duncan228
01-15-2010, 12:56 AM
Blair proving to be another draft steal for Spurs (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/Blair_proving_to_be_another_draft_steal_for_Spurs. html)
Jeff McDonald
CHARLOTTE, N.C. For 31 glorious minutes, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich watched as rookie DeJuan Blair took a wrecking ball to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He grabbed rebounds. He scored dunks. He had tip-ins. He blocked shots. He did it all, including some things a hydrant-shaped NBA center should never be able to, en route to his 28-point, 21-rebound performance in the Spurs' 109-108 victory Wednesday.
It was the first 20-20 game by an NBA rookie since a guy named Tim Duncan did it in 1998, and enough to make Popovich rethink everything he thought he knew about basketball.
I don't know how he does it, Popovich said. I have no clue what his moves are. He's just a basketball player. We didn't teach him any of it.
A 6-foot-7 center, Blair is about as rare an NBA specimen as a 7-foot point guard. Only Houston starts a shorter man at center, and the 6-6 Chuck Hayes got the nod this season only because 7-6 Yao Ming is injured.
All Popovich does know about his 20-year-old rookie: He produces at a level uncommon for a second-round draft choice.
The 37th pick in last June's draft, Blair is the first rookie not taken in the first round to post a 20-20 game since Houston's Larry Smith did it in 1981, eight years before Blair was born.
The guy is like a stat machine, Popovich said. He's got no moves on the post. He's not a shooter. He just figures out a way to get it in the hole.
Entering tonight's game in Charlotte, Blair is averaging 7.1 points and 5.8 rebounds.
He is outperforming most of the big men selected before him in June, when his lack of NBA size, any semblance of a post game and, bizarrely, an ACL in either knee triggered a dizzying draft-day slide for the All-American from Pittsburgh.
Expecting to be a lottery selection, Blair freefell to the second round, where the Spurs eagerly snapped him up. He emerged with a new perspective that has since become his nightly fuel.
I know I have to earn my respect in the NBA, Blair said. Nobody is just going to give it to me.
A year after nabbing George Hill at No. 26, the Spurs have again snagged an immediate rotation player from a draft position at which immediate rotation players aren't typically available.
Never dreaming Blair would drop to them most in the organization figured, at worst, he'd be gone after the first pick in the second round the Spurs did not work him out prior to the draft. A 15-minute interview with general manager R.C. Buford and other Spurs staffers at a camp in Chicago was the only pre-draft contact between the team and the player.
With the 37th pick, the Spurs gladly would have selected Blair's college teammate, Sam Young. When Young went off the board at No. 36 to Memphis, the Spurs jumped on Blair.
For Popovich, initial euphoria at pilfering Blair gave way to the realization that his new center was vastly undersized, owned zero post moves and could not consistently score outside 3 feet.
Ignoring the urge to immediately fix what Blair could not do, Popovich decided to let Blair be free to do what he already could rebound, make put-backs and play like his lunch money depended on it.
It's important to know a player's natural habits and how he plays before you try to adjust or add to it, Popovich said. It's better to understand what he does well, and go from there.
It's a hands-off approach Popovich plans to continue for the foreseeable future. He doesn't quite understand the magic that is DeJuan Blair, but he certainly won't argue with the results.
He's got a good future ahead of him, Popovich said, as long as we don't screw him up.
Jeff McDonald
CHARLOTTE, N.C. For 31 glorious minutes, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich watched as rookie DeJuan Blair took a wrecking ball to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He grabbed rebounds. He scored dunks. He had tip-ins. He blocked shots. He did it all, including some things a hydrant-shaped NBA center should never be able to, en route to his 28-point, 21-rebound performance in the Spurs' 109-108 victory Wednesday.
It was the first 20-20 game by an NBA rookie since a guy named Tim Duncan did it in 1998, and enough to make Popovich rethink everything he thought he knew about basketball.
I don't know how he does it, Popovich said. I have no clue what his moves are. He's just a basketball player. We didn't teach him any of it.
A 6-foot-7 center, Blair is about as rare an NBA specimen as a 7-foot point guard. Only Houston starts a shorter man at center, and the 6-6 Chuck Hayes got the nod this season only because 7-6 Yao Ming is injured.
All Popovich does know about his 20-year-old rookie: He produces at a level uncommon for a second-round draft choice.
The 37th pick in last June's draft, Blair is the first rookie not taken in the first round to post a 20-20 game since Houston's Larry Smith did it in 1981, eight years before Blair was born.
The guy is like a stat machine, Popovich said. He's got no moves on the post. He's not a shooter. He just figures out a way to get it in the hole.
Entering tonight's game in Charlotte, Blair is averaging 7.1 points and 5.8 rebounds.
He is outperforming most of the big men selected before him in June, when his lack of NBA size, any semblance of a post game and, bizarrely, an ACL in either knee triggered a dizzying draft-day slide for the All-American from Pittsburgh.
Expecting to be a lottery selection, Blair freefell to the second round, where the Spurs eagerly snapped him up. He emerged with a new perspective that has since become his nightly fuel.
I know I have to earn my respect in the NBA, Blair said. Nobody is just going to give it to me.
A year after nabbing George Hill at No. 26, the Spurs have again snagged an immediate rotation player from a draft position at which immediate rotation players aren't typically available.
Never dreaming Blair would drop to them most in the organization figured, at worst, he'd be gone after the first pick in the second round the Spurs did not work him out prior to the draft. A 15-minute interview with general manager R.C. Buford and other Spurs staffers at a camp in Chicago was the only pre-draft contact between the team and the player.
With the 37th pick, the Spurs gladly would have selected Blair's college teammate, Sam Young. When Young went off the board at No. 36 to Memphis, the Spurs jumped on Blair.
For Popovich, initial euphoria at pilfering Blair gave way to the realization that his new center was vastly undersized, owned zero post moves and could not consistently score outside 3 feet.
Ignoring the urge to immediately fix what Blair could not do, Popovich decided to let Blair be free to do what he already could rebound, make put-backs and play like his lunch money depended on it.
It's important to know a player's natural habits and how he plays before you try to adjust or add to it, Popovich said. It's better to understand what he does well, and go from there.
It's a hands-off approach Popovich plans to continue for the foreseeable future. He doesn't quite understand the magic that is DeJuan Blair, but he certainly won't argue with the results.
He's got a good future ahead of him, Popovich said, as long as we don't screw him up.