NBA.com: Rookie Rankings - February 27, 2006
NBA.com: Rookie Rankings - February 27, 2006
I know this is way to early but I'm getting tired of beating the dead horse who goes by the name of B.Hill.
Take a look at the linked rookie list, then ask yourself where Darko would fit if he were a brand new rookie? It's a pretty fair question since he has probably played fewer career minutes than any of the current top 10 rooks. It's almost like he came to the Magic as a 20 year old with three years at a great college program. No NBA minutes but readily apparent skill sets and game knowledge you would expect of a junior coming from a top conference.
Since Hill put him in the line-up 4 games ago his per game averages are:
22.75 minutes
8.0 points
.636 shooting percentage
6.0 rebounds
2.75 blocks
1.25 assists
1.0 turnovers
3.0 fouls
0.75 steals
My belief is if the draft were held over today Chris Paul would be the #1 pick and if Darko were eligible he would be picked as high as #2.
He is already rebounding and blocking shots at a per-minute rate higher than any rookie, his shooting percentage is sky-high at the moment and his comparable points per minute played is in the middle of the top ten rookies.
All without benefit of training camp and knowing his teamates or any of the vaunted Princeton Offense that his coach prefers.
I know this is way to early but I'm getting tired of beating the dead horse who goes by the name of B.Hill.
Take a look at the linked rookie list, then ask yourself where Darko would fit if he were a brand new rookie? It's a pretty fair question since he has probably played fewer career minutes than any of the current top 10 rooks. It's almost like he came to the Magic as a 20 year old with three years at a great college program. No NBA minutes but readily apparent skill sets and game knowledge you would expect of a junior coming from a top conference.
Since Hill put him in the line-up 4 games ago his per game averages are:
22.75 minutes
8.0 points
.636 shooting percentage
6.0 rebounds
2.75 blocks
1.25 assists
1.0 turnovers
3.0 fouls
0.75 steals
My belief is if the draft were held over today Chris Paul would be the #1 pick and if Darko were eligible he would be picked as high as #2.
He is already rebounding and blocking shots at a per-minute rate higher than any rookie, his shooting percentage is sky-high at the moment and his comparable points per minute played is in the middle of the top ten rookies.
All without benefit of training camp and knowing his teamates or any of the vaunted Princeton Offense that his coach prefers.
posted by WeRDevos @ 12:33 PM
4 Comments:
At 2:07 PM,
Matt said…
Excellent research, WeRDevos. I think we have to thank DET for prepping him up. In a short time that I have seen him play with Magic, I no longer consider him a project. He is a polished player who obviously learned, as well as started playing serious basketball, at a young age. His defensive prowess is a pleasant surprise that we didn't vie for. My only concern is his fragile psyche from the time with DET ( although understandably so) which needs to be handled with care. That's why I think the favorite subject of all of us here (by default not by choice) needs to get his rear end kicked out of town ASAP, so that he is not able to touch a precious fragile asset.
At 2:57 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Darko's shooting pct., rebounds, and blocked shots are all very impressive! If you translate those numbers to a full 48 minutes, here's what they come out to:
16.9 pts
12.7 rebounds
5.8 blocks
Great numbers considering he rarely played before he came to the Magic! And he's just 20 yrs old!
At 4:04 PM,
OVERWADED said…
In other words, he could've been the #1 pick in this coming draft. I could say I'm prophetic, but I was just lucky he ended up here. One of my good friends is from Detroit and for over a year now I've been telling him I hoped the Magic could take Darko off there hands. I like anyone else only saw Darko in scrub minutes, plus some of last summer’s games, but he always showed big flashes of talent. It was just obvious he was miserable in Detroit. So when I heard there were trade talks this year I had to try and keep my excitement down because I figured it just wouldn't go through. Man I'm glad it did... I always thought Darko would turn out to be a solid player, but I didn't know he can do what he does. The best part is this guy is just scratching the surface. Watching him grow day to day is amazing as he gets more comfortable. There really isn't a thing he can't do. But even watching his ball handling, the way he moves, passes, his shooting touch, are all very impressive. But more so than anything else is his defense... I truly believe he is already our best defender. It's been a while since I've seen a guy get blocks the way he does, but then have the sense to keep his arms straight up and not pick up stupid fouls. He's just so long, but smart as hell on the court. Like Matt said, the only thing to worry about with him is how fragile he could be from what was done to him in Detroit, but already you can see his confidence growing, and as long as Hill and the Magic don't do anything foolish this guy really has no limits. So I wish they'd just go ahead and start the days of Double D. Darko and Dwight together is going to be fun! Nice research and comments guys.
At 4:53 PM,
WeRDevos said…
I don't want to get giddy yet.
And he has a long way to go.
But he shows signs of having the same set of skills that Bill Walton had.
Because of that I was just doing research on the 77 Blazers champs, because I was wondering if Howard could fill the roll of Maurice Lucas.
77 Blazers:
Walton 18.6ppg, 14.4rpg, 3.2bpg, 3.8apg
Lucas 20.2ppg, 11.4rpg
Anyway, Dave Twardzik played guard on that team.
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