Darko Looking Forward To Next Year

Post #1 » by **Klomp** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:41 am

Fifth in the league in blocked shots, Milicic is finishing a season interrupted by nagging injuries and beset by turnovers that nonetheless he says leaves him encouraged about his future with the team.

"It wasn't great, but it was OK," he said. "I feel much more comfortable playing basketball. I think this is the first season where I really believed somebody, really believed the people here. I think it's the first time I'm really looking forward to next season."

The Wolves signed Milicic last summer to a four-year contract that guarantees him at least $16 million and made him the team's starting center.

But this season just might have proven that he's better than the same guy written off as one of the great draft busts in history -- No. 2 overall in a year when Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade went after him -- but still probably best suited as a backup center in this league.

"He didn't have the season where he regained all of his confidence," Wolves coach Kurt Rambis said. "There's a lot more to his game that he didn't show this year.

"That's going to come over time. After having spent so many years whatever he went through to lose that confidence, it's going to take a while to get it back."

Rambis was asked if he's convinced that potential is still there and if the team still has the patience to wait for it.

His hands fidgeted and he paused for six seconds and answered, "Yes."

Asked if he still sees Milicic as the team's center of the future, he paused and said, "There's a lot of potential on this team, there's an awful lot of potential on this team. But there's a tremendous amount of youth on this team, too. It's going to take a while for some of these players to blossom into the players they can be."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/119549389.html

re49gb_2gho32fp · Post #2 » by **re49gb_2gho32fp** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:04 am

If by that he means seriously working on to improve/regain his game in the offseason, which i undoubtedly question, than its a solid statement.
The fact that he was virtually guaranteed a starting spot with 30mgg AND the offense run through him AND a coach that allegedly encoureg him ended up NOT being enough of a motivational factor really tells the story of his character. He came to training camp fat and with bad condition. He was winded for about a month into the reg. season with playing only about 20 mpg at that point.

Also, this and the ? after that were also very telling.
'Rambis was asked if he's convinced that potential is still there and if the team still has the patience to wait for it.

His hands fidgeted and he paused for six seconds and answered, "Yes."'

Guy is hopeless. /case closed.

Beas · Post #3 » by **Beas** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:43 am

"His hands fidgeted and he paused for six seconds and answered, "Yes."

That definitely caught my eye, kind of concerning haha

Post #4 » by **Calinks** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:43 am

Rambis has no hope for Darko.

Post #5 » by **C.lupus** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 1:04 pm

Beas wrote:"His hands fidgeted and he paused for six seconds and answered, "Yes."

That definitely caught my eye, kind of concerning haha

Yeah, not exactly a strong vote of confidence.

Post #6 » by **revprodeji** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 4:12 pm

It is a bad balance. Darko would be a quality 20-24 minute back up. Even let him run the offense with the second group against the 3rd big of most teams. Darko would be very good in that consistent role. The problem is that he sulks and goes into a funk if he is not featured. Somehow, Rambis needs to have a real talk with him about accepting a bench spot where his role is consistent and he is put in the best situation to succeed.

Peezo · Post #7 » by **Peezo** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:39 pm

Maybe if we had a better option he wouldn't sulk? I mean his best year came playing next to and behind Dwight Howard who was clearly their go-to post player. Is it possible he feels a sense of entitlement over guys like Anthony Tolliver because they haven't shown any more than he has? Is it possible if we had a clear-cut better option over him he would accept more of a secondary role more willingly?

Just a thought...

Post #8 » by **revprodeji** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:04 pm

Yes, I agree.

Possibly Randolph, but we need to do something to bring in a defensive vet.

teven_1 · Post #9 » by **teven_1** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:15 pm

If you guys don't think Darko came a long way this season you forget how bad his first month was. If you don't think he has amazing potential, you forget that string of games where he put up a 20-10-5-5 on Gasol and had Durant calling him one of the best young centers in the L (I still remember those assists he had in the 4th quarter against OKC) he was also the top fantasy center for a week.

It wasn't until he injured himself against the Knicks in the 1st qt (having just gone 4-4 and giving Amar'e buckets) that things started to go wrong. Darko was playing amazing for a stretch there and no matter how short, it was a lot of fun. I really do believe that injury set him back mentally and robbed him of the chance to really make a statement that night.

I'm no psychologist, but I watched him carefully all season to see if he was worth a 4 year contract. From what I saw, when Darko was involved in the offense, out of foul trouble and healthy he played great basketball. I remember games against Portland where he really loosened up and his offense started to bloom.

The way I see it, the grind of the season took a toll on him, almost as if he hit the rookie wall (he never had a chance to hit it before). It was clear he lost focus sometimes as well.

Maybe I am just dreaming, but if Darko started playing the kinda ball I've seen flashes of all season it would be a perfect compliment to K-love. It would be one hell of a story if he become a success story here in Minnesota.

Darko says he believes the team wants him now, so I hope he works out over the off-season, stays in shape and comes back even better. If he doesn't, and shows up to camp out of shape and unprepared, I'll officially stop talking about Darko. If he doesn't want it, I can't want it for him.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #10 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:52 pm

teven_1 wrote:If you guys don't think Darko came a long way this season you forget how bad his first month was. If you don't think he has amazing potential, you forget that string of games where he put up a 20-10-5-5 on Gasol and had Durant calling him one of the best young centers in the L (I still remember those assists he had in the 4th quarter against OKC) he was also the top fantasy center for a week.

thats the problem, way too inconsistent. One day he's giving 16/9 and some blocks, next game he's turning the ball over left and right and racking up fouls.

Post #11 » by **Worm Guts** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:03 pm

At some point you've got to accept a player is who he is.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #12 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:05 pm

I'm willing to accept that and as a response, upgrade the starting center position asap

Grits n Gravy · Post #13 » by **Grits n Gravy** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:54 pm

teven_1 wrote:If you guys don't think Darko came a long way this season you forget how bad his first month was. If you don't think he has amazing potential, you forget that string of games where he put up a 20-10-5-5 on Gasol and had Durant calling him one of the best young centers in the L (I still remember those assists he had in the 4th quarter against OKC) he was also the top fantasy center for a week.

It wasn't until he injured himself against the Knicks in the 1st qt (having just gone 4-4 and giving Amar'e buckets) that things started to go wrong. Darko was playing amazing for a stretch there and no matter how short, it was a lot of fun. I really do believe that injury set him back mentally and robbed him of the chance to really make a statement that night.

I'm no psychologist, but I watched him carefully all season to see if he was worth a 4 year contract. From what I saw, when Darko was involved in the offense, out of foul trouble and healthy he played great basketball. I remember games against Portland where he really loosened up and his offense started to bloom.

The way I see it, the grind of the season took a toll on him, almost as if he hit the rookie wall (he never had a chance to hit it before). It was clear he lost focus sometimes as well.

Maybe I am just dreaming, but if Darko started playing the kinda ball I've seen flashes of all season it would be a perfect compliment to K-love. It would be one hell of a story if he become a success story here in Minnesota.

Darko says he believes the team wants him now, so I hope he works out over the off-season, stays in shape and comes back even better. If he doesn't, and shows up to camp out of shape and unprepared, I'll officially stop talking about Darko. If he doesn't want it, I can't want it for him.

i agree largely with everything here, i've been darko's biggest supporter his entire career and yes he had a string of great games, but he has done that in many of his season's. he would be one of the better back up bigs in the league if we were able to move him there. he obviously has the physical talent to be a top 10 center in the league, the problem is he is mentally not capable of being one consistently. regardless, he is still on a good contract and there would be takers if at any point we wanted to move him.

teven_1 · Post #14 » by **teven_1** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:11 pm

Devilzsidewalk wrote:
teven_1 wrote:If you guys don't think Darko came a long way this season you forget how bad his first month was. If you don't think he has amazing potential, you forget that string of games where he put up a 20-10-5-5 on Gasol and had Durant calling him one of the best young centers in the L (I still remember those assists he had in the 4th quarter against OKC) he was also the top fantasy center for a week.

thats the problem, way too inconsistent. One day he's giving 16/9 and some blocks, next game he's turning the ball over left and right and racking up fouls.

I agree. but I really believe the injury against NY hurt things. He was coming off a string of good games and was dominating early on. He was just too long for Amare to handle. Also it was how he was playing, dribbling into the paint and scoring with more confidence and flare than he has since.

I know it's just one game, one injury and purely conjecture but I really believe that could have been a statement game. That was his first injury of the season and that's when he began playing a little more inconsistently again. I like to think if he plays that game and continued his tear, we'd be discussing a different player.

of course maybe I'm crazy. Either way, this is his first time since Orlando that anyone's given him a real chance to showcase his skills and I'm willing to give him one more season.

If he works hard over the off-season and builds off this season I like to believe we see an improvement. (big IF i know)

EDIT: I also think we are in the unique position (read: we suck) that we aren't exactly benching Hakeem the Dream to develop Darko. Anyone who thinks Darkos play has cost us games more than our wings or playmakers (or lack of D all around) is mistaken. If Darko was our biggest concern we'd be a much better team than we are. I'm willing to wait because anyone else would be a minimal improvement at best. Even if it's high risk I'd be very happy as a Wolves fan and a basketball fan if Darko got his act together and started producing.

eyeteeth · Post #15 » by **eyeteeth** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 10:06 pm

Rambis was asked if he's convinced that potential is still there and if the team still has the patience to wait for it.

His hands fidgeted and he paused for six seconds and answered, "Yes."

Asked if he still sees Milicic as the team's center of the future, he paused and said, "There's a lot of potential on this team, there's an awful lot of potential on this team. But there's a tremendous amount of youth on this team, too. It's going to take a while for some of these players to blossom into the players they can be."

Ooooooohh, man. That's bad. That's just really, really bad.

Darko has the physical ability and basketball skills without doubt. Does anyone have confidence that he's going to make that quantum leap and execute reliably at or near the top of his game?

No. No, they don't.

Peezo · Post #16 » by **Peezo** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:25 pm

It would take Darko filling his potential to fullest for him to truly be an impact center. Its not like he has the natural athleticism to dominate people, or that he is overly physical.

What worries me is that we are going to continue waiting on him to become something that he isn't ever gonna be. I mean right now Darko is better than some of the other starting centers in the league but only marginally so. If we continue to wait on him, he'll probably keep getting better, but if he isn't going to be an impact player than we need to start working on a replacement.

Even though I'm a Darko believer I don't know if the player he will end up being is even good enough to play on a contender. If we're not building towards contender status, they why are we building at all?

teven_1 · Post #17 » by **teven_1** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:13 am

Peezo wrote:It would take Darko filling his potential to fullest for him to truly be an impact center. Its not like he has the natural athleticism to dominate people, or that he is overly physical.

What worries me is that we are going to continue waiting on him to become something that he isn't ever gonna be. I mean right now Darko is better than some of the other starting centers in the league but only marginally so. If we continue to wait on him, he'll probably keep getting better, but if he isn't going to be an impact player than we need to start working on a replacement.

Even though I'm a Darko believer I don't know if the player he will end up being is even good enough to play on a contender. If we're not building towards contender status, they why are we building at all?

good points about his physicality (though he is mobile, quick and a good dribbler for a 7 footer).

Like I said before though, I would agree if Darko was the one thing keeping us from a championship (clearly he's not). If we had Andrew Bynum sitting on the bench I'd probably feel compelled to move him.

As of now, Darko doesn't make or break us, he's not exactly losing us games or anything. He's still one of our better defenders.

We have the luxury (read: we suck either way) to keep this Darko experiment going a little longer, so hopefully Darko takes full advantage of it.

LordBaldric · Post #18 » by **LordBaldric** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:19 am

Darko is a road apple.

eyeteeth · Post #19 » by **eyeteeth** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 2:21 am

The low-hanging fruit for Darko, if he wants to improve his game, is his shooting %. It's just completely unacceptable the number of shots at the rim that guy misses. If he just made his shots, he would be worth playing, and maybe starting. If he keeps missing the bunnies, I'm fine paying him to go back to Serbia.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #20 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 4:12 am

Darko plays a finesse game on offense, but he should be playing a power game. He just doesn't play with any juice, the guy goes up for layups like he's rolling out of bed in the morning. On defense he's got pretty good timing and he can get some good blocks w/ his length, but again he's got no juice to explode over from the weak side and shutdown the lane and be a real stopper. He's got a clear finite area of coverage on defense and good coaches will draw him out of that area and open up lanes to attack the rim w/ pretty good success.