I like Darius but am concerned about his ability to finish around the basket. He has a big body but just cant seem to get any lift. Pretty soon everybody is going to be waiting for him on the reverse layup he uses to create space and keep the basket between him and the defender. Great hustle and court awareness but without the ability to finish can we depend on Darius in crunch time?
Darius Songaila
- Thread starter gilly420
- Start date
captain bill
All-Star
no, and that's why he's a backup and generally not on the court in the most critical situations. plus he's only in his second year
iheartBrad
All-Star
Darius's is fine...he knows his role to the team...you don't have to worry about him "screwing" anything up....last night in the first half he did miss a lot gimmes and a lot buckets normally would hit nothing but the bottom of the net...but he's not consistently like that...IMO he looked a little mechanical a little stiff out there...perhaps it was is fall from a few nights earlier...? He did round out in the 2nd half did a nice job on Dirk and was a lot more aggressive around the hoop...he drew a few fouls and made to the line...
D
DeAtHrOw
Guest
GoSACtown said:
You are joking, right?
Kev.in
Starter
Darius will probably always be a mediocre finisher around the basket. I think the main problem is his body control, sometimes he gets a little sloppy or off balance and that's when he gets in trouble. You can be a good finisher without having an awesome vertical leap. I think if Darius works on his core strength and gets better upper body muscle tone, he'll be able to finish in traffic more often.
F
Fillmoe
Guest
darius is a good shooter and occasionally attacks the basket but hes not a starter....... hes good off the bench
Bibby_Is_Clutch
Starter
GoSACtown said:
Haha... Not sure any team wouldnt want him for their bench... and believe me... he would get enough bench time wherever he went.
captain bill
All-Star
most nights darius has got a sweet midrange shot and is automatic if he's left open. he's decent under the basket and is showing signs of improvement. as he gains more experience in the league that will naturally improve. if he does gain the ability to clean up under the basket at some point, he could be a really great pf, if not just one of the more solid backups around. i've had my doubts about him and feel frustrated watching him sometimes, but ive seen that he has enough skills to hold out and wait for him to show us something big one day.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
GoSACtown said:
Not sure how that would play out. I know what you're saying about him being a system guy and I would agree that in certain systems he might not do as well -- he's limited in exactly the ways that big men traditionally should not be -- rebounding and shotblocking, and in certain systems and for certain coaches that would be a huge turnoff. But his overall skill level should keep him with a home in the NBA for a long time yet. Doubt he'll ever be anybody's consistent starter, at least anybody good, but he should something to contribute off the bench for a lot of teams over the years. Think Othella Harrington maybe.
Circa_1985_Fan
All-Star
I think that all 6-9, 6-10 guys have to work on upper body muscle development if they want to take that next step from just being good to being REAL good...Karl Malone was smaller when he came in the league, but he bulked up and got in ultimate shape, and maintained it his whole career...not comparing Darius at all to Karl, but if he ever wants to take that next step, he has to maybe get bigger and more musclular to excel more at his size.Kev.in said:
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Circa_1985_Fan said:
Well part of it too is that he's not really 6'9" and definitely not 6'10". More like a shortarmed not extraordinarily athletic 6'8", and that's part of the explanation right there. Not a guy who can consistently and easily finish above the rim, and someone who has to always be aware of longer/taller shotblockers around him.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
He can't jump and I don't see him someday jumping out of the building.
That stroke sure looks nice though!
That stroke sure looks nice though!
Rockmeister
All-Star
Would you jump out of the building?SacTownKid said:
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Rockmeister said:
No but I can't jump higher than Darius Songaila!
mindozas
G-League
i have seen d- song play since he was 18 . lithuanian under 20 national team, junior national team then wake forest. then mans national team. club game in moscow. so if somebody will comper neptune play in sacramento and anywhere else u will not recognise him as the same player. DARIUS is agreat team player ,kid know discipline,so i guess whatever rick telling him he expecting to get that from him and ithink he brings that evry night.i am tired to hear complayns he is not helping under deffens basket just look at his offensive reabounds i think to get reabound on the other end is much harder and he is bringing teamates that second chance ,and if teamates will be shooting at least 50% field g he will be having 3 more assits under his belly. and best he dose its screens for CAT, THIGHT JEANS (PS)AND BIBBY.
iam very happy to see darius on the court evry night.
hope he stay nexts season with us
iam very happy to see darius on the court evry night.
hope he stay nexts season with us
HndsmCelt
Hall of Famer
I tend to agree that Darius is a GREAt team players and have noted several times that what he does out there is so subtle you realy have to look for his play to apprecite it. He will never be a Star but his consistant hustle and good play makes him had to compleetly overlook. He does reboud, and block out, he runsthe floor and is an above average passer. Unfortunalty for him the NBA favors style. Kenny Thomas despite his hight IS a strong rounded player who gets up. I suspect that this season Darius will contenue to get good PT but will loose his start to Kenny. Fortunalty for Darius and the Kings BECEAUSE of the NBA's love for jumpers Kenny makes much better trade bait than Darius so I suspect Darius will remain a King for some time while Kenny will for the rest of his tenure be on th eblocks so to speak.mindozas said:
gilly420 said:
Depend on him for what?
He's improving almost daily. In fact, I think his defense of Dirk was stellar and much better than anyone else was able to do...
There are very few perfect players out there. Darius may have his weaknesses, and I'm sure they're being addressed, but he's a valuable player to come off the bench right now and he's not afraid to take a charge or dive for the ball. I think we can depend upon Darius to do what Darius does. I don't recall anyone tagging him as the next premiere PF in the league so I think we're gonna be fine...and so is Darius.
mindozas
G-League
Vmac said:Darius IS improving daily, Have Trust in Geoff Petrie, he tried hard to get DSong into Sacramento and i think it shows. I think darius will be a great player in the feuture, maybe even an allstar...
ALL STARRRRR???????????????? ye right. i think thats the last think for him to wish about. i am not even seeing him starting the game . i preffer seeing neptune finishing the game as he did with mavs. and maybe one day with evry SACRAMENTO player show up with that :
MAGIC RING WE ALL DREAM ABOUT
HndsmCelt
Hall of Famer
I love Darius but I honsetly think he will spend most if not all of has acareer under the radar.Vmac said:Darius IS improving daily, Have Trust in Geoff Petrie, he tried hard to get DSong into Sacramento and i think it shows. I think darius will be a great player in the feuture, maybe even an allstar...
mikebibby1034
Bench
i like him and i think we should keep him!
