Republic: McDyess' 13 rebounds highlight strong stretch
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 12, 2004 12:00 AM
Amare Stoudemire offered Antonio McDyess a night off the boards before Sunday's game.
"I'll get this one, you get the next," he told McDyess.
McDyess is far too professional. He showed how a veteran gets it done with dirty work rather than pretty points. He went scoreless until two late free throws that were dwarfed by his 13-rebound game.
McDyess has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in six of the past nine games.
"That's the best thing to go out on a good note and leading up to next year," he said of the 89-83 win over Memphis. "It's going to be exciting with the young guys we've got, and hopefully I'll be back."
He has handled heavy minutes without a flinch, despite a left knee that has had three operations in two years.
"It wasn't the minutes, but I didn't know how well he was going to play and whether he has the pop," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Things have really gone well for him."
The plan
D'Antoni has the perfect plan. It just does not have a prayer.
When the Suns play the Clippers in Tuesday's home finale, D'Antoni joked they should switch baskets after tip-off and score for each other.
That way, neither team has to deal with weighing the good of a win against how a loss helps its draft lottery odds. It was a joke.
"I don't know if there's any difference between the fifth and the eighth pick," D'Antoni said. "We got Amare at No. 9."
The draft's projected top 10 is a balanced bunch beyond the clear top two, Atlanta high school star Dwight Howard and Connecticut center Emeka Okafor.
