Dice On A Roll

The Pistons dodged a major bullet when Antonio McDyess elected to return to Detroit. McDyess claims that he understands the Pistons’ motivation for the trade and is not upset with Dumars, but Dice had to be slightly perturbed that the team considered him somewhat expendable. Dumars could not have been certain that McDyess would turn down teams like Boston and Cleveland that offered him more dollars and a better shot at a title. Dumars should be thankful he did.

While the Pistons surely have missed Billups since the trade, they missed McDyess nearly as much. During the 17 games the Pistons played without McDyess, he was essentially replaced in the rotation by Kwame Brown. The drop-off in production was drastic. Dice is superior to Brown in virtually every aspect of the game. He is a far better shooter and pick and roll defender. Dice also holds an edge over Brown in terms of rebounding, shot blocking, and finishing plays around the basket. The one area where Brown may have an edge is defending the league’s behemoths, but players like Shaq and Andrew Bynum are few and far between. Brown will likely be called up again when the Pistons face a team with a dominant post scorer. Until then, he should be rooted to the bench where he can try to learn a thing or two from watching McDyess.

Since returning to the team, Dice is averaging 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while playing just over 23 minutes per night. He has made better than 59% of his field goal attempts and has made all five of his free throws. McDyess is a stabilizing force on the court and has been a reliable interior defender during his five seasons in Detroit. He is also the best rebounder in the Pistons rotation – Amir Johnson is the team’s best rebounder, but he has not seen the floor since McDyess’s return.

McDyess is not starting games this season – instead he is finishing them. McDyess has been on the court for the majority of the fourth quarter in each game since his return. It is nearly impossible to play sturdy defense with a small ball lineup and rebounding has also been a major issue for the small ball Pistons. Thanks to the return of McDyess, the Pistons no longer have those problems down the stretch. The Pistons crunch time front court includes McDyess, Rasheed Wallace, and Tayshaun Prince – all players who defend and rebound well at their positions. The combination is a big reason that the Pistons have been able to close out their last three opponents. If the Pistons are able to win 50 games for an eighth consecutive season, McDyess’s decision to return will be a big reason why.