I like that train of thought Bill.

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In my opinion, Dyess should not even be in the regular rotation. He should not start, nor should he be a main sub. This is because of what he won't do, not because of what he can't do. He refuses to work in the post. His outside shots hurt us in several ways. One, they lead to fast breaks for the other team too often. Two, they give zero chance of drawing a foul. Three, his fades leave him nowhere near the basket for the rebound if he misses. And worst of all, his fades to the corner, which leave him out of position for transition D.

You want scoring, look no further than Amir Johnson. Amir will score in the post. He will get back on transition D very well. He will move laterally when a guard gets past our perimeter defense. Too light you say - Dyess can't guard the bigger centers either.

Someone needs to limit the minutes of Dyess, and make sure that when he plays, he posts up, and makes strong moves to the basket. Maybe Dyess thinks he is too old. Maybe he thinks he lost too much from the knee surgery. He is wrong. Anyone that says Dyess can't go inside is wrong. He can. Its just a choice. Dyess still has majorly good instincts around the basket, and he just is not giving himself enough credit. The body being healthy ain't everything. Experience combined with determination is more important. Dyess has the experience. He only lacks one thing - the will.

Lee, I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I didn't think it was necessary to extend McDyess' contract this past summer. I think Joe D might regret that move. Perhaps Antonio will be a mentor to the young guys when Amir and JMax start taking all of his minutes. Who knows? Maybe even Samb will be in the rotation in a year or two.

I have only seen one game this preseason and even in that one Dyess' minutes were limited and he didn't look that particularly good. His preseason stats in the starting roation have not looked that good either, but then again this is the preseason. I kind of agree that if he is not going to play the post with effectiveness, then we might as well mix him in with the second team (as the vet). We got enough scorers in the starting lineup and I not sure who's defense is worst his or Nazr

I am not sold on Amir Johson as the starter either until I see him playing five games in a row. I was in Vegas and I didn't see him play (contract issue). I missed the one game he has played in the preseason game yesterday and I didn't see him play in the D league last year either. I know the hype is there, but where is the proof? I didn't comment on the Amir Johnson MIA thread as I was waiting to see him play with the squad. Hopefully he is the real deal and doesn't disappoint

Dyess is a slow starter. Give him a chance to do what he does.

Last year, his first month-
21 mpg
5.9 pts
5.6 rebs
.440 fg%

By March, he was up to-
25 minutes
12 pts
7.2 rebs
.609 fg%

His best 3 months were the last 3.

He performed best with 0 days rest, followed by 1 day rest. He's a tru warriar.

He was our best rebounder.

He had the 2nd highest FG% on the team, behind Nazr.

Unfortunately, what really matters is his playoff numbers. And they are not good. As far as the regular season, regardless of field goal percentage, Dyess still hurts by his shot selection. I estimate that Dyess would have to shoot 70% on those fades before we broke even. (Remember, Dyess has too shoot considerable better than the next guy, who takes appropriate shots. If Dyess shoots 70%, thats just 20% or so better than the next option. You got all those fast breaks for the other team, lack of fouls drawn, poor rebounding position that has to be made up in that margin.)

Not to mention Dyess already has to make up for his poor defense.

I'm glad to find out that I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Dyess was good for us the last couple of seasons, but he isn't getting better nor younger. He seems to be afraid of going to the hoop, but his mediocre midrange jumper doesn't help the team. The team already has tons of shooters and already a big who refuses to work inside. I don't like the chances a team has that starts with 5 jump shooting players.
He may be a decent rebounder and hustle for some blocks, but that's probably not enough, at least definetely not enough to start if you have AJ and JMax being hungry coming off the bench.

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I'm a wannabe- GM, but I stand to it.

Give me some backup for these contentions.

Our defense was 4 points per 100 possessions better with Dyess on the floor, and our offense was 2.3 points better (net 6.3 point improvement with him in the game vs. out of the game). For a bench player who is on a team with the "best starting 4" in the NBA, that is a pretty amazing accomplishment.

The other team shoots 3% worse with him out there and we snatch 3% more rebounds (5.5% more offensive rebounds!).

He had his best stuff when he was out there with Delfino, Murray, Rip, and Sheed.

And even though Maxiell dunks 20% of his shots and gets off another 30% in the paint, McDyess still shoots at a higher percentage than him.

In the playoffs, McDyess's shot was slumping, so he went to work on the boards in a huge way. He was our best offensive and defensive rebounder. He pulled down 13 rebounds every 40 minutes. That is Rodman/ Ben Wallace-esque. He also blocked shots.

I think that we ended last season with a bad taste in our mouth and ya'll don't remember how much he can contribute.

This was the guy who came back physically bigger after we lost Ben Wallace, because he thought somebody needed to fill that role. And he's younger than he looks.

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"I think sometimes the last couple of years we've been a little too predictable offensively." Billups

[quote=TWOTIMESRALPHI;116913He seems to be afraid of going to the hoop, but his mediocre midrange jumper doesn't help the team.[/quote]

I don't understand your statement in relationship to reality.

You say Dyess doesn't go inside, but shoots jump shots. He has a .580 FG percentage, which you claim is the result of jump shots and his mediocre.

I would love to have a team of 12 mediocre jump shooters who shoot .580.

I don't understand your statement in relationship to reality.

You say Dyess doesn't go inside, but shoots jump shots. He has a .580 FG percentage, which you claim is the result of jump shots and is mediocre.

I would love to have a team of 12 mediocre jump shooters who shoot .580.