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20th February, 2006 - 4:29 pm
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| Current Features |
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SCOOP DU JOUR: Iverson With The Knicks, Joe Alexander, Lincecum's Cy Young & More
Allen Iverson and the Knicks is a marriage out of necessity, forecasting Joe Alexander's future, why there hasn't been any players compared to Magic or Bird, plus Tim Lincecum's Cy Young and the possibility of Pacquiao/Mayweather at Cowboys Stadium.
STANDING 10: Retire Me Not
Even though LeBron James is well-intentioned in his hope of the NBA retiring #23, there are so many problems with this notion that it is difficult to find a place to begin.
TEAM RANKINGS: NBA Power Rankings For The Week Of November 12th
While the Cetlics remain an easy number one in our rankings, Greg Oden and the Blazers have moved up to the second slot, ahead of Dallas, Miami and the Lakers.
MOCK DRAFT: 2009 NBA Mock Draft, Version 11.0 (Draft Day Edition)
How will the 2009 NBA Draft shake out? We're only hours away from finding out.
LOCKER TALK: Nash, Cleveland, & Orlando
Steve Nash could draw trade interest this summer and Cleveland isn’t overlooking Orlando…
PLAYER RANKINGS: The Final NBA Player Rankings For The 2008-09 Season
The 2008-09 season is in the books and how did players rank individually?
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By Kyle Bradley
After years of disappointment and bad breaks, Darko Milicic looks to finally have his opportunity to shed the label as being the biggest bust in NBA history. Milicic is best known for being the player sandwiched between #1 overall pick Lebron James and #3 overall pick Carmelo Anthony in the talent loaded 2003 draft. Each of the top 5 picks in that draft have managed to establish themselves as great, young players in the league; alongside James, fellow top 5 selections, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade, both represented the Eastern Conference in the 2006 all-star game.
Anthony was probably the most deserving all-star snub due to the overload of talent at the Forward position in the West. The 21 year-old Denver Nugget is enjoying the best season of his young career averaging over 26 points per game.
Interestingly enough it was rumored around the 2003 draft that the Nuggets were so enamored with Milicic’s pre-draft performances that GM Kiki Vandeweghe made a furious effort to move up one spot to take the Serbian over Anthony. Linked among all the success of the other top picks in the 2003 draft, Milicic has managed to average 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in just under 6 minutes of work. He has also managed to find the end of the bench under two different coaches.
As bleak as Darko’s first 3 seasons in the league may look, his future still has the makings of something special. The front office of the Magic will attempt to look past the negatives and straight to the potential.
"I think he needs a chance. He's a very skilled 7-foot basketball player that can shoot the ball from the elbow, top-of-the-key area, 15-17 foot range," Magic assistant general manager Otis Smith said. "I think he just needed a change to show what he can do."
The Orlando Magic needed a change after losing 6 games in a row, and 10 of their final 11 games leading up to the all-star break. The Detroit Pistons needed a way to erase the “Darko Experiment,” and at the same time figure out a way to free up salary space to re-sign restricted free agent superstar Ben Wallace. Orlando C Kelvin Cato’s expiring contract, worth somewhere around $8 M, as well as a conditional 1st round pick, was enticing enough for the Pistons to finally pull the trigger and deal Milicic. Not often do teams needs and wants line up so perfectly. The Magic saw something special enough in Milicic that they gave up some salary flexibility and a first round draft pick in order to acquire him, while the Pistons gave up their only true backup point guard to make the trade work. With all the trade rumors revolving around disgruntled Magic guard Steve Francis, the Darko rumors flew mostly under the radar.
Interestingly enough, the Magic seem to be modeling their trading partner, and what better team to model than a team that reached the NBA finals last season, after winning the championship the year before, a team that also enjoys the NBA’s best record at the All-Star break at 42-9.
The Pistons have enjoyed success by playing as a cohesive, complementary unit that plays smothering defense. The Pistons backcourt consists of explosive, offensive-minded point guard Chauncey Billups and 6-7 marathon man Richard Hamilton.
Although clearly less talented, the Magic have their poor man’s Piston’s backcourt of St. Joseph product Jameer Nelson, Steve Francis (or replacement in trade, Jamal Crawford or Lamar Odom?), and Deshawn Stevenson. Nelson is shooting a Billups-like 43.9% from behind the arch, while Stevenson, ironically rejuvenating his game after developing a straight out of high school bust label in Utah, is currently shooting a respectable 47% from the field.
Grant Hill is returning to his old form, and when healthy actually provides an upgrade over the only member of the Pistons starting five not to make the All-Star game, Tayshaun Prince. Though playing in less than a third of the Magic games thus far, Hill is leading the team in steals per game at 1.2 and is averaging just under 16 points per game. Darko will eventually be plugged into the starting lineup alongside Dwight Howard, and their styles should mesh very well together. Howard, the 1st overall selection in the 2004 draft, makes his living under the basket averaging a double-double at 15 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. Milicic should thrive playing his more natural game away from the basket after Detroit attempted to turn him into strictly a low-post player.
The Pistons front court is among the best in the league with their back to the basket post Ben Wallace averaging 12.2 rebounds per game (second in the NBA only to Howard), and 6-11 Rasheed Wallace who plays away from the basket shooting just under 38% from behind the 3 point line and attempting an incredible 5.5 3 point attempts per game. Although the Milicic trade, and the probable Steve Francis trade, may not push the Magic into the playoffs this year, don’t be shocked if you see Orlando turn into a perennial playoff squad for a very long time.
Performance of the Week
After a less than spectacular beginning to his week, Andre Iguodala finished the week in style with a 30 point MVP performance in the annual rookie-sophomore showcase on Friday night. The Springfield, Illinois native and former Arizona Wildcat, gave fans a glimpse of what they were going to see in the Saturday night dunk-contest by throwing down an amazing 9 dunks as well as connecting on 4 of his 6 three point tries. Perhaps the most entertaining moment of the entire weekend came when Iguodala ran from under the basket, caught a pass off the back of the backboard from teammate Allen Iverson, ducked his head under the back board and connected on the two-handed slam on the other side of the basket. The dunk was so difficult that on his first attempt he actually scraped his head on the bottom of the backboard. The most impressive thing about A.I.2’s performance may be that he did it after playing Monday night, and in back to back games on Tuesday and Wednesday leaving just one day of rest leading up to his breakout weekend.
Statline of the Week
LeBron James
43 pts, 12 reb, 11 ast, 4 blk
Outshines opponent Paul Pierce’s 50 pts, 7 reb, and 8 ast. One question, was there ANY defense played in this game?
Disappointment of the Week
Defending dunk contest champion Josh Smith placing a piece of tape a few feet behind the free throw line during this years dunk contest, then proceeds to jump “only” from the free throw stripe. How far has the dunk contest come when a two handed dunk from the free throw line only receives a 41 from the judges? Great dunk, poor showmanship.
Looking Ahead
Tuesday 2-21 8:30 EST
L.A. Clippers @ Dallas Mavericks
Two MVP candidates square off against each other in Elton Brand and Dirk Nowitski. Nowitski, fresh off winning the 3 point contest over the All-Star weekend, leads the 41-11 Mavericks who are the hottest team in the NBA right now after winning 16 of their last 17 games. Elton Brand is putting up some of the most consistent numbers in the NBA averaging 25.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. The Mavericks will look to improve on their 22-4 record at home.
Let’s hear it…Comments/Questions/Suggestions email: Kyle.R.Bradley@Wheaton.edu< |
