there were even rumblings at the time that Cleveland was giving a big look to Darko. It was almost certain that they were taking James, but they did their due diligence on Darko before making the final decision.

And that's not just something I remember. I found some articles and quotes that reminded me of that when I was looking things up for this thread. Seems ridiculous now, but a 7 footer with the athleticism to play the 3, the size to play the 5, and the complete skillset was pretty rare. No one knew he had the mental makeup of Stromile Swift and Tim Thomas. He looked like a foreign Kevin Garnett.

But you know what, Joe Dumars and the Detroit Piston scouting department is supposed to be omnipotent with a full judge of a 17 year old (that's how old he was while we were scouting him) and the type of character he would have.

[Pharaoh]

Can you explain, in detail, how?

Don't they have a shrink deal with these kids prior to the Draft?

Don't they talk to almost every single person the kid ever knew?

Don't they get the kids to take all kinds of weird and wondeful psyche tests?

They do insane amounts of research on these guys.

And IF they don't get these kids to take all kinds of freaky, weird CIA type tests then maybe they should.

I'd love to know every single aspect of what we do as an organisation in regards to scouting.

And then I'd love to compare our "style" to a team like the Spurs, or Portland or Dallas.

I'd find it interesting to put it mildly.

[Pharaoh]

Z - I know it seems like I expect the scouts to get EVERY pick right but I don't.

I just don't expect them to get damn near all of them wrong.

As for not knowing Darko was a mental midget read the post I directed at Hermy.

Re: Bosh coming in for workouts: You guys either have much better memories or you searched for articles.

But I still seem to recall him being rushed in the day before the Draft for 1 last workout? Or was that one of his workouts he scheduled because he was so sure of his talent he thought he could change Joe's mind?

That right there should have been enough for Joe. You've got this kid (Bosh)with all these skills and you told him you're not gonna draft him and he says "That's cool - I still wanna show you what I have to offer".

Draft that guy! And the fact that Bosh played NCAA and Darko didn't play much anywhere should have meant something.

And BTW Z: I don't think anything could have saved Darko. Wrong player, wrong team, wrong coach, wrong time.

He'll be remembered as Sam Bowie II. Except Melo ain't no Jordan.

[Uncle Mxy]

I actually disagree with this. You mean to tell me that you can't develop your game at all because you have a broken finger? Didn't Kobe play with a broken finger for 2 months a couple seasons ago? Heck, you're trying to work on your post game. Develop the other hand while it heals. Work on catching entry passes with one hand. Do conditioning drills. A broken finger is not an excuse.

IIRC, he was supposed to go back to play on the home team for the summer, but he didn't, so he just pissed around like a prick with a lot of money at a young age. LB wasn't in the picture, with the Olympics and other issues. It seemed like he was left kinda free floating when the plans for him to be on his country team fell apart with his injury, and nothing good ever came of it.

I'm not calling it an "excuse". I'm just saying that things might have taken a very different turn if not for that -- a "what if".

[Pharaoh]

The only What if I like when it comes to Darko is:

What if we draft Bosh!

We'd still trade for Sheed cause LB would not have been happy with Memo and Bosh and Ben Wallace up front.

So we'd still win the title.

[Zekyl]

IIRC, he was supposed to go back to play on the home team for the summer, but he didn't, so he just pissed around like a prick with a lot of money at a young age. LB wasn't in the picture, with the Olympics and other issues. It seemed like he was left kinda free floating when the plans for him to be on his country team fell apart with his injury, and nothing good ever came of it.

I'm not calling it an "excuse". I'm just saying that things might have taken a very different turn if not for that -- a "what if".

I forgot all about that. Good call!