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All this Kanter talk, I assume if we go big Darko will be coming off the bench. Will he accept that? Will we move him?

All the bigs are very young 18 or 19. I don't think that means Darko is coming off the bench anytime soon. Look for us to move Pekovic though, probably.

I think the fans are more done with Darko than Wolves management.

Regardless, if Darko starts to pout after he isn't able to beat out a rookie, I'd rather he hang out with Eddy Curry during games than be in the locker room. We wouldn't be missing much.

Steve_Holiday wrote:I think the fans are more done with Darko than Wolves management.

Regardless, if Darko starts to pout after he isn't able to beat out a rookie, I'd rather he hang out with Eddy Curry during games than be in the locker room. We wouldn't be missing much.

Much as Darko frustrates me, I wouldn't want him to get molested. Or eaten.

I think Darko will begin the season as our starter. He has decent value for the amount we pay him. I think Kanter, Montliejunas, or Biyambo could end up the starter by the end of the season.

Kahn and Rambis both said that Darko had a lot to do in this offseason. Presumably this is going to happen. I know scuttlebutt around here was that he would be in the States for the first offseason in a long time and getting in better shape and working on his basketball game. There is a chance (and my hopes are not high here) that he could come back and be significantly better than he was this year.

From what I have seen, above and beyond all else, Darko has a toughness issue. He gets hurt often and easily, and appears to have a low threshold for pain. As long as this is true, Darko is an interim solution at best.

I do expect some improvement from Darko this year, and expect him to start for most of the season at least. He should be a good mentor to Kanter (should we pick him), especially teaching him defense and giving Kanter a good defensive presence to practice against.

The year after next season is the last guaranteed year of Darko's supposedly outrageous contract. If he doesn't show any improvement this season I would cut him loose. The Wolves' front office... well, who knows who that will even be in a few years?

But no, I think we have him, and have him starting for at least another year.

Why does this team misuse our Euros so badly? Stojko, Marko, Iggy, Pek, Stewie... Skita was about the only one we used corectly and that was as trade bait.

Darko could be so much more valuable if we didn't try to make him the lynchpin of the offence, he's not KG or even Vlade for that matter. Just let the man play defence. Pick and pop and let him work that odd hook thingy he does every now and then. Don't let him run the show.

Pek should just be fed in the low post, there are maybe 5 other guys in the league who match up with his gurth and strength.

With all the Andre Igoudala talk I forget which "Iggy" you are referring to.

there is of course this Iggy:

yeah i agree, darko will probably start for most of the season next year....he, like beasley, was really derailed by injuries, which imo with darko few people really grasp the level of. our trainers were just beyond ****ing (Please Use More Appropriate Word) and incomepetent with beas and darko. if darko was able to sit for a few weeks, get completely healthy and keep his positive vibe, confidence and playing level and not put out on the court obviously limping and hurting from the opening tip causing him play **** which derailed his confidence and so on and so on...he would have had a FAR better season. darko obviously has confidence and mental issues and when he was playing well, he was REALLY playing well...then he got hurt, became ineffective and lost that confidence and mojo. people saying that he is made of glass and constantly injured are mistaken imo...he only really had i think two injuries last year..an ankle and a hip injury...problem is he kept reinjuring the same things because he wasn't allowed to properly heal...again, our medical staff are a ****ing joke. as jade says, he is not being used correctly in the least and being asked to do far too much on offense.

darko was really starting to become a good to very good starting center pre injury. i'll be happy to give him another season or half a season to see how he goes at starting...we'll probably need him too anyway as the only way we will probably get a new center is through a young guy who is not ready in the draft. he is being paid back up money and if we do find an upgrade to start he will instantly become a very good back up and a pretty valuable guy to bring off the bench. darko's future probably does point to him being a back up unless he can re-capture that form he had earliier in the season, if not, i hope that he will be professional enough to accept it.

GopherIt! wrote:With all the Andre Igoudala talk I forget which "Iggy" you are referring to.

Igor Rakocevic, the one who left the NBA and became one of the most deadly Euroleague scorers.

I don't know if we're done with Darko but I'm done with him.

At this point, I think Darko is what he is. I don't expect any big improvements from him. That said, he could still be valuable to the team with a reduced role. Whether his fragile mind and body can take that, I don't know. I also don't think there are teams lining up to get him. We probably have him for a while longer.

If Darko is replaced by an upgrade - Noah, Bogut, Bynum, Howard, Kanter - how many can replace what he does on the team? Those guys (with the possible exception of Kanter) are at least better than him as centers (in some cases much better), but how many of them can cover for Love? Darko not only initiates the offense, he also protects the rim and as we've recently discussed covers the best/most mobile big man. Can any of those guys be asked to guard Aldridge, Griffin, Boozer, KG, etc...? Now, looking at the team's record, you might say Darko himself isn't too successful in this assignment - I just don't see how too many other traditional centers do it as well or better than him.

Well, the center doesn't need to be initiating the offense at all. The only thing Darko really did above average last year was help defense and there are definitely players better than him at that.

I think the issue with Darko was the role he was in. If he could be a 20-24 min defensive presence (poor Perkins) then he could be a positive. Using him at all as an offensive piece is hurting him and the team.

kiwi_adam wrote:darko was really starting to become a good to very good starting center pre injury. i'll be happy to give him another season or half a season to see how he goes at starting...we'll probably need him too anyway as the only way we will probably get a new center is through a young guy who is not ready in the draft. he is being paid back up money and if we do find an upgrade to start he will instantly become a very good back up and a pretty valuable guy to bring off the bench. darko's future probably does point to him being a back up unless he can re-capture that form he had earliier in the season, if not, i hope that he will be professional enough to accept it.

I find it interesting that most people use Beasley's injuries as the main reason why he struggled laast season, but then ignore Milicic's injuries when he had many of the same struggles last season.

Klomp wrote:

kiwi_adam wrote:darko was really starting to become a good to very good starting center pre injury. i'll be happy to give him another season or half a season to see how he goes at starting...we'll probably need him too anyway as the only way we will probably get a new center is through a young guy who is not ready in the draft. he is being paid back up money and if we do find an upgrade to start he will instantly become a very good back up and a pretty valuable guy to bring off the bench. darko's future probably does point to him being a back up unless he can re-capture that form he had earliier in the season, if not, i hope that he will be professional enough to accept it.

I find it interesting that most people use Beasley's injuries as the main reason why he struggled laast season, but then ignore Milicic's injuries when he had many of the same struggles last season.

Darko winced and cringed and generally looked wussy. Hard to stick up for an athlete who does that.

Kahn also pointed out that Darko has not been through a serious off-season conditioning program. He said his typical summer would be to job through the forest trails near his home. He hopes that with some serious off-season conditioning, Darko will be much better next year.

Worm Guts wrote:Well, the center doesn't need to be initiating the offense at all. The only thing Darko really did above average last year was help defense and there are definitely players better than him at that.

I think he was better in on ball situations. He started off solid but then his help defense was pretty awful for most of the year. Leaving your feet and swiping at air as soon as the ball enters the paint and before the ballhandler commits to shooting or passing is a recipe for foul trouble, easy dump offs and poor rebounding position. Like with his offense, there are flashes, but he's mostly just a tease. Frustrating player.

I think if Darko can just figure out how to hit a 12-18 foot jump shot his confidence and game will soar.

Defensively I agree with HoWo. He's a plus on the ball defender. Help defender? Not so much. Him helping always ends up in free throws for the other team.

I like a front man rotation of:

Love/Randolph
Biyombo/Darko

I can't make up my mind. Maybe we should just draft Biyombo?