Comments on: Andre Drummond: ‘If you saw practice, you wouldn’t have thought I got hurt’

By: tarsier

tarsier — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 07:04:07 +0000

He’s just a role player, but he is a phenomenal 3 and D guy.

By: G

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:28:34 +0000

Leonard? He’s kinda “meh”, isn’t he?

By: Huddy

Huddy — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:48:18 +0000

Denver doesn’t have gaping holes like the Pistons do. They have two SFs in rotation that are both better than who we have starting. They have two starting level PGs great wing defense with Igoudala and Brewer. Even though they haven’t had much time to prove it I think the Monroe Drummond front court is superior to what the Nuggets have (even though the Nuggets aren’t exactly bad down low because of Faried and their Center rotation), but that wont matter until we fill our other holes.

By: Huddy

Huddy — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:31:45 +0000

Professional basketball players can obviously see a team playing bench guys and having two of their best players out of the game at the end of the year is not an accurate portrayal of their abilities next year. Not to mention tanking means a higher draft pick and better talent on the team that you would get to play with. Would a free agent really look at a team and say “man they are probably going to add a top 5 pick to the team, no way I want to go there. Maybe if they had a pick at 9-10 I would consider it, but no way now.” Thats not to say we are the best destination, but doing worse at the end of the season dealing with injuries and drafting higher isn’t going to change them from where they would be with a few more wins on the season.

By: Brandon Knight

Brandon Knight — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:38:24 +0000

Yeah I know that, I was just being sarcastic in response to Big Rick. You can’t look back and say why we didn’t draft this or that guy! Knight was the best player available, so we drafted him!…. you guy still didn’t see the real Brandon Knight, but believe me it’s coming and he will shock the world.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:48:07 +0000

Nobody would have taken Wade or Bosh. There were probably one or two GMs who would have considered Darko over LeBron. And 5-10 who would have considered Melo over Darko (probably even a couple who would have actually grabbed Melo), but yeah, the top 4 draft picks had pretty much been set in stone for quite a while by the time people actually started picking.

By: Domnick

Domnick — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:24:45 +0000

We need t try drummond and monroe together as starters

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:30:23 +0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/d03/story?id=1572845

Please go there and read it. Chard Ford article written hours after the 2003 draft. In regards to Darko: “Darko is really one of a kind. He runs the floor, handles the ball, shoots the NBA 3 and plays with his back to the basket, so you can slot him in at the 3, 4 or 5 positions. OK, a few other guys can do that too; what sets Darko apart is his toughness in the post. You have to love a guy who has the footwork to spin by an opponent but still prefers to lower a shoulder and bang. Fact is, Milicic plays in attack-mode at both ends of the floor. The more you push, the more he pushes back. While he won’t be asked to carry the Pistons, he’s capable of doing this earlier than you think.”

On Carmelo: ” Of the top three, Carmelo is the most accomplished. He will be a dominant NBA scorer. Every time scouts begin talking about him, the names of Antoine Walker and Glenn Robinson are evoked. That’s not bad company. But is he the guy to turn the Nuggets around?”

On Bosh: “The Raptors tried to trade this pick, but couldn’t find any takers. Bosh was the next best player on the board. At his size and with his skill set, his upside is similar to a Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett. The Raptors have to be patient, but he’ll be worth it.”

On Wade: “The first big shocker of the draft. Pat Riley really wanted a player who could contribute right away…He’s got a good handle and can play point at times…He’s got a great first step and is a solid defender…The biggest issue? The Heat desperately need a good shooter in the backcourt. For all of Wade’s strengths, he isn’t a good long range shooter. Interesting pick.”

The fact of the matter is, once again, any team would have chosen Darko at #2. There are probably some that would have taken him #1 (this is all at the time – now? definitely not but hindsight is 20/20). You can’t fault Joe for drafting Darko. He was supposed to be the gem of that draft. Ford even questions in that article whether James could handle all the hype and live up to his potential. The Raptors settled because no one wanted to move up to take any of the remaining players. The way it sounds, Wade wasn’t even expected to have been selected at #5. At the point in time when Darko was drafted, Sheed wasn’t even on this team or even a thought to be on the team. Okur was a breath of hope but the team desperately needed a young offensive big that could play along side Ben. Darko made sense. The blame should fall on Larry Brown and his coaching staff for not developing Darko and only remotely using him as a human victory cigar. Had Darko actually lived up to his potential and was developed properly, who knows what we would be discussing now.

Sorry this is so long, I am just growing tired of (still) reading about “we could have had….” along with the “no free agent will want to come here” statements. That happens in any sport. In 1988 the Lions drafted Benny Blades #3, they could have had Tim Brown (#6), Sterling Sharpe (#7), and Michael Irvin (#11). In 1989 the Lions drafted Barry Sanders #3, they could have taken Neon Deion Sanders (#5), Derrick Thomas (#4), or the next RB off the board (Tim Worley). The fact of the matter is drafting is as much about luck as it is making an educated guess of how a player will perform. College/High School/Euro-league statistics on a 19, 20 year old only help out so much. What can’t be predicted is the human side of things, the psychological components involved.

By: gmehl

gmehl — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:56:39 +0000

The things is at the time if Dumars did that then everyone would of thought he was crazy. He would of looked like a genius afterwards though.

By: gmehl

gmehl — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:51:47 +0000

Yes i know that. I was just talking about draft steals in general not that they were both from the same draft.