Rookie Rankings: Blair #5

[duncan228]

Rookie Rankings
Drew Packham
NBA.com

1. Tyreke Evans, Sacramento Kings
2. Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee Bucks
3. Jonny Flynn, Minnesota Timberwolves
4. Ty Lawson, Denver Nuggets

5. DeJuan Blair, San Antonio Spurs
Last Week: 7 | Drafted: 37
Blair came back to earth a little this week. Granted, he only saw 10 minutes of action, but in the Spurs' 96-84 loss in Portland, Blair was held scoreless and hauled in just four rebounds. Monday night, with both Tony Parker(notes) and Tim Duncan(notes) sidelined, I expected Blair to be more involved offensively. But he finished with just six points and seven boards while dealing with foul trouble in the Spurs' 131-124 win over the Raptors. Despite the struggles, Blair's impact can't be denied. The fact that he's leading rookies in rebounding in just under 19 minutes per game is testament to that impact.

6. Chase Budinger, Houston Rockets
7. Omri Casspi, Sacramento Kings
8. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
9. Terrence Williams, New Jersey Nets
10. Taj Gibson, Chicago Bulls

[spursncowboys]

Thanks for the post.

[Agloco]

Da Beast!!!!!!

[Interrohater]

what is this guy smoking? In ten minutes he had four boards and that's bad? Had he played longer, he absolutely would have scored more, but seriously. He's 20, undersized and doesn't play enough. The guy is doing a phenomenal job.

Then again, he did list him at no. 5.

What am i smoking?

[TDMVPDPOY]

i hope he gets selected for the all rookie game....BLAIR V GHILL3 ? nice, when was the last time 2 spurs players went h2h in a game

[AussieFanKurt]

Thanks 228
Go Grizzly!

[xtremesteven33]

what is this guy smoking? In ten minutes he had four boards and that's bad? Had he played longer, he absolutely would have scored more, but seriously. He's 20, undersized and doesn't play enough. The guy is doing a phenomenal job.

Then again, he did list him at no. 5.

What am i smoking?


Damn, what are you smoking. :lol

[GabeIsGone]

i hope he gets selected for the all rookie game....BLAIR V GHILL3 ? nice, when was the last time 2 spurs players went h2h in a game
no way hill is getting in, way to many good sophmore guards that get more attention. rose, westbrook, mayo, gordon, etc.

[angelbelow]

Awesome! Nice to see he isnt getting overlooked despite poor outings the past 2 games

[HarlemHeat37]

nice battle on the boards tonight, 6 in 20 minutes..

how about that block on Dirk though?..beautiful..

[BillMc]

nice battle on the boards tonight, 6 in 20 minutes..

how about that block on Dirk though?..beautiful..

Blair will only get better, and only get more minutes when he becomes less foul prone.

Give him time, he's going to be a monster for us!

[EricB]

Blair's BBall IQ is leaving a little to be desired but he is only 20 years old so understandable.

Solid night.

[ffadicted]

Kid's a beast, and I'd love to see him take more minutes from bonner (despite bonner showing that he can be a great option off the bench).

Hopefully that'll happen as he improves more

[VI_Massive]

David Thorpe wrote this about Blair on 11/11 in his Rookie Rankings:

"Although Blair is proving he can be a force in the paint on this level, the Spurs rook is being forced to adjust his game to the taller guys he is facing. He's specifically having trouble finishing around the rim over players who have bodied up with their arms outstretched. He's kind of "throwing and hoping" at this point. Eventually he'll learn to power up over them or add a slight fade to his shot that would somewhat mitigate a defender's reach advantage."

We saw Dejuan get his shot blocked a few times over the past few games and I think he'll make exactly the type of adjustments Thorpe says he needs to make. I saw the beginning of these adjustments tonight in that one shot Blair hit, I think it was in the first half, in which he added the fade-type action Thorpe mentioned. I think he can adapt his offensive game well in the future.

[Danny.Zhu]

Great.

[SpurNation]

Yep. If he can perfect that short fade away jumper he'll be hard to stop in the post. Defensively he needs a lot more improvement position wise to keep the fouls from piling up.

But he'll get it. Malik Rose ended up being a defensive force at his size...I think Blair has as much if not more physical features to do even the same.

[TDMVPDPOY]

so hows his rankn now? any update?