When I drove through Ohio and Detroit, I got a chance to listen to some sports stations. I thought the following discussion were interesting.

One radio host asked callers, "if you were buying stock for the long-term in either Carlos Delfino or Darko Milicic, who would you buy it in." I'd say about two-thirds or three-fourths of callers said Delfino. People were not too high on Delfino, especially since he missed a lot of time due to a knee injury of questionable severity, but they were pretty low on Darko. Most people felt he looked lost and clueless.

The host had an interesting interpretation of the Darko draft selection. He basically said that even though other players would have been better in the long-term for Detroit, the team might not have won the championship last year if they had drafted those players. If they'd drafted Bosh, they wouldn't have traded for Rasheed, who *last year* was a better player than Bosh. If they'd drafted Wade or Carmelo, it would have completely changed the offense and no one knows how the team would have done.

One other thing that I found interesting was how overconfident the fans were in their team. Most fans fell into one of two categories: (a) those who thought the Pistons would undoubtedly beat the Heat and the heat would pose almost no challenge and (b) those who thought Pistons would beat the Heat but in a close series. I think most fans outside of Detroit would pick the Heat, though, over the Pistons. I know I would as long as Shaq and Wade are reasonably healthy.

From what I read, Milicic is horrible in practice. No one can justify him getting any real minutes. Interesting take on Bosh versus the Rasheed trade. I am fully confident that the 2003 draft will be remember for a very long time. In my opinion Bosh will blossom into a incredible force in the NBA like Garnett and J O'Neal. Raptors were lucky that Layden didn't bite on making a trade to get that pick. Milicic was a private workout demon. He avoided all the real pre draft tournament games. Smart agent.
I respect Joe Dumars alot. I think he has a good eye for talent but he also reaches sometimes too. While I like Prince, you could have easily replaced him with Carmelo. Not sure if you can call him a draft bust yet, but Milicic is on his way.
Instead of worrying about this age limit, Stern should eliminate these private workouts for these foreign players.

I think the Heat win for the same reason i said they would beat LA last year. They have a better team 1-5. They have an advantage at 3 spots, a tie at one (wade-rip) and they lose at the 5. I am not saying rip and wade are the same caliber of player, I'm saying their play will cancel each other out. If Shaq or Wade has an off game they're done.

I'm pretty sure darko, who's arguably the most tlaneted big man I've ever seen play in europe, has been broken by larry brown.

I mean, this guy hate young players. Sitting wade and bron during the olymics should've opened people's eyes.

If we could get him on the cheap, I believe that a change of scenary would help him tremendously.

Posted by MaulingandAppalling:

Second pick in the draft and the best they can say now is that his very uselessness is what makes him a good pick? when will the excuses run out...

Thank you for saying it!

Did you just say "the era of Darko"? My goodness!

By the way, Jermaine was killing kids in practice in years 1-3, and he gave Shaq fits when they played LA when he was in season 2. Darko's a joke.

Posted by MS:

Anyone who has ever played the game knows its all about confidence, and when you don't have any no matter how good your skills it is very tough to perform.....

Prince is a better fit and as far as all around players go he is up there at the top.....

The Pistons didn't lost out on melo, they lost out on Bosh and Wade

But would they have won the championship last year if they had drafted Bosh (which would mean they wouldn't have traded for Rasheed)? Rasheed's inside presence on defense and ability to spread the offense by hitting 3s were huge. I don't think they would have. And for most organizations a championship opportunity happens like once every thirty years.

Second pick in the draft and the best they can say now is that his very uselessness is what makes him a good pick?

It's a sad excuse, but his uselessness may have indirectly helped them win a championship. With hindsight, if they wanted a player who wouldn't interfere but actually also had better ability to play in the NBA than most think Darko has, they should have traded the #2 pick for two unprotected 1st round picks from a team likely to be in the lottery in the future.