Dice???

[temujin]

He still can't catch a pass from Manu, which is frustrating and makes people wonder about his focus. I'd say the overall results have been a letdown.

I am happy I am not the only one that noticed that if you don't ring him up 5' before you make a pass, McDyess will be "surprised" the ball is even on his frikking hands.
Forget about playing with Ginobili.

Just ask Blair, who is making a career out of Manu's passes.

[Dice]

The passes are his fault. He sees how deep Manu gets and assumes he's going all the way. So instead of waiting on the pass he's trying to sneak inside for the offensive board. In his last 5 years as a Piston, he never saw that pass. Most guys don't give the ball up when they're already at the rim. But by now, Dice should know better.

I thought he showed a lot of hustle last night, played pretty good D, and was aggressive on the boards. He was a big part of the comeback in the second quarter.

His 2 putback attempts go in last night and this thread never gets reopened.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

If this is good as it gets, as far as Dice's performance is concerned, they are tied to this guy for 2 more years beyond this one. Unless there is a dramatic uptick in his performance, this will have been one big bust of a move.

Yet and still and with Dice's sucky performances, they're still not willing to give Ian and Theo some on-the-fly, court time.

Effectively only next year. The third year was only a partial guarantee so it is easy to buy out.

[alchemist]

The passes are his fault. He sees how deep Manu gets and assumes he's going all the way. So instead of waiting on the pass he's trying to sneak inside for the offensive board. In his last 5 years as a Piston, he never saw that pass. Most guys don't give the ball up when they're already at the rim. But by now, Dice should know better.

I thought he showed a lot of hustle last night, played pretty good D, and was aggressive on the boards. He was a big part of the comeback in the second quarter.

His 2 putback attempts go in last night and this thread never gets reopened.

When he consistently catches Manu's passes I will gladly ask timvp or kori to close this thread. I don't want him to fail because he will bring the rest of the team with him.

[Capt Bringdown]

Insanity if often described as doing the same thing that didn't work over and over again. Why do we keep bringing in veterans who are long past their prime?

Not Dice's fault if the Spurs expectations were the McDyess of the 90s. He has been on a career trajectory downward since 2001. Yes, 2001. Look at his stats. Why didn't the Spurs think tank do that?

Sure, a once great player can bring it once in a while and give you a glimpse of what he was--but that is a flashback and won't be sustained.

Exactly. I suppose one could say our choices were limited, but we're the ones who painted ourselves into a corner. Wouldn't Scola look pretty good in a Spurs uniform right now?

Oh, and the bolded part. Subs ute "team" for "player" and see how it applies to our current situation.

[pjjrfan]

I don't think Dice is done, but I do think he isn't happy here and his body language especially whenever Manu throws him a picture perfect pass is like "dude why the are you throwing me the ball." He had that one good game when Blair took over his spot on the starting lineup but that's been it.

[objective]

Wouldn't Scola look pretty good in a Spurs uniform right now?

yeah, but . . . but . . . then the Spurs would have made him the highest paid 2nd rounder ever with that Bonner-level contract! Can't have that!

[dbestpro]

He's so done he needs a new nickname. We should call him "Ash".

[ducks]

the problem is manu throws the ball to him when he is either not expecting it or it is to fast

[Chieflion]

yeah, but . . . but . . . then the Spurs would have made him the highest paid 2nd rounder ever with that Bonner-level contract! Can't have that!

Matt Bonner is also a 2nd rounder, so they would be on par.

[alchemist]

hopefully these last couple of games is a great sign of things to come from Dice

[spurtech09]

dice had a pretty good game tonight against the hawks....keep it up dice

[DesignatedT]

Dice playing well the last 3 games!!!!

keep it up dice.

[HarlemHeat37]

This was BY FAR the best he has looked this season, even without looking at the box score..

He moved really well and gave the best effort I've seen from him all year..

I'm not going to get too excited since it's 1 game, let's see him do it on a consistent basis..

[EricB]

He's been doing it the last few games. Dice is a damn good player and a SECOND half guy. Dice is the best big on the team and needs to start and Blair come off the bench.

[rayray2k8]

Not sure if bumping this thread was worth it.. Needs to be consistent.

[Pistons < Spurs]

Glad to see his play's been up the last couple of games. Hopefully he keeps it up for you all. I still worry about Pop's erratic usage of him though. Starts for a few, bench for a few. I don't want to say he's weak mentally, but he absolutely is a guy that needs his comfort zone. Needs to feel comfortable in knowing exactly what his role is. Pulling him in and out of the starting lineup doesn't help in that regard. And while I'm not suggesting he become a first or second option for you, guys need to go to him more often. Learn his spots and how to get him the ball for him to be successful. In the last 27 games, he's had 3 or fewer shots 12 times. That's unacceptable for a guy with an automatic 15 footer.

Hopefully the Spurs pull this season around, and hopefully Dice is a big part of that!

[EricB]

Agreed pistons. Dice has been wayyyyyyyyyyy under utilized.

[Truckules]

He's been doing it the last few games. Dice is a damn good player and a SECOND half guy. Dice is the best big on the team and needs to start and Blair come off the bench.

Completely agree. Tonight's starting lineup is our playoff lineup, barring trade or injury.

[Pistons < Spurs]

Another point ...

I don't get to watch many of the games, I'm relegated to boxscores and the occasional comment I read here .... usually they're more of negative of him than not. But seeing his numbers, I'm going on the assumption that he simply not getting the ball in the flow of the offense. But for all I know he's getting the ball, and simply passing out and not taking the shot himself. Is this the case? If so, it'd emphasize my earlier point, and tell me that he's not comfortable in his role and doesn't feel that he has the trust of the other players to take the shot. You all can answer that better than I.

[ulosturedge]

Pop was playing the match-ups. Atlanta has alot of long athletic players, it would make sense that Pop would rather defer to Dice then Blair. Having Blair being pulled out to the perimeter does not play into Blair's strengths.

Anyways, yeah good game by Dice. Just after we call out these guys (Dice & RJ); they show up. Hopefully Dice can keep it going and hopefully the Spurs can keep him involved. Oh and its nice to see him actually catching Ginobili's passes now lol. He must not have been use to being fed the ball in the paint. I hope he is expecting it from now on because we are going to need those easy buckets when its there.

[Pistons < Spurs]

Oh and its nice to see him actually catching Ginobili's passes now lol. He must not have been use to being fed the ball in the paint. I hope he is expecting it from now on because we are going to need those easy buckets when its there.

He doesn't have the best hands out there. I wouldn't call him butter fingers, but I also wouldn't get too creative when getting the ball to him. He used to frustrate me all the time by letting rebounds get away from him and fall out of bounds that he clearly should have had.

[TJastal]

Glad to see his play's been up the last couple of games. Hopefully he keeps it up for you all. I still worry about Pop's erratic usage of him though. Starts for a few, bench for a few. I don't want to say he's weak mentally, but he absolutely is a guy that needs his comfort zone. Needs to feel comfortable in knowing exactly what his role is. Pulling him in and out of the starting lineup doesn't help in that regard. And while I'm not suggesting he become a first or second option for you, guys need to go to him more often. Learn his spots and how to get him the ball for him to be successful. In the last 27 games, he's had 3 or fewer shots 12 times. That's unacceptable for a guy with an automatic 15 footer.

Hopefully the Spurs pull this season around, and hopefully Dice is a big part of that!

I think for the most part Dice just wasn't comfortable in the starting lineup earlier in the year because he was unfamiliar with the defensive/offensive schemes. It looks (at least to me) like he is more comfortable now, and I've even seen him directing the younger players to the correct spots on the floor.

[xellos88330]

Dice was deferring quite a bit to other players. He just seemed to timid to take the shot himself. After tonight, I hope that he will bring his game to that level that I am used to seeing him play at.

[alchemist]

Dice was



today