Yardbarker: Antonio McDyess

Behind the Box Score, where Manu's back!

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:00:28 -0500

San Antonio 131, Toronto 124 We had no idea what to expect heading into this game. San Antonio was without Tim Duncan(notes) and Tony Parker(notes), and while it seems like a slap in the face to expect that Toronto might have a hard time downing a Spurs roster without its top two players, one also has to remember that the Raps are a team with a lot of holes and a lot of issues right now. Perhaps, someday, the Raptors will remember as much. Somehow, we got the unexpected. A fantastic game, qui...

PtR QuickCap: Manu is back, Spurs Slash Raptors 131-124, Pop Suffers Brain Aneurysm

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:07:35 -0500

ah, that's right: 131-124. Not the way we're used to the Spurs winning games, and not exactly Pop's favorite way to win. But it was inevitable, and a W is a W. And that was fun, wasn't it? About an hour before the game, the Spurs sent out word that Tim Duncan would not be playing. At that moment, the fate of tonight's boxscore was sealed. Without Tim Duncan, the Spurs had no chance of guarding Toronto's frontcourt tandem ...

Game Preview #6: Toronto Raptors @ San Antonio Spurs

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:00:24 -0500

The Maglev has left the station. You'd better get used to it, Findog. After the last 2 games went horribly awry, the Spurs need a win to tread water. Let me just say it up front: I think they'll get that win tonight. But how will it go down? That's why we watch. Join us after the jump for your preview. In the last game, we learned that the new-look Spurs are capable of playing defense, thanks in large part to the efforts of Kei...

This Year's 1st Quarter is Last Year's 3rd Quarter: Blazers-Spurs Recap

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:00:20 -0500

More photos » by Don Ryan - AP about 5 hours ago: Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy, right, drives past San Antonio Spurs guard Keith Bogans during the first half of their NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Don Ryan) Browse more photos » Another night, another loss. The man on the left killed us. As did the oldest man in the NBA, who ironically i...

PtR Quick Cap: Blazers Thump Spurs 96-84

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:51:31 -0500

The Spurs dug themselves out of a 17 point third quarter hole to pull within 3 with 5:30 to go. They couldn't get any closer though as Portland scored 21 points from there on out. Box Score. The good thing that came out of this loss was that for a stretch the Spurs discovered their defense. Down 64-47 with 6:20 to go in the third, the Spurs finally started playing basketball with some intensity. Even desperation. Over the next 13+ minutes, the Bla...

Spurs @ Jazz: Stat of the Game: 7

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:10:13 -0500

Last night featured an abysmal performance by our San Antonio Spurs. I watched the entire game in disbelief. I kept thinking, "There is no way the Spurs will play this poorly for 48 minutes;" but obviously, they did. There were many stats that I could have highlighted that would have helped to explain just what happened, but none were so impactful as the 7 three pointers that Utah took. 6 of those came when the game was already decided. They only co...

Blazers, Spurs Pre-Thoughts

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:49:41 -0500

After all the talk of the Spurs’ new additions — Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, DeJuan Blair — it’s important to remember that they haven’t transformed them into some juggernaut. The Spurs have been very good for a long time. They are still very good. The offseason moves haven’t as much made them much better as [...]

Preview: Orlando Magic @ Detroit Pistons

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:26:36 -0500

Tonight, the Magic will face off with their arch-nemesis, the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons have given the Magic fits over the years, eliminating them from the playoffs in 2003, 2007 and 2008 and sweeping the Magic last season. But this is not the Same Pistons team. Gone are Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace. In [...]

San Antonio Spurs 2010 Season Preview

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:00:34 -0500

The Spurs 2010 season FINALLY starts on Wednesday. I say finally because I have been stoked ever since the trade for Jefferson on June 23rd. I sat and watched us snag DeJuan Blair in the draft. I read about us signing Antonio McDyess. I sat, in an uncomfortable chair I might add, and watched game after game of the Summer League in July as George Hill and Malik Hairston showed how much better they were. Then two months of boring old summer where...

This Week in San Antonio Spurs Basketball: Monday Spursvalanche

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:00:36 -0500

The goal: for these TWSS posts to be your one stop for all things Spurs-related. And since preseason is now officially over, we might stick to a format for more than a week. Feedback is always appreciated, so drop us a comment after the jump. Here we'll provide information, links and summaries for all the games the Spurs played during the week, so that no one has to miss Pop sneering at a reporter. This week: Date Game Result T...

Spurscast #166: Summer League

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:45:00 -0500

On this episode of the Spurscast, Michael and Jeff talk about the signing of Antonio McDyess before interviewing Pistons blogger and Dyess fan Natalie Sitto of Need4Sheed.com.Natalie gives us some insight on what we can expect from McDyess and talk a lot on the type of player and person he is. While he may not fit our need for a center, Jeff and I are both glad to have a player that shows some heart and passion.On the second half of the show, we talk to Chris Denker of NetScouts Basketball fo...

Antonio McDyess may have just signed with the Spurs

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:14:14 -0500

That’s what an unnamed “league source” has told Y!’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who’s been killing it this offseason with the scoops. Apparently it’s a two-year deal for the MLE that likely includes a partial guarantee for a third season. For reference, the Pistons are unable to offer the MLE since they have cap space, and they’re [...]

As John Kuester arrives, Antonio McDyess leaves?

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:04:30 -0500

As reported by, well, everyone, it looks like Joe Dumars is close to making this official. Take it away, Sherrod Blakely! Cleveland Cavaliers assistant John Kuester will be named the Detroit Pistons’ next head coach, although no formal announcement is expected today. A league official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the multi-year contract between Kuester [...]

Back from the Brink: Kudos to Antonio McDyess

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:02:00 -0500

This is the vision of Antonio McDyess I remember best. Hunched over, looking a bit battered. It was six years ago, during the 2003-04 season, when McDyess was a Knick. And for anyone who'd ever watched basketball, he was clearly a player on the way out. Beaten down. Fragile. Fighting an uphill battle with his heart against a body that simly couldn't and wouldn't keep up.

To understand how sad it was to watch, one had to understand the recent history and promise of the player leading up to that point. McDyess had established himself as an NBA stalwart. A member of the 2000 Olympic team, he had the physique and game of Amar'e Stoudamire long before AMare's arrival. During that 2000-01 season, he averaged 20.8 PPG and 12 boards a contest -- and a block-and-a-half a game to boot. He was a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. A 26-year old with plenty of runway left and maybe even some more upside. Then it disappared.

By the time McDyess arrived in New York, a lot had changed. Early in 01-02, he went down with a ruptured patella tendon and has season-ending surgery. It would then be almost two years before he came back to the floor after re-injuries and multiple setbacks. The Knicks had high hopes for McDyess. I remember. I was hoping he was the guy before the injuries. It was clear even early on that he wasn't. Then, it happened again. McDyess didn't even make it through the exhibition season. A broken kneecap in an exhibition game shelved him again.

Eventually, he'd return to play 18 games with the Knicks and finish in Phoenix. Career lows of 5 and change points/boards a game, but, more telling, he looked done. It was like watching Jose Reyes run the bases a few years back. You closed your eyes and hoped nothing bad would happen. In McDyess's case, it was every dunk, rebound of fastbreak. He looked just unsteady enough to go down again.

Regardless, it was clear his career was on the swift decline. It was sad, moreso because you could see in his eyes how hard he'd fought to get back...how much he wanted to be the old explosive Antonio...how hard he was fighting against nature knowing it was a losing battle.

Fast-forward to today and how I landed on this post. Earlier this evening I was reading about the Pistons early moves in free agency, signing Charlie Villaneuva and Ben Gordon. The ESPN story ended with the following:
"The Pistons now turn their attention to re-signing forward Antonio McDyess, but they'll have competition from the Cavaliers, Celtics and Spurs.
And that's when I stopped...and gave Antonio McDyess a long-distance fist-pound. Good for him. Sure, I was fully aware that McDyess was still around and a member of the Pistons. But, in the context of his career, the final sentence of that article is somewhat remarkable. The mere notion of McDyess playing in the NBA if offered up six seasons ago might likely have been greeted with laughter by even the most prophetic of pundits. The concept that McDyess might be sought-after having proved himself still valuable after a season in which he averaged nearly a double-double over 62 games?

Yet, McDyess now enters his 14th season in the NBA and is due to make many millions. Whether it's the Pistons who ante up, or some of the many other suitors rumored to be seriously interested, they're getting a gamer. For anyone who is a Knicks fan like me and watched McDyess wither into a shell of his former self six years ago, it's a pleasure to seeing him continuing to play the game and contribute. Who knows maybe he'll even latch on somewhere with a chance at a ring. It would be a fitting close to a career that many lesser players might have abandoned a long, long time ago.

Curry may still be tinkering

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:09:26 -0500

Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free After the workout, Pistons coach Michael Curry said that he might consider starting backup power forward Antonio McDyess for the last 20 games of the season and into the But he’s only considering it as a way to bulk up the starting lineup and ...