NBA 2018: Fear the Deer

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

20 minutes ago, briantw said:

I look at Darko very similarly to Bennett.  I think both guys had the skills to be successful, but they both lacked the drive and were mentally soft.

Perhaps. I could at least see why teams wanted Darko. I never though Bennett would be more than an okay starter. 

[briantw]

1 minute ago, Tywin et al. said:

Perhaps. I could at least see why teams wanted Darko. I never though Bennett would be more than an okay starter. 

Yeah, he definitely wasn't worth the first pick, but I can at least see the logic there.  He was a strong rebounder despite being undersized and could shoot threes.  Seemed tailor-made for the way the game was trending.

[Slurktan]

6 hours ago, briantw said:

I look at Darko very similarly to Bennett.  I think both guys had the skills to be successful, but they both lacked the drive and were mentally soft.

Bargnani was the same way but with more talent than those two.  If Bargnani had a motor and a brain he would be perfect for today's game. Instead he helped the Raps get Kawhi ad is out of the league.

[baxus]

10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Regarding Darko, I think that's correct. I remember seeing an interview with Billups and he said Darko wowed them when they watched his workout. He also said he knew five minutes into the first practice that he was going to be a bust. 

The main problem with Darko was in his head. When his head was clear and he was motivated to give his best his best was pretty good. Still, that happened nowhere near as often as one would expect from #2 pick from the strongest draft in the past couple of decades. I mean, the guy skipped 2003 European basketball championship because he had to take a driver's test. You can't make that up.

The guy coasted through Serbian league at the time and didn't step up when he moved to the NBA. He even gave a couple of interviews in the last year or two where he admitted he was more into partying than training once he joined the Pistons. It seems that he's cleared his head as he matured a bit with age and he enjoys his new life as a fruit farm owner so good for him.

[DMC]

8 hours ago, Slurktan said:

Bargnani was the same way but with more talent than those two.  If Bargnani had a motor and a brain he would be perfect for today's game.

Bargnani was drafted in a pretty shitty draft.  Sure, the Raptors should've taken Aldridge, but Bargnani was never expected to do much more than he actually did.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

4 hours ago, baxus said:

The main problem with Darko was in his head. When his head was clear and he was motivated to give his best his best was pretty good. Still, that happened nowhere near as often as one would expect from #2 pick from the strongest draft in the past couple of decades. I mean, the guy skipped 2003 European basketball championship because he had to take a driver's test. You can't make that up.

The guy coasted through Serbian league at the time and didn't step up when he moved to the NBA. He even gave a couple of interviews in the last year or two where he admitted he was more into partying than training once he joined the Pistons. It seems that he's cleared his head as he matured a bit with age and he enjoys his new life as a fruit farm owner so good for him.

I’d Say he did more than just your standard interviews. He allowed a deep dive into his life, his failures and his new life and finding peace.

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/20211833/nba-bust-darko-milicic-finds-success-back-home-serbia

 

[baxus]

@Tywin et al. Yeah, that's the article I mentioned. It was a pretty good read.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

13 hours ago, baxus said:

@Tywin et al. Yeah, that's the article I mentioned. It was a pretty good read.

I figured. There's also an 60 minutes episode on it, but I couldn't find a clean version to link.

One of my majors in college was psychology, and I've always loved digging into the minds of professional athletes because they live such an unique experience. It helps you understand to some degree why they succeed and fail, and what drives them. Just look at the Fultz situation. There's no doubt that he's uber talented, but he's short circuiting mentally and it would be fascinating to find out why.

[BigFatCoward]

4 in a row for GS. Amazing how fragile these great big giant men are when they get a bit upset. 

[baxus]

8 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

One of my majors in college was psychology, and I've always loved digging into the minds of professional athletes because they live such an unique experience. It helps you understand to some degree why they succeed and fail, and what drives them. Just look at the Fultz situation. There's no doubt that he's uber talented, but he's short circuiting mentally and it would be fascinating to find out why.

One of my best friends has met the guy who was a psychologist for New York Yankees and some other pro sport teams and the guy says that pro athletes are all the same from the neck down. Obviously, that doesn't mean that basketball players are the same as hockey players, but that they all are at the desired level of skill and fitness to perform at the highest level in their sports. The difference is in their mindset. Darko clearly didn't have the mindset to become a successful NBA player but it seems he has the mindset to be a successful fruit farmer.

[Calibandar]

8 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

4 in a row for GS. Amazing how fragile these great big giant men are when they get a bit upset. 

Yup. I wondered if this would happen, and now it did. Enjoyable.

[briantw]

11 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

4 in a row for GS. Amazing how fragile these great big giant men are when they get a bit upset. 

I mean, we already knew Durant was incredibly fragile.  You gotta be to create a bunch of fake Instagram and Twitter accounts to defend yourself online when you're a millionaire superstar NBA player.

[Relic]

28 minutes ago, briantw said:

I mean, we already knew Durant was incredibly fragile.  You gotta be to create a bunch of fake Instagram and Twitter accounts to defend yourself online when you're a millionaire superstar NBA player.

Durant is a child. His favorite activity is playing videogames at home. 

[baxus]

14 hours ago, Relic said:

Durant is a child. His favorite activity is playing videogames at home. 

That only means he has more time on his hands than I'd expect from a basketball superstar.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

On 11/21/2018 at 6:46 PM, Triskele said:

Something about Fultz that I don't tire of mentioning:

His one season at Washington they went 10-20.  And not with some unreal pre-season, but even if they had....that is a bad team.  And it's not like the Pac-12 was too special then either.  Everyone had this guys rated highly out of HS and still after that one and done, but how often does a team with OK talent add the top recruit or close to the top recruit and have that shit of a season.  It is virtually unheard of.  That was a huge red flag to me.  Something there is not right.  

Ben Simmons at LSU. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

18 hours ago, Relic said:

Durant is a child. His favorite activity is playing videogames at home. 

Tons of athletes are into gaming, and honestly, if you were that recognizable, wouldn’t you want to stay home and relax?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Triskele said:

I don't think that's quite right.  LSU had a disappointing season considering the hype around Simmons, but they actually went 18-13.  That's nowhere near a 10-20 disaster.  

Hmm, I seem to remember them being worse than that.  

[Relic]

On 11/23/2018 at 9:51 AM, Tywin et al. said:

Tons of athletes are into gaming, and honestly, if you were that recognizable, wouldn’t you want to stay home and relax?

Im just commenting on his mentality. He's a kid still, and i wouldn't expect any real serious adult-like behavior out of him until that changes. 

 

As for what id do, staying home and gaming would not be high on the list. 

[briantw]

The Cavs are starting to look borderline competent.  Really liking what I'm seeing from Sexton.  Kid can ball.  What's really surprising me is that he's shooting the ball very well.  It's still early, but in the eight games he's started he's averaged 19.6 PPG on .508/.556/.833 splits.  Those percentages aren't sustainable, at least I don't think they are, but it's miles better than I expected him to be this early in his career given that his shooting was supposed to be very much a work in progress.

Also, Tristan Thompson is playing like a man possessed to get one last NBA contract.

[Proudfeet]

21 hours ago, Relic said:

Im just commenting on his mentality. He's a kid still, and i wouldn't expect any real serious adult-like behavior out of him until that changes. 

 

As for what id do, staying home and gaming would not be high on the list. 

I'm really curious as to what past time qualifies your criteria of being an adult.

On 11/24/2018 at 1:39 AM, Triskele said:

I don't think that's quite right.  LSU had a disappointing season considering the hype around Simmons, but they actually went 18-13.  That's nowhere near a 10-20 disaster.  

It seems that Markelle Fultz is trying to emulate Kawhi Leonard now. It is really interesting since he has been disappointing thus far. Wonder which teams will trade for him and what they will offer.