I was really excited for the 05' season thinking that Darko was going to finally get some court time, at least 10-12 minutes a game. But with the additions of Derrick Coleman and Antonio McDyess my hopes for Darko this season seems pretty much down the tubes. I'm kinda used to being excited for rookies and then seeing them bench for 3-4 years from having Larry Brown coach my hometown 76ers for several years. The only rookie he used alot of minutes was Larry Hughes and they needed depth at the 2 guard that year. Everyone is probably starting to feel bad for this young man. Hopefully he understands the whole situation and will realize that he still may be used at some point in the season with possibly a injury or two. Your Thoughts?
Is Derrick Coleman even expected to play much? It was my impression that he was going to playing about the same amount of time as Darko. But - I could definitely be wrong. I'd like to see Darko play more. He's shown a bit more agressiveness in the 1 preseason game that I've been able to watch and he didn't look as robotic.
Darko will probably not get much minutes this year as well and be the human victory cigar for another year. Other than the starting 5 you got 3 proven big men coming off the bench in DC, Mcdyess, and Campbell. Also, Larry Brown loves Coleman and may even use him the most outta the 3 guys I named.
He hasn't looked very good, but you can tell some talent is there. He looks a lot better than last year. If he could get some respect from the refs he might be okay. I don't expect to see him much, but I would hope he can work hard in practice and at least make it into a few games. Hopefully the Pistons will soon return to dominant form and there will be plenty of blowout situations. At least it looks like Delfino will actually get some playing time.
Larry Brown stated the big man rotation will be Sheed/Dice/Coleman Ben/Dice/Campbell While Coleman may also get some minutes but judging what he has done so far in terms of defense and getting back on defense I doubt he will get too many minutes.. Darko has improved from last year but not enough to get in the rotation.
I think everybody wants Darko to play. I want him to play but he just won't and we have to accept that fact. The problem with playing Darko in actual games, is that the pros and cons must be weighed. These can be debated but the premise is Darko's experience vs. Darko's inexperience which ultimately results in more losses. While some people don't agree, I say it is all about winning games. However, I can't say that we should just have Darko ride the pine. Darko needs experience, a balance just needs to be instituted. Brown's extreme of Darko as a human victory cigar doesn't help Darko's confidence. Playing him for 40 minutes a game wouldn't help our record. Balance it out, have Darko play 5 minutes at first and if when he begins to show some skills increase his playing time. We brought in Darko to be the future of the franchise. Darko should eventually steal some more minutes from EC/DC and at some later point completely take their spot in the rotation. However, he needs a base to build on.
