Monroe: Blair doubts he will be with Spurs next season

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...s-next-season/

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

[“It definitely made me stronger, but it definitely kept my head down. It happened the last two years. I really don’t know what’s going on. It messes my head up. It’s tough. Boris came and was a better fit. At the same time, I stayed positive and had a great attitude and kept going and had a lot of class. I grew up a lot.”

Blair turned 23 as the post-lockout season concluded in late April. What has happened since requires maturity.

“The Spurs are excellent,” he said. “They used me to get everybody going and just get to the playoffs. That’s what it’s seemed like the last two seasons. But it’s a business, and everybody has their role, and I played mine, obviously, in the season. That’s proved right now.

“We were No. 1 the last two seasons when I was starting, and then lost in the playoffs when I wasn’t. That’s just, well, I don’t know, common sense.

... really?

[ElNono]

No surprises there...

[jestersmash]

“We were No. 1 the last two seasons when I was starting, and then lost in the playoffs when I wasn’t. That’s just, well, I don’t know, common sense.

We lost in the 1st round with Blair starting, and made it to the WCF with Blair out of the lineup. We "lost" (no championship) both years. I don't understand the point he was trying to make with that line.

[Nathan89]

Blair thinks he's a difference maker.

If he's not trade by the start of the season then there isn't even close to a reasonable deal on the table.

[Shadowflames]

... really?

That was just great...

In a delusional kind of way.

[Mel_13]

We lost in the 1st round with Blair starting, and made it to the WCF with Blair out of the lineup. We "lost" (no championship) both years. I don't understand the point he was trying to make with that line.

This is just what he tells himself rather than recognize that he has been a regular season minutes eater who was a starter in name only.

Btw, Blair has never started a playoff game.

[spurs1990]

The guy started the majority of the last two seasons, and then was benched going into the playoffs.

His frustration is easily understandable. He needs a fresh start tbh. Hopefully an EC team.

[Dr. John R. Brinkley]

This should go over well.

[loveforthegame]

I wish he would have trimmed down earlier. It may have made a difference.

I can only imagine how frustrating it would be to start most the season and then be benched in the playoffs 2 years in a row.

If he's traded I wish him well. The Spurs need something else now.

[timtonymanu]

I think Blair's comments are pretty dumb, but it could have possibly just been taken out of context. Possibly.

I can't hate Blair even though I've been one of his haters the last two years simply because he stayed ready in the playoffs and played decent against OKC.

He does need a fresh start somewhere. It's been said numerous times, but he would do well on a team that has no shot to make the playoffs.

[TE]

... really?

He's more than likely gone after this, tbh...

[timvp]

The guy started the majority of the last two seasons, and then was benched going into the playoffs.

His frustration is easily understandable.

Agreed. His record while starting in the regular season is outrageously good. It's understandable that he'd want to continue starting in the playoffs. Yes, he gained weight. Yes, he doesn't really fit. Yes, he's not physically capable of being a good defender. But he has a right to wonder what would happen if the Spurs kept starting him. Any type of competitor would think the same thoughts.

I don't really have a problem with anything Blair said. He admitted Diaw was a better fit. He didn't have anything too bad to say about anyone and doesn't come across as overly bitter.

If the Spurs can't trade him, he'd make a great fifth big. But, yeah, for all parties involved it's probably best to sell him whenever a team is ready to give up decent value.

[spurs10]

This should go over well.

I'm sure thr FO is pricing tickets to Siberia as we speak.

[spursfan1000]

Blair is a solid player , the problem is that he is not much better then he was when he entered the league, he really has no post game or post defense. We have seen him make a mid time to time but not consistently, he is really one demensional. He really needs to hit the gym and work on his game a bit more. I dont mind what he said, his frustration is reasonable, I see him gone before next season

Off topic though I really wish we would have gotten Mario chalmers instead of him in the draft, we wouldnt have Gary Neal at backup pg right now.

[timvp]

This is just what he tells himself rather than recognize that he has been a regular season minutes eater who was a starter in name only.

Sounds like he recognizes what's going on:

"They used me to get everybody going and just get to the playoffs. That’s what it’s seemed like the last two seasons. But it’s a business, and everybody has their role, and I played mine, obviously, in the season."

[baseline bum]

I don't want Blair traded, as I think the Spurs would have a hell of a time finding someone better in trade at his salary. Best to keep him on the team another year. It sucks for DeJuan personally, but he's still more valuable to the team than what he can get back in trade.

[spurs10]

I don't want Blair traded, as I think the Spurs would have a hell of a time finding someone better in trade at his salary. Best to keep him on the team another year. It sucks for DeJuan personally, but he's still more valuable to the team than what he can get back in trade.

This sounds about right....

[mudyez]

Agreed. His record while starting in the regular season is outrageously good. It's understandable that he'd want to continue starting in the playoffs. Yes, he gained weight. Yes, he doesn't really fit. Yes, he's not physically capable of being a good defender. But he has a right to wonder what would happen if the Spurs kept starting him. Any type of competitor would think the same thoughts.

I don't really have a problem with anything Blair said. He admitted Diaw was a better fit. He didn't have anything too bad to say about anyone and doesn't come across as overly bitter.

If the Spurs can't trade him, he'd make a great fifth big. But, yeah, for all parties involved it's probably best to sell him whenever a team is ready to give up decent value.

timvp with the goods again!
but where does "decent value" start?
is a late 1strounder (in a weak draft) enough? I'm just not sure where to rank him? has he George Hill value or is he just a late bench guy nobody would give up anything of real worth for?

maybe he can be the piece to get other teams biting on Bonner?
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cvwjeky

[Sense]

I was on the fence about Blair as far as liking him, character and all..

I hope leaves.

[team-work]

I almost started the same thread when I saw the SAEN article.

Agreed. His record while starting in the regular season is outrageously good. It's understandable that he'd want to continue starting in the playoffs. Yes, he gained weight. Yes, he doesn't really fit. Yes, he's not physically capable of being a good defender. But he has a right to wonder what would happen if the Spurs kept starting him. Any type of competitor would think the same thoughts.

I don't really have a problem with anything Blair said. He admitted Diaw was a better fit. He didn't have anything too bad to say about anyone and doesn't come across as overly bitter.

If the Spurs can't trade him, he'd make a great fifth big. But, yeah, for all parties involved it's probably best to sell him whenever a team is ready to give up decent value.

It seems Blair has a hard time understanding what may be easily understandable for us i.e. used mainly during the regular season and benched in the POs. From his quotes he seems to have some insight but that cannot completely prevent his ego from being hurt. Hope the Spurs FO can find somewhere for him to prove himself, and above all, the young guy can turn his frustration to motivation.

Agreed that Blair's growing maturity kept him from turning his frustration into personal attack and ruining the team chemistry.

[davidbowie]

dejuan is only speaking the truth.

only natural to wonder what the problem is. obviously he hasn't been told directly by pop or whoever. it's not like we won the championship and he's complaining about not getting playing time. we fucking lost. and the guys playing in his spot didnt do shit.

[Redshadows]

Blair doubts he will be with Spurs next season.

And Bonner never doubts that?

[Mr. Body]

Didn't he pretty much rip apart the Thunder most of the times we played them?

And then he never played against them in the playoffs?

[mudyez]

dejuan is only speaking the truth.

only natural to wonder what the problem is. obviously he hasn't been told directly by pop or whoever. it's not like we won the championship and he's complaining about not getting playing time. we fucking lost. and the guys playing in his spot didnt do shit.

actually I think he did well in those minutes.
its all understandable and I don't see real bad feelings. he should be unhappy with the situation (even if pop explained him everything).
if we can use him going forward everything will be perfect...if not (probably) I wish him all the luck with another team and hope we can get something like a firstrounder for him.

[BatManu20]

I have no real problem with what he's saying tbh. We do have a damn good record with him as a starter. It's obvious he's not on Pop's favorites list when he goes from being a starter to the last guy on the bench in the matter of a couple weeks. Besides, we drafted him in the 2nd round.. can you really be mad that he didn't turn out to be a great player? I wouldn't be surprised if he wan't here either. Thank him for his time here and move on.

[angelbelow]

Dejuan has definitely matured. But then again, comments like these will only help his image around the league. Reacting negatively to his lack of playing time in the post season (again) would only red flag him and get him into more trouble. I'm glad that he, his agent, or his management realized that and steered him towards a more mature approach.

[tdominate21]

I wish he would have trimmed down earlier. It may have made a difference.

I can only imagine how frustrating it would be to start most the season and then be benched in the playoffs 2 years in a row.

If he's traded I wish him well. The Spurs need something else now.

The dude with delicate knees admitted to eating his way out of the lineup last season and looked like shit this season and he says the spurs won when he played. He's basically saying "Fuck you Pop even though i suck"

Screw that Blair BITCH!

[lebomb]

Didn't he pretty much rip apart the Thunder most of the times we played them?

And then he never played against them in the playoffs?

Yep.............people in here aren't very bright. Blair didn't even get a chance to play in the playoffs. Not even when we were getting our asses handed to us by OKC. Pop fucked that one up big time.

[racm]

Two things are clear:

1. Pop views him as a regular season minutes eater, since the "starting Matt Bonner" experiment produced well, crap, and the Spurs lost a quality veteran big when Dice retired.

2. Pop doesn't pay attention to matchups by changing lineups so easily. Sure, there were no-brainers (like starting Kawhi against OKC to hold down Durant, or starting Tim and Tiago together against the Lakers the last two games of their series) but it required time for him to adapt (see the file under Andrew Bynum and 30 rebounds).