McDyess: DNP Coach's Decision

[LaMarcus Bryant]

I thought Pop was saving him to use him hardcore in the 2nd half so we could clamp down on the Lakers.
Then we ended up clamping down without him.

Would Pop have put him in had the game been closer in the 3rd quarter?
I think so. I do not think this DNP was planned. But pretty awesome that we played great D without him. Give him some rest.

[m33p0]

i think he's expecting dirk to play.

[Hooks]

Pop usually rests Dice against scrub teams, no use in playing him against a team we were supposed to dominate.

[crc21209]

Pop has a good amount of bigs this year in Duncan, Blair, Dice, Bonner, and Splitter. 2 out of those 5 are going to be "odd men out" every game, depending on the matchup. Sometimes Splitter gets the DNP, sometimes it's Dice.

[100%duncan]

Better because he can get lots of rest against the Mavs

[blkroadrunners]

i think he's expecting dirk to play.

Yup.

[024]

i think this is a good strategy. dice is playing well but it's still the first half of the season. giving him some games off will make him more valuable later. he will be needed heavily in the playoffs.

[ajballer4]

Dyess is gonna be like Horry. He'll get heavy min in the playoffs. We're using this time to develop Blair and Splitter

[Cane]

Imo it was either McDyess requesting time to rest or Pop's planning since the Spurs are in a tougher part of their schedule even after beating the Lakers so minutes-management is going to be more important than ever. The Spurs have to deal with Dallas, OKC, and a back to back of NYC and Boston and all those teams except OKC have talented and game changing bigs but they're all winning teams. Thats a lot of potential wear and tear coming up..I see Boston absolutely destroying the Spurs on the 2nd night of that back to back after running against Amar'e and the Mike D'Antoni Knicks in NYC.

[ducks]

blair owned the third quarter it would have been stupid to bench him hello

pop wanted a fresh dice second half
then blair wake up and was effective
why bench blair when he was playing well

[YODA]

I posted something on Dice not playing someplace. Do you all think it could be a CIA POP move to save him for playoffs versus LA.

I cant see why he would go with splitter and bonner over Dice in this matchup.

Ideas? thoughts?

[Dice]

Maybe more so it was Pop giving Blair and Splitter experience against a possible playoff matchup. I assumed he was saving McDyess for the second quarter but the bigs he had out there were getting the job done. So he used a golden opportunity to rest him.

[Darkwaters]

Dyess is gonna be like Horry. He'll get heavy min in the playoffs. We're using this time to develop Blair and Splitter

+1

Don't burn out the elder Spur with trivial games in the early regular season. Develop your new kids and savor the Dyess for when it matters.

[greyforest]

Dyess will get lots of time in the playoffs. Remember, Pop prefers vets in the playoffs. Dyess is particularly notorious for mailing it in until April, like the Spurs as a whole usually are.

[DesignatedT]

Dice is like Horry when it comes to planning out a season.