Milicic's time will come: No. 2 pick has room to grow

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Milicic's time will come: No. 2 pick has room to grow
By Mark Murphy/NBA Notes
Sunday, November 16, 2003

A day doesn't go by, and there isn't a morning edition's worth of box scores
that go un-perused, without the names of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony
jumping off the page like a pair of NBA pop-up promos.

     The first and third picks in the 2003 draft are already sprouting like
hothouse flowers.

     But the search for No. 2 may be entering the milk carton stage, and that
includes Detroit, where Darko Milicic spends most of his games on the bench.
Instead, the 7-foot Serb's refined skills only come out during practice, where
not even Pistons fans can get a look at what all of that pre-draft excitement
was about.

     Silly rumors rule the roost at a time like this.

     ``I was listening to some show, and this guy just came out and said that
Darko was in the dog house,'' said Detroit coach Larry Brown, who then started
laughing so hard, his shoulders shook.

     One can only hope that Brown isn't overdosing on sports talk radio -
Detroit features two such stations - because the coach might be tempted to rip
his radio out of the dashboard.

     ``Where's Darko?'' has been a common theme on the airwaves - right up
there with the pitiful state of the Lions and God bless the Red Wings.

     And Dick Vitale's zenophobic draft night prediction about the Pistons
regretting they didn't take the ready-to-go Anthony at No. 2 will only gain
steam so long as evidence isn't presented on the Milicic side.

     Well, for one thing, the impressive development of Tayshaun Prince
lessened the Pistons' need for another high-scoring small forward.

     And for another, Milicic hasn't been stinking up The Palace during
practice.

     But what stands ahead of him in the rotation is what counts right now.
Power forward deluxe Ben Wallace isn't going anywhere, and center Eldon
Campbell wasn't brought in to sit. Backup center Mehmet Okur - if Istanbul
counts as Europe, then the Pistons may have the best two Euro big men on the
planet - has the makings of an offensively-polished starter himself.

     So Milicic has an enviable amount of time and room to get better. He also
plays for a coach who doesn't give a lot of rope to rookies.

     ``He could eventually be our fourth (big) man this season,'' Brown said.
``He's getting better every day, and he's going to get his chance. But it will
have to be a situation where he's ready and comfortable.''

     The big guy certainly looked fluid and capable as he ran through some
pre-game drills with a Pistons assistant recently.

     Danny Ainge, relaxing in a front row seat as he watched the big guy
follow up a reverse lay-up with a medium range jumper, didn't really have to
be convinced.

     But he was, anyway.

     Asked where he would play the flexible 7-footer, Ainge said, ``Anywhere
up front. Look at the skills this guy has, and those long arms. Look at the
way he moves. He's going to be a good one.''

     Common wisdom, prior to the draft, went along with Ainge's thinking -
that Milicic was athletic enough to play all three frontcourt positions.

     Some even suggested that Milicic, because of his combination of size and
skill, would ultimately have more league-wide impact than King James himself.

     Just not in the publicity department.

     ``He should be a senior in high school,'' said Brown. ``He doesn't turn
18 until June 21. LeBron and Carmelo knew where they were going when they got
into this.

     ``(Milicic) is just going to need time. I also coached both Tim Thomas
and Larry Hughes, but Darko is definitely the youngest pro that I've coached.
He's just trying to figure it all out.''

     And by the way, forget all of that talk about Darko the point forward, or
Darko the jack of all positions and master of none.

     ``He's 7-0,'' Brown said, as if Milicic's size should end the debate. ``I
have to give him one position and let him take to it. But he is eventually
going to be a center, and a center only.''

     Someone to lean on

     Marcus Banks [news]' growing pains will be shared by his fans. Of that
there is no doubt for the rookie Celtics point guard.

     But in the form of people like Paul Pierce [news] and even Vin Baker, the
rook has a safety net.

     That gives Banks an edge over a lot of rookie playmakers who are handed
the ball and the world at the same time.

     Before Mike Bibby took his place among the league's elite score-and-dish
men, he was an uncertain kid with the sad fortunes of the Vancouver Grizzlies
in his hands.

     Where Banks has older teammates to tap on the shoulder, Bibby had
himself.

     ``I was thrown in the fire, as they say,'' said Sacramento's quarterback.
``I had to learn by making mistakes. Nobody was there to help me - no older
guys.

     ``I mean, this was Vancouver, where Shareef (Abdur Rahim) and Country
(Bryant Reeves) were the only vets, and even they were only like two years
older than me,'' said Bibby. ``What I came to rely on is that I've been doing
it this way my whole life. That's worked for me every step of the way.

     ``But it's going to be tough for (Banks). It's probably the toughest
position on the floor to play, especially for a rookie.''

     By now, Banks has faced every form of full-court and halfcourt pressure
imaginable.

     ``They're going to throw a lot of different things at you,'' said Bibby.
``The first game I ever played, I was bringing the ball up and Rasheed Wallace
and (Scottie) Pippen trapped me. I think I scored three points in that game. I
just didn't play very well.

     ``But what keeps you going is the knowledge that you're going to get
better,'' he said. ``That's what got me through. I got older, and I got more
confidence. The main thing is the confidence.''

     Heat in a little trouble

     Just what, exactly, did Pat Riley know before giving up his team a few
days before the start of the regular season?

     A lot more than anyone else, obviously. Consider what Houston's Jeff Van
Gundy had to say about the Heat after handing them, and his older brother Stan
Van Gundy, Miami's seventh straight loss in Houston Wednesday night.

     ``I've said it many times - (Riley is) the best coach in NBA history, and
he got that team to overachieve for 25 wins last year,'' the Rockets coach
said.

     He went well beyond the obligations of brotherhood in attempting to
deflect heat from his older brother - saddled with one of the most thankless
first-time NBA coaching jobs in memory.

     ``I think you could assemble a staff of Red Auerbach, Red Holtzman and
Phil Jackson, and you could talk all you want, but that's a small (Heat)
team,'' said Jeff. ``If they don't get some size or improve their shooting,
it's going to be tough for them.''

     Back home a night later, the Heat beat Cleveland for their first win of
the season. The moment was so moving, former Celtic Bimbo Coles coaxed the
ball away from an NBA referee, and the team promptly presented Stan with the
game ball.

     Maybe they can overachieve again, but the task is going to be rough. Of
all the tags that can be pinned on a team, ``too small and can't shoot'' are
probably the worst two of all.

     Murray a surprise

     Unlike most young stars who flash across the NBA horizon at this time of
the season, you won't find much on the background of Ronald Murray, a
second-year Sonics guard.

     He's seventh in the league in scoring with a 23.8 average, and has
literally popped onto the scene out of nowhere.

     Murray, drafted by Milwaukee in the second round of the 2002 draft out of
little known Shaw College (N.C.), was an aside in the trade that sent Ray
Allen, Kevin Ollie and a conditional first-round pick to Seattle for Gary
Payton and Desmond Mason last year.

     As much as Sonics coach Nate McMillan must have cursed fate when Allen
went down with a knee injury, little did anyone realize what the unknown
throw-in would produce over the first three weeks of the season.

     With Allen hurt and Ollie now playing backup point guard for the
Cavaliers, Murray has supplied perhaps the most unexpected bonus of the early
season.

     Not bad for a guy with three colleges on his resume - Shaw (two years),
Philadelphia Community College, where he didn't play, and Meridian Community
College.

     Calls go unanswered

     Ah, the plight of star players. Even Paul Pierce, who went through a
lengthy stretch of absorbing hacks last season before the refs started
rewarding him with trips to the free throw line, could identify with the
latest cry in the wilderness from one Jermaine O'Neal.

     ``Do I need to make five or six more All-Star Games, win an Olympic gold,
and continue to make all-NBA teams for me to get some respect in the paint?''
the Pacers center lamented last week.
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx