Dice
10-08-2009, 08:18 PM
I've been following this guy since his college days and have watched him from team to team with my league pass. I spend the entire game paying more attention to what he's doing and how he's playing so I feel like I've got a better than average idea of what he's capable of.
First off, I'm extremely excited to see him here as a Spur. This team may be the absolute best fit for him over any team at this point in his career. His style of play fits perfectly into your system in my opinion.
Rebounding. His numbers from last year are off due to the fact that he only started the last 30 games of the season. During that time he averaged over 11 a game and even had a handful of 15+rebound games. Even better, he averaged 3 offensive rebounds a game. He's strong and really fights for position on every possession. One of the big advantages to that which I noticed during his time with the Pistons is that by him fighting with the other teams opposing big man, he inadvertantly helped stop a lot of fast break outlet passes. Watch him when Duncan goes to work in the paint. He'll immediately start working his way under the other side of the basket. He keeps them honest and helps turn the opposing teams into half court offenses. You hear a lot about his knees and how he's lost a lot of his explosivness. This is true but you're talking about a guy who had a 47 inch verticle. Him having lost a little means he only jumps as high as normal players now. Trust me, he can still get up there.
Scoring. The man can shoot. Take one full step from the three point line inward and draw yourself a mental line. From anywhere inside there he's deadly. He's a career 50% plus field goal average. He doesn't play in the post as much anymore but I think it's because unless he gets hot, he doesn't call for the ball. For the Pistons, he only took 5 to 8 shots a game. When the Pistons would get into a scoring drought, he was the guy who would end it. The best part is, his shots are created easily and because the players guarding him are usually centers and big forwards, they tend to leave him open on the perimeter. And best of all he doesn't care about touches-he's happy as long as the team is winning and has no ego.
Passing. He's no J. Kidd but with the Pistons he shined when firing creative passes to cutters in the lane from the top of the key. I think he'll truelly enjoy playing with guys like Manu, Parker, and Jefferson.
Defense. He's solid but not what you'd call dominant. He's strong enough to hold position on a lot of guys and blocks a lot of his shots playing one-on-one D. He's also pretty good at blocking at the rim. He hasn't done as much in the past as the team couldn't afford to have him in foul trouble. With solid back-ups, he'll be able to be more agressive. The only players he really has trouble with are guys with above average speed on the block.
Another way I feel like he'll fit in well is his screens. He was easily Detroit's number one guy for setting screens and he does it well. Tony, Manu, and Jefferson are going to have a lot of big solid screens set for them with both Tim and Dice on the floor. Plus after the screen McDyess is open for the pick and pop.
Hustle and heart. It's hard to find many guys in the league who have more than Dice. He'll give his all every game-diving for loose balls and leaping into the stands trying to save a rebound. He'll do whatever his team asks him to do night in and night out.
sorry if I'm boring anyone or if this comes off like a fanboy's overrated veiw. I'm ready for the season to start and can't wait for McDyess to show a lot of you just how great a pick-up he is for this team.
First off, I'm extremely excited to see him here as a Spur. This team may be the absolute best fit for him over any team at this point in his career. His style of play fits perfectly into your system in my opinion.
Rebounding. His numbers from last year are off due to the fact that he only started the last 30 games of the season. During that time he averaged over 11 a game and even had a handful of 15+rebound games. Even better, he averaged 3 offensive rebounds a game. He's strong and really fights for position on every possession. One of the big advantages to that which I noticed during his time with the Pistons is that by him fighting with the other teams opposing big man, he inadvertantly helped stop a lot of fast break outlet passes. Watch him when Duncan goes to work in the paint. He'll immediately start working his way under the other side of the basket. He keeps them honest and helps turn the opposing teams into half court offenses. You hear a lot about his knees and how he's lost a lot of his explosivness. This is true but you're talking about a guy who had a 47 inch verticle. Him having lost a little means he only jumps as high as normal players now. Trust me, he can still get up there.
Scoring. The man can shoot. Take one full step from the three point line inward and draw yourself a mental line. From anywhere inside there he's deadly. He's a career 50% plus field goal average. He doesn't play in the post as much anymore but I think it's because unless he gets hot, he doesn't call for the ball. For the Pistons, he only took 5 to 8 shots a game. When the Pistons would get into a scoring drought, he was the guy who would end it. The best part is, his shots are created easily and because the players guarding him are usually centers and big forwards, they tend to leave him open on the perimeter. And best of all he doesn't care about touches-he's happy as long as the team is winning and has no ego.
Passing. He's no J. Kidd but with the Pistons he shined when firing creative passes to cutters in the lane from the top of the key. I think he'll truelly enjoy playing with guys like Manu, Parker, and Jefferson.
Defense. He's solid but not what you'd call dominant. He's strong enough to hold position on a lot of guys and blocks a lot of his shots playing one-on-one D. He's also pretty good at blocking at the rim. He hasn't done as much in the past as the team couldn't afford to have him in foul trouble. With solid back-ups, he'll be able to be more agressive. The only players he really has trouble with are guys with above average speed on the block.
Another way I feel like he'll fit in well is his screens. He was easily Detroit's number one guy for setting screens and he does it well. Tony, Manu, and Jefferson are going to have a lot of big solid screens set for them with both Tim and Dice on the floor. Plus after the screen McDyess is open for the pick and pop.
Hustle and heart. It's hard to find many guys in the league who have more than Dice. He'll give his all every game-diving for loose balls and leaping into the stands trying to save a rebound. He'll do whatever his team asks him to do night in and night out.
sorry if I'm boring anyone or if this comes off like a fanboy's overrated veiw. I'm ready for the season to start and can't wait for McDyess to show a lot of you just how great a pick-up he is for this team.