Comments on: The Other Other New Guy

By: Crow

Crow — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:28:41 +0000

I like Dice and am particularly interested in how Pop uses him and TD on defense when together. That is who guards the center or power forward regularly, or the tougher guy, or the really big guy or the faster than normal guy.

By: Derek

Derek — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:07:22 +0000

I’m a lifelong Piston fan and McDyess was one of my favorite players to come through the Piston organization. The guy is one of the classiest players in the league and I hope he get’s his ring with the Spurs (an organization I’ve always respected). For those of you who haven’t followed him much you will be pleasantly surprised, he’s far more skilled than you expect and he always works hard. When last season slipped away he was the only Piston that you knew would come to play every night. Great signing for the Spurs!

By: Tim in Surrey

Tim in Surrey — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:54:45 +0000

I’m pretty charged up about Antonio McDyess myself. I’ve been an admirer of his going all the way back to his two years at Alabama. (I’m a Vanderbilt grad, and unfortunately we knew all about him. I’m still trying to figure out how Arkansas won the SEC when Alabama had a frontcourt of McDyess, Jason Caffey, and Roy Rogers.) Antonio was an amazing talent back then, pretty comparable to Shaun Kemp IMHO. But he always showed a lot of leadership and poise and made big contributions off the court, too.

Antonio’s not young anymore and his spectacular athleticism hasn’t been seen since about 2001. But he’s a helluva player and just an extraordinary man. Nobody really talks about it that much but he missed or was severely hobbled for about four years because of a ruptured patella tendon–one of the worst injuries a basketball player can suffer. It’s difficult to think of players who have come back from such a devastating injury to play so well and for so long. Certainly there are a few who have come back from equal or worse injuries (Walton, Bernard King, Grant Hill, Randy Livingston, and more recently Shawn Livingston). But over the last five years since recovering, McDyess has averaged 76 games per year with decent minutes (24.7 per game) and excellent numbers per 40 minutes: 14.1 pts, 11.4 reb, 1.7 ast, 1.1 stl, 1.1 blk, 1.6 to, 50.9 FG%, 64.3 FT%. That’s a lot of production for someone on a knee that has been rebuilt twice, especially when you add the Pistons’ deep playoff runs and consider how many other options they had to go to. The only really comparable player I can remember is Arvydas Sabonis, who ruptured an achilles tendon, which is an equally devastating injury, before he ever played in the NBA. (I was also fortunate enough to see Sabonis with the Soviet national team in 1982, when he was a teenager–he was absolutely amazing.) McDyess was a special athlete who lost that special quality and had to adapt to by being smart, strong, and hard working. To do that, to come back TWICE from such an injury, settle for playing with much less talent, and to play with such dedication shows a lot of character. And all this without complaint or drama. While I certainly think that Rasheed Wallace would have been a nice addition, I think that McDyess is at least his equal on-court. And off-court? What a man. Forget what Antonio can teach DeJuan and everyone else about basketball. They should try and find out what he can teach them about life.

Just my $.02…

By: Robby

Robby — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:38:18 +0000

McDyess is a great pick up and unpopular it may seem, I’m glad that we get him instead of Rasheed. just my thoughts…

By: Will

Will — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:57:17 +0000

What I find the most interesting is the quote from McDyess saying he tried to come to the Spurs before but was turned down… I wonder whether it was because of money, or because the Spurs had somebody else in mind (such as KT). If it’s not the money I don’t really understand why the Spurs didn’t ask him to come earlier, since it’s not like the Spurs have been known for their big men in the post-Robinson era (except Duncan of course).

By: Alain

Alain — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:28:45 +0000

Imagine being Dejuan Blair…
A rookie coming in the NBA, you land with the Spurs, and get the opportunity to learn with McDyess, Duncan, Pop… could you have it any better ?
Let’s get it on with the season !

By: Bushka

Bushka — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:19:43 +0000

I just got such a chuckle from reading that last refrain. There is going to be some crazy defensive rebounding and low opponent fg numbers.

My wife wanted to know what the hell I was reading on my iPhone that had made me “giggle like a school girl”.

Go go go San Antonio mcdyess

By: lvmainman

lvmainman — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:11:57 +0000

McDyess great pickup for the Bynum/Gasol, Howard/Gortat, Shaq/Z, Garnett/Perkins, Martin/Nene, Oden/Aldridge tandems that the Spurs will face in pursuit of a championship. Every championship Duncan had a tag-team partner, Robinson and Nestorovic. At least Duncan won’t be on his own this year with a steady McDyess along side.

By: mikrobass

mikrobass — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:11:10 +0000

i seem to remember a game 7 of the 2005 nba championships when duncan took over and won the finals…i also recall that mcdyess left in the second half of that game and was replaced by r. wallace. i cheered at that moment. i always hated mcdyess playing against the spurs…i’m glad to see him in a spurs uniform.

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:43:45 +0000

I hoped that the Spurs would acquire Sheed, simply because I did not expect the Pistons to give up Dice that easily (he seemed to be quite loyal to the Pistons franchise, too). That said, it’s surprising that he did not create any sort of buzz during the off-season what so ever, given that McDyess may (arguably) be Duncan’s best front-court partner since Robinson’s retirement.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:35:42 +0000

NL,

I wished he had come here before he had hurt his knee severly. Think of how scary good that might have been

By: SpursfanSteve

SpursfanSteve — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:07:57 +0000

I’m excited about Mcdyess as well. I think his contributions both on and off the court will be huge. Can you imagine him mentoring Blair? Or what their combined rebounding % will be? Thats astronomical.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:55:35 +0000

As a Pistons fan, I can assure you that Antonio McDyess was a far better signing than Rasheed Wallace. Truly a class act, and should be a perfect complement to your stars. If his playing time is limited to 24-25 minutes per game, you will be delighted with the results.

By: SAJKinBigD

SAJKinBigD — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:35:46 +0000

Love Dice! He’s a perfect fit for this team! Wow! I think this season will be a great one, coming down to the wire with LA! Will it be Chemistry over Talent for the West? Sure hope so! And that’s not saying our guys don’t have talent, but stacked against the Lakers, we fall a little short in that department if everything goes smoothly for both teams. I think Spurs can do it, though! GO SPURS GO!
Can we get to the season already?

And how did I miss Gist agreeing to go overseas another season? SA-WEET!

By: NL

NL — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:35:08 +0000

I’ll admit, I was pretty bummed when we didn’t land Rasheed Wallace. He was one of my top three players not in a Spurs uniform. But I do love the McDyess. What a hard-nosed player and a class individual. Perfect fit – I wish he would’ve come here earlier.