Brown Explains Darko's Minutes <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"I worry about Darko," Brown said Wednesday morning. "Sometimes they're not all Carmelo (Anthony), or LeBron (James) or Kevin Garnett. It's tough for me. "I'll give you an example: Throughout my career, late in a game, if we got a lead or were down, I've always taken a rookie and put him in the game -- 20 seconds, 30 seconds -- so Allen Iverson or David Thompson or Eric Snow get a hand. We're up six points with a minute to go and you know the game isn't over, but people are yelling, 'Put in Darko.' I put in Darko the other night to get Ben (Wallace) a hand, because he's the only rookie on my bench. I try to get him in with 1:30 left, and he took so long to take his stuff off I was going to pull him back. But because I wanted to get Ben a hand, and the way he reacted, I put him in. I know people thought I was trying to embarrass him." In Friday's 93-81 victory over Phoenix at the Palace, Milicic went in with 18 seconds left. "I've done it my whole career," Brown said. "Coach Smith used to do it for me as a sophomore. That was just the way of respecting a guy that played his butt off; give him a hand. It wasn't to embarrass anybody. Also, it was to teach a kid every minute you play is precious. I didn't do it to embarrass him, but a lot of people who don't know me would perceive it that way." Brown said a player like Tayshaun Prince, who played four years at Kentucky, would probably handle the situation better than an 18-year-old adjusting to a new game and a new culture. "Darko thinks it's an embarrassment, instead of saying, 'Hey, if it's a minute or 30 seconds, I'm going to take advantage of it,' " Brown said. "Especially with the success Carmelo has had, and LeBron has had, and Wade and Ford and Bosh. Even if we were a lottery team and he was playing, he wouldn't have the success these guys are having. That's not a knock on him. It's simply because he's a lot younger. . . . He didn't play a lot in Europe. He didn't play a lot of minutes for his team. That's what people don't understand -- is that he wasn't in the elite European League, either." </div> By: Perry Ferrel-Detroit Free Press Nothing ground-breaking. Nothing we didn't really know but I decided this would be a good start to a thread that has a discussion. What would you make Darko's role on the team? How many minutes? When? I would make him a bench player/spark plug. He would get about 10 minutes a game. I think he could be an amazing spark plug for home games. If he comes in and does ANYTHING, the crowd would go crazy. That would be a huge momentum boost that doesn't even need Darvin Ham to do a crazy dunk. The minutes he would get would be garbage minutes like he gets now, but also a small spot in the rotation so he could learn. Yesterday, he played well, and if he only acquires some more stamina, he would be unstoppable! Seriously though, he could be an effective bench player already. Say Elden and Okur are both having bad games (Actually way too common), then we put Darko in and he gets some easy points. All he needs to do is learn how to shoot FTs or come up with a stance/before FT procedure. Going 1-5 in his career won't cut it! What would you do?
Even though Darko played basic garbage minutes last night I liked what I see in him.He has good footwork around the basket.Had a nice up and under move along the baseline.He would give a good 10-15 minutes a game which I feel might happen near the end of the season.I would honestly save Elden Campbell for the playoffs.As lets face it he is no young guy anymore than can last and be consistant through 82 games in a season.Campbell will be needed in the post season when his minutes will be very important against the forwards of the east.So give Darko some decent minutes which will give him a real good taste of NBA action when there are no garbage minutes available and see how he handles the pressure. I'm all for it.
I think Darko needs to get at least 10 minutes a game. Many times Elden and Memo play like crap, and they should put darko in. Like you said, the fans go CRAZY when darko just touches the ball. Hell, I know I do. I guarantee you if Pistons were losing by 20 and Darko was in, the fans would be on there feet chearing. Darko can be used to pump up the crowd and put confidence in other pistons players. I mean, did you see how the Bench reacted when Darko scored, and blocked that shot yesterday? They were on there feet, waving towels, like they were the bench players and Darko was out there in Game 7 of the NBA finals. I just can't wait to see what the furture holds for my man Darko Milicic.
hey we're not supposed to post the whole article right? Just quote a part of it... anyway, I dnt think it would benefit him if he'll play a vital part in this year's team...give him a couple more years
I'm not asking for Darko to play a vital part, but I'd like him to have a few minutes each game. Brown acts like Darko is a burden for him, and that it is so difficult to find time for him to play. He makes a big deal of Darko acting "offended", too. He has every right to be offended, because he doesn't understand what's going on and as far as he knows, Brown just wants to embarrass him. He doesn't speak English, he doesn't understand. This whole thing must seem terribly unfair to him.
