MINNEAPOLIS — He's too much of a presence to be a non-entity, and as much as he'd like to fade into the background, Darko Milicic cannot.
After eight years in the NBA, he should know that. He should realize that at 7-feet and 275 pounds, he stands out on the court. Even though he's surrounded in the middle of the action, everyone can still see him.
This season, though, there hasn't been much to see from Milicic. His scoring is down from last season, from 8.8 to 5.9 points per game, and so are his minutes. He's seemed lost at times —in four games, he's played without scoring a point — but has still started each of the Timberwolves' 18 games this season. His team needs him as its big man inside, and Milicic must find a solution to his issues on offense.
What he has so far is only an explanation, though, a way to rationalize his struggles.
"I'm just a defensive guy, a defensive player," Milicic said. "That's what I do."
Coach Rick Adelman disagreed with his center's black-and-white opinion. He said that the team's heavy reliance on pick-and-rolls obviously makes Milicic's role in the Timberwolves' offense a little more difficult to negotiate, but that there are still opportunities to contribute.
"One of our biggest things we do is we tell our first guy down the court to run the court and get post-up position," Adelman said. "If you get the ball, score."
But hesitation has plagued Milicic's offense this season. Instead of taking an easy dunk, he'll try a finger roll, often to little success. That's as frustrating for fans as it is for Adelman, who said that anyone on his team who can make a dunk, should.
At times, the center has seemed mired in his slump, and timing has not been on his side recently. Last Friday in Los Angeles he had 22 points against the Clippers, his most since Jan. 17, 2010, but then suffered a hip injury on Saturday. On Wednesday against Dallas, though, he tied his career-high of seven blocks and finished with a serviceable eight points.
Despite the injury, having a night like Milicic's on Friday should be a kind of affirmation, a means of jump-starting offensive production. Adelman said he hopes that's the case with Milicic and that Friday's performance was encouraging.
"It certainly helps us," Adelman said. "Hopefully he'll take advantage of that. He was very aggressive getting the ball and trying to score. He's got to do that for us. If he can do that, it really helps us. It gives us a presence inside."
A closer examination of Milicic's stat lines shows a habit of inconsistency. The points-per-game column is dotted with zeros, and it has been for years. That's hardly what any player wants to be known for, but Milicic says he's at times been the victim of changing systems, forced to adapt to others rather than have them adjust to him.
"It's not really right now for me to talk about what I would like to do, what I feel comfortable doing," Milicic said.
And though that might sound passive or resigned, it also shows Milicic's willingness to go with whatever coaches think it best for his team. He knows that with dynamic point guard play, pick-and-rolls are a logical backbone of his team's offense. He knows that's why his touches are down this year, and at least the knowledge that some of his struggles are a result of an outside force must be heartening to Milicic.
"There's less opportunities because of things we have changed, but we still would like to see him get the ball inside and try to be effective, to go for his opportunities," Adelman said. "But we certainly want him to be a factor at the defensive end."
A month into the season, the Timberwolves' offensive identity has somewhat stabilized, even if injuries have forced a certain fluidity into the starting lineup. But with every practice and game, Milicic's role is becoming clearer, and he must strive to find a balance between the defense he feels so comfortable with and the offense that's at times eluded him.
So as unexpected as last Friday's 22 points were, Wednesday's performance should be more of what Adelman would like to see from Milicic. He flourished on defense, in an area where he's obviously confident, and was able to do his part on offense. A few more nights like that, and Milicic, who described his role on the Timberwolves as "whatever," might feel like he has a more integral place on this team.
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