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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Darko Days Done?

By John Denton FLORIDA TODAY ORLANDO

DARKO MILICIC NO LONGER IN MAGIC'S PLANS

By Brian Schmitz Sentinel Staff Writer

Magic move past Milicic, refocus on Jameer Nelson

posted by OVERWADED @ 6:31 PM  

17 Comments:

  • At 6:40 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    That sucks.

     

  • At 6:50 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    The Magic have tried to execute a sign-and-trade deal with Milicic around the league, but NO TEAM has been willing to offer him a contract starting at more than the mid-level exception ($5.5 million). Milicic can get that deal without needing sign-and-trade assistance from the Magic. Just like i thought,darko thinks way to much of himself,have a nice career in charlotte or atlanta,the only teams with more than the MLE.

     

  • At 7:30 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Even though Darko won't be playing for the Magic any more, it will be kinda interesting to follow his career to see if he fully develops all that potential he has.

    Consistency is the biggest thing he has to work on, and he needs a coach who will know how to properly use him in an offense.

    I think Dwight would have helped make Darko a better player, but that's something we'll never know now.

     

  • At 8:47 PM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    I wanted Darko back because of his "potential." But worried that a bad contract could suck another six years of life out of this woeful franchise.

    The Magic are already stuck paying Battie for another three years, not to mention Garrity this year. If Darko fails to improve, which is a distinct possibility given his demeanor, his would be a bad contract.

    Darko gave us some hope that it would work. But if you compare him to Howard the difference is night and day. It's hard to question the wisdom of giving DH a max contract. Darko is a huge risk at half that. If only Darko had 2/3 or DH's drive...

    Still, I wouldn't mind seeing the Magic give away Arroyo, Garrity and Dooling to keep Darko. But it sounds like Seattle won't take them.

     

  • At 8:57 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Folks, be careful when it comes to numbers. One 's value is in the eyes of beholder. Darko's potentials were never realized since nobody motivated the kid to put it all in; not Larry Brown or Flip Saunders or Brian Hill. This is not about Darko but rather about what is good for the Magic. Otis Smith gets my vote for the pig-head of the year. It is foolish to piss off a player and his agent - unnecessarily - and yet say come sign with me because I can pay you the most. He could have been honest and disclose it to Darko's agent that his priority is Rashard Lewis, and ask for his patience, at which case nobody could have faulted him. I wish that Darko gets what his worth is, which in my book stands at around 8 million. In all honesty, I predict that he will get it.

     

  • At 1:43 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I honestly don’t know who is to blame for this whole situation. But as I’ve said before, Darko and his agent look far worse to me than Otis. But that is just my opinion.

    With that said, did Darko have any real, again I say REAL reason to "move on" as Otis stated? I mean really, how many more times did Otis have to say "we love Darko-we want to resign Darko"? Maybe he wanted to be treated like he was the "star free agent" of the summer class even though he's not. I actually think the guy lacks something. Maybe its heart, I’m not sure, but he definitely has a really weak mind. No matter who he let affect him, odds are it was his agent…

    I mean seriously, tomorrow the Magic will be signing Rashard Lewis. And as of now, who is Darko signing with? All of the other “legit” free agents have come to some agreements. The only ones that haven’t are average, or who think they are better than they are, holding out for more money. The closest sign of real interest in Darko has been talks that Memphis might be interested. And the only numbers that have been mentioned in reference of Darko has been the MLE. Whatever happens, wherever he goes; it’s not a good career move leaving the side of Dwight Howard.

    As of this point, since he's not going to be here, I really don't care anymore. Because as it stands today; he could still very well be the next Kwame Brown. But who knows, maybe he'll find a coach that will act as a father figure for him, hold his hand, help him grow a pair, and maybe, just maybe he'll develop into something other than an average role player.

     

  • At 2:39 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Speaking of weak minded, kudos to OVERWADED for a complete 180 on his opinion of Darko over the course of about a week. How I long for the days when OVERWADED would wax poetic about the untapped virtues of prince Milicic fettered by the evil gnome king, Brian Hill.

    By the way, keep dreaming that Darko is just going to get the MLE. We all know he is going to be one hell of a player and some of you are being surprisingly petty.

     

  • At 3:51 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    Did I really 180? Because I don’t think I did. Just because I took a shot at the guy and especially his agent, doesn’t mean I 180-ed on the kid; but whatever.

    I got an idea. Maybe I should make some posts under "Anonymous", and support my own posts! That would be awesome. I could have a bunch of supporters of my own random meaningless opinions! You know, at least I actually have a name that has been related to this blog from the beginning so I can be held accountable for what I'm saying. Nobody’s right, nobody’s wrong, it’s a blog, it’s made for ranting, and opinions.

    Regardless, I'm aloud to 180; even though I didn’t 180. This is a Magic blog, and I'm a Magic fan. I support no other team or players like I do the Magic.

    Needless to say, I never denied Darkos potential. Darko has just as much potential as anyone in the league. But his faults are obvious. Maybe I didn't point them out as much while he was playing here, but that's because I always gave him the benefit of the doubt because he was being coached by Brian Hill (“the evil gnome king”). However, the faults he had under Hill might be his own, or Hills, that's yet to be discovered. But as it stands today, he has had problems under Larry Brown, Flip Saunders, and Brian Hill.

    As for the last week, there is a lot that changed in the matter of a week. Did I know in the last week that Darko thought that he was worth 10 million a year, PERIOD? NO. Did I know that his agent was an idiot? NO. Did I know that if Otis didn't pamper Darko like he was a star he'd get his panties in a bunch? NO. Otis always said he wanted to keep Darko. EVERYBODY knew that. Darko himself would say he wanted to stay. The difference was made with a crap agent, of which I discovered by looking up a lot of info on the douche bag.

    In the end, Darko could be a solid player. Will he be a Dwight Howard; no way in hell. Will he be a Dirk; no. There is a huge gap of where he could end up. I myself always thought he could be a Pau Gasol type of player. But this year, his best year, his numbers were more like Kwame Brown.

    We'll end up finding out eventually. And if he is going to get more than the MLE, he'll have plenty of chances to prove himself on one of the shitty teams he'll be playing for.

    Odd are, I won’t be able to watch the “Prince Milicic” play much next season, as he’ll probably be playing for a team that doesn’t get any TV time; pending that he signs for the money you, himself, and his agent say he’s worth.

     

  • At 4:07 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    OVERWADED, you're the best!!

    Sorry, maybe if I wasn't so weak minded I could have resisted.

     

  • At 11:32 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Everybody always puts darko and the word "potential" in the same sentence as if potential is a guarantee. FOLKS IT AINT!!! As a basketball player (i play every sunday for anyone who wants to come out and ball)i noticed some things about darko that ive never really said because like intro i give every magic player under bsh the benefit of the doubt. Darko was clumsy,his foot work always looked like an experience of the unknown,dwight in his young career nailed down the dropstep with ease,whens darko gonna get one,year 10? Darko was SUPER SOFT under the basket routinely getting pushed around by shorter and thicker players,which is another shot at darko's spagetti legs,they lack muscle as well as coordination. Somebody said darko had a silky smooth jumpshot,huh? The same jumpshot while hes left wide open could be an air ball,thats not a shooter,and how is he gonna compliment dwight without being a good outside shooter? Darko cant dribble either,he takes one dribble from where ever he is and picks up his dribble and gets into his jumping motion way to soon,a power forward thats gonna compliment dwight by playing on the perimeter has to be able to dribble alot better than that which is why SVG is gonna use the combination of hedo/rashard at the power forward,the more i look at darko the more he doesnt really compliment dwight at all,he's actually to similar in what he wants to do or better yet what hes good at,(he's most effective on the block,just like dwight)and he doesnt have enough attribute's as a perimeter player to truely be a compliment to dwight. What are we actually losing? A Shotblocker? Sure,but thats it! I'd rather have a player playing the four that can actually make the defense pay for doubling dwight(hedo,rashard),the pistons have rasheed at the four hitting three's and won without darko,so can we.

     

  • At 1:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Yeah, way to go anonymous blogger. You're the best!

    I couldn't disagree more with BIG FIGURE's analysis of Darko. Darko held his ground down low all year long, and was the best post defender on the Magic. As far as saying Darko is clumsy, well that's just silly. If he were the second coming of George Muresan, as you imply, then why do so many NBA GMs and coaches covet his "potential." Frankly, I'm not surprised given BIG FIGURE's self-proclaimed bias against European players.

    Another thing, in their last posts both OVERWADED and BIG FIGURE admitted to analyses biased in favor of current Magic players. Thanks for making my point for me fellas. Reading either of your comments is counterproductive at this point.

    - BigZ

     

  • At 2:56 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Piling up on Darko is so cheap. We were craving about the potentials of Darko and Dwight playing together not long time ago. How soon we forgot? Was that all giving the benefit of the doubt? From craving to clumsy? That someone who mentioned Darko with a silky smooth shot was me. Do I have to go back on the blog and track how many times others agreed? His jumpshot was always good until Brian Hill forbid him to shoot.

    Folks, this is not about Darko but about Magic. Wish the kid well and close the case. We don't need to sound petty on this blog.

     

  • At 3:28 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    None of you guys have to agree because their my opinions,i simply pointed out some of the things darko doesnt do well,thats not piling up on my behalf,anybody that thinks darko is perfect is sadly mistaken. I could point out the things that he does well,but in this post i chose to bring people back to the light about what we were actually losing. So if i point out a players weak points im being petty,but if i say what he does well im sure it would get a great response,boy thats fair. Self proclaimed bias against european players? WHAT!!!??? BIG Z,all you have to do is copy and paste a statement by me that would insinuate that i dont like european players and you'll seem like someone with some since. All the contributers on this blog will agree that none of us here have biased opinions based on where someone is from,THATS JUST STUPID TO SAY.

     

  • At 3:37 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I feel like I'm giving an interview, and the people critiquing it, are pulling out single words or sentences out of what I'm saying. Way to take everything I say out of context, or maybe you're just seeing what you want to see.

    Darko has an 18-footer. Sometimes he'd make it, sometimes he'd miss it; BADLY. I think the jumpers he missed in an awful way were more of a mental thing, him thinking in the back of his mind that he was going to get benched for taking the jumper because all Brian Hill wanted him to do was score on the block. I myself always liked what I saw out of Darko. The weakest part of his game was his own mind. How many more times did I have to hear someone complaining about Darko holding his head down on the court? Sometimes he looked great, and sometimes he looked like he really didn't want to play. A lot of that I blame on Brian Hill... Darko should have been starting the entire season, regardless what Brian Hill thought. Injury should have been the only reason he wasn’t starting. Every one of us, including the ones defending him the most knew he was fragile. The thing that is hard for me to get past is that he knew this was a contract year. However, he didn't bust his ass like it was a contract year. In the playoffs, those 4 games, was the 1st time all season he actually looked like he was consistently trying from one game to the next. And then when it's all said and done, to come out and demand 10 million a year, it just doesn't settle well with me. So what does he want; 5-years 50 million, 6-years 60 million? Come on… As WeRDevos pointed out, we could have ended up with another long bad un-tradable contract. If Darko wanted more years, it would have had to been for less money. Otherwise, a short term deal would have been the only option.

    It's just the way everything happened. In the beginning, I wanted Darko here more than anybody. Well, unfortunately that ended quick... Maybe if we had a coach with half a brain, we would have had the chance to realize some of Darkos potential with Dwight. Instead we'll be left to wonder.

    I’m done talking about this.

     

  • At 5:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    On Friday, April 27, 2007 @ 1:51 PM Big Figure said...

    “…It all starts at the top though, american coaches fall in love with the individual talent, so fundamental aren’t as stressed, european coaches don’t usually have great individual talent, so they have to figure out a way to win with what they have…”

    Call me crazy, but that sounds like a guy who thinks that American players are more talented than European players. Given the complete lunacy of such a belief, I think it’s safe to say you are biased against European players. Is it all making sense yet?

    - BigZ

     

  • At 10:45 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    So where in there did i say i was biased? Where did i say i didnt like european players? Where did i say that athletic ability was better than fundamental play? Just like i thought,someone speaking that doesnt have any since. Those comments explain the difference between how kids grow up in the united states and how kids from europe grow up watching soccer,which is why they pick up basketball later in life. Like i said,american coaches get the kids that walk to school bouncing a basketball,i went to and graduated from the same school as chucky atkins,he and his dad are close friends of mine,anywhere you saw chuck he was always bouncing a basketball which shows that ball handling to american kids (unless your super tall)becomes the easiest way to be good with a basketball,but learning the fundamentals from an inner city minority point of view isnt what's cool,being the best ball handler is though. European players are more fundamentaly sound,they pick the game up later in life and learn the things that will impact a game much more,shooting,boxing out,screen roll etc. So now that i've had to explain those comments to you i ask again,where is the bias? To me its just an indication that you dont play the game,you dont understand the language of the game,and you definitely "Reached" to on that comment because there was no opinion either way in that comment,it was mainly talking about the differences between the players,not which one i favor. WEAK ATTEMPT,TRY AGAIN!!!

     

  • At 11:27 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Furthermore your alone in your assumption anyway,none of the contributers here think that way and thats all that matters to me,have fun with this post because this is my last comment.

     

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