Hard-luck Darko

DETROIT — Darko Milicic played only the last two minutes of Game 5 in the recent National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals and regretted coming off the bench in the token appearance. He walked off the Palace court with a pained look in his face while his teammates celebrated the Detroit Pistons’ first title in 14 years.

The hard-luck Milicic, who turns 19 today, broke his right hand driving to the hoop. He was hacked by Luke Walton. Milicic underwent surgery to repair the fracture the day after and will be out of commission from four to six weeks.

Milicic is a southpaw so the damage wasn’t in his shooting hand. As screws had to be implanted in his wrist, it is unlikely he will be able to try out for the Serbia and Montenegro team playing in the Athens Olympics in August.

The 7-foot, 245-pound teenager was the second overall pick in last year’s draft, behind only LeBron James. The Pistons could’ve tapped Carmelo Anthony instead but chose the center–who wears dyed blond hair–because coach Larry Brown felt Tayshaun Prince was a fixture at the three-spot.

Milicic turned out to be a dud. In the regular season, he averaged 1.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 4.7 minutes in 34 games. He was surprisingly placed on the Pistons playoff roster but saw action in only three postseason outings, two in the Finals. Milicic failed to score a single point in the playoffs.

Before the Finals started, Pistons reserve center Mehmet Okur confided that Brown would use a platoon of defenders to alternate on Shaquille O’Neal and Milicic was in the batting order. Milicic, however, dismissed Okur’s comments and said, "he’s lying."

Obviously, Milicic was not happy with the way he was played sparingly. Being the league’s second overall draft pick, Milicic wasn’t supposed to warm the bench. But he did.

Still, Milicic said he learned a lot of lessons in his first year in the league, playing behind Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Corliss Williamson and Okur. He would’ve preferred to play more minutes but there is always next season.

Detroit assistant coach and international scout Tony Ronzone said Brown hasn’t given upon Milicic. "The kid’s got talent," said Ronzone. "I expect him to play major minutes next year then we’ll see his real worth."

Brett Forrest of ESPN The Magazine said the Pistons liked Milicic because "seven-footers who can play like either a guard or power forward don’t come along every day." Scout Will Robinson said: "Darko reminds me of a young Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt used to do a little of everything and I haven’t seen a big man with so much skill since Wilt."

Milicic had hoped to join the tryouts for Serbia and Montenegro, the reigning world champion.

"I want to represent my country," said Milicic. "That would be a great feeling. I didn’t have any playing time this year. I need some playing time. I need to play this summer. This is going to be a big summer for me."

Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars encouraged Milicic to try out for the Olympic team. "I think it’d be great for him," said Dumars. "Because he’ll be with Peja (Stojakovic) and all these NBA guys who are Serbians and they’ve all had to make that transition he’s trying to make. None of them came over and tore it up right away. Not Stojakovich, not any of them. I think that experience would be great for him. It would be a positive environment for him to be in all summer."

To prove the Pistons’ confidence in Milicic, Dumars hired Igor Kokoskov of Belgrade as assistant coach to assist in his transition this past season. Kokoskov is in the record books as the youngest coach in Yugoslavian basketball history. He took over the reins of the Belgrade club at 24 in 1995. Kokoskov was a Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach for three years before joining the Pistons.

Milicic was recruited to play club basketball at 13. His father is a policeman and his 6-3 mother, a cleaning lady.

I asked Milicic if he knew Serbian teener Marko Batricevic who’s playing for La Salle Green Hills as a senior in the NCAA juniors this season. I also asked if he knew the other Serbians who flew in to check out the Philippines last year–physical education teacher Bojan Milosovic, Buksan Gagovic and Zeljko Radic.

Milicic said Gagovic was a teammate in the Serbian club Hemofarm Vrsac. He didn’t know the others but offered advice to Batricevic, the only Serbian who decided to stay.

"I hope he does well in the Philippines," said Milicic. "I know the Philippines has a good basketball program. My advice is for him to work hard at practice and play with discipline. I made it to the NBA Finals at 18. It was like a dream come true. If you set a goal and work hard to achieve it, you will do it. I hope Marko gets inspiration from the Pistons."

During the Finals, Milicic’s earlobes were taped with band-aid. His lobes became infected after they were pierced for earrings.

The hard-luck kid’s only consolation was he earned a championship ring just like his Piston teammates. But he would’ve preferred to show he deserved it.

Now, it seems his Olympic dream has turned into a nightmare.