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**DetBNyce** · 12-01-2003, 07:23 AM

Behind-the-scenes progress by Milicic impresses Pistons

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Part of the article:

Quote:

The results have been unmistakable. His is a long way from Wallace's chiseled physique, but Milicic's chest is thicker and his arms are much more cut and defined than they were.

He weighed 246 pounds when he first came to the Pistons. He now weighs 263. He came in with 7 percent body fat. That is now down to 5 percent.

"He had a 24-inch vertical leap, which for a 7-footer wasn't bad," Kander said. "But he was always a single-footed jumper. If you looked at the tapes, every jump was off one foot. In the NBA, as a big guy, you can't be a one-foot jumper. There is a lot of two-feet, repetitive jumping. And he had to learn to do that."

Kander said Milicic would be good on his first jump, but then fall off dramatically on each successive jumps. He would hit 24 inches on his first jump, then 23, then 17 and down.

Now, Kander said, his first jump is 30 inches and he is able to keep his second and third jumps at 26-27 inches.

"He's gotten so much better," Kander said.

The one problem area that remains is his aerobic conditioning. Despite all his work, he still struggles to play at an NBA pace for longer than three- or four-minute stretches.

The article mostly talks about his improvements and his work ethic.

The part that really impresses me is him being 263 lbs. with only 5% body fat. He will more than likely get bigger and therefore I see no way that he is going to be able to play the 3.

pistons=darko · 12-01-2003, 08:29 AM

the kids gonna be a beast! when he gets to play

**DetBNyce** · 12-02-2003, 09:06 AM

Quote:

I think he does, at times, get frustated at the fact that he's not playing. But he understands why ... he's just not ready. The added weight is very noticeable, as well as the added definition. Larry loves the kid because he's already showing a willingness to get better. Even though he's not appearing in games, his work ethic is really impressive. I just left the Pistons locker room five minutes ago. Guess what Darko was doing? a bunch of stomach-crunches, followed by a bunch of push-ups. And that was after he spent about an hour working with the coaching staff and his teammates doing some one-on-one stuff. ... this kid is going to be a good player in this league because he has a wonderful work ethic. Will he be a great player? I don't know about that. But in time, he will be a very good one

That's his response to this question:

The two articles I've read recently about Darko (one in the Washingon Post; the other in DetNews) have similar information, but different angles. One gives the impression that Darko is frustrated, lonely, and not in the good graces of the coaching staff. The other indicates that he is frustrated and lonely, but improving and making a nice impression on Brown and the staff. Based on your observations, how would you say Darko is doing? Is his weight really up? Is Brown pleased with him? How is the kid holding up?

**Austin Kent** · 12-02-2003, 07:42 PM

I'm having a tought time cheering for Kobe and Ben more then Darko. I think Darko is my favourite player now then Ben and Kobe in second.The funny thing is I am just going on what I have heard. In like the 5 games I have seen Darko hasn't been in!

**DetBNyce** · 12-02-2003, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by <b>KABI</b>!
I'm having a tought time cheering for Kobe and Ben more then Darko. I think Darko is my favourite player now then Ben and Kobe in second.The funny thing is I am just going on what I have heard. In like the 5 games I have seen Darko hasn't been in!

That sucks, but to tell you the truth you haven't missed much. You'd probaly be dissapointed in what you've seen so far. Except for maybe the Kings game, he looked great in the couple of minutes he got in that game.

PyroManiac · 12-02-2003, 08:33 PM

Yeah, the Kings game was his best showing by far. But he hasn't played for more than 3 min in a game after that game. So we only see like 30 seconds of him.

But I know what you mean, he is probably my favorite player too.

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