Larry Brown
15 June 2009
Why did Darko fail? I blame Larry Brown. For 2 and a half season with the Pistons, Larry Brown never played Darko meaningful minutes. Darko got about 5 minutes of burn per game, all coming in garbage time. Someone in the media even nicknamed him "The human victory cigar", because he only got on the court after the game was decided, a Pistons win or loss. How the hell can you expect a young talent to improve if he's playing once or twice a week for 5 minutes? You have to throw rookies and young guys into the mix and let them make mistakes and learn. Darko never got that chance, and was completely mentally destroyed from the hellish years in Detroit. Now, some say with Rasheed and Ben Wallace on the team, there was no room for Darko in the rotation. Mehmet Okur was getting some of the backup time, but really? Darko couldn't sniff the court, at all? He couldn't have gotten in at the end of a quarter or two and worked up a sweat? Learned a few things? He was the #2 pick! He had to have some talent! He's got to have the opportunity to play! Maybe the pick wouldn't have been such a disaster if Brown gave him the opportunity to play and contribute. Brown should've slowly increased his minutes, and occasionally gave him minutes in crunch time at least in the regular season to get his feet wet. What coach doesn't let the #2 pick play any meaningful minutes? So disappointing. It sounds funny, but Darko may have been a good player.
Posted by z | No comments yet
18 December 2007
wins against the Nets is good for the cross-town rivalry, but other than that? I wonder if dumping Larry Brown was a smart move on the Dolans' part? He wasn't given a chance and his squad was horrendous -- even worse than what they have now. Sure he tallied up the franchise's worst record EVER, but he's a quality coach who would have had something to prove the following season. I mean were the clashes with perennial cancer Stephon Marberry that much of an issue to can the coach instead of the venom-spreading Starberry?
Posted by Chris Derrick | No comments yet
