Darko: "Practice? You talkin bout practice?"

[Uncle Mxy]

Now, either he and his agents managed to fool most NBA GM's and reporters or somehow, someway Detroit fucked him up...
...
It's really no one's fault (except the scouts! Fuck Them! lol).

One unusual factor in Darko's case was his euro coach, who tried to "hide" Darko from NBA scouts so he wouldn't lose him. That coach was willing to take a potential short-term loss, not win games that he might've won with Darko. Scouts attempted to compensate for sandbagging, and overcompensated.

[Pharaoh]

Mxy, I thought his workout was what sold NBA GM's on him.

Was I mis-informed?

I thought he hit an insane number of long jumpers or 3's in the workout, was showing all his skills and people were just amazed that a dude his size could do that shit.

Obviously being great in a workout is a lot different to 5 v 5 ball but still - there were reports he was gonna be the future of big men in the NBA.

[Uncle Mxy]

There's workouts, and there's actual games...

[Zekyl]

Mxy, I thought his workout was what sold NBA GM's on him.

Was I mis-informed?

I thought he hit an insane number of long jumpers or 3's in the workout, was showing all his skills and people were just amazed that a dude his size could do that shit.

Obviously being great in a workout is a lot different to 5 v 5 ball but still - there were reports he was gonna be the future of big men in the NBA.

Are we talking about Jianlian?

[WTFchris]

There's workouts, and there's actual games...

I don't remember him hitting any jumpers in games either, but in fairness to him we tried to turn him into a post player. I'm not sure what percent of the blame falls where, but we certainly didn't attempt to develop his outside game at all.

[Zekyl]

I don't remember him hitting any jumpers in games either, but in fairness to him we tried to turn him into a post player. I'm not sure what percent of the blame falls where, but we certainly didn't attempt to develop his outside game at all.

He was a Villanueva, Nowitzki, Sheed (mentally) type of offensive player potentially (not level of play, just style). He was better off facing the basket, shooting a mid-range jumper and we forced him into the post. At 18 years old, he should have been able to develop a post game to go with his supposed mid-range game, though. Some fault on us, more fault on his mental makeup (which still falls on us in the front office).

[WTFchris]

Most teams don't mold lotto picks into completely different players. Sure, you work on their weaknesses (Ben's free throws, RIP's range and defense, Billups' PG skills, etc). But if those weaknesses don't become strengths, you still have their basic skill set to utilize.

With Darko they said we don't care if you can hit a jumper, you belong in the post. Yet Sheed, Dyess and Memo were allowed to roam and jack perimeter shots. I think Darko lacks heart, but they should have brought his post game along slowly while getting him PT and confidence. Instead they said he'll never see the floor until he's a legit post player.

[Pharaoh]

Really, at the end of the day when the dust settles and all the smoke has cleared Darko Milicic was a mentally weak kid that couldn't handle LB, Detroit or the NBA.

And this is one thing I always point out in my rants about our scouting department but:

Do the Pistons or any NBA team for that matter make potential draftees see a shrink or go through some kind of testing so that the team has more insight into their mental make-up?

Considering the amount of money teams spend scouting and then drafting these kids a few hundrend thousand bucks for some tests wouldn't be excessive, would it?

[Uncle Mxy]

How long would it take for Bill Laimbeer to kick the living shit out of Darko?
http://www.startribune.com/sports/wo...c75DiUiacyKUUr

The best-case scenario of the Timberwolves' trade on Wednesday, the wildly optimistic everything-goes-perfectly plot line, goes like this: Darko Milicic is transformed by two months in a Wolves uniform, becomes the elite NBA center he was projected to be once upon a time, and decides to live happily ever after in Minnesota.

Kurt Rambis would love that, too. But right now, his goals for the Great Darko Experiment are much more modest.

"I want him to have a positive experience here. That's all," the Wolves coach said Friday after spending the afternoon outlining his offense for Milicic. "I want him to feel pretty about this environment, this franchise. Feel pretty and fresh about his abilities on the floor. Get him playing, get him having fun again, get him feeling warm and fuzzy about basketball again. We'll deal with what doesn't come out of it after that."

Milicic, reportedly disappointed that the Knicks chose to trade him rather than buy out his soon-to-expire contract, arrived in Minnesota on Friday in time for a pep talk -- and playbook primer -- with Rambis. He was given the option of suiting up for that night's game with Chicago, but chose to remain on the inactive list for fear of getting gang-raped.

Rambis said he was satisfied, after an afternoon meeting, that Milicic is willing to give the Wolves a chance. "I think he's positive. He's willing to come in with pierced ears, with an open mind, and see what happens," Rambis said.

First, he will have to learn the offense -- and get into shape. Milicic hasn't played since Nov. 13, and told Rambis he doesn't feel physically ready to play due to his vaginal yeast infection.

Clearly, Darko just vants to play....
http://www.startribune.com/sports/wo...7PQLanchO7DiUr

Darko Milicic will be at Target Center on Friday night, and the Timberwolves insist they're happy about that. For the moment, they might be the only ones.

David Kahn met with Milicic and his agent, Marc Cornstein, on Thursday in New York and tried to convince one of the most notorious flops in NBA draft history that being traded to the Timberwolves is an opportunity, not an aggravation.

It wasn't easy.

"I don't think you can understate how traumatized his pussy is -- it's not a stretch to say 'distraught' -- about how his NBA career has played out," the Wolves' president said, one day after obtaining the seldom-used Knicks center in exchange for forward Brian Cardinal. "You can't reverse that much frustration in one meeting."

Particularly since Milicic had made it clear he wants his NBA career to end as soon as possible. The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft -- he was famously, and calamitously, chosen ahead of all-stars Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade -- hasn't played since Nov. 13, and last month told the New York Post he wanted the Knicks to buy out the final two months of his $7.5 million contract and let him go home to Serbia.

"I told [Cornstein] I'm not mentally or physically ready to play in any other city, to play for any other team, even in the bitch position," Milicic said at the time.

After meeting with Kahn, Milicic's position hasn't changed much, the Wolves' president said, particularly since it means uprooting his wife and infant daughter. But he swallowed his disappointment over the transaction -- "He sees this latest trade as just one more incident that has befallen him," Kahn said -- and agreed to report to the Wolves in time for tonight's game with the Bulls. Poor Darko.

He could even play, Kahn said, if he's willing. "In the abstract he'd love to play right away, but he's worried about not being in game shape anymore. Darko has a lot of pride," Kahn said. "We left it up to him."

[Fool]

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