How can you say how good Darko is when you have not seen him play? If I had not seen Yao play this year I would have picked Carmelo and Lebron over him. The only thing I can say about Darko is that Detroit picked Darko over Carmelo. That means he must have had some very good workouts.
<i>Milicic came out of nowhere 6 months ago because he's from Serbia, and he was only 17, not a lot of NBA GM's looking at 17 year old serbians.</i> Yet a lot of them were looking at 17 or 18 year old Chinese players, go figure. <i>The fact is, Darko has a better mid-long range shot, and his physical frame is still developing. A team in Detroit's position who can get points from the paint needs someone who can not only score from down low, but also from the outside.</i> Yet Yao shot better in the NBA then this guy shot in his country, and Yao was among the league leader in scoring among rookies. So Yao has shot better in the NBA then Darko has done in his country, how does that prove that Darko is a better scorer then Yao? Yao is also a very good outside shooter, look at his stats in China. <i>What I said was not meant as a slight to Yao, who will be good, just that the teams who would be involved in this scenario have needs that aren't conducive to drafting Yao. Thank you Nomar, for pitching a b****. </i> Yet you're pitching one now. You don't mean to slight Yao, but Darko is a better player even though he is smaller and doesn't shoot as well. You say he has a better midrange game, but that has not been shown. So his offensive game vs Yao's is questionable, and Yao is a better defender. But if Yao primarily a defensive player, yet has a better offensive game then Darko, then it doesn't say much for Darko now does it?
I only saw a short footage of Darko's game....and I was sort of disppointed. He looks not as quick or tough as advertised... They said he's one of the toughest young men in Euro...but I don't see why he got such a title. Not a great shooter, not super fast or quick, not very strong... But he looks having very good work ethic. Man...that sounds like... eh....Nick Collison?
Agent94- Tskitishvili was taken before Caron Butler (or Amare, or teammate Nene for that matter). Tsika had nearly the same amount of hype. 19 year old Georgian 7 footer, ballet background (footwork), sweet outside shot. He's sure made his presence felt. He was getting Garnett comparisons, pre-draft. Maybe he turns it around, mabe I figure though, since Denver had Juwan Howard to score inside, they should've drafted Tsika over Yao even with the #1, because Tsika can play ouside too. You don't draft a point guard based on his low post game, and you don't draft a center based on his ability to shoot a 3 pointer.
I think DET draft darko because they want a guy can score on 4 or 5 badly. But I really doubt that the ability of darko in DET system. Darko will make DET defense weak even though he might help offense. DET are over...overachieved under Rick. It will be much much harder next year. They might be doing good in regular season, But in playoff, their weakness will be explored.
A good big man beats a good little man every day. Sorry, no reason why Yao wouldn't have gone over Darko and possibly even LeBron. Teams. Love. Centers.
Interesting.. If Ming was in this draft and Cleveland have the #1 pick, I would think they would still go for James. That is a no brainer. Why? James is superhyped and is from Ohio. This will sell tickets. And while Ming may likely turn out to be better than James in the long run (both max their potential - taller is STILL Better, it's the NBA!), James will have the instant potential at the gate. Also, I don't think Cleveland was one of the cities Ming wanted to play in (and that's a fact jack). Now, if the Rockets where to have this year's pick, it would be much harder to decide. But I would still pick Ming. That is my opinion.
China is very poorly scouted, and even worse-scouted this year because of fears caused by the SARS epidemic. you think anybody's looking at their 17 year olds? nba gms got their first glimpse of yao ming at the olympics in 2000 as a 19 year old. they scout europe more actively. i actually think darko will have a very good rookie season. he's playing for a team that was in the playoffs this past year after all. wouldn't be surprised to see his stats be inflated because of that. lucky. he should have very impressive stats for a rookie.
They are both going to be great players, but Yao is allwas going to have the bigger fan base, and will gross more money for the NBA and the team he plays for. So Yao is still the better pick between him and Darko.
Darko's knock is that he has a pedestrian (in the mid to low 20's) vertical...not much different from Yao. Athleticism isn't his strong suit.
Darko shot .676% free throw in his best free throw season last year... so much for being a better shooter. He'll take time to develop, but to say he is a better offensive player than Yao already is totally ridiculous. Can't wait to see him score against the likes of Ducan and Garnett. -G'day-
Bein 17 or 18, whatever Darko is, how the hell is the guy ever gonna get a rebound in his rookie year? Forget about him boxing people out and he won't be able to fight when people are boxin him out. He might average less rebounds than Mo-T.
I don't know what good it is to compare these guys right now. Yao's body isn't ready for prime time right now and Darko is a teenager. We'll see in 5 years.
man, wouldnt it look sweet if yao posterizes darko and ben wallace or give em both a facial. lol. man, this is going to be good, rivalry between two youngsters. coz shaq is beginning to fall and this will blaze a new rival for yao.
We're comparing apples and oranges. I think Darko is at best Dirk Nowitzki Jr. and Yao at best is Kareem Abdul Jabbar Jr. If we had 2 teams with the same exact players except one team had Yao and the other had Dirk, who would win a title sooner?
