Smits was from Holland, not Denmark. It was an all-time highlight when he led the Pacers in rebounding during a nationally televised game, and won the sponsor's "Dutch Boy in the Paint" award. But seriously, Microwave is right. Larry can't be held accountable for the absence of Europeans during the first 15 or so years of his coaching career. And heck, he's even put upstanding Americans like Matt Harpring in his doghouse. Sometimes there's no explaining why with him.
Darko's Play in Recent Serbian Defeat of France There is a report on Serbia's trouncing of the French National Team a day or two ago at the following link, and it contains a very favorable description of Darko's play in that game: http://www.jadransport.org/articles/1750.html If Chauncey is correct in saying that L.B. battered Darko's confidence, one wonders if Darko will be able to regain it here in Detroit. There is still a lot of pressure here for him to perform, and the quality of our starters means that he still will probably only be given 10 minutes of playing time per game. By the way, I give Chauncey a lot of credit for making these public remarks -- it was a real example of leadership. L.B. will surely be displeased to hear what Billups said, but Chauncey showed that trying to make Darko (and the team) better was more important than ingratiating himself to Larry.
The rest of the team Even though Billups was very candid, he still did not say that LB was a bad coach. Plus he gave us Darko lovers something to look forward to. Although I would like to hear what the rest of team has to say about LB, it's cool that no one is out there like Delfino was.
hi Hey, thats worth a response. Darko was into practicing constantly, year round, for years before we drafted him. That love of practicing soon returned, and Darko routinely leaves practice / training one hour after everyone else. (per someone I meant who knows Darko.) Anyone who has seen recent phots of Darko can tell real quick he has taken his training real serious.
this is twice (at least) that Chauncey has looked out for Darko. I remember from the finals celebration that he acknowledged Darko's contribution and the fact that he was absent from the parade and Palace party. I was waiting for someone to make note of it and was glad to see CB did...
