Yesterday I discussed some interesting quotes from Joe Dumars’ press conference that were posted on Pistons.com, but missing from that partial transcriptIn an ideal world, the team could make available a full transcript of the entire press conference, or better yet, actual streaming video. were his comments on Darko Milicic, which I didn’t discover until reading Drew Sharp’s column in today’s Free Press:
It wasn’t long Monday before the Darko Milicic disaster was broached, and Dumars was asked if the clarity of hindsight gave him a different perspective. He knows that he blew it.
“Absolutely,” he said. “As I’ve said before, the pick ended up being a mistake for the Pistons. It didn’t work out, and I’m accountable for that. But I won’t split hairs over it. After I made the pick, (we) won a championship, went to Game 7 of the Finals and came back and got the best record in the league. Want to split hairs that somebody else could have helped us more during that same period of time, and I’ll give you the same answer. Maybe so.”
Dumars isn’t saying anything that Pistons fans don’t already realize, but I think it’s noteworthy because it’s really the first time I’ve heard him express those sentiments so clearly.
I could go on for hours (and I have in the past) debating this pick, so I’m going to keep this quick: I’ll never hold the decision against Dumars, because I’m convinced Detroit couldn’t have won a championship had they drafted Carmelo Anthony, who was the only other legitimate option for the No. 2 pick. Tayshaun Prince’s defense was invaluable to the 2004 playoff run, and he wouldn’t have had a chance to continue his development were he coming off the bench behind Anthony. As much as hindsight makes us wistfully look at Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade and think about what things could be like now, I doubt this team could have made the Finals the past two years, let alone win one, with a different core.
Joe D knows Pistons must regain hunger [Detroit Free Press]
It certainly seems like we blew it with Darko, but I’d put the blame more on Larry Brown than Dumars. Brown squandered Darko and by the time Saunders was part of the picture, it was too late. When he did get minutes, he was lethargic and half-hearted, at least in my opinion. A fresh start was what he wanted and he got it in Orlando.
Every year teams make mistakes in the NBA Draft. Darko was a little more in the limelight because Detroit had a great team that made it to 2 Finals with Darko riding the pine as 12th man.
I don’t regret Dumars picking Darko. He’s a young player, he has size and length that most teams covet. Of course he’s immature, but I’d rather take my chances on a guy like him that is still young and can be taught over a guy who was a freshman in college coming off of the NCAA Championship and acted like he deserved to go #2 to Detroit. Tayshaun will always be better than Carmelo, he shoots a higher percentage and busts his ass on defense.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to see Bosh in a Pistons’ uniform, but had we have picked Bosh would we have Sheed or even be TALKING about re-signing Ben right now? Probably not…because it will be time to re-sign Bosh now too.
The whole Darko debate is pretty silly. Every team in the NBA would have either taken Darko or Carmelo with that pick, so that makes any conversation of Wade, Bosh, or any other player completely moot. Carmelo would have stunted Prince’s growth so at best it would’ve been a wash having him here, the Pistons would be in no better shape then they are today.