Darko is a Beast!

[Chris]

To be fair, I think Doc thinks of Pierce as a "wing", and I expect him to play him at SG at times, particularly while Bradley is out, to go with a big lineup.

But yeah, losing Dooling does hurt their depth in the backcourt.

We might have to. I guess this is one of the ways to give Green more minutes. But it's not like we have veteran SF depth either.

Whether we have to or not, I think it will be a very successful strategy against certain teams and certain lineups.  People write off Pierce as someone who can't guard SGs way too much.  I don't think its true.  Particularly in the C's defensive system, and with his intelligence, he is very good at keeping smaller guys in front of him...and the C's could do some real damage letting Pierce and Green attack other teams SG and SF in the post, while they kind of invert things and have their big men dragging their men out to the perimeter.

[Who]

The team needs more reliable deep reserves on the perimeter than Christmas and Joseph.

Replace them with quality veterans and there is no issue with carrying 7 big men.

[Chris]

The team needs more reliable deep reserves on the perimeter than Christmas and Joseph.

Replace them with quality veterans and there is no issue with carrying 7 big men.

I agree with this to a point.  But I see no hurry, unless you have a great option.  You can cut either of those guys before January 9th I believe and they won't be fully guaranteed. 

I say let the young legs have a shot to prove themselves.  Then, if they prove to not be ready or good enough, replace them down the stretch with a veteran.

[TA9]

The positive thing about this guy is that he is STRONG!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPNw9iqP92g&feature=related
There is not many dudes in the NBA that can do that to Perk.

Btw just for fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SguBaDSLFd0&feature=fvst

[D.o.s.]

"I'm telling you, Darko is a Serbian gangster," Rasheed Wallace said. "Darko's got some bodies back there (in Serbia-Montenegro). He can go psycho on guys."

[guava_wrench]

He's not really an upgrade from a healthy Steimsma.  It still looks like Darko just flips his shots toward the hoop- kind of like some guys do after a whistle.  He never really shoots the ball.

Hopefully he stays motivated to defend and rebound like he did in his first Orlando season.  That was pretty much the only year that he stayed motivated. 

A lot of people think Doc and KG will help motivate him, but I can just as easily see him pouting and going through the motions after KG gets on his case.

I strongly agree with the flip shot point. Just because a string of those go in one game doesn't mean that he actually good at the shot. That is actually a great shot for a big who know what he is doing. For Darko, it might be that he is just chucking it towards the rim and hoping it goes in. If he can hit it 35% for the time, there will be games where he hits a bunch in a row, creating the illusion that he has something to offer.

I like the pickup, but no video of his best game is going to impress me because best games are statistical outliers and not representative of a player's ability.

[greg_kite]

To be fair, I think Doc thinks of Pierce as a "wing", and I expect him to play him at SG at times, particularly while Bradley is out, to go with a big lineup.

But yeah, losing Dooling does hurt their depth in the backcourt.

We might have to. I guess this is one of the ways to give Green more minutes. But it's not like we have veteran SF depth either.

Whether we have to or not, I think it will be a very successful strategy against certain teams and certain lineups.  People write off Pierce as someone who can't guard SGs way too much.  I don't think its true.  Particularly in the C's defensive system, and with his intelligence, he is very good at keeping smaller guys in front of him...and the C's could do some real damage letting Pierce and Green attack other teams SG and SF in the post, while they kind of invert things and have their big men dragging their men out to the perimeter.

I would love to see this.  Pierce's best years were at the 2 when he would post up smaller guards.  I'd like to see Green do the same thing against smaller 3s. 

If Green can live up to his potential it would get the C's two best wings on the court at the same time.  I also think against Miami I'd much rather see Pierce vs Wade and Green vs Lebron.  I doubt it will happen a lot since the C's have a lot of capable smalls and not a lot of capable bigs. 

Doc tends to play small more often than big.  I can see the crunch time lineup of Rondo, Terry, PP, Green and KG most of the time, with Bass replacing Green in certain situations and maybe Bradley or Lee replacing Jet for defensive purposes.  Pretty much the opposite of a big lineup.

[gar]

The guy looked like he was in good shape last year and seemed to be somewhat rejuvenated playing with some skilled PG's and some young legs. Is too bad he got waived it really seemed like he was finally coming into his own.

Lets hope he can find a spark or a kick in the A@@ to keep him on track. Mobility, Shot blocking, solid defense are all well within his natural ability. He may even be a better finisher at the rim than Perk although not as good a rebounder.

[LakersFan_33]

Just popping in here for a second...You guys got a solid pickup here. I watch Minnesota probably more than you guys because they're a west coast team. I think he has a very solid post-game, as well as good rebounding ability. His defense is average, but his big body/frame helps when he's going against Bynum/Dwight type players - They would still torch him, but he could slow them down a little bit, probably more than any other player on your team could.

[gar]

To be fair, I think Doc thinks of Pierce as a "wing", and I expect him to play him at SG at times, particularly while Bradley is out, to go with a big lineup.

But yeah, losing Dooling does hurt their depth in the backcourt.

We might have to. I guess this is one of the ways to give Green more minutes. But it's not like we have veteran SF depth either.

Whether we have to or not, I think it will be a very successful strategy against certain teams and certain lineups.  People write off Pierce as someone who can't guard SGs way too much.  I don't think its true.  Particularly in the C's defensive system, and with his intelligence, he is very good at keeping smaller guys in front of him...and the C's could do some real damage letting Pierce and Green attack other teams SG and SF in the post, while they kind of invert things and have their big men dragging their men out to the perimeter.

I would love to see this.  Pierce's best years were at the 2 when he would post up smaller guards.  I'd like to see Green do the same thing against smaller 3s. 

If Green can live up to his potential it would get the C's two best wings on the court at the same time.  I also think against Miami I'd much rather see Pierce vs Wade and Green vs Lebron.  I doubt it will happen a lot since the C's have a lot of capable smalls and not a lot of capable bigs. 

Doc tends to play small more often than big.  I can see the crunch time lineup of Rondo, Terry, PP, Green and KG most of the time, with Bass replacing Green in certain situations and maybe Bradley or Lee replacing Jet for defensive purposes.  Pretty much the opposite of a big lineup.

Would like to see what Joseph can do at SG; but both Lee and Christmas have good size (bulk in Christmas' case). Pierce lacks mobility at this stage and would get smoked. 

[aporel#18]

Wow... give the guy a break.

I think our expectations should be tempered a little bit. He's got the physical tools, and he can defend in the post. He's got good fundamentals, although he's not Hakeem. The Celtics don't need him to score. Put all these things together and you have a backup Center playing for the vet min. Great signing on paper.

Then, reality will check in and we'll see what Darko can give to the team. If he can give Defense, hard fouls and some blocks, that's ok with me. If he can make some basket playing off KG, Pierce and Rondo, that'd be sweet. If he can get in game shape and show his solid post game, that'd be excellent.

He'll be better, without a doubt, than Mikki Moore, Ryan Hollins, Paddy O'Blount or Troy Murphy.

He'll surely be better than Stiemsma, JO(due to his injured self), Semih Erden or Scott Pollard.

He could be better (as a backup C) than Big Baby, Nenad Krstic or PJ Brown.

The Celtics have only had 3 Centers in the last 5 years that are out of his league: Rasheed, Shaq and Perk.

Rasheed (although only in the playoffs) brought the best post defense of this era, because he could defend the Dwight Howards of the world (like Perk but not as well as him), but he also could defend the Bynums, Boguts or Kamans. And he was unstoppable in the post. But Sheed, as bright as he was, wasn't reliable.

Shaq was good on D, and incredibly good on offense. But he couldn't last.

Perk was a beast (he seems a different player now) defending the post, but he struggled against Centers who could shoot over him (Bogut, Bynum...). On offense, he just made some dunks off passes, or putbacks. He tried to play in the post, but he couldn't score. The best thing is he was reliable and played 100% every game.

Now, Darko could bring almost everything that Perk brought, but he's 27, and it's not very probable that he improves his defense, although he'll look better alongside KG. He's a better offensive player than Perk, but he hasn't shown desire and commitment to bring his A-effort every game. The fact he's rejected more money from the "european Celtics" (Real Madrid is the team with more european titles) could mean he's trying to make a statement.

There's a chance in a million that everything falls in place, and he matures and buys into the team culture, and suddenly he plays 100% to his abilities. Probably it won't happen, but even if he keeps playing the way he's played last year, he can help our team, and he deserves a chance from the fans.

[Rondooooooooo]

his best season imo was 09-10 with minny, if we could get stats like that (8.5ppg 5.5 from him and a solid 7' defensive presence in the paint w/ KG i think thats all we'd need from him. we don't need him to score. i'd like his rebounding #s to go up but i think 5-6 boards off the bench is enough

[AshyLarry]

If Darko replicates what Stiemer did for us when healthy, I'll be happy.

Hell, as long as he's better than Mikki Moore, I'll be happy.

And that, my friends, is impossible.

[slamtheking]

He'll be better, without a doubt, than Mikki Moore, Ryan Hollins, Paddy O'Blount or Troy Murphy.

he should be -- that's a pretty low bar to clear

He'll surely be better than Stiemsma, JO(due to his injured self), Semih Erden or Scott Pollard.

Pollard yes, only because Pollard never played.  Steimsma and JO when healthy, probably not.  They could defend and score.  Semih, maybe, but Semih played hard and showed some promise.

He could be better (as a backup C) than Big Baby, Nenad Krstic or PJ Brown.

BBD or Krispy, no way.  PJ, probably--he had one really big moment but the rest of the season was eh.

The Celtics have only had 3 Centers in the last 5 years that are out of his league: Rasheed, Shaq and Perk.

if he stays more durable that Shaq, that would be a major help.  Sheed and Perk are out of his league.

[gar]

Darko in Green already doin work!

http://redsarmy.com/2012/09/21/first-photo-of-darko-in-cs-gear-proves-hes-really-here/