Darko Milicic

[ocaamikedm11]

And unlike what most of the experts have said, when he is on the floor he looks to me like he is playing hard and that he wants to prove he belongs. They say he simply doesn't care about the game, but I don't see that in the way he is playing right now.

 

[Bart]

Darko played slightly more than 20 minutes against the Lakers , shooting 3-6 with 7 boards and led both teams with 3 blocks.

 

[Bart]

Rebounding machine Troy Murphy snagged 20boardsfor Golden State but Darko playing only 26 minuteshauled in 9 and had 2 blocks to go along with a 6-7 shooting night. Even if he stalls and doesn't improve much more this year, he's already played better than his critics predicted.

 

[white lightning]

That is such great news.I feel so bad for this kid.Other than the money,he has been through hell.He has like so many other white athletes,been treated like crap.I would love to see him make the all-star team in a couple of years from now and just make the Pistons mad.I'm so glad that he is out of that place.I hate Detroit.

 

[OC football]

Darko better not turn into a great player or i will freak out.
I sware Detroit better have been correct in its assertation that Darko sucks. I have tried so hard to convince myself that the Pistons were doing the right thing in not giving him any playing time. If Darko becomes a star then I wont be the only one with some anger towards that organization and ESPECIALLY Larry Brown.

 

[Bart]

.I feel so bad for this kid.Other than the money,he has been through hell.He has like so many other white athletes,been treated like crap.

[url]http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/090205/spo_2005090299 94.shtml[/url]
<DIV =timestamp>Web-posted Sep 2, 2005 By DANA GAURUDER</MCC BYLINE1>
<DIV =storybyline2><MCC BYLINE1>Of The Oakland Press </MCC BYLINE1>



<DIV =story><MCC STORY>Pistons guard Chauncey Billups ripped former coach Larry Brown on Thursday for being too hard on Darko Milicic during Brown's two seasons with the club. In an interview with WXYTAM (1270), Billups claimed that Brown destroyed the confidence of the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft.


"Larry beat him up too much," Billups said. "He tore the kid's confidence apart too much, and it was tough for him to recover. ... With (new coach) Flip (Saunders) there, maybe it's different. (Brown) beat him up too much, man, to where he could never recover."


Brown frequently criticized Milicic in the media and refused to give him meaningful playing time, saying the 7-foot-1 center hadn't earned a spot in the rotation and wasn't ready to play. Milicic created a brief fi restorm midway through last season when he griped publicly about his endof-the-bench status. A meeting among Milicic, Brown and president of basketball operations Joe Dumars eased those tensions, but Billups revealed that Milicic remained sullen and frustrated by Brown's constant rebukes.


"He beat that kid up way too much," Billups said. "The kid has unbelievable talent. There's nothing he can't do out there on the court. ... In the playoffs, we're smiling and laughing and having fun out there. I've never seen Darko smile one day ever in practice or playing, and that's a problem."

 

[guest301]

What about that statement GLS,from the Pistons best player. He just said what we all already knew happened to him in Detroit. Kudos to Chauncey for saying that, I have alot of respect for him. "There's nothing he can't do on the court" says it all, doesn't it!

 

[hedgehog]

This kind of stuff makes me sick. Larry Brown is to Darko as Mike Holmgren was to Bill Schroeder. They never would ever think of treating a black athlete like that. I kind of noticed that when watching Detroit games, this Darko kid never looked happy, always depressed kind of looking. This has got to be some kind of character defect with the coaches. The only thing I can think of, is that the coaches think they are going to get "mad props" behind the scenes from the black athletes for this sort of behavior, or maybe they view it as a type of insurance, if they ever yell at a black player and get called racist, they can always refer to a white player they did the same thing to or worse.

 

[Don Wassall]

As far back as 1973, in his book "Three Bricks Shy of a Load," Roy Blount wrote about how Chuck Noll had two sets of standards based on race. Noll was far quicker to yell at white players and to punish them in various ways than he was with blacks. The double standard has become more glaring since, and fans get a glimpse of it now and then when black players berate coaches -- and sometimes confront them physically -- and the coaches always try to appease the athlete/aggressor.

Just watch NFL head coaches on the sideline when a penalty is committed. When a white player commits a penalty the coach is often animated, yelling at the player or into his headphone. The reaction is rarely the same when a black commits a penalty.

There are many other verbal and physical cues if one is observant. The way so many white players are treated like dirt when it comes to getting a fair opportunity to play is indicative of the ethos that drives the NFL and NBA.

 

[white lightning]

That's a very good point Don.It's just like when Bill Schroeder could drop 1 pass and he would be scolded like he lost the game or something.I have noticed this double standard for many years now.It seems to have gotten really bad since the 80's though!

 

[KG2422]

Is it a coincidence that Larry Brown is a Jew and he has never given White players a fair shake? I loved watching him and his all Black Olympic team get beat repeatedly in the last summer games, and as long as he and gay Isiah Thomas are in New York I have someone to root against. I wish they would trade David Lee.

 

[Bart]

Is it a coincidence that Larry Brown is a Jew and he has never given White players a fair shake?

Yeah sure, just a coincidence! Orlando nearly beat Phoenix on the road tonight. Steve Nash came through down the stretch as usual and pulled out a win. Darko played 26 minutes shooting 4-10.He didn't have any blocks, but did lead both teams with 10 rebounds. I've been checking his time at Yahoo and it seems when he plays a long stretch of minutes he does a lot better than when he comes in for shorter spurts. He missed the first quarter but had 7 rebounds in only 11 minutes in the first half. He seems to get a lot of fouls while in the act of shooting. Don't know if he's too aggressive or just doesn't get the calls yet. He could turn out to be one hell of a rebounder.

 

[Southern Knight]

Nice observation about Larry the Hebe. D. Lee is rotting in Jew York City. JYC is no place for a White Gentile. Just like the coach, Knicks fans are pure Jew, through and through (unlike Giants fans, who are mainly blue collar New Jersey-ites.)

 

[Guest]

Darko is really suprising me with his large number of blocked shots. His rebounding and blocks have been great so far and when his scoring comes around he will be amazing.

 

[Bart]

Darko is really suprising me with his large number of blocked shots. His rebounding and blocks have been great so far and when his scoring comes around he will be amazing.

He has not been on thefloor as much the last two games,only thirty minutes or so combined, but he still managed to block 5 shots.

 

[GreatLakeState]

Yes, he'll be amazing. Simply amazing.

 

[guest301]

I'm still wondering why you want this guy to crash and burn so much GLS. Look outside the blind loyalty you have for the pistons. What about Chauncey Billups complimentary comments that Bart posted earlier about Darko and how Larry B treated him?

 

[KG2422]

http://www.nysun.com/article/28662

This is a cool article about Darko's play as of late.

Good stuff:

In seven games, Milicic is averaging 20.5 minutes, 7.0 points, 5.3 boards, and 2.0 blocked shots, and he's shooting 57.9% from the field. It's a stark contrast to the 5.6 minutes, 1.5 points, and 1.1 boards he averaged in 25 games with the Pistons this season.

Milicic's per-40 minute averages in Orlando - 13.7 points, 10.3 boards, and 3.9 blocks - are very impressive relative to the league. In fact, the pivotman has a 19.0 Player Efficiency Rating (John Hollinger's per-minute tally of a player's production) in those seven games, which over the entire season would rank him behind only Ziggy Ilgauskus and the O'Neals among Eastern Conference centers. All this is almost enough to warrant an investigation into the water on those Detroit-to-Orlando flights. Is it spiked with Red Bull?

 

[KG2422]

Contrast that article with this piece by Charley ROSEN. What a surprise, another Jew who has gone out of his way to diparage a White man. Sorry guest301, but this is an epidemic.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5388484

It's a habit for this scab. This one's about Andrew Bogut.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5280744

He tries to sound balanced ,but this is how he closes:

As it stands, Bogut plays smart, head's-up basketball in such a way as to maximize his primary strength (intelligence), and minimize his many weaknesses (lack of speed, quickness, low hand-power, defending S/Rs). There's no doubt that as he learns the tricks of the trade, he'll become a highly influential player. However, his slowness afoot and his sub-par athleticism could haunt his entire career. It's imperative that the Bucks consciously develop Bogut as an inside presence on offense and give him much more consistent help on defense.

Can he shoot midrange jumpers? With his slow release, the best he'll ever be is an adequate shooter in one-on-none situations. Still, it's amazing how far smarts can take a player.

He needs an active shot-blocker to protect him, along with better backcourt defenders to help jam up S/Rs. But eventually Bogut can be a contributing player on a good team. However, he seems more Adam Keefe than Larry Bird.



Edited by: KG2422

 

[Bart]

Fellas , Charlie Rosen can't help it. It's genetics my friends, pure and simple. He is a true reptilian through and through as is his fellow slitherer Larry Brown. He could have picked any of Darko's better games to dissect, but no he chose his least productive game. Believe me if I wanted to do a hatchet job, I could take ANY NBA player during a game and find a boatload of alleged mistakes and misplays.


The piece on Bogut leaves me sratching my head. He admits Bogut does very many things well especially for a rookie, but just has to find something to diminish his game. I watch Buck games and John McGlocklin- former player- raves about him. He runs the court very well.The reason why he loses the ball sometimes down low, is that he is relentlessly hacked.Being white he doesn't get the benefit of any calls. As for his shooting, he needs to be more selfish and take more shots. For a big man he is third in the league in percentage of shots made.


The intense scrutiny from Rosen:Every free throw is a mini adventure. Bogut's problem is that he begins his shooting motion with the ball held at thigh level. This results in too much ball movement before the shot is released, which, in turn, means that the ball isn't always released from the same spot. ( There are plenty of worse free throw shooters. Bogut's% is close to Tim Duncan's.)


Also, Bogut's hand mechanics are a bit too tight, and his wrist is too snappish. Furthermore, he grimaces when he lets his shot loose, a movement that tightens his face, neck and shoulders and increases his tendency to pull too hard on the ball. { He's got a point there. I don't think I've ever seen a player grimace when shooting.)

( Rosen would probably prefer a more limp-wristed shot.)


And oh, I noticed something Shmuckmeister Rosen missed. His left eye lid compresses too tightly, he just doesn't have the loose eyelids of black athletes.

 

[guest301]

It's ridiculous for Rosen to compare him to either Keefe or Bird. He's five inches taller than both of them and he play's center. Did Rosen mention how great a passer Bogut is. He's the best passing big man I have seen since Sabonis. He runs very well for a 7 footer and is already a top five center in the league. These writers seem more in a hurry to call the jury in for a white rookie than a black one. Bart is right about Bogut needs to be more selfish...sound advice for all white players coming into the NBA..when you get a shot..take it. Blame Rosen's ethnicity all you want to guys but I think most of these guys really believe the crap they are writing. I think blacks have more respect for the white athlete than white people do. Kinda sad.

 

[Bart]

Darko played 16 minutes tonight against the Cavaliers. He was 5-7 from the floor, with a steal 3 boards and 2 blocks. He's coming along just fine.


Yahoo: After falling behind 28-21, the Magic found their stroke in the second quarter. Orlando's reserves -- led by Milicic and Arroyo -- opened the period with a 22-5 run to take a 53-41 lead at halftime. Orlando scored 32 points on a franchise-record 16-of-19 (84 percent) from the field, beating a previous high of 83 percent in a quarter set in 1994.

 

[emefinsob]

How's Bogut non-athletic? He's 7 foot tall with a 33 inch vertical leap and he runs great. That's good for any 7 footer. I'm 6' with a 32 inch vertical, and i'm a good athlete and i could dunk with 1 hand.

 

[white tornado]

I watch alot of Hawks games and their first pick Marven Williams was supposed to be such a great athelete he not. He's a 6'11 jump shooter who can't create of the dribble. In a game a few days ago he was all alone on a fast break the crowd was anticipating a huge throwdown, Marven goes up but barley has enough to lay it in. Am not saying Marven won't be a good player some day but he's going to be what the sterotype of what a euro white player is, a tall jump shooter. At the nba's version of the combine Marven Williams was 6'11 with a 30 inch vert, Andrew Bogut was 7' with a 29 inch vert. Bogut is twice as strong as Williams witch gives him a huge advantage, but you will never here that Bogut is anyting but a stiff.

 

[KG2422]

Darko had 5 blocks tonight in around 20 minutes.

He was 4 of 8 shooting for 8 points. He's basically a rookie as far as I'm concerned because he hasn't got to play and he's only 20 years old. He's producing in the minutes he's given, but it seems that he is not having plays run for him, similar to the problem Bogut is having. He also is shooting a high percentage and passing the ball well, maybe too well for the average fan to give him credit for his play. They only care about scoring even if the player shoots under 40%.Edited by: KG2422