Everybody that sees him practice says that he's very
talented, but for whatever reason it doesn't translate
into success in actual games. At the 2004 NBA draft,
Jay Bilas went so far as to say that if he were in that
draft, he would've been the number one overall pick.
That's hard to imagine, given that Howard and
Okafor are both talented, athletic, and relatively tall
Blacks (obviously preferred over white players).
Then again, he was picked ahead of both Anthony
and Wade. Bilas is often very critical, and I doubt if
he's going to give a 19-year old European kid a free
pass. If he truly is that talented- and I honestly don't
know- then why shouldn't he be the back-up center to
Wallace? Elden Campbell and Antonio McDyess
aren't exactly "spring chickens" by NBA standards. I
read recently that he's "slowly moving up the depth
chart," and even Larry Brown said that he's "getting
better". It's not yet resulting in actual playing time,
unfortunately.
Howard is even younger and he's playing. And it's
not like he has to be a great scorer at this point in
time; they already have Hamilton, Billups, and
Rasheed Wallace to take on the scoring load. And
he could be playing beside good defenders like Ben
and Rasheed Wallace, and Tayshaun Prince. It
would seem like the perfect opportunity to learn the
ropes without a lot of pressure to be a star-caliber
player- unless he doesn't fit in with Larry Brown's
"system", which could very well be the case. Brown
has publicly insulted Darko, and he's developed a
reputation for not doing well with young players-
including talented black, Carmelo Anthony, while
coaching the Olympics. It's also been said that
Brown doesn't like the three-point shot, which may
hamper one of Darko's strengths. If he hasn't given
Darko the freedom to play the kind of game that suits
his talents (and that he spent three years developing
on a professional level in Europe), then it's no
wonder why he's struggled.
Maybe he just doesn't have a very good low-post
game. A lot of big guys are weak in that area. We're
way past the days of Patrick Ewing and Hakeem
Olajuwon. The game has changed. Why couldn't he
be a finesse player on the offensive end, and a
rebounder and defender at the other end? Dirk is an
excellent shooter and an excellent rebounder (and
not as bad a defender as people used to say); why
couldn't Darko be a spot-up shooter (not every
seven-footer is going to have an amazing
off-the-dribble game like Dirk) and solid rebounder/
defender? In the right system, that wouldn't be a
problem. Many guys get by on their ability to knock
down open shots and be competent defenders. If
that's the case, then maybe Detroit will mercifully let
him go after next year and he can go to a team where
he fits in better. That certainly wouldn't be the
worse-case scenario. If he ends up being
exceptional elsewhere, the fingers will be pointed
squarely at Larry Brown- which would be
entertaining.
(Imagine what could've happened to Dirk if he were
coached by someone who didn't let him develop his
perimeter game early in his career- and thought that
he was "too soft" on the defensive end to get playing
time. He had a tough first year, and then quickly
developed into a good player, and then into a star.
An awesome white talent could've been ruined.
Good thing Don Nelson and Donnie Nelson believed
in him and let him play his game, and not somebody
else's game.)
Unfortunately, I recently saw a photo of him with a
martini glass in his hand and his eyes glazed over.
Hopefully it's just an occasional thing, but the rumor
is that he's doing this often. That's not only
under-age drinking, but he could potentially harm his
conditioning by staying up late, depleting his body of
nutrients, etc. Not smart. Unless he's content with
making several million dollars and going back to
Europe, he should stop this.
Sorry to go on so long. Geez.
