http://detnews.com/article/20100116/...-failed-career

Darko Milicic already looking back bitterly on failed career
Vincent Goodwill / The Detroit News

Auburn Hills -- Former Piston Darko Milicic was a wide-eyed 18-year old when the Pistons drafted him second overall in 2003. Now with his NBA career coming to an end, he made perhaps his final trip to his first home in this country.

Milicic, who asked the Knicks to release him so he could return overseas, recently told SLAM magazine the Pistons wasted their pick on him. He added, though, that his immaturity contributed to his lack of success in Detroit, where he played 96 games in 2 1/2 seasons.

"I can't just go around blaming everyone. I took basketball as a game," the 24-year old said Saturday. "(Immaturity) might be true, too."

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He has bitter memories of his time in Detroit. When he was drafted, he was expected to learn from veterans Ben Wallace, Elden Campbell and later, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess. He believes he wouldn't have the undesirable distinction of being "the worst draft pick of the decade" if Detroit hadn't been the franchise to select him.

"I had fun off the court, but on the court, the stuff about learning from other guys through practice, it's bull," he said.

Then-Pistons coach Larry Brown was notoriously hard on rookies. While Milicic viewed himself as a Dirk Nowitzki-type, Brown wanted him to focus on defense, and pushed him hard. Even though the Pistons would win a championship in Milicic's rookie year, he regrets not requesting a trade.

"If I kept my head into basketball, I would have forced a trade," Milicic said. "If I said, 'Get me out of here, trade me,' maybe I would be better off now."

It didn't help Milicic in the eyes of the basketball world that fellow 2003 draftees LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and others have contributed since their rookie years. The Pistons wanted Milicic to earn his playing time; Milicic felt his draft status should be enough to get him off the bench.

"You cannot make a difference in practice. My grandma can practice. Game mentality is different from practice," he said. "If I got a chance to play every night, I would have been good enough for that draft (pick)."

By the time he was able to prove himself, after a midseason 2006 trade to Orlando, he felt irreparable damage had been done to his psyche. He said his experience in Detroit prevented him from developing an identity as a player. He expected peaks, but wasn't prepared for the valleys of professional basketball.

"It didn't make me better," he said. "I was surprised that I didn't play with a lot of confidence (at first)."

Some seasons it seemed Milicic was turning into a productive player. He averaged eight points and five rebounds in 2006-07, but that was as good as it would get. He's played in Memphis and now New York, where again, he's struggling for time.

"It's weird, but it happened and it happened to me," he said.

He admitted to questioning himself and his skill level, which has led to him deeming his NBA career "over" and he hoping to start anew -- elsewhere.

"This is not how I wanted my career to look," he said. "My only chance to play is to go back to Europe."

He told his agent he doesn't want a team to sign him if it has questions about him. He wants to be guaranteed something he never was able to earn from his coaches -- respect in the form of playing time.

"Everybody didn't see me as an NBA player like I did," he said.