by Craig Kwasniewski
"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." - Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is credited with saying, after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Well the great Darko Milicic and his "talent" has awaken the sleeping giant in Coach John Thompson... let me explain:
I decided to watch the Rookie Game Friday night just to get into the whole All-Star mood. The game is never worth anything. It's usually just a three point shot/bad alley-oop fest with NOBODY playing any defense. The whole purpose of the event is to give access to people who couldn't get tickets to All-Star Saturday or the All-Star game. Plus it's a chance to peek into the future of the game with some up-and-coming stars. Myself, I was watching just to catch any funny things of note.
Well former Georgetown Coach John Thompson, woke up in the second half to provide the greatest moment in his television commentary career.
During some down time, David Aldridge was trying to put a positive spin on the Darko trade to Orlando. He pointed out that Detroit didn't give up on Darko, but rather the trade was to clear salary space to enable Detroit to re-sign Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince next year. Though Milicic is set to make a shocking $5.2 mil. next season, I seriously doubt it would hinder negotiations with Big Ben and Tayshaun.
Anyway, Ben Wallace, according to Aldridge, said that Darko is, "the Serbian Gangster... the kid can play." (Detroit fans must be happy that he's not their GM)
Reggie Miller starts the Darko pile-on, "If Wallace thought Darko was a gangster, why'd they give up on him so quick?"
Aldridge tried to rally for Darko, "He just wasn't going to get playing time (in Detroit)."
This woke Thompson from his sleep...
"Did he get playing time in practice? Come-on, this is ridiculous!" (uncomfortable laughter from Dick Stockton as Thompson continues) "My goodness... how long has he been in this league? He's the best kept secret.... If he's a thug, he sure has been incarcerated!"
HMMM, let me think... I believe Thompson may know something about big men as he coached: Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and Othella Harrington. Add the fact that Thompson was the last person to truly coach Allen Iverson, he may have some experience at talent evaluation... but then again I'm not part of the Darko hype machine.
I'm still amazed that a lot of people in the NBA defend Detroit picking Darko. Like a lot of Euro projects, I think he's a waste. (Quick, name a great European player... Nowizki? Okay, but one out of 379 players does not a trend make) Now Milicic and the constant hype machine will decay in the Magic Kingdom.
(Which is the bigger disaster?)
That’s why, over the weekend, Bruins management felt it would benefit Caron to play for the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins in order to get more ice time than he’s been getting in Boston. He was assigned to the P-Bruins following the Bruins’ 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, and Caron played for Providence on Sunday and registered an assist in a 3-2 loss to Albany.
Posted by: NFL store | December 02, 2011 at 09:47 PM