I know that Sheed has said he could make Darko great (look at his running-mates Oneil, Randolph) But if you could have someone mentor Darko who would it be ? Houston got Ewing, Mutumbo to mentor Yao. I am not saying Sheed cant do the job I am just asking if you could bring in a guy....any player, coach who would you pick.
Hmmm.... Let's see, Bill Laimbeer is one. Or maybe we could get Garnett for a second round pick but I don't think the Wolves for that. How about hmm, Chamberlain? Hehe
The Guys who have been doing it. Sheed and Ben. Now Davis can help. The defensive aspect of his game has improved.
Tutoring Hakeem the dream on footwork, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the skyhook and Rick Mahorn on the elbow, hip and slide step...
Exactly. Darko has a European game, he needs to learn how to apply those Euro skills to the NBA (stop projecting an african american game to this kid, he won't be KG, Amare, Ewing etc). Vlade may very well be the best Big man to ever do it. Sabonis was way overrated when he finally got to the NBA. Vlade could post, shoot, pass, reb and defend, and he did it for years in a conf full of great big men.
you crazy? Sabonis was huge, even for getting to the nba at his age. Just 5 years earlier he'd have crushed the league (damn iron curtain) and be ranked among the likes of Robinson, Olajuwon, Ewing or O' Neal, that's for sure.
Sabonis at his prime would have been one of the elite players. He was the first big man to feature skills at his size. He's 7'3", has great passing skills, has a great perimeter shot, has high basketball IQ, plays defense intelligently, too bad he came to the NBA too late. If I had to choose a center at their prime, I'd pick him. I love Ben but Sabonis was really something when he still had his legs.
I know what the Sabbonis FolkLore is all about. But let's measure strictly by what hapened in the NBA, he was a good big man, but Vlade's career crushes his. I stand by as Vlade being the euro BIG MAN with the best NBA career.
Dirk Nowitski will eclipse Divac for scoring in less than 2 seasons. http://tinyurl.com/dr6ox Keep in mind, that at 26 (Yes, Dirk is still really young) he was already out producing Vlade. http://tinyurl.com/a6ouw Food for thought. Btw, I am a big Sabonis fan. It's not all folklore. He was a complete player and at 40 years old, a dominating player in Europe even though he was probably one of the oldest professional players on the planet. In 2004 he had 16/10 in the regular Euroleague season. Shooting 36% on Euro 3s (15/41). That's absolutely incredible for a guy whose body broke down 7 years ago. 40 years old named to the 2003-04 All-Euroleague 1st Team... led the 2003-04 Euroleague in rebounds (10.33 rpg.)... led the 2003-04 Euroleague in blocked shots (1.83 bpg.)... Good mentor in my books.
Mentoring UKW If I could select anyone it would be Kevin McHale. Smart, tough and highly skilled. The Dream would be a close second. Sabonis Call me a nationalistic homer ( ) but I'm not gettin all drunked up on the on the legends of Eurobasket Koolaid. I've watched it on TV across the pond and in Asia and have yet to be impressed. I have seen the same guys here in the Association that you guys have and dominant ain't the first thing comming to mind.
Geeeze, can you imagine DMC with McHale type moves. the dream would be great too... I just don't see Darko pulling off those coordinated quick moves. It does bring up a good point though... does Darko really have the right big man coach? I could definately see him developing a Divac kind of game. He would have been a nice FA pickup (if not retiring)... Divac played Shaq fairly well.... somethin' about those guys that practiced against the Diesel a lot.
My last bit on Sabonis. This dude was probably the most special basketballer born outside of the US. Maybe it's a toss up with Drazen Petrovic. If DP had lived, it might be too close to call. Even at 38 years old, crippled and playing from the bench (his last year in Portland), Sabonis was #11 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds Per 48 Minutes (9.8) #18 in the NBA in Rebounds Per 48 Minutes (13.3) #17 in the NBA in Steals Per 48 Minutes (2.42) #9 in the NBA in Efficiency Ranking Per 48 Minutes (30.33) Yeah, I know those are 48 minute stats, but bear in mind, he played 15.5 MPG. This is based on a 1200+ minute sample from that season. When Portland was a contender, he was the starter at center. Roscoe's frontcourt compadre. If you've never seen him play, I can't explain how much he is the absolute prototype for Darko. Smooth, skilled, smart and so much more talented than any other big man on the court. Sadly the NBA only saw him at the end of his prime and not the peak. I have no doubt he would have been one of the 50 greatest of all time had his career been only in the NBA and the poll conducted today.
mentor i think bangin with the wallaces is good for darko but if we could get vlade in to work with him that would be cool i also think mahorn or lamb could help him out lamb could maybe get him to understand that inside is where you make your $$$$ but you can still shoot from the outside. i picture darko more of a bird than mchale but i would take darko having mchales game anyday . before darko got drafted he said he liked kgs game and hopefully flip can get darko to understand how kg played 100% all the time leave it on the court attitude i just dont want the pistons to give up on him the kid is 20 he could be what a jr. in college right now hell he cant even get buy a beer unless he crosses the border and with putting up with lb that had to suck
Mentor I still say, let him play a few pickup games daily at a few of the inner city parks until the season starts. How about some of those street ballers being short term mentors, he needs to be toughened up a bit, ok a lot.
Darko at the park What if he doesn't get picked and has to sit the bench at the park? What would that do to his confidence?
Euro Ball vs NBA After watching us get pounded on the Int'l scene for the last few years I realize that it is a different game here in the states than anywhere else. Massimo used to try and tell the forum that constantly. I say that to say this, Euro game doesn't always translate into NBA game. Darko has Euro game, and Euro skills, to have Laim and Mahorn mentor him is useless. Darko needs to find a BigMan that was able to bring his euro game and make it effective in the LEAGUE. The most successfull person at that is Vlade. When Sabbonis came into the league, he brought Size, toughness, shooting, and great passing skills. But that quickness was gone. He was a space eater who could step out and shoot or hit the open man. He actually had Laimberr type game at that point in his career. Mind you I know he was a beast in Eur, as I said I know THE LEGEND. But the only big that brought the things to the league that we want out of Darko and did his thang was.......VLADE. But If Joe were to bring in Sabbonnis to mentor DMC, I wouldn't be mad about it at all.
