Sports Poets Society

https://aroundthegame.com/post/nikola-jokic-tripla-doppia-nuggets-invincibili/ Alberto Dagnino  | 19/06/2019 |  Storie Una retrospettiva sulla fallimentare scelta di Milicic al Draft del 2003, tra suggestioni, voci e falsi miti. A cavallo del nuovo millennio, nella NBA si diffonde la convinzione che il basket internazionale sia finalmente degno di attenzione: giocatori europei e non solo possono essere armi importanti anche nel sistema statunitense. Una convinzione sacrosanta, non c’è che dire, ma di per sé non sufficiente a salvarsi dai disastri. Nello specifico, l’ascesa di Dirk Nowitzki ha illuso orde di GM che ogni giocatore del vecchio continente che si avvicinasse o superasse i 7 piedi potesse, con un po’ di duro lavoro, diventare un’arma letale in grado di cambiare le sorti di ogni franchigia. Gli esempi sono tantissimi. Draft 1999: Aleksandar Radojevic viene scelto alla dodici, salvo giocare tre sole partite in due anni prima di tornare in Europa. Tre scelte dopo di lu...

https://www.gazzetta.it/Nba/06-09-2014/nba-oden-thabeet-milicic-morrison-brown-quanti-flop-ultimi-anni-90374104806.shtml DARKO MILICIC (PICK N.2, 2003)   Arrivare in Nba come seconda scelta assoluta di un draft che sarà per sempre ricordato fra i più talentuosi di sempre non è facile.  Essere europei e venire scelti dietro al solo LeBron James e davanti a giocatori destinati a un futuro da All Star, come Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh e Dwayne Wade, di certo non aiuta.  Approdato ai Detroit Pistons di Larry Brown, Milicic esaudisce subito quello che è il sogno di ogni giocatore di basket che si rispetti e mette in bacheca il titolo Nba 2004, giocando però meno di 5 minuti per gara (1,4 punti di media) e col Palace of Auburn Hills esulta a ogni suo canestro come fosse un gol.  Dopo altri due anni a Detroit, Darko gira in cerca di fortuna fra Orlando, Memphis, Minnesota, New York e Boston. Le sue medie si alzano e diventano quasi accettabili per un giocatori di terza...

https://www.fiba.basketball/news/imagine-what-milicic-could-have-done-with-a-different-mindset VALENCIA ( Jeff Taylor's Eurovision ) - On a warm summer night, 17 years ago at Madison Square Garden in New York, NBA Commissioner David Stern stepped up to the lectern and announced to a worldwide audience: "With the second pick of the 2003 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons select Darko Milicic from Serbia and Montenegro." That, everyone, was the highlight of Milicic's career. Having just turned 18, the world was at his feet. The young giant that had bleached hair was set to be the latest player from the Balkans to take the NBA by storm and for the fans back home, well, they had a young center that was going to help their national team for years to come. That, of course, didn't happen, with Milicic averaging 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in his decade in the NBA. With Serbia and Montenegro (2005 and 2006) and then Serbia (2007), he never got close to the podium, al...

https://www.slamonline.com/the-magazine/ben-wallace-96-draft/ BY RYNE NELSON - NOVEMBER 19, 2020 As a junior in high school, a 16-year-old Ben Wallace spent day after day cutting hair for his friends and neighbors. He charged $3 a cut, eventually saving up enough money to attend Charles Oakley ’s week-long basketball camp. With $50 in his pocket, Ben left his 800-person town of White Hall, AL, and traveled over 100 miles west on Route 80 to Oak’s camp. While he was an impressive multi-sport athlete, Ben had never spent time in an organized basketball setting where the focus was on skill and development. As luck would have it, Wallace would not only get a chance to meet Oakley—who just finished his fifth straight season in the NBA averaging a double-double—but Oak challenged Ben to a game of one-on-one. “He took an interest in me,” Wallace says. “I guess he saw something in me that I really didn’t see in myself at the time. He sort of called me out in front of the camp and put me on di...

Detroit Pistons GM Joe Dumars with acquisition Allen Iverson. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images https://bleacherreport.com/articles/577265-joe-blow-joe-dumars-and-his-10-worst-moves-for-the-detroit-pistons-franchiseCOLIN SHEAJANUARY 19, 2011 COLIN SHEA  - JANUARY 19, 2011 Joe Dumars brought NBA Championship back to Detroit. For that, he deserves much praise and adoration. But, understand, he does not deserve a free pass because of it. No GM over the past decade has been a better embodiment of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde than Joe D , and as a Pistons fan, nothing is more frustrating than an unpredictable decision-maker. To the detriment of Detroit fans, most of Dumars' lackluster moves have been bunched together over the past few seasons. As quickly as Joe built the bond of trust between him and the city, he is doing everything he can to destroy it. With a few small shreds of leniency remaining, Dumars has only a year or two left to turn this franchise around, and he will need to start b...