.

[magius]

players have a tendency to stand around and watch when they give the rock to a bonafide scorer or superstar thus resulting in bad percentage shots. I think i prefer detroits picking of darko, in fact they probably would not have won the championship if they had picked melo.... tayshuan has had a tendency to make big plays when you need him, and his length was a determinig factor against the likes of kobe. Melo on the other hand is a work in progress that expects the ball more oft than not, detroit may have scored more points, but detroit doesnt win by concentrating on scoring points. tayshuan is a better player for a defensive minded team, and besides its a little easier to find good swing men in the mid-stages of the draft, this may be the last top 10 pick detroit will have for awhile, and good big men always go high. In a couple of years if darko emerges as a star a lot of you will be eating crow while denver never makes it pass the first round

[Andrew]

Picking Darko over Melo doesn't look too bad right now, but potential is still potential until it is realised. At the moment, the best that Joe D has done is keep team chemistry intact and possibly - possibly - snagged a player who will be great a few years down the road.

The selection may prove to be wise in so much that Detroit's chemistry wasn't affected and they were able to win the title, but in terms of Darko's performance, it may still turn out to be a "wasted" pick. But I agree that writing Darko off as a bust before he's really had a chance to prove himself is unfair. I'm just keeping in mind the fact that potential is just talk until it's realised, and the possibility remains that he will be a bust.

[Riot]

apparently darkos always doin lil pranks and running around naked in locker rooms according to chauncy billups on letterman the otherday he coulda broken his hand when doin 1 of his lil stunts

that's distrubing

[corranjedi]

I definitely agree with that. When he was put in near the end of Game 5, he had a chance to score and become the youngest player to score in the NBA Finals (I think). He had a couple of chances, and missed, including missing two free throws. Now, that could probably just be put down to nerves, considering if he knew that he would be the youngest player to score, it might have crossed into his thoughts and made him more nervous. However, like is said, he is very young, he is bound to be nervous when he gets on the court. What he needs is a chance to play in a real game situation, and not when the team is leading by a bunch of points, and it doesn't matter. I think he needs some real experience before you can tell what he will be able to do.

[magius]

and like all the other discussions ever discussed we all inevitably conclude that time will tell how droll.

[Matt]

but lets not forget that Detroit needs Carmelo's scoring <= sarcasm

as i said at the beginning of the year, i'd take Prince over Melo and i was right cos now Detroit has a ring

Detroit already has that kinda guy that can dominate the ball (Billups) and having Melo there would be tragic. + he'd get burned by Kobe. Prince though plays real tough D and he can play PG as well because of his unselfishness and skills.

The only player in the draft that i'd pick over Darko would be Bron. He's be perfect for detroit, he plays hard, he's unselfish and he scores....Darko was the next best thing for Detroit

meanwhile, Prince will slowly develop....i see Melo as T-mac.....a whiny lil biatch. He's already cried about not being invited to play olympics, he had a sad and refused to go back into the game against detroit

[hmm]

.