duncan228
12-18-2009, 01:46 AM
Spurs still upbeat on offseason investments (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/Spurs_still_upbeat_on_offseason_investments.html)
Jeff McDonald
Twenty-three games into his Spurs career, forward/center Antonio McDyess is flirting with career lows in several statistical categories.
This, McDyess assures anyone who asks, is perfectly normal.
“I'm always a slow starter, my whole career,” McDyess said. “You can ask anybody who knows me.”
Fellow newcomer Richard Jefferson is beginning to fall into a groove, producing four solid games in his past five, but can't forget the four-point clunker he put up in the Spurs' only loss during that span, a 116-104 defeat at Phoenix.
“I was 100 percent getting in my own way,” Jefferson said.
The Spurs invested heavily in Jefferson and McDyess over the offseason, somersaulting past the luxury-tax line to make the two former Olympians the centerpiece of an extensive roster renovation. So far, the contributions from the team's two most costly offseason additions have sprung from a decidedly mixed bag.
The 34-year-old McDyess, signed as a free agent to a three-year deal worth as much as $14.5 million, is averaging 5.5 points and shooting 46.8 percent, career-lows should they last. He is also averaging 5.7 rebounds.
A scoring star with Milwaukee and New Jersey, the 29-year-old Jefferson — obtained in a June trade with the Bucks and due to earn $29.2 million between this season and next — is averaging 13.4 points per game, his lowest output since his rookie season with the Nets.
Still, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich remains bullish on the team's offseason investments. He continues to urge patience with his newcomers as they adjust to their new team, and their new team adjusts to them.
“What I'm learning is we lost more corporate knowledge than I thought,” said Popovich, whose team is 13-10 after a 2-1 Western road trip. “It's taken a little bit more time than I thought to get everybody on the same page.”
McDyess blames his early-season struggles on his own circadian rhythms. The numbers seem to support his claim.
In three of his five seasons in Detroit, McDyess' production rose across the board after the All-Star break. Last season, McDyess went from averaging 7.3 points before the break to 12.1 after it.
In that, McDyess has drawn comparisons to ex-Spur Robert Horry, a fellow University of Alabama product, Houston resident and notorious slow starter. Still, McDyess admits, he is off to a more halting start this season than is ordinary even for him.
“It's a new team, a new system, and I'm already a slow starter anyway,” McDyess said. “You add that together, and it's super slow right now.”
McDyess believes he is “still thinking too much,” an assessment with which Popovich agrees. Since a 15-point, 14-rebound performance at Houston on Nov. 25, McDyess has posted three scoreless games and three two-point games.
“I don't think he's got the confidence level about where he wants to be on the court, where we need him to be,” Popovich said.
Jefferson's battle has been with consistency. He has displayed intermittent flashes of scoring brilliance, speckled with stretches of apparent invisibility.
Popovich continues to wrestle with Jefferson's optimal role in an offense that already includes three potential 20-point scorers in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
“How does he fit into the offense as far as how much is he going to score and shoot?” Popovich asked rhetorically. “And if it's X, how does that take away from Timmy, from Tony, from Manu?”
Of late, Jefferson has shown signs of discovering his place in that equation. He has scored at least 17 points in four of the past five games, after reaching that threshold just four times in his first 18.
“I'm not as consistent as I'd like, obviously, but I've gotten more comfortable the past few games,” Jefferson said. “I expect a lot out of myself.”
The Spurs, likewise, still expect much of Jefferson and McDyess this season. In time.
Jeff McDonald
Twenty-three games into his Spurs career, forward/center Antonio McDyess is flirting with career lows in several statistical categories.
This, McDyess assures anyone who asks, is perfectly normal.
“I'm always a slow starter, my whole career,” McDyess said. “You can ask anybody who knows me.”
Fellow newcomer Richard Jefferson is beginning to fall into a groove, producing four solid games in his past five, but can't forget the four-point clunker he put up in the Spurs' only loss during that span, a 116-104 defeat at Phoenix.
“I was 100 percent getting in my own way,” Jefferson said.
The Spurs invested heavily in Jefferson and McDyess over the offseason, somersaulting past the luxury-tax line to make the two former Olympians the centerpiece of an extensive roster renovation. So far, the contributions from the team's two most costly offseason additions have sprung from a decidedly mixed bag.
The 34-year-old McDyess, signed as a free agent to a three-year deal worth as much as $14.5 million, is averaging 5.5 points and shooting 46.8 percent, career-lows should they last. He is also averaging 5.7 rebounds.
A scoring star with Milwaukee and New Jersey, the 29-year-old Jefferson — obtained in a June trade with the Bucks and due to earn $29.2 million between this season and next — is averaging 13.4 points per game, his lowest output since his rookie season with the Nets.
Still, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich remains bullish on the team's offseason investments. He continues to urge patience with his newcomers as they adjust to their new team, and their new team adjusts to them.
“What I'm learning is we lost more corporate knowledge than I thought,” said Popovich, whose team is 13-10 after a 2-1 Western road trip. “It's taken a little bit more time than I thought to get everybody on the same page.”
McDyess blames his early-season struggles on his own circadian rhythms. The numbers seem to support his claim.
In three of his five seasons in Detroit, McDyess' production rose across the board after the All-Star break. Last season, McDyess went from averaging 7.3 points before the break to 12.1 after it.
In that, McDyess has drawn comparisons to ex-Spur Robert Horry, a fellow University of Alabama product, Houston resident and notorious slow starter. Still, McDyess admits, he is off to a more halting start this season than is ordinary even for him.
“It's a new team, a new system, and I'm already a slow starter anyway,” McDyess said. “You add that together, and it's super slow right now.”
McDyess believes he is “still thinking too much,” an assessment with which Popovich agrees. Since a 15-point, 14-rebound performance at Houston on Nov. 25, McDyess has posted three scoreless games and three two-point games.
“I don't think he's got the confidence level about where he wants to be on the court, where we need him to be,” Popovich said.
Jefferson's battle has been with consistency. He has displayed intermittent flashes of scoring brilliance, speckled with stretches of apparent invisibility.
Popovich continues to wrestle with Jefferson's optimal role in an offense that already includes three potential 20-point scorers in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
“How does he fit into the offense as far as how much is he going to score and shoot?” Popovich asked rhetorically. “And if it's X, how does that take away from Timmy, from Tony, from Manu?”
Of late, Jefferson has shown signs of discovering his place in that equation. He has scored at least 17 points in four of the past five games, after reaching that threshold just four times in his first 18.
“I'm not as consistent as I'd like, obviously, but I've gotten more comfortable the past few games,” Jefferson said. “I expect a lot out of myself.”
The Spurs, likewise, still expect much of Jefferson and McDyess this season. In time.