Andy Katz: Spurs Feel Fortunate to Draft Blair in Second

[CGD]

For what it's worth...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4288788&name=katz_andy

[CGD]

Looks like Blair was the guys they were trying to trade up to get in the 1st...

[Spursmania]

If Blair works out-teams are going to be kicking themselves in the ass for not picking him up. Blair will work his ass off to prove the naysayers wrong.

[spurspokesman]

yeah he will work hard if the spurs use him. But I dont expect them to mess this one up.

[TDMVPDPOY]

bpsn givin the spurs props?

this is madness

[Spurs Brazil]

Spurs feel fortunate to draft Blair in second

Friday, June 26, 2009 | Print Entry

NEW YORK -- Pitt coach Jamie Dixon got off a plane from Denver to San Francisco, where he had a layover before heading to New Zealand to coach a United States junior national team, and couldn't believe what he saw on a television screen.

Pitt's DeJuan Blair and Sam Young were still on the draft board after the first round.

"I'm stunned,'' Dixon said by phone as he was preparing to fly with the Under-19 national team for the World Championships that start next week in Auckland. "I don't have an explanation."


[+] EnlargeMatthew Emmons/US Presswire

DeJuan Blair should compete for starter's minutes in San Antonio.

The word coming in from NBA executives was that Blair had knee troubles and Young's defense wasn't the best. That doesn't make much sense.

Blair had ACL surgery on each knee in high school. He doesn't have an ACL in either knee, according to reports. But on Thursday night Dixon said Blair never missed a single practice or game in two seasons at Pitt, and the coach has reiterated this fact to every team in the league.

Blair was a co-Big East Player of the Year this past season. He dominated every player in the conference and was projected to go as high as No. 13 to Indiana.

But he continued to drop Thursday night, falling into the second round. Blair could only watch as players whom he toyed with, like Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet (No. 2 overall), and others whom he beat for the conference's top award -- Louisville's Terrence Williams (11) and Earl Clark (14), Villanova's Dante Cunningham (33) and Georgetown's DaJuan Summers (35) -- all went in front of him.

Finally, after his teammate Young, who was said to have been one of the top workout performers throughout the spring, went ahead of him at 36, San Antonio selected Blair at No. 37.

There is a reason the Spurs have consistently been a title contender. They don't listen to anyone else but themselves, and their track record has usually proven to be right. "Our guys did our work,'' Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said by phone late Thursday night. "[Blair] fills a huge need for us. He was our target, but we never dreamed he would be there at No. 37."

In the days leading up to the draft, the Spurs were trying to get into the first round with the goal of landing Blair. They had already started draft week on a high note, securing Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee for essentially three players -- Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto (whom the Bucks later moved to Detroit for Amir Johnson) -- who weren't going to help the Spurs anymore.

San Antonio needed a small forward, a power player and a scoring guard. In addition to Jefferson and Blair, the Spurs got the third piece in the second round, when they landed Miami scoring guard Jack McClinton, whom Buford said he thought the Knicks were targeting when New York acquired the Lakers' No. 29 pick.

The Knicks took Florida State guard Toney Douglas, a comparable scorer to McClinton. The Knicks were probably surprised that Douglas was still available late in the first.

The Spurs' selection of Blair was an ingenious move. Even though Dixon was upset over Blair's precipitous drop, landing in San Antonio is a great fit. He will play immediately, and the Spurs are the right team to go to for managing a potential injury.

Buford said his team has the ideal coach to handle the lengthy season and massage minutes for players (see how Gregg Popovich has managed Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan in recent seasons).

Blair should compete for starter's minutes. The situation couldn't have worked out any better for him, even though it appeared dire at one point. Not getting guaranteed money as a first-round pick will make it that much more difficult for Blair. However, he has dealt with obstacles before, and the Spurs clearly want to make this work.


[+] EnlargeJoe Robbins/Getty Images

Sam Young, whom Memphis picked at No. 36, might be one of the steals of the draft.

Expect Young to have a great shot to stick with Memphis, too. He was a steal for the Grizzlies at No. 36, considering he was deemed one of the highest-value picks wherever he landed.

Dixon said it wouldn't have mattered if Blair had waited until June 15 to make his decision about whether to return to Pitt for his final two seasons: The deadline to withdraw wouldn't have made it any easier on Blair because no one in the NBA had projected he would drop to the second round. There were questions about his knees, but not to the extent that he would still be around for a title contender like San Antonio in the second round.

Young and Blair were two of the most vivid examples of players who didn't deserve to drop out of the first round. They should have been rewarded like some of their brethren in this draft.

[MoSpur]

These articles continue to just give me hope that this dude is gonna play w/all his heart to prove all those other teams they were wrong. That's a good thing for the Spurs.

[boutons_deux]

I really have hard time imagining a knee without ANY ACL being useable, stable on a basketball court. It's called a "trick knee", simply unstable.

"Blair had ACL surgery on each knee in high school" How do you operate on (repair?) an ACL that isn't there? They operated to remove his ACLs?

Very strange.

[CGD]

I really have hard time imagining a knee without ANY ACL being useable, stable on a basketball court. It's called a "trick knee", simply unstable.

"Blair had ACL surgery on each knee in high school" How do you operate on (repair?) an ACL that isn't there? They operated to remove his ACLs?

Very strange.

I'd also like to get to the bottom of this ACL issue.

Frankly though it changes nothing. You make this selection 200% of the time. Hypothetically, in the worst case he blows out his knee(s) after a season with us (God forbid). The risk to the Spurs is minimal financially -- 800K or so a season for 2 years. From a roster point of view, Spurs have a good pipeline of bigs coming in over the next two years.

[dbestpro]

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is the main support structure of the knee that prevents rotation of the Femur (thigh bone) on the Tibia (shin bone). The ACL also prevents the Tibia from translating forward on the Femur. This ligament is injured more than we would like in sports.

The knee is a hinge joint, comprised of three bones and four main ligaments. The joint has one plane of motion, flexion and extension. Due to this construction, a slight amount of rotation does occur, but the ligaments limit this motion. The three bones are the Femur, Tibia and Patella (knee cap). The four ligaments in the knee are the ACL, Posterior Cruciate (PCL), Medial Collateral (MCL), and Lateral Collateral (LCL). These ligaments connect the Tibia and Femur and provide the structural integrity to the knee.

The ACL and PCL were named for their location. The two ligaments are located in the middle of the knee and cross one another (cruciate is Latin for cross). The ACL has its origin on the front, or anterior, aspect of the Tibia, while the PCL originates on the back, or posterior, aspect of the Tibia. The MCL is located on the inside, or medial, aspect of the knee and the LCL is located on the outside, or lateral, aspect of the knee.

In the case of the ACL tear, the knee will feel unstable, and give out. The old phrase “Trick Knee” is most often associated with and ACL-deficient knee. When walking or climbing, the knee will suddenly “give out,” usually to the side, and the individual falls to the ground.

This give out is due to the knee having a rotational instability. When weight is borne on the ACL-deficient knee, the Femur has a tendency to rotate on the Tibia. This causes pain and places the knee in a position that is unnatural. Consequently, the muscles can not control the motion of the knee, and it gives way. This “giving out” is even more apparent when an athlete attempts to cut, start, or stop during competition. When the knee is unstable, cutting, starting or stopping places severe rotational stress on the knee.

If an unstable knee is not repaired, the constant rotation will cause other structures to be damaged. The most common associated injury is a meniscal tear. The meniscus is a “C-shaped” object located between the Tibia and Femur that acts as a shock absorber. When the meniscus is torn, it causes pain, popping, swelling, and giving way.

Another associated injury with a chronically unstable knee is degenerative changes to the joint surfaces, or arthritis. The constant rotation of the femur begins to “wear away” the joint surfaces.

Repairing the ACL Tear
Surgery to repair a torn ACL is performed as an out-patient procedure. The athlete will report to the facility in the morning and be home before the end of the business day. The treating physician will use an arthroscope to assist in repairing the torn ligament.

The surgeon begins by viewing the torn ligament as a final diagnostic evaluation. Also, the surgeon will inspect the knee for other possible damage. The remains of the ligament are then removed with an arthroscopic shaver. Other damage will be addressed as the procedure continues.

The replacement tissue for the torn ligament can be harvested from the hamstring muscle tendons on the medial (inside) of the knee or from the patellar tendon at the front of the knee. Once the tendon is harvested, it is prepared for the replacement.

Replacing the ligament requires some special preparation of the bones in the knee. A hole is drilled from the front of the shin, diagonally into the knee. This hole ends up where the ACL attaches to the top of the shin. The surgeon will then drill a hole in the thigh bone between the two heads running diagonally and up from the middle to the outside.

During this time the surgeon’s assistant prepares the replacement tendon for insertion into the joint. During this time the tissue is checked for proper size and is attached to two long sutures.

The replacement ligament is attached to the drill bit and pulled into place through the holes drilled. The new ligament is held in place with two screws while the holes in the bone heal.

The knee is then checked by the physician for structural stability. Also the surgeon carries out any other repairs that may be necessary such as a cartilage repair.

The last phase of the repair is the rehabilitation. The repair will fail if the muscles around the knee are not restored to full strength, coordination and functional ability.

Rehabilitation usually begins the day after surgery. Initially it focuses on restoring early range of motion, followed by increasing strength. The rehab gradually progresses to more complex exercises, running, plyometrics, and sport specific activities. Full return to athletics is usually 4 to 6 months after the surgery.