Bad news for Darko, Hill wants to continue starting Battie(Denton blog)

[ball junkie 277]

quote:

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 2:40 pm Post subject: BATTIE TO START AT POWER FORWARD ON SATURDAY

 

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Magic coach Brian Hill said Friday that veteran Tony Battie will start at power forward Saturday against Sacramento, replacing Darko Milicic.

 

Battie returned Wednesday after missing 16 games with a chipped bone in his right thumb. And as fate would have it, he was needed to start when Milicic was bothered by a sciatic nerve problem in his lower back and leg.

The Magic played so well in Wednesday's 101-90 defeat of Utah that Hill doesn't want to change a thing. That's why Battie will continue to start ahead of Milicic.

 

The injury and the quasi-demotion can't be good news for Milicic who is fighting to impress the Magic and other teams before he becomes a restricted free agent this summer. He is in line for a major pay increase, but his value is still very much up in the air because of his youth (21 years old) and the inconsistent nature of his game.

 

Milicic has played much better this season as a starter as opposed to a reserve. He's averaging 9.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.13 blocks in 16 starts compared to 7.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 49 games as a reserve. One big difference: He plays 31.4 minutes a game as a starter (largely because Battie has been out injured) and just 22.4 minutes as a reserve.

 

--- John Denton, FLA TODAY

 

 

 

I'm assuming this means Darko is healthy enough to play since it doesn't mention him being inactive again.

 

I love Darko and his obvious talent combined with his youth. I'm not trying to offend Darko's many fans on the board so please don't rip me but his contract situation scares the crap out of me.

 

I'm just leery about giving a lot of money to guys who have their heart and work ethic questioned.

 

Man, combined with Jameer's extension Otis has got plenty of work to keep him busy this summer.

 

Let's hope for the best Magic fans.

 

Oh by the way guys, you think you can get to 100 posts on this Denton blog like you did on the other(Arroyo) Denton blog? (lol)

 

 

http://forums.floridatoday.com/viewtopic.php?t=22498&si...f4ab53295d29d9d2544c

[ball junkie 277]

quote:

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 2:40 pm Post subject: BATTIE TO START AT POWER FORWARD ON SATURDAY

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Magic coach Brian Hill said Friday that veteran Tony Battie will start at power forward Saturday against Sacramento, replacing Darko Milicic.

 

Battie returned Wednesday after missing 16 games with a chipped bone in his right thumb. And as fate would have it, he was needed to start when Milicic was bothered by a sciatic nerve problem in his lower back and leg.

The Magic played so well in Wednesday's 101-90 defeat of Utah that Hill doesn't want to change a thing. That's why Battie will continue to start ahead of Milicic.

 

The injury and the quasi-demotion can't be good news for Milicic who is fighting to impress the Magic and other teams before he becomes a restricted free agent this summer. He is in line for a major pay increase, but his value is still very much up in the air because of his youth (21 years old) and the inconsistent nature of his game.

 

Milicic has played much better this season as a starter as opposed to a reserve. He's averaging 9.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.13 blocks in 16 starts compared to 7.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 49 games as a reserve. One big difference: He plays 31.4 minutes a game as a starter (largely because Battie has been out injured) and just 22.4 minutes as a reserve.

 

--- John Denton, FLA TODAY

 

 

 

I'm assuming this means Darko is healthy enough to play since it doesn't mention him being inactive again.

 

I love Darko and his obvious talent combined with his youth. I'm not trying to offend Darko's many fans on the board so please don't rip me but his contract situation scares the crap out of me.

 

I'm just leery about giving a lot of money to guys who have their heart and work ethic questioned.

 

Man, combined with Jameer's extension Otis has got plenty of work to keep him busy this summer.

 

Let's hope for the best Magic fans.

 

Oh by the way guys, you think you can get to 100 posts on this Denton blog like you did on the other(Arroyo) Denton blog? (lol)

 

 

http://forums.floridatoday.com/viewtopic.php?t=22498&si...f4ab53295d29d9d2544c

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

Why is it that every time Bhill does something intelligent, he needs to counter it with something incredibly stupid?

 

Darko is better in nearly every regard than Tony is, and played even better as a starter than he did as a reserve. Darko misses one game due to an injury(as opposed to Tony's 16), and gets yanked? Really?

Are we going to ignore the fact that the Magic played better without Battie in the lineup against Utah? I mean, if we were going to say that we were going to commit to a smaller lineup against the Kings, that'd at least show consistency.

[Undisputed4 0]

We are in a playoff run. We dont need an inconsistent player beside Dwight. Battie can knock down the elbow jumper and is a veteran. Its to late in the season to continue the Darko experiment

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

quote:

Originally posted by Undisputed4:

We are in a playoff run. We dont need an inconsistent player beside Dwight. Battie can knock down the elbow jumper and is a veteran. Its to late in the season to continue the Darko experiment

 

By that logic, we should bench most of our team. Hedo, Ghill, Dooling, Jameer, Arroyo, JJ, all inconsistent.

 

And while there are certainly games where Darko plays like(on a scale of 1-10) a 4, most games he's at least a 6.5-7, where as tony isn't much more than a 5 ever.

I'd rather have a threat other teams have to respect. And no one respects Tony on offense.

[Undisputed4 0]

He hits the mid range jumper. We cant have Darko having one of those nights in the tight race we are in now. Atleast Tony is consistent

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

quote:

Originally posted by Undisputed4:

He hits the mid range jumper. We cant have Darko having one of those nights in the tight race we are in now. Atleast Tony is consistent

 

Right, I'm merely saying that Tony would give us a consistent backup, i.e. someone to bring in when Darko is having one of said nights.

I think we may just have to agree to disagree, but I feel like Darko should be keeping the lion's share of the playing time, unless the Magic plan to not resign him, which I suppose is a possibility.

[Undisputed4 0]

The whole Darko situation has been mishandled. If he would of been given the time in the beginning we wouldnt even be having this conversation. We would know what Darko has exactly

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

quote:

Originally posted by Undisputed4:

The whole Darko situation has been mishandled. If he would of been given the time in the beginning we wouldnt even be having this conversation. We would know what Darko has exactly

 

About that, I agree completely. I've said that he should've started from the beginning of the season.

[MagicmaninMiami 0]

On a certain level you can't really blame Bhill too much. He's found his lightening in a bottle - lol - and there is no way he is going to change it until there are more losses.

[The Ghost of John Gabriel 0]

Sigh

[Robert56 0]

Unless Darko is still hurt, this is just more proof that Coach Hill is STUPID!