Shaq > Darko

[Fafnir]

I'm not saying that he's a good player, but if we all agree that he plays above-average defense, are his offensive numbers so bad that he's at D-League level?

Depends on which side of the usage argument you are I guess.

He takes 8 shots at an efficiency that would make you upset if it was from a guard, much less a center. That hurts his team clearly, and then because of his poor rebounding its hard to argue he has a big defensive impact. But his rebounding and defense are hard to untangle from Kevin Love, Pace, and the rest of the terrible team.

In the end Anthony Tolliver out played him in Minnesota, since Tolliver literally was a d-league replacement player as recently as last year.....

[StartOrien]

I'm not saying that he's a good player, but if we all agree that he plays above-average defense, are his offensive numbers so bad that he's at D-League level?

Depends on which side of the usage argument you are I guess.

He takes 8 shots at an efficiency that would make you upset if it was from a guard, much less a center. That hurts his team clearly, and then because of his poor rebounding its hard to argue he has a big defensive impact. But his rebounding and defense are hard to untangle from Kevin Love, Pace, and the rest of the terrible team.

In the end Anthony Tolliver out played him in Minnesota, since Tolliver literally was a d-league replacement player as recently as last year.....

But Tolliver's play was definitely more of an abbarition than the norm for a d-leaguer.

[Who]

Darko is a rotation worthy player.

A solid defender (slightly above average) with potential to improve further, a decent rebounder (slightly below average but serviceable) and a poor offensive player.

He's an above average backup C or a useful makeshift starter.

[PosImpos]

Considering that Darko is so poor offensively yet decent defensively, I imagine his value would be much higher on a team like the Celtics where he wouldn't be expected to take more than 2-3 shots a game at most.  On the Timberwolves he is expected to be a significant offensive option at times and that makes him more a liability than an asset for them.

[ElChe]

Well I think that Darko was solid this year, and actualy liked him offensively in some games, like vs Lakers. And i dont like this kind of comparing players, because this is not individual sport it s team sport (at least i thought so...) and it is not the same thing playing on some position in Timberwolves or in Celtics, Lakers... and its stupid comparing MInnesota with 2,3 decent players and Boston with 10+...

[housecall]

After watching more Minny games than i normally would have because of all the K.Love hype this season i came away surprisingly impressed with Darko.He's not a top tier c but compared to the c's in the league today he's probably middle of the pack.This is another case where stats doesn't tell  all.He'd make a good backup c for the Celtics next season.

[hardlyyardley]

Let's settle this discussion now.....ask Joe Dumars

[jdpapa3]

According to mySynergySports, he clocks in as the 144th ranked Post Defender allowing .88 points per possession. As a reference for Celtics fans, Semih Erden allowed .81 ppp. Shaq was even better at .70.

edit: on second thought...I'm not standing by this...I hate that they don't give the parameters for how many possessions qualify to be ranked. I'll just file it under food for thought.