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This thread was inspired by the General Boards current thread about the biggest draft busts...probably going to get a lot of hate, but hear me out...

Imagine Porzingis being in the exact same position as Darko was. No way Larry would of given him minutes, especially since Kristaps is way scrawnier.

Would Larry Brown have tried to mold him into the next Bill Russell?

Darko's demise was 100% Larry Browns fault. Discuss.

I've heard Chauncey say that it took him about 1 practice to see that Darko just didn't have the drive or mentality to be great.

So no. In short, Darko stopped Darko from being Porzingis.

End of thread.

Darko prevented Darko from becoming Porzingis.

LB didn't help. Trading for Sheed certainly didn't help. But at the end of the day the kid was mentally weak and lacked off the court discipline. Give him Ben or Rips work ethic and I don't give a rats ass who his coach was, he would have at least been a legit starter.

Porzingis has more talent in his finger alone than Darko ever did, and on top of that to say he wasn't very motivated would be an understatement.

Darko was a stiff. Porzingis is a 7'3 shooting guard.

His failure is in part due to the deep vet team.... he would have fared better on a lotto team.... no telling what a little regular PT confidence may have done... mighta kept him out of the bars :^)

mercury wrote:His failure is in part due to the deep vet team.... he would have fared better on a lotto team.... no telling what a little regular PT confidence may have done... mighta kept him out of the bars :^)

No he had awful work ethic and isn't a very good / likable person or teammate from what I've heard.

Darko should have played and played

At LEAST 15 minute a game

Few more losses in order to gain a possible threat of the bench at any given night in the playoffs was worth it

His lack of hard work and drinking and partying was an issue but i can see it stemming from not being able to break the rotation even if it was on the Pistons

If anything we should have looked to trade him in the first season before anyone knew his bust potential and gain a great player that pretty much would have guaranteed us a repeat or possibly a three-peat

Sheed + Darko and parts for KG?

Shoulda. Coulda. Woulda.

sfballa13 wrote:Darko should have played and played

At LEAST 15 minute a game

Few more losses in order to gain a possible threat of the bench at any given night in the playoffs was worth it

His lack of hard work and drinking and partying was an issue but i can see it stemming from not being able to break the rotation even if it was on the Pistons

If anything we should have looked to trade him in the first season before anyone knew his bust potential and gain a great player that pretty much would have guaranteed us a repeat or possibly a three-peat

Sheed + Darko and parts for KG?

Shoulda. Coulda. Woulda.

Thats BS!

Darko didn't earn time. You don't gift minutes to anyone! Ever!

If Darko would have learnt from Ben then he woulda become something special - but he had no heart and no drive

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the_l_train wrote:This thread was inspired by the General Boards current thread about the biggest draft busts...probably going to get a lot of hate, but hear me out...

Imagine Porzingis being in the exact same position as Darko was. No way Larry would of given him minutes, especially since Kristaps is way scrawnier.

Would Larry Brown have tried to mold him into the next Bill Russell?

Darko's demise was 100% Larry Browns fault. Discuss.

That is absolute Bullsh*!

Darko was the quintessential player that has so much talent but the mental capacity of a 12 year old. He reportedly had poor work ethic and a difficult personality. I will say being drafted onto a LB team is hard for rookies however he didn't do much better when he went to other teams and not like he flashed a ton on film when he did play. If i recall correctly million dollar move and 10 cent finishes all day.

Comparing him and Zingas is a fools errand, the era of basketball is so different as well as the advance is scouting and development as well as takes no consideration the basketball back ground of each player. In other words, if Darko was drafted by another team, the only thing different is that he may have developed into the player he eventually became a little sooner than being drafted by the loaded pistons. Players like Bosh , Wade etc were going to become those players on any team.

While not 100% guaranteed, i would say definitely more than likely. Players like KCP don't develop because of their coach, its because they put in the work no matter what

MrBigShot wrote:Porzingis has more talent in his finger alone than Darko ever did, and on top of that to say he wasn't very motivated would be an understatement.

Speaking of fingers, honorable mention for "who kept Darko from becoming Porzingis" goes to Rick Fox, for injuring Darko's hand in garbage time at the end of the 2004 Finals.

They're completely different players with different skill sets, you can't compare the two. An NBDL would have gone a long way for Darko back then.

In SVG We Trust wrote:

Wow. Darko is really letting himself go . . .

BadMofoPimp wrote:

In SVG We Trust wrote:

Wow. Darko is really letting himself go . . .

I think he'd be fun to party with .

So, Larry Brown followed Darko to Orlando, Memphis, New York, Minnesota, and Boston? All the time making him suck?

Ugh. These comparisons were annoying before Porzingis proved he could be awesome at the NBA level.

Just because 2 guys are big, white, lanky, and come from somewhere in eastern Europe doesn't mean they're the same type of prospect!

Darko had freak physical tools, but had a terrible mentality and really didn't know how to play the game of basketball. His attitude and lack of maturity made it impossible for him to learn how to play, too.

Porzingis showed not only physical tools but also genuine signs of knowing what he was doing out there BEFORE he was drafted. And if you want to know about his attitude, look no further than how he reacted to being booed when he was drafted. I knew the kid "got it" from that moment right away. Amazing maturity for his age.

In other words, these two players couldn't be more BLEEPING different. The comparison was silly then and its silly now.

/rant

Darko could of probably become a decent backup player had he started on a team that could have been more patient with him. But we're talking "1st big off the bench" as his Ceiling. He still had a chance, but he has no drive. In 07-08 with Memphis he started 64 of 70 games and only averaged like 24 minutes a game. One year with the Wolves he started every game he played for them and averaged about the same minutes per game.

I just want to forget about Darko.

Lebron
Darko
Melo
Bosh
Wade

Pretty amazing 2003 Draft...sucks we picked the wrong big man

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