Celtics to sign Darko

.[/quote]


I've met Patrick Ewing guy is so aloof and full of himself, reasons he still can't get a head coaching gig, everybody I know who has met him says/feels the same way.[/quote]

hey Cow

Back in his georgetown days when the Hoyas used to come to syracuse there was NO love loss between those teams. SU Fans used to give it to them big time, I'll never forget as Ewing was abuout to shoot a foul shot a guy held up a sign behind the basket that said "Patrick Ewing Can't Read This."

Also remember John Thompson would not let any of those guys speak to the media after games either.

I'd be surprised if he ever gets a chance but some owner might take a shot.

beat

Celtics just waived Keyon Dooling. I guess that means that Xmas, Joseph and Smith are still battling for 2 spots instead of 1

Anyone betting that Dooling will wind up a coach with the Celts? Or would he be redundant with Ty Lue?

Sam

I hate to see Dooling leave, but it would seem he would be functioing in the same capacity as Lue. Ewing is not the answer for a coach for the Bigs. He was always a jump shooter, had no low post moves so he had little to give Howard in Orlando. Silas would be a great fit. If the glove fit OJ as well as Silas would fit as a coach in Boston OJ's jail time would have started in '95. Don't see Darko, I'd rather develop Melo.

MD!

Sam,

Plumb Island was nice, but it wasn't quite The Cape. We'll very likely be back next year; I need my kale soup and lobster roll at Land Ho!

Regards

MD,

I agree Silas would be a great fit, but I wonder if he wouldn't want to be the main guy. Hard to picture him taking anything less than the top job or an assistant with a promise he's next up.

Regards

....wow kinda surprising in a way, but I knew they didn't need Dooling, amazing how this board can mirror Dannys thoughts in this instance.

beat wrote:
.

I've met Patrick Ewing guy is so aloof and full of himself, reasons he still can't get a head coaching gig, everybody I know who has met him says/feels the same way.[/quote]

hey Cow

Back in his georgetown days when the Hoyas used to come to syracuse there was NO love loss between those teams. SU Fans used to give it to them big time, I'll never forget as Ewing was abuout to shoot a foul shot a guy held up a sign behind the basket that said "Patrick Ewing Can't Read This."

Also remember John Thompson would not let any of those guys speak to the media after games either.

I'd be surprised if he ever gets a chance but some owner might take a shot.

beat[/quote]



beat I was listening to Michael Kay on his radio show while driving one day about 3 months ago or so, he talked about how Patrick Ewing had a meeting with Michael Jordan to discuss the head coaching vacancy of Jordans team and Kay was openly saying he didn't think Ewing would get it and didn't deserve it. He was saying how now Ewing is very friendly and talks openly to media, but when he was a player he was such a prick to the media and treated them with disdain like he was way too good for them to that effect, he said its too late Patrick now you want us to love you, but in your heyday you wouldn't give anyone the time of day, were always a bad uncomfortable interview....thats exactly how I felt the few times I met/bumped into Ewing around the city in my younger daze in the nightclub business. Hes got a god given talent so that gives him a license to treat people like that, thats not the way it works, how you deal with your fame says alot about what type of person you are. I don't think Kay actually used the word prick, but he was openly candid of Ewing and I agree with him.

Cow and Beat, As this discussion turned to Patrick Ewing, I'd restrained myself from telling the following story, but now that you've already introduced the word prick into the discussion, here goes:

My personal trainer of the past ten years had previously trained 20 Olympic Gold Medal winning athletes, and during that stint had worked for a while as a trainer for the Knicks. He said the most memorable part of that experience was encountering Patrick Ewing in the shower, when he was shocked to see that Ewing's masculinity extended to just above his knee. So Patrick was a gifted athlete in more ways than one.

worcester wrote:Cow and Beat, As this discussion turned to Patrick Ewing, I'd restrained myself from telling the following story, but now that you've already introduced the word prick into the discussion, here goes:

My personal trainer of the past ten years had previously trained 20 Olympic Gold Medal winning athletes, and during that stint had worked for a while as a trainer for the Knicks. He said the most memorable part of that experience was encountering Patrick Ewing in the shower, when he was shocked to see that Ewing's masculinity extended to just above his knee. So Patrick was a gifted athlete in more ways than one.

worcester,

At the risk of sounding jealous, and maybe I am a bit, "extended to just above the knee" isn't "extending" so much as it is "drooping". If it was truly extending it'd be just above the navel.

Not as impressive when you think of it like that. On the other hand, considering this was an all-male locker room, it's probably just as well it was what it was.

bob


.

W

remember that draft lottery, knick won it and Dave D, the GM or something at the time looked like he was a kid with several dollars in his pocket in a candy store. They had won the Ewing lottery.

As good as he was in college seemed he really never dominated like you would have thought he would, certainly had the physical skills and appeared to have the mental makeup in college but did not seem to have it in the pros. I fiinals apperance and no rings. Peerhaps the team around him was not that good and a good chunk of his time was during the bulls run too.


Any interview I have heard leads me to believe he is indeed full of himself. Think by now if he was going to be a coach he'd have had the chance.

Wonder if thought was given to that time when the players were locked out and Ewing was behind the charity game for the "poor" NBA players. Same time about when Latrell was complaining he could not feed his family on 15Mill or whatever that outragous offer was.

If he were to land anywhere I'd love it to be the Knicks, the fans woudl cheer............ the team would suck an Patrick would end up like almost all coaches do eventually............FIRED! Might knock his ego down a few steps.

Remember Magic's breif stint of coaching the Lakers... at least he was smart enough to know after a few games that job was not for him.

Doubt Ewing would realize it, but to the owners that might hire him I think they would relatively quickly.

beat

24 hours after alternating between peeling myself off the ceiling and trying to saw through my wrist using a Starbucks stirrer, I'm finally starting to wrap my mind around this whole Darko thing.

1. He's a 4th 5. Not the 3rd or even #2. 4th. Is the 4th player on a depth chart worth cardiac arrhythmia? Only if #2 and 3 go down and what's the chances of that happening? Oh, wait a second...

2. He's playing for the veteran's minimum. Who cares about chump change? Damn, $1.xM+ is "chump change". I blame my 5'8" father and 5'0" mother.

3. He has something to prove. Boy, does he ever. Maybe this article is right that, as the 4th option on a defensive team, this is finally his little slice of heaven.

4. If they're inviting Colonel Kurz and 2x4x6'9" Micah Downs to camp, who's to say Darko isn't just camp cannon fodder also?

Relax, Bob, nothing's written in stone yet. Death and taxes, death and taxes and Darko is neither.

Besides, it's been too long since we've seen KG make someone cry. Now that's a potential silver lining to this whole Darko thing I can look forward to.


bob


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They will keep Darko, Christmas and Joseph.

Darko will work as big body backup + good trade fodder. Do not need more depth at the guard positions anyway considering Lee can play both and Terry can play some pg too.

Darko is not what he was expected to be but he might still be better than lets say Collins (with more upside). I think we need to see him for what he is and how much he costs vs. what we need and I would say he most likely provides good value there.

Here's Celtic fanatic Bill Simmon's twittered take on the Darko signing yesterday, 9/20:

"Heckle me all you want about Darko on the Celtics. This is a no-lose. Either we get a shotblocker or nonstop comedy. I fully support it."

Here's what Bill Simmons twitted about it, 22 hours ago:

"The Mayans May Have Been Right, Vol. 345:"

Now, only 19 hours ago:

"I'll tell ya who Darko reminds me of... a guy by the name of Bill Russell." --Tommy Heinsohn, 2 months from now.


I guess he's leading with the comedy and hoping for the shotblocker.

What's the difference between Darko and a basketball stanchion? Nothing.

What's the difference between dying by trying to saw through your wrist with a coffee stirrer and watching Darko in green? Time.



Aren't we all just trying to laugh through the pain right now? The Darko time is just before dawn.


bob


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A 7ft white kid from Serbia by the artist name Darko, there is comedy involved

Oh No!

I just read that Darko's contract is GUARANTEED!


Death, where is thy sting? I suspect/predict I'll be using that phrase again. Maybe even frequently.


bob


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Hi,
Ha-ha-ha, all - very funny.
On the serious note - what's the reason behind DM's signing. I'm not saying it's bad or it's good - just wondering why DA signed him.
a) just to sit on the bench and average 1.9 MPG
b) to be a second back-up if Doc decides to slide KG or CW to 4
c) filler for a future trade

What do you think?

AK

Again, as I wrote much earlier, it'as ironic that the only white player on an otherwise all black Celtics team is named Darko. When I taught school in Missisippi, "darkie" was a pejorative term used by white racists. I can imagine the chatter at the local Klan meeting now.

Billy Joe Bob: "Who's your favorite Celtic"

Buford: "Darko."

Billy Joe Bob: "What?"

I like this signing. He's not old, not undersized, he plays near the rim, he blocks shots, he's cheaper than Steamer and might have a chip on his shoulder. Then there's the chemistry of center tryouts coming up, with two vets and a rookie trying to be number two (or even number one) on the depth chart for a legitimate contender. I think we see a lot of hustle at every position now, because if Green and Wilcox have fully recovered, we're loaded Hawk

Sinus,

Wending my way through all the hilarity (which I do think is very funny), I think Darko could be a more solid choice than Collins. That's not saying a lot, but I don't recall a lot of laughter about Collins—maybe some mid-level despair. But there's one thing about Darko that some people (maybe all people) may be overlooking.

Everywhere he's gone, there have been sufficient expectations to justify throwing big amounts of money at him. I believe he's getting paid $5 million this coming season by the Wolves, who amnestied him. At any rate, he's been confronted by the pressure of unfulfilled expectations at every stop. Not here. Whether he's the butt of jokes or simply dismissed as a possible contributor, Darko will have a minimum of pressure on him. Almost anything he can do to help the Celtics will be considered a bonus.

I believe it's possible that the lack of pressure-filled expectations will grant him a certain freedom that will enable him to focus on contributing to the primary expectation of the Celtics: namely doing whatever it takes to win a championship. I'm hoping he'll have an opportunity to immerse himself in simply working hard to do his level best without pressure-filled expectations.

As I've said elsewhere, the culture of the Celtics is like none other in the NBA. It's infectious, and its represents a proving ground where pressure is typically exerted internally, rather than externally, among the players. I'm hoping that a jump-started internal drive, combined with a great working environment, will bring out the best possible Darko Milicic. Whatever that may be, I'm certainly willing to watch, hope, and root for the guy as I'd do for any Celtic.

Sam

Sam,
I hope you're right, I really do. About the lack of pressure/expectation and Celtics culture, that is.

Interestingly enough, both Collins and Milicic are much better on the D than on O. So, there'll be a "race" to get that spot behind CW.

Let us see what happens.

AK

Danny has trotted so-many big guys thru here over the past so-many years, it seems as though sooner or later he has to strike gold. Forgive me for thinking that Wilcox is the real shining nugget and Darko is just a big flake BUT what do we need him for? - 5 to 10 minutes per game, if at all.

The big thing about Darko is that this is his big chance. He was too young when he was drafted and clearly wasn't ready for prime time. Now he's in a place where all the ingredients are there for him to succeed. He has a great coach and teammates who have his back. He doesn't hafta score or carry the load, all he has to do is play D.

There are plenty of guys in the Celtics past, guys like Nellie, Siggie, Silas, even DJ, whose careers were going nowhere or downhill until they got to Boston. Not that Darko belongs in that company, still, let's hope history repeats itself, even in a small way.

sam spike

I agree with you guys, a recent example is Chris Wilcox himself, hes always been athletic, but a disappointment for various reasons/expectations too, then suddenly hes very productive in limited minutes playing off Rondo and KG. Darko can defend somewhat he has length and mobility, now if Doc can nurture him and KG can light a fire and lead by example, see no reason he could't give us an effort similar to Steamer.

Even Shaq who made not much of an impact with Cavs had some smashing success as a role player here, too bad his body gave out. At worst its good to have competition between Wilcox, Collins, Melo and Darko for minutes so nothing is handed to anyone, they will have to earn it.

cow

Yeah, Cow, I really like the competition thing. Also, although I haven't gone back to check, but I wonder how many PF of KG's stature Darko has had the opportunity to partner with up front. I don't expect that to happen often, because Darko may be used mainly to rest KG at the center position. But I wouldn't mind seeing them in tandem from time to time. I guess that's part of the interchangeable parts topic we've been batting around. With so much talent of varying descriptions on the roster, Doc may have to resort to some type of lottery scheme to select player combinations.

It seems obvious that many members of this board are nearly breathless with anticipation about this year's Celtics team. I'm wondering if that's true with most rank-and-file Celtics fans or whether we're just unusually invested in all the fascinating machinations that have occurred this summer.

Sam

Sam,
I'm breathing OK, wait, let me check.....yes, I am. Whee, you got me scared for a moment.

As I mentioned on another thread about back-court, the same thing could now happen with the front-court: Doc can make different combinations depending on the opponent and/or situation.

As for anticipation, I have no doubt that Celtics have all tools that would allow them to go all the way to win it all. The only factor that can stop them is health of the key players.
Is it playoffs, yet...

AK