I know you are saying "Not another Carmelo article" but this one is different. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">DENVER -- Another road game, another emotional encounter. Rasheed Wallace returned to Portland Thursday night, a game the Pistons won, 83-68. Wallace had played with the Trail Blazers for 7 1/2 seasons. Now the Pistons play tonight at Denver, where the Nuggets are led by super-rookie Carmelo Anthony. The team also includes two former Pistons -- Rodney White and Jon Barry. Anthony remains miffed that the Pistons didn't bring him to the Palace for a workout before the draft last June. The Pistons bypassed Anthony with the No. 2 overall pick to take Darko Milicic. This will be their first regular-season game against the Nuggets. "They said they were going to do one thing, and they didn't," Anthony said of the Pistons. "They said they were going to bring me in for a workout, and they didn't." The Pistons decided well before the June 26 draft to take Milicic. A workout with Anthony was canceled June 11 after the Pistons informed his agents they would draft Milicic. Anthony, drafted No. 3 overall, said the Pistons hurt his feelings. "Oh, yeah," Anthony told the Rocky Mountain News. "I felt like I wasn't a good enough basketball player to fit in their program." Anthony's time in Denver has worked out well. He has averaging 20.4 points and 6.2 rebounds. He averaged 27.1 points in February and was the Western Conference rookie of the month. Milicic, an 18-year-old from Serbia-Montenegro, rarely plays. Anthony said he was more in the mood for revenge when the teams met in the exhibition season, but he wants to avoid making tonight's game personal. </div> http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/pcorn6_20040306.htm This should make for a good game.
I can understand him feeling a little bit disrespected but he shouldnt really harp on it that much. Him going 3rd was a part of the NBA business. When there is a legit 7 footer with halfway decent talent in the draft, Gm's are going to do what ever they can to get him. Even if that means passing up a talent like Melo. Finding a bigman(Center) that you can build your team around is extremely rare. And you add on to the fact that Prince was extremely impressive in the playoffs last year. At the time Joe Dumars pretty much felt like it was a no doubt, take the bigman.
Well, first, he can feel as disrespected as he wants to feel. We don't care, he should stop saying that he is offended that he wasn't chosen. Nobody knew that he would be this good, and any other GM would have taken Darko. Now, he said that we didn't bring him in for a workout, unless I'm missing something, didn't HE CANCEL his workout because he believed that we would have chosen Darko either way? He should stop acting like the Pistons offended him and just play the game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PyroManiac:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, first, he can feel as disrespected as he wants to feel. We don't care, he should stop saying that he is offended that he wasn't chosen. Nobody knew that he would be this good, and any other GM would have taken Darko. Now, he said that we didn't bring him in for a workout, unless I'm missing something, didn't HE CANCEL his workout because he believed that we would have chosen Darko either way? He should stop acting like the Pistons offended him and just play the game.</div> Maybe so but you guys gotta be kickin yourselves for not picking him
Maybe some of the other Piston fans are, but I'm happy with what we've got. I'm optimistic and I'm sure that if he was a senior in high school, which is what he should be, that he would be tearing it up. If next year, he isn't in the rotation, and doesn't destroy everybody in the summer league, then I will start to worry. Until then, my favorite player is Darko. BTW, why don't you take your damn signature that I made for you? I sent you like 4 IMs, if you don't claim it by March 8, then it is up for grabs and you won't be able to get another graphic. Take it quickly.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PyroManiac:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, first, he can feel as disrespected as he wants to feel. We don't care, he should stop saying that he is offended that he wasn't chosen. Nobody knew that he would be this good, and any other GM would have taken Darko. Now, he said that we didn't bring him in for a workout, unless I'm missing something, didn't HE CANCEL his workout because he believed that we would have chosen Darko either way? He should stop acting like the Pistons offended him and just play the game.</div> If you watched the NCAA tourney, you'd have to know how good Melo is. I wanted the Pistons to pick him, and I still wish he was a Piston. Most GMs would have picked Anthony, I'm afraid, because he helps out right away and is obviously an awesome talent. As far as him acting offended, he pretty much screwed his team over. Hopefully he'll learn from this, and leave such matters off the court.
No, we knew that he was good, but nobody imagined that he would be averaged 20 points. People expected him to be able to put in 12-15 points per game and they would have been satisfied with that. The GMs didn't know that Carmelo would be able to help out to this extent right away, and Darko would be playing on any other team, at least for 15 minutes a game. I didn't want us to take Melo because I say the possibility, and I can still see the glimses of skills from Darko. I still say that he should have played the whole second half yesterday, but Brown would never do that, and Darko would collapse from a heart attack. I never really liked Carmelo, there was just something about his personality and look that annoyed me. Also, all these immature comments such as being offended for not being taken by the Pistons and not being invited to the all star game never help. We'll have to wait a few years to know what we have and everybody will just have to accept that.
He should know as a player that drafts aren't the measure of a player's success. MJ didn't go number 1 didn't he? He felt that he isn't good enough to fit in their system. But the fact is, he doesn't fit their system plain and simple. He's "over-qualified" for the current system because the current system calls for a big guy who's potential to be great 2-4 years down the line and not someone who'll deliver at once.
In respect to people not knowing he would be that good, I think that's bull. I am not that big of a college bball fan, but watching him in the tournament let me know that he was easily an impact player, and I could tell that he would average between 18 and 21 per game, and so could many gm's. Dumars knew that as well, but he's gambling that Darko will be even better eventually. I know it sounds presumptous to believe that I know better than Joe D, but I doubt that Darko will ever be as good as Carmelo. The Pistons biggest problem last year was putting the ball in the hole, and Carmelo could have stepped in and been their best scorer right off the bat, allowing the Pistons to dish Prince for whatever they could get. Joe D gambled on Darko being very good and Tayshaun being better than he is. The Pistons might eventually reap some fruits from the move, but not as many as they would have with Melo in the lineup.
