Detroit won in Boston last night due in no small part to the play of Antonio McDyess. His line – 7-12 shooting, eight rebounds and three steals – isn’t eye-popping, but considering he’s the fifth option in the Pistons’ starting lineup, those are very nice numbers.
The 33 year-old McDyess landed in Detroit in 2004 after changing teams five times, so he’s a bit of a journeyman. People forget just how good he was before several knee injuries derailed his career during 2001 and 2002. In his first six seasons, he averaged 17.7 points and 8.8 boards per game, and was named to the All-NBA 3rd Team in 1999 and to the All-Star Game in 2001, so he was on his way to a very good career before suffering a dislocated knee cap, a torn patellar tendon and a fractured kneecap in the next two years.
He arrived after the Pistons’ championship in 2004, so he still has that insatiable hunger to win a title. And he’ll play a key role in the Eastern Conference Finals because the Celtics do a pretty good job of limiting the opportunities of the other Detroit starters, but it’s very difficult to shut down five guys at once. McDyess scored 10 points in the first half of Game 2, knocking down jumper after jumper. If he can keep that up, the Pistons are going to be very difficult to beat.
Another player who had a very nice game was rookie Rodney Stuckey. He went 5-8 from the field and scored 13 points. More importantly, he allowed Flip Saunders to rest Chauncey Billups, who is coming back from a hamstring injury. Stuckey is strong and has a good feel for the game. In fact, he reminds me a lot of the guy he plays behind… Billups.
