Knicksfan1971
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Joined: 8/17/2001
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Darko sounds like a great consolation prize in the Lebron sweepstakes:
Saturday, January 11 Milicic not your typical European teen phenom
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Chad Ford ESPN.com
Darko Milicic isn't used to visitors in the small, windswept town of Vrsac, Yugoslavia. The occasional NBA scout drifts into town on occasion, but even most of them wait until his team KK Hemofarm travels to Belgrade to play a team like Partizan.
"What are you doing here?" Milicic asks with a smile on his face.
Of course, he knows. Like most of Yugoslavia's young guard of elite players, he follows ESPN closer than many of his American counterparts.
"Shouldn't you be watching LeBron James?"
At 17, Darko Milicic is busy developing his low-post skills to go with his long-range J. Touché.
While the rest of the world tuned in breathlessly to the first national broadcast on ESPN2 of a LeBron James game, I was navigating through the snow and ice to get a peek at the kid many think will be the second player selected in this year's NBA draft.
Milicic, who is actually six months younger than LeBron, is trying to get his arms around the hype. "He's like Magic?" he asks. "Kind of," I respond. "Like Jordan?" he counters. "Sort of," I say. "What about Kobe," he says. "Maybe" is the best I can do.
The truth is, we still don't know what James is. He dominates high school competition like few ever have. But he's playing against boys every night. Kwame Brown was beating the stuffing out of boys like that a few years ago.
Milicic smiles even wider as I struggle to explain LeBron to him. He is rubbing a sore calf muscle. He's just hours removed from banging in the low post against a bigger, stronger 28-year-old defender.
"I play against men," he says matter of factly.
Then he drops the bomb. "So who do I remind you of?"
Uh-oh. Milicic had just dropped one his most impressive performances of the year against a Euroleague team.
Milicic scored 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked five shots and handed out three uncredited assists (they don't count assists the same way in Europe as they do in the U.S.) in just 15 minutes. He picked a good time to put on a masterpiece. Scouts from the Pistons, Sonics and Bucks were also in attendance.
Darko keeps pressing. He wants comparisons.
Vlade Divac. Pau Gasol? Dirk Nowitzki? Arvydas Sabonis. He doesn't like any of them.
Milicic, who stands 7-foot and carries a solid 245 pounds, is tough to pin down. He's still too young to play for the national team, so he hasn't had much opportunity to work with Divac or Peja Stojakovic. He knows them and respects them, but he doesn't try to be them. He is his own player. Comparisons quickly escape him. Is he Gasol? No, he's much stronger. Is he Nowitzki? Again, he's stronger and a much more physical player. Maybe Sabonis? He laughs and puts his head in his hands.
So who exactly are you, Darko Milicic?
"I like Kevin Garnett," Milicic begins. "He plays like Yugoslavian players play, with heart."
The Garnett reference isn't surprising if you spend much time with any of the young European bigs. Vlade is the great grandfather. Peja is the father. They have paved the way. But Yugoslavians today don't just watch Kings games. They like the ferocity and versatility that Garnett displays on a nightly basis. They love a guy who scores 22 points, grabs 13 boards and still has time to dish out six assists.
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