Will Darko be able to carry the low post burdern?

[Calinks]

Okay, so we are now getting some shooters. That's good but with shooting we will need consistent low post scoring. With Al pretty much dead to the front office and on his way out, we need to look elsewhere to get that low post scoring. Love is still growing and learning but unless he has gone through some major changes this summer, he probably wont be a big low post threat next season. Out of the current roster that pretty much leaves Darko as out best low post scorer.

Do you think he will be enough of a threat on the block to open up the perimeter for out shooters?

How versatile is his low post scoring game?

Down the line are we eventually going to have to find a low post scorer?

[Esohny]

I'll never be your beast of burden
My back is broad but it's a hurting

[Saltine]

Pekovic is an inside scorer. I think the plan is to use Darko, Pek, and Love in a rotation....

[prefuse73]

Agreed, I think Pek will be a role player and used specifically for low post play. Im not sure if there is such a thing, besides Dwight, of a athletic post player that is also a low post threat.

[NoelTheMole]

Do we think Pek can score 20pts a night in the post?

[Klomp]

How many points did the late 90s Chicago Bulls teams score in the low post? Or even this years Celtics for most of the playoffs?

[Darko Miliminutes]

I think the fact that Darko finally has a team that wants him, and shown an interest building a team with him in mind (and i don't mean build around him, just have him in mind), he will be at peace. He's always felt a bit of entitlement based on his draft position and his own perceived faith in his ability. All teams thus far, have always put him on the back burner. But now he'll feel involved...important, for the first time. He'll finally be able to just play, and develop his game.

He's going to blow some people away with his abilities. He'll be doing stuff that the majority would have never even considered him capable of. I, personally, am very happy that he's going to finally be a "part of the team". His confidence will greatly rise, and with it, his results will rise. Prepare to be very happy, and to forget about not having Cousins.

Yes, Darko will be able to bear the low post burden.

[NoelTheMole]

I think the fact that Darko finally has a team that wants him, and shown an interest building a team with him in mind (and i don't mean build around him, just have him in mind), he will be at peace. He's always felt a bit of entitlement based on his draft position and his own perceived faith in his ability. All teams thus far, have always put him on the back burner. But now he'll feel involved...important, for the first time. He'll finally be able to just play, and develop his game.

He's going to blow some people away with his abilities. He'll be doing stuff that the majority would have never even considered him capable of. I, personally, am very happy that he's going to finally be a "part of the team". His confidence will greatly rise, and with it, his results will rise. Prepare to be very happy, and to forget about not having Cousins.

Yes, Darko will be able to bear the low post burden.

Agreed.

[Calinks]

How many points did the late 90s Chicago Bulls teams score in the low post? Or even this years Celtics for most of the playoffs?

Yea but they had Jordan and very good shot creators. We are a long ways away from the bulls roster wise.

[Ball Does Lie]

Darko is ready to be the main man on a team. I've been following him for years (since he was traded from Detroit) and he's been through utter BS for most of his career. Idiots like to say things like "well, he failed in ORL & MEM too!" because they're going with common mis-perception (is that even a word?). Fact is, Tony Battie was begging Brian Hill, then coach of ORL, to start Darko ahead of him, saying that they should focus on developing twin tower duo. Brian Hill was canned shortly after...

In Memphis, he blew away Iavaroni with his shooting ability the first day he got there & Iavaroni promised to let Darko shoot some jumpshots (even 3's) after he displayed serious shooting ability. He almost beat Rudy Gay at 3-pt shooting & easily took away the FT competition between the two. He started off his first year phenomenally before an injury took him off the court. After that, his mentality & confidence became inconsistent. Some nights, he got the best of superstars like Yao Ming while others, he got badly outplayed by guys like Jeff Foster. It didn't help that he & Iavaroni butted heads, often. Iavaroni was fired after 1.5 seasons...

When he got to NYK, D'Antoni talked about unleashing the potential Darko had. What did he do? He played him sparingly, a couple minutes here & there. Soon after, Darko figured out that passing the ball in Idiots offense meant being benched, so he started eating burgers 10-15 minutes before a game, pissing D'Antoni off.

Once he got to Minnesota, it was a different story. He played with his head held low for a couple weeks, but you could see the confidence coming back to him little by little.

It's easy to dismiss some of the moves Darko displayed last season (baseline spins, up & unders, face up drives to spin hook - most memorable one came against Jason Thompson) because you're spoiled by Al Jefferson. But, once Al is gone, the team won't have anyone to go to down low except Darko. Give him some time & I'm sure he'll breakout like he was on the verge of doing over 3 years ago. He's still only 25 (just turned) and who is to say he won't have a good 10-12 productive years if he gets his head on right?

[TrentTuckerForever]

I'll never be your beast of burden
My back is broad but it's a hurting

Someone with better Photoshop skills than me has to get Darko's head on Mick's body...

http://thephilter.com/oldimages/Mick%20 ... tage-1.jpg

Sigworthy!

On topic - I'd recommend anyone who hasn't seen it venture over to the triangle thread Rev posted today. They talk about the importance of the center in generating offense in the triangle. Darko's skills there (much like Pau Gasol's) are a far, far better fit than Al's.

So I'd say that he won't be able to reproduce Al's production, but that he can shoulder the "burden" of generating offense in the triangle better than Al could.

[revprodeji]

Yes, I must agree with that. Darko's passing ability and the fact that he can score 1 on 1 is the important thing. He does not need to go against triple teams like Al.

[Krapinsky]

How many points did the late 90s Chicago Bulls teams score in the low post? Or even this years Celtics for most of the playoffs?

Yea but they had Jordan and very good shot creators. We are a long ways away from the bulls roster wise.

The Bulls were pretty damn good when they didn't have Jordan for a year and only Pippen was leading the way.

[Klomp]

(baseline spins, up & unders, face up drives to spin hook - most memorable one came against Jason Thompson)

I looked up that game. Not sure which move you're referring to, or if this was even the right game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzSP2awsW4U

Now after watching that video, it made me ready for late October/early November to get here.

[shangrila]

Weird music for a basketball video

[Krapinsky]

Weird music for a basketball video

Seriously. Anybody do this after watching that?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZN4HOoIIfo[/youtube]

[Tango21]

I have to disagree if people think he can carry the burden. I think Darko gets alot more hype than he should. He's never put up 10+ points a season. IMO he's a bit defensive C, that can come off the bench and give you 8/6/1.5 blocks between 15-25 minutes. I think he's fine as a center for us right now but I'm not sure he's our long-term guy

[Esohny]

Weird music for a basketball video

Seriously. Anybody do this after watching that?

[Klomp]

I have to disagree if people think he can carry the burden. I think Darko gets alot more hype than he should. He's never put up 10+ points a season. IMO he's a bit defensive C, that can come off the bench and give you 8/6/1.5 blocks between 15-25 minutes. I think he's fine as a center for us right now but I'm not sure he's our long-term guy

Hes never really been given an opportunity to score 10 per. This past year was really his first chance, and he scored 8 ppg in 25 minutes while out of shape. Heck, he put up 8/8 in 19 minutes in his first game in 4 months.

[the_bruce]

darko can certainly carry the burden