Rodriguez: Rodeo Road Trip Better (So Far) Than Expected For McDyess

[duncan228]

Rodeo Road Trip Better (So Far) Than Expected For McDyess
Ken Rodriguez

If you wanted to follow the Spurs by car on the first leg of their annual rodeo road trip, you would have needed a large supply NoDoz, if not a second and third driver. According to one Internet calculation, it’s a 1 day, 11-hour trip from San Antonio to Portland, and that doesn’t take into account breaks for rest, eating or leg-stretching.

According to another site, the recent swing from here to Portland to Los Angeles to Sacramento and back to San Antonio covered 5,193 miles. But that’s not as the-crow-flies air miles-- that’s mapquest miles.

Spurs forward-center Antonio McDyess was not especially looking forward to the first leg of the trip, and he didn’t have to drive. His concern wasn’t distance; it was back-to-back games in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Sitting beside his locker before the Spurs’ last home game on Jan. 29, McDyess released a quiet sigh when asked about the upcoming trip. “It’s long,” he said, his voice rising barely above a whisper, “and it’s tiring.”

He paused for a moment, his mind drifting. Finally, he offered this: “We didn’t have such a good outcome after the first trip,” he said, referring to last year’s 4-4 record.

If McDyess in late January could have seen the outcome of those back-to-backs in early February, he may have danced. He certainly would have enjoyed packing a lot more.

In a tight, back-and-forth game against the Lakers, all Dyess did was make the game-winning tip-in at the buzzer. Then the oldest Spur (age 36) leaped and celebrated and ran off the court on legs that felt like they were 26. “I was in the right place at the right time,“ he told reporters in Los Angeles after the game.

Keep Reading...

http://www.nba.com/spurs/features/110209_rodriguez.html

[wildbill2u]

The depth we have is going to pay off on this year's Rodeo Road Trip.

We have at least 10 guys that can legitimately play some useful minutes.