Darko warming to the Wolves?
by CourtsideATX on Mar 7, 2010 11:55 AM CST
28 comments
Looks like Darko is really starting to bond with the team, according to the excerpt below the jump from Slam Online. Don't leave us Darko, we need you at the 5! :)
Making my way into Minnesota’s locker room, I found Darko sitting alone at his locker. He just came back in from shooting and was watching film of Houston. He looked winded just from pregame warm-ups, but was in better spirits than when he arrived in Minneapolis. Even after being slammed with the same questions since his arrival, Darko was more than willing to chat.
“It’s a good experience,” said Milicic on his brief time in Minnesota so far. “I’m still trying to get back in shape. It’s better than it was because I was in really bad shape when I got here. It’s much better now because I’m working after practice, before practice and trying to get back into shape as soon as possible. It’s been good. Good people, good staff and it’s been a good experience.”
“I’m just trying to finish the season on a positive note, just trying to get back into shape as soon as possible and see how I’m going to work with these guys,” said Milicic. “Is it going to be good for us and me? I didn’t expect to play all season long, so now that I have the chance to play I’m going to try to make the best of it for me and for the team. If I feel good, I’m going to go out. If I don’t feel good, I don’t want the team to suffer because of me. I didn’t expect to play all season long. I expected to finish the season and start fresh next year, but this is an opportunity for me to do good. I don’t have any goals. I just want to play basketball.”
As Minnesota huddled to run out onto the court pregame, Darko spoke up and wanted to address the team. He said, “You are my friends.” His teammates gave him slaps on the back and joked around that they actually heard his voice, but it was a nice moment for the embattled player. A moment of acceptance, which is something he is not used to during his time in the NBA.
http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/03/a-week-of-wolves-houston/
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Yah
We may have our center of the future. I’d like to see what an in-shape Darko could do for us.
+1 Thats a scary thought there
I love Twins Baseball and Minnesota Vikings Football.
by Percy Harvin My Fav! on Mar 7, 2010 12:35 PM CST up reply actions
Hmmm...
This is a really positive article. Who knows?? Makes me more excited about the prospect of him resigning here
I hate to be Buzz Killington
but if Darko is our center of the future we’re in bad shape. 3rd or 4th big? Ok. I continue to hear such positive reviews of his defense and yet there isn’t any evidence that he’s had a positive effect on our team defense when he’s on the court. His play on the other end isn’t even worth mentioning. Being better than Ryan Hollins is really the biggest feather in his cap at this point.
Agree
Our standards are so far in the toilet that anyone that shows any semblance of skill defensively makes us all giddy. He’s not that good. He shows flashes of being good, but he’s never proven himself to be consistently good over a stretch of consistent playing time. He is still young, so I wouldn’t be totally opposed to re-signing him at a reasonable price. But I’m not getting my hopes up about the guy.
by Rascal Flatts on Mar 7, 2010 1:26 PM CST up reply actions
Darko could fit well with Kevin Love
He’s athletic when in shape, 7 feet tall and a deadly shot-blocker when focused. Love is a good passer and scorer so he takes pressure of Darko that way. Darko can pull down boards, which means that with some conditioning y’all could have one of the best rebounding teams in the league.
Darko with Al Jefferson…not so much.
"Left hand, right hand, it doesn't matter. I'm amphibious." - Charles Shackleford
""He’s a stiff." - The Legendary Doug Moe
"We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors." - Weldon Drew
"I really didn't want it, but now that I've won it, it's nice. It's an honor. It's nice to know people don't think you're a total idiot. ... It must have been a poor year for coaches." - Doug Moe...talking about winning 1987-88 Coach of the Year award.
"We're just tough, man" - Chauncey Billups
Darko with Al Jefferson…not so much.
I don’t think Darko is good enough overall, but I’m having a hard time seeing how an athletic, 7’ shotblocker/defender who can pass wouldn’t fit with Al in principle. If you agree with the above sentiment, you’re basically saying that there is no player who can complement Al. An inshape, motivated version of Darko is what you’d want in theory next to Al right?
Love is better than Al and I believe that Al will ideally need to be moved, but he’s not a basketball leper.
What Al needs
Al needs to play with a 4 or a 5 that can block shots, rebound, rotate on defense and yet plays away from the basket on offense. This player must be able to hit the 15 foot jump shot and must be a good passer to play away from the post.
Love needs to play with a 5 that can block shots, rebound, rotate on defense effectively and play offense near the basket. This player does not need to hit the 15 jump shot and does not need to be an exceptional passer. In fact, this sounds very much like Al Jefferson minus the defensive qualities, of course.
So Al needs to play with...
A health Kevin Garnet.
Sad, but true.
3rd or 4th big. Tops. The quotes sound like he’s coming around though, at least leaving the door open for next year if that’s what both sides want.
You can tell that Wolves fans are starved for a guy with his skill set. We’re seemingly willing to ingnore the guy’s maturity issues and work ethic. How does a guy let himself fall that far out of shape during the season? I know he wasn’t playing, but c’mon.
This is a good point.
Shouldn’t he be trying to stay ready all the time? Working on his game, even if he’s not getting into games? This is a bit worrisome to me. If we resign Darko, we better not pay him too much because there is no guarantee that he will stay (get?) in shape or continue to improve.
That being said, I’d love to a reasonably re-signed, in shape, motivated Darko, if that’s possible.
by princelyfrank on Mar 8, 2010 2:43 PM CST up reply actions
I think
Darko was so far in D’Antoni’s doghouse – with very little communication going on as to why he was in there – that he simply packed in (perhaps the only way to say #%@! you to D’Antoni that he could think of). Of course Alando Tucker, in a sort of similar situation, is continuing to practice hard even though he never plays. I’m willing to cut Darko a little slack, though. Yes, he should have been keeping himself in shape and blah blah blah, but they dude’s playing as hard as he can now, practicing hard, and doing everything we expect him to be doing. And hell, I’ll go there – of the two players (Tucker and Darko) one of them strikes me as a strong candidate for anti-depressants and the other doesn’t (and that’s not meant to be a negative comment at all, so please don’t read it that way). If that’s true, then one has a much harder process to go through to get back to normalcy (an energetic and refreshed state of mind), and lack of effort in NY may have been nothing more than a symptom.
Growing my own "Darko-stache" since last Monday.
maybe a 2nd true center
Using a version of wages of wins, after last nights game Darko is currently a -.08 while Hollins is a -.13 however according to Berri (spelling ?) Darko has been as high as a plus .05 (where .10 is average). so maybe he could be a decent back up if we think of Kevin and Al as our PF. My question is who else would you keep of the bigs if we kept Darko and added Peckovic.?
If Darko stays
I would say there is less than 10% chance that Pek is ever a T-Wolf. I think either Pek gets moved in a package deal for a dynamic wing who starts over Brewer, or Pek gets moved for a 1st rounder in a few years that Kahn reasonably believes will be in the 10-15 range.
He'll leave, nothing surer
"I was trying to focus on breathing," Milicic said. "I was just focusing on breathing so I didn’t die."
Good find on the article
I’m still very high on Darko’s defense. He looked extremely winded last night, especially in the second half, but he was still active on the defensive end. He needed to collect more rebounds playing next to Hollins, but Scola worked Hollins more than Darko, so I think the onus there lies mostly on Hollins.
I don’t know if it’s related, but I think since the first game that Darko played I have noticed a significant increase in defensive activity. I think the players heard how the crowd responded to Darko in his first game and really wanted to hear that again. Love has to learn to rotate out to the perimeter better (couple open shots in the corner that were his responsibility, one where Corey had to run from the opposite side of the court and almost made it still). Darko does this really well.
The nice thing about a guy like Turner is that he will be more than capable of rotating onto the bigs on the inside and hold his own until our rotations can get set. This way Love or Jefferson don’t have an excuse not to leave their man to defend the three. I really think Darko, Brewer, and Turner could be a great trio on defense. We’re about half of the way there, if not more, let’s just convince Darko and not move down in the lottery. Plus, Rubio and Brewer would be a nice combo in the passing lanes.
I think Darko fits if he realizes he is a bigger version of Rodman
Play defense, get rebounds, stay out of the way on offense. If he accepts this, he will be a good fit. If he is OK signing a $3-4 mil, one year deal and playing about 25 MPG, I will be thrilled. If he won’t stay in the NBA without getting more money, let him go…too much negative history to over-commit until he shows his commitment first.
I've been a fan of what Cole Aldrich could bring to this team
But Darko has the potential of providing that (size, defense, rebounding, shot-blocking) without costing a draft pick. I think there’s potential for him to be the starting C of the future if he got in shape and maintained his confidence
I'd still consider packaging the extra picks/Pekovic for Aldrich
Darko is 25-30 MPG player, and the 1st couple years Aldrich would probably be around 20 MPG, so it could be a good combo.
Hassan Whiteside should be the pick if this trade goes through
Athleticism and defense. Garnett 2.0
Aldrich is a slow white guy like prizbilla. Solid but not worth a lottery pick even though he is a local boy.
Changing Perceptions
It appears that Kahn/Rambis are making headway in showing that MN is a great place to play. I don’t know if it means much if Darko doesn’t stay, but it at least appears we are building good will. If there are any FA that want to be loved by the fans, Darko is a good example to show how quickly Darko mania has taken over. The fans were chanting for this guy the first time he showed up, and he hadn’t played in a month! I know it shows how desperate we are as fans, but hopefully it is a greater example of a change of culture around here.
+1
Perfect comment IMO .
I don’t understand the pickle poor attitude that some take time to type. I believe the base of what the Wolves have will greatly improve the possiblity of having a FA sign here. I like the Bosh S&T for Al and some componets that no one this side of the Nets have.
I heard Rambis on KFAN this morning (Paul Allen show)
It was a pretty good interview. I think Rambis spent almost 5 minutes talking about Darko. He seemed to think there is a chance Darko will come back, although he didn’t sound real optimistic. It was obvious from what Rambis said and his tone that he REALLY likes Darko and wants him to stick around. Be interesting to see how it plays out.
I heard the interview and agree. I’d at least love to see what Darko can do after working with Rambis and Laimbeer and coming into next season in shape.
by TWolvesFanInLA on Mar 8, 2010 10:55 PM CST up reply actions
Great post
Do you mind if put this post over at http://twolves.getgrogger.com/ ?
That site seems to be doing a good job of aggregating stuff
Comes down to salary
I feel like it may come dowh to salary. If he’ll sign for 4 or less million a year, then we should probably keep him. There are plenty of scorers on this team without the five hole scoring a ton. Strong D, rebounding, and great interior passing is what we need from him. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out this offseason.
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