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Brian Hill has zero belief in Darko
Topic Started: Feb 23 2006, 11:44 PM (1,013 Views)
DarkoWatcher
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Hi everyone.

I listened to Brian Hill's show on the Team 740 earlier tonight, and I came away completely convinced that Hill has zero faith in Darko and would never play him if given the choice.

A number of callers asked about why Hill didn't play Darko last night, and he gave a bunch of flimsy reasons. He more or less stated that his first priority as a head coach is to win games, and his second is to develop players, which is a bit silly given that Orlando is all but eliminated from the playoff hunt.

He also kept clinging to the message that Darko has not yet learned the system, and talked about upcoming practices. What was interesting was that he listed practices up to Saturday, and all but glossed over Friday night's game, which seemed to be a hint not to expect many minutes for Darko.

The fact that Arroyo received some playing time was another excuse for Hill not to play Darko... he stated that he could not put in two players unfamiliar with the Magic system into the same game. He didn't seem to realize that their minutes could have been staggered in such a way that both Darko and Arroyo would not be on the court at the same time.

After a few callers, Hill said that he was quite surprised by all of the questions about Darko. He stated that it seemed everyone was expecting Darko to receive 30 to 35 minutes a game. Hill said that Darko's minutes would increase gradually and that that kind of playing time would be possible by the end of the season if DM earned his way into them. From Hill's tone of voice, it sounded like that was a very remote possibility.

What was weird was that he kept stating that Darko had never really played in the NBA to this point. To me, this would seem like all the more reason to put him in and see what he could do, but somehow Brian Hill thought that this was justification for keeping him out of the game.

At the very end of the show, the Team host jokingly told Hill to give Darko some minutes and he gave a forced-sounding reply to the effect of "I will. I promise".

Why is it so difficult for these jerky coaches to just put Milicic in for a few minutes a game??
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NYCMagicFan
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DarkoWatcher
Feb. 23 2006 10:44 PM
Why is it so difficult for these jerky coaches to just put Milicic in for a few minutes a game??

Brian Hill obviously has his reasons. Even though our season is over, he cant just go out there and say "the hell with winning, let me see what Darko can do". Everybody is complaining about how Hill is not putting in Darko. Well he obviously has his reasons and he IS the Head Coach, he is seeing Darko in practice and I think he knows better than us what to do, so I am fine with whatever Hill decides.

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Black and Blue
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At least Hill gets now how much we want to see Darko.

Great post. Everyone is wondering what Hill's deal is and this brought us some clues in the puzzle. I REALLY didnt like that whole part about him having to earn his minutes. Arroyo has more experience, yes, but Darko HAS played (albeit garbage time) in the NBA.

Friday night should be interesting to watch!

...After being such a big fan of his work with our team in the past and persent, Brian Hill pissed me off reading this. He better realize he will take more heat NOT playing Darko than playing him and losing!!!
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Black and Blue
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NYC, I agree that Hill is the coach, and he is seeing him a lot in practice, but he also needs to realize what is ultimately better for the organization, and right now it is developing our young talent over wins.

I will bet that Otis tells Brian Hill this himself.
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NYCMagicFan
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If Hill believes Darkos not ready, why throw him out there just for the sake of it and possibly getting embarassed and possibly losing confidence. Thats the worst thing that could happen to a young player and would ruin his development.

But I also agree it shouldnt take too long for Hill to get Darko on the floor. So see how long it takes
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magiclive
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theres no problem in trying to win games, but he should be doing it with the young players, not with stacey augmon.
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DarkoWatcher
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Black and Blue
Feb. 23 2006 10:55 PM

...After being such a big fan of his work with our team in the past and persent, Brian Hill pissed me off reading this. He better realize he will take more heat NOT playing Darko than playing him and losing!!!

Well, keep in mind that my post is partially the result of me reading between the lines. It's possible that someone else listening to the same broadcast would have come away with a different feeling about it. Did anyone else catch it? It was the Brian Hill Show, on from 6pm to 7pm Eastern time earlier tonight.
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MAGICMANEVAN
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NYCMagicFan
Feb. 23 2006 10:54 PM
Brian Hill obviously has his reasons. Even though our season is over, he cant just go out there and say "the hell with winning, let me see what Darko can do". Everybody is complaining about how Hill is not putting in Darko. Well he obviously has his reasons and he IS the Head Coach, he is seeing Darko in practice and I think he knows better than us what to do, so I am fine with whatever Hill decides.

exactly.

if hill just said "hell with it, screw this season, lets start darko, ariza, arroyo, kasun, and diener" then he would be fired so fast. come on think logically. he has to plan and get the players ready for next season.
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TheFalcon
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I think he must have had his reasons for not putting Darko in... I really hope Otis doesnt tell him who to play and who not to play, cause i think all that will do is create dissent between coaches and management, and thats never good. Weve only had Darko for two games... lets give Hill a fair chance and see what he does with Darko. He may be afraid of jsut throwing him out there, watching him get pushed around, and then having him (as well as the team) lose confidence in his abilities. Itll be interesting to see what happens on Friday...
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Solid Snake
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The GMs wont let him not play Darko. They traded for him for a reason. Hill might not want to throw him into the fire like us fans want him to do, but I bet Otis will tell him how it is going to be.
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MAGICMANEVAN
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TheFalcon
Feb. 23 2006 11:30 PM
I think he must have had his reasons for not putting Darko in... I really hope Otis doesnt tell him who to play and who not to play, cause i think all that will do is create dissent between coaches and management, and thats never good. Weve only had Darko for two games... lets give Hill a fair chance and see what he does with Darko. He may be afraid of jsut throwing him out there, watching him get pushed around, and then having him (as well as the team) lose confidence in his abilities. Itll be interesting to see what happens on Friday...

well from what ive been reading, this is why he didnt put darko in:

from realgm magic board
Quote:
 
Darko did not play to showcase players for other teams in deals that may or may not have gone through - we wont really know for sure unless nothing has been reported by tomorrow. Darko will get more minutes now the deadline is over.
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gomagic33
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It would be interesting to see what happens in Friday.

Not letting him get some PT, may do worst to his confidence than BHill being overly protective by not allowing him to learn by throwing him in the game. It has happened in Detroit and it did not turn out so well.


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MAGICmanSAM
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DarkoWatcher, i see you're pretty new around here so welcome to the boards.

Also, if you don't know Brian Hill, he is hard to understand sometimes when we first hear him. Coach Hill usually speaks in a tone that people think he's not excited...heck, he spoke in that same tone when Shaq and Penny were here and we were competing for a championship.

So, don't take it personally. Maybe Hill is a lot more excited about Milicic than most people think. Just give him time. He's a smart coach that loves to work with young talent.
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DarkoWatcher
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MAGICmanSAM
Feb. 24 2006 12:48 AM
DarkoWatcher, i see you're pretty new around here so welcome to the boards.

Also, if you don't know Brian Hill, he is hard to understand sometimes when we first hear him. Coach Hill usually speaks in a tone that people think he's not excited...heck, he spoke in that same tone when Shaq and Penny were here and we were competing for a championship.

So, don't take it personally. Maybe Hill is a lot more excited about Milicic than most people think. Just give him time. He's a smart coach that loves to work with young talent.

MAGICman, that's for the nice welcome.

I hope you are right about Hill just sounding like he has a negative tone, but I dunno. He just doesn't sound ready to give Darko decent minutes any time soon. Anyway, we'll see how much playing time he gets in upcoming games, beginning with his home debut tonight!
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Black and Blue
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I agree with you guys that Darko was probably benched in favor of shopping players. I also agree that Brian Hill definitely had his reasons for not playing Darko.
That said,
If Darko doesnt get PT tonight there is a definitely problem we are not aware of, and if he gets PT tonight then all is well in the magic kingdom.

Important game tonight for several reasons OTHER than trying to win :)
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