Re: McDyess returns but Knicks fall in OT

hey at least he didn't get hurt

"s_knight8" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylc=X3oDMTBpZmFlcXBpBF9TAzk1ODYxOTQ4BHNlYwN0aA--?gid=2003120118&prov=ap
>
> NEW YORK (AP) -- Antonio McDyess was so overcome with emotion, he
> retreated to the locker room during the national anthem. His first
> shot barely grazed the net, his first alley-oop turned into an
> alley-oops, his first free throw bounced around and out.
>
> McDyess eventually put his first point on the board as a member of the
> New York Knicks, grinning in embarrassment and blowing a kiss to the
> crowd after making a third-quarter free throw in a 79-78 overtime loss
> to the Detroit Pistons.
>
> That shot accounted for half of McDyess' offensive production Monday
> night as he finally made his regular-season debut for New York nearly
> 14 months after fracturing his kneecap in a preseason game.
>
> ``Playing, scoring, rebounding -- that was bad,'' McDyess said after
> finishing 0-for-5 with two turnovers. ``But physically I give myself
> an 'A.' I was doing things I felt I would never be able to do again:
> jumping, holding people, trying to go for dunks, trying to block
> shots, running up and down the court, sprinting. That felt good.''
>
> McDyess sat out the final 9:13 of regulation and all of overtime as
> New York coach Don Chaney stuck with his plan of bringing the former
> All-Star and Olympian back slowly.
>
> ``There was not one time when I thought about the injury,'' said
> McDyess, whose left knee has undergone three operations in the past 19
> months.
>
> McDyess was warmly received but played tentatively, showing plenty of
> rust in his first regular season game since March, 2002. Two of his
> misses were from point-blank range, and two of his first three touches
> resulted in turnovers.
>
> ``My adrenaline carried me half the time,'' he said. ``I put a lot of
> pressure on myself to get a bucket, make a shot. The crowd got me into
> it, every time I touched the ball I could hear them roar. I kind of
> got caught up in that.''
>
> Merely having McDyess on the court was a welcome sight for the Knicks,
> who had yet to receive any dividends from Scott Layden's blockbuster
> draft night deal of two summers ago that cost New York two starters
> and a lottery pick.
>
> ``He was rusty, he hasn't played in a couple years and I'm pretty sure
> he was dead tired out there,'' Detroit's Ben Wallace said. ``But for
> the most part he looked pretty good. He missed a couple shots that he
> usually finishes, but that's the nature of the beast coming off an
> injury.''