A Serbian Beast
07-24-2005, 03:27 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2003-03-31-darko-focus_x.htm
"Asked at an NBA game who Darko Milicic was, one person said actor, and one said contestant on American Idol. One said a player for the NHL's San Jose Sharks. Comic book villain got a vote. Twenty never heard of him. One said a basketball player.
The same 25 people, of various ages, were asked who LeBron James was. The Ohio high school basketball sensation was recognized by all.
His Serbian counterpart will be known soon, too.
Though James almost certainly will be the first overall pick in the June NBA draft, Milicic (MILL-i-chich) just as probably will be No. 2.
Milicic — six months younger than James — is a 7-foot, 245-pounder from Serbia Montenegro averaging 23 points and 10 rebounds (in 40-minute games) as a professional player in Europe.
Milicic is a relative unknown because he is too young to play on the national team, such as the one representing his country that won the world championships last summer in Indianapolis.
But practically every NBA team has sent a scout to see him play in Vrsac, Serbia, for first-division team KK Hemofarm. And though league rules don't permit NBA personnel to talk about players who have yet to declare for the draft, the off-the-record decision is unanimous: Milicic, expected to declare by the May 12 deadline, can't miss. Some even say they'd take him over James if given the opportunity.
Milicic has grabbed their attention because he plays like and has the same size as the Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Garnett and is as effective playing with his back to the basket as he is facing it.
He has long arms like Garnett, is comfortable outside and inside, is an expert ballhandler and a deft passer.
"I like the way Kevin Garnett plays," Milicic says through an interpreter in a phone interview, "and I like being compared to him. But I'd like to be where my style is recognized so people in the future will be compared to me."
Milicic is a rugged inside player, and being the rare lefthander gives him another advantage. He runs the floor well, can start, finish or lead the fast break, dunk in traffic, step out and hit the three, take his man off the dribble or simply post up and use one of his many inside moves.
He's the perfect mismatch — too quick for most power forwards, too big and strong for small forwards.
Although his repertoire also includes jump hooks, turnaround jumpers, power moves and up-and-unders, Milicic says his favorite move is a behind-the-back pass to give a teammate an easy basket. "That's what's fun," he says.
Milicic also is good enough for the NBA to change, or at least reinterpret, its rules to make him eligible for the June draft.
He originally was declared ineligible because the collective bargaining agreement says a foreign player must be at least 18 when he officially announces for the draft. Milicic won't turn 18 until June 20, six days before the draft.
After many discussions between the league and the players' association, it was decided the wording was ambiguous. So in February, NBA Commissioner David Stern declared that as long as a player turned 18 by draft day, he is eligible.
Standing his ground
When he was 10, Milicic started playing basketball, initially to spend more time with his friends. Three years ago, he says he realized how good he was and started taking the game seriously.
There is no high school basketball system in Serbia Montenegro, so his parents, Milorad and Zora, signed Milicic to a contract with Hemofarm when he was 15; the team is about 100 miles from his hometown of Novi Sad.
He began this season with a salary that paid him about $20,000 annually. He has gotten a raise but still earns far less than $100,000 a year. As the second pick in the NBA draft, he'll start out with a guaranteed three-year, $11 million contract.
Milicic plays two games a week, a regular league game on Saturdays or Sundays and a FIBA Cup game on Tuesdays, one of the championship tournaments for Pan-European teams.
His next action in the FIBA Cup will be a home-and-home quarterfinal against Hapoel Samsung Tel Aviv. The first game, April 8, was scheduled to be played in Tel Aviv but was moved to Bulgaria because of the war in Iraq. In his last Cup game Milicic had 37 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in 30 minutes against Latvia. The previous game he had 23 points, 19 rebounds and four blocked shots against P.A.O.K. (Greece).
He's the youngest player on his team (average age about 27) yet carries himself like his peers. He isn't arrogant or ****y, but he does have a bit of a mean streak. As he has been playing with grown men since he was 15, Milicic isn't easily intimidated, and an elbow to his chest or head gets one in return.
The best player Milicic says he's faced is Orlando Magic center Pat Burke, who was playing for a Greek team (Marousi Telestet) when he faced Milicic twice last season. Milicic's stats against Burke weren't available, but Burke remembers him well.
"My first thought was, 'I'm 28 and here I am playing against a high school kid.' But I was impressed right away," Burke says. "He was a lot better at 16 than a lot of players at the end of their pro careers. Nothing but positives will happen for him."
Burke was matched head-to-head against Milicic in both games. "He doesn't get pushed around," Burke says. "He has a nice shooting touch, and he can finish with either hand. He has a good frame, too, an NBA frame. He can get a little bigger, but he isn't skinny."
Humming to his own beat
Milicic's agent, Marc Cornstein of Pinnacle Management of New York, has concentrated on European players for the last five years and says he was impressed with Milicic from the first moment he saw him.
"He's one of those players who, when he walks in a room or on the court, has tremendous presence," Cornstein says. "Even if you didn't know who he was, you'd know he was something special. He just walks with a bit of an aura and a swagger."
Milicic doesn't play video games, cruise in an SUV (he has no driver's license yet) or read his name in the paper daily. James got headlines for owning a $50,000 Hummer. When asked about his vehicle, Milicic says, "My AND 1s," referring to his basketball shoes, the only thing he drives in.
He isn't into designer clothes and doesn't have a tattoo. His most prized possessions are his family and his girlfriend, whom he chooses not to name. His sister, Tijana, 13, is a volleyball player.
Milicic has been to the USA only once, last summer, when he played in the Global Games (for athletes 22 and under) in Dallas. He has an English tutor, but he prefers to speak through an interpreter.
He needs no interpretation when it comes to his music, however. He loves rap — Nelly, Eminem, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg are his favorites — and he can recite most of the lyrics.
The NBA will be singing Milicic's song soon enough."
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Darko has a sister? cmon darko, hook a brother up. ANYways, what the hell did larry do to him. We know(atleast i know) he has skill.
"Asked at an NBA game who Darko Milicic was, one person said actor, and one said contestant on American Idol. One said a player for the NHL's San Jose Sharks. Comic book villain got a vote. Twenty never heard of him. One said a basketball player.
The same 25 people, of various ages, were asked who LeBron James was. The Ohio high school basketball sensation was recognized by all.
His Serbian counterpart will be known soon, too.
Though James almost certainly will be the first overall pick in the June NBA draft, Milicic (MILL-i-chich) just as probably will be No. 2.
Milicic — six months younger than James — is a 7-foot, 245-pounder from Serbia Montenegro averaging 23 points and 10 rebounds (in 40-minute games) as a professional player in Europe.
Milicic is a relative unknown because he is too young to play on the national team, such as the one representing his country that won the world championships last summer in Indianapolis.
But practically every NBA team has sent a scout to see him play in Vrsac, Serbia, for first-division team KK Hemofarm. And though league rules don't permit NBA personnel to talk about players who have yet to declare for the draft, the off-the-record decision is unanimous: Milicic, expected to declare by the May 12 deadline, can't miss. Some even say they'd take him over James if given the opportunity.
Milicic has grabbed their attention because he plays like and has the same size as the Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Garnett and is as effective playing with his back to the basket as he is facing it.
He has long arms like Garnett, is comfortable outside and inside, is an expert ballhandler and a deft passer.
"I like the way Kevin Garnett plays," Milicic says through an interpreter in a phone interview, "and I like being compared to him. But I'd like to be where my style is recognized so people in the future will be compared to me."
Milicic is a rugged inside player, and being the rare lefthander gives him another advantage. He runs the floor well, can start, finish or lead the fast break, dunk in traffic, step out and hit the three, take his man off the dribble or simply post up and use one of his many inside moves.
He's the perfect mismatch — too quick for most power forwards, too big and strong for small forwards.
Although his repertoire also includes jump hooks, turnaround jumpers, power moves and up-and-unders, Milicic says his favorite move is a behind-the-back pass to give a teammate an easy basket. "That's what's fun," he says.
Milicic also is good enough for the NBA to change, or at least reinterpret, its rules to make him eligible for the June draft.
He originally was declared ineligible because the collective bargaining agreement says a foreign player must be at least 18 when he officially announces for the draft. Milicic won't turn 18 until June 20, six days before the draft.
After many discussions between the league and the players' association, it was decided the wording was ambiguous. So in February, NBA Commissioner David Stern declared that as long as a player turned 18 by draft day, he is eligible.
Standing his ground
When he was 10, Milicic started playing basketball, initially to spend more time with his friends. Three years ago, he says he realized how good he was and started taking the game seriously.
There is no high school basketball system in Serbia Montenegro, so his parents, Milorad and Zora, signed Milicic to a contract with Hemofarm when he was 15; the team is about 100 miles from his hometown of Novi Sad.
He began this season with a salary that paid him about $20,000 annually. He has gotten a raise but still earns far less than $100,000 a year. As the second pick in the NBA draft, he'll start out with a guaranteed three-year, $11 million contract.
Milicic plays two games a week, a regular league game on Saturdays or Sundays and a FIBA Cup game on Tuesdays, one of the championship tournaments for Pan-European teams.
His next action in the FIBA Cup will be a home-and-home quarterfinal against Hapoel Samsung Tel Aviv. The first game, April 8, was scheduled to be played in Tel Aviv but was moved to Bulgaria because of the war in Iraq. In his last Cup game Milicic had 37 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in 30 minutes against Latvia. The previous game he had 23 points, 19 rebounds and four blocked shots against P.A.O.K. (Greece).
He's the youngest player on his team (average age about 27) yet carries himself like his peers. He isn't arrogant or ****y, but he does have a bit of a mean streak. As he has been playing with grown men since he was 15, Milicic isn't easily intimidated, and an elbow to his chest or head gets one in return.
The best player Milicic says he's faced is Orlando Magic center Pat Burke, who was playing for a Greek team (Marousi Telestet) when he faced Milicic twice last season. Milicic's stats against Burke weren't available, but Burke remembers him well.
"My first thought was, 'I'm 28 and here I am playing against a high school kid.' But I was impressed right away," Burke says. "He was a lot better at 16 than a lot of players at the end of their pro careers. Nothing but positives will happen for him."
Burke was matched head-to-head against Milicic in both games. "He doesn't get pushed around," Burke says. "He has a nice shooting touch, and he can finish with either hand. He has a good frame, too, an NBA frame. He can get a little bigger, but he isn't skinny."
Humming to his own beat
Milicic's agent, Marc Cornstein of Pinnacle Management of New York, has concentrated on European players for the last five years and says he was impressed with Milicic from the first moment he saw him.
"He's one of those players who, when he walks in a room or on the court, has tremendous presence," Cornstein says. "Even if you didn't know who he was, you'd know he was something special. He just walks with a bit of an aura and a swagger."
Milicic doesn't play video games, cruise in an SUV (he has no driver's license yet) or read his name in the paper daily. James got headlines for owning a $50,000 Hummer. When asked about his vehicle, Milicic says, "My AND 1s," referring to his basketball shoes, the only thing he drives in.
He isn't into designer clothes and doesn't have a tattoo. His most prized possessions are his family and his girlfriend, whom he chooses not to name. His sister, Tijana, 13, is a volleyball player.
Milicic has been to the USA only once, last summer, when he played in the Global Games (for athletes 22 and under) in Dallas. He has an English tutor, but he prefers to speak through an interpreter.
He needs no interpretation when it comes to his music, however. He loves rap — Nelly, Eminem, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg are his favorites — and he can recite most of the lyrics.
The NBA will be singing Milicic's song soon enough."
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Darko has a sister? cmon darko, hook a brother up. ANYways, what the hell did larry do to him. We know(atleast i know) he has skill.