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| That's it, just keep waiting¿almost there¿just a couple more minutes¿ |
The only mistake Joe Dumars has made in his tenure as the Pistons GM is finally going to be wiped clean from his slate. Thanks to the decidedly unmagical season unraveling in Orlando, Darko Milicic will no longer spend all of his time at home games sitting next to Kid Rock. But as Dumars gives up on the unproven European he picked over so many other deserving players (anyone from Dwyane Wade to Chris Bosh to the entire second round), just remember that there's still hope for Darko.
Sure, it was a mistake to base a #2 draft pick on grainy video footage of a skinny seven footer draining turn around jumpers over a 5'3" scout in an empty gym. And yes, it probably wasn't the smartest idea to pair an inexperienced raw talent with Larry Brown, a coach who treats rookies the way Serbia treats Montenegro. And of course we all know what happened when Darko went blonde. But check the early returns on other high school superstars: Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, William Hung¿all of them took time to come into their own on a national stage.
So maybe the diplomatic Pistons are right to keep insisting that Darko has spent all of this time improving in practice, readying his body for the NBA game. Now he can hurt his hand dunking in a pressure-free Orlando environment, playing next to double-double Dwight Howard every night while only being asked to rebound and block shots. Factor in a possible Stevie Franchise trade and the experience Grant Hill shares of sitting on the bench, and Darko may finally be surrounded by the right tools to help clear his name as the biggest bust since Oliver Miller. And hell, if it doesn't work out there, maybe he just needs one more uniform change. (UPS brown would look spectacular with Darko's current 'do.)