Scrub Series: Appreciating Dejuan Blair

[Calispursfan11]

This week we take a look back at Dejuan Blair's career as a Spur and look to what's ahead for him.

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Marc+Gasol+Memphis+Grizzles+v+San+Antionio+VgDkNaC HSkFl.jpg

Labeled "Energy guy" because he was similar in height and build to Malik Rose. This dwarf sized PF/C once posted up much taller Hasheem Thabeet in college. He collected a few rebounds and had a few good offensive outbursts for the Spurs with Manu feeding him the ball at just the right time. Spent most of his time as a Spur sulking on the bench.

In general, has gotten destroyed by any decent post scorer in the post over his entire career. Has generally looked like a gradeschooler against bigger frontlines, especially the Grizzlies, over his career. Eats hamburgers. Lots of them. Can't block shots.

Unfortunately, while Blair was liked his first couple seasons in San Antonio and appeared to have an upside, he regressed significantly probably due in part to his lack of ACLs and his bruised ego. It was then that Spurfan turned on him and the Blair hate club began. Having now moved on to Dallas, Blair is playing in a very limited role and contributes little to the Mavs overall game. Expect him to be out of the league within the next two years.

[hater]

except he is now in Washington :rolleyes

[100%duncan]

except he is now in Washington :rolleyes

:lmao

[Calispursfan11]

except he is now in Washington :rolleyes

LOL, he is? Must be playing a lot.

[FromWayDowntown]

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Marc+Gasol+Memphis+Grizzles+v+San+Antionio+VgDkNaC HSkFl.jpg

That photo basically explains the 2011 First Round loss.

[Chinook]

Blair always seemed to play well against Memphis, especially defensively. He was also a pretty good ball-thief for his position. By no means was he a plus on that end, but there were quite a few games where the Spurs got away with him versus big front courts.

You're correct that he never developed. His lack of a jump made him a 6-5 center. He was pretty much was Thomas Robinson is to Portland now, but the Spurs didn't have a better option to start next to Duncan for a couple of years.

[Calispursfan11]

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Marc+Gasol+Memphis+Grizzles+v+San+Antionio+VgDkNaC HSkFl.jpg

That photo basically explains the 2011 First Round loss.

Yes Dick and Blair in the same photo for one, not to mention, Gasol shooting right over blair in the restricted area...

[100%duncan]

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Marc+Gasol+Memphis+Grizzles+v+San+Antionio+VgDkNaC HSkFl.jpg

That photo basically explains the 2011 First Round loss.

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Manu+Ginobili+San+Antonio+Spurs+v+Phoenix+SQOnLMkl uoOl.jpg

[Calispursfan11]

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Manu+Ginobili+San+Antonio+Spurs+v+Phoenix+SQOnLMkl uoOl.jpg

That didn't help us either.

[Calispursfan11]

Blair always seemed to play well against Memphis, especially defensively. He was also a pretty good ball-thief for his position. By no means was he a plus on that end, but there were quite a few games where the Spurs got away with him versus big front courts.

You're correct that he never developed. His lack of a jump made him a 6-5 center. He was pretty much was Thomas Robinson is to Portland now, but the Spurs didn't have a better option to start next to Duncan for a couple of years.

He was basically like a lesser Chuck Hayes defensively, but slightly better on offense.

[Chinook]

He was basically like a lesser Chuck Hayes defensively, but slightly better on offense.

I don't agree with that at all. Hayes was a fine defender, especially in the post, and Blair was fantastic on offense when he played his role.

[Calispursfan11]

I don't agree with that at all. Hayes was a fine defender, especially in the post, and Blair was fantastic on offense when he played his role.

What I was trying to say was they had similar body types with Hayes being the better defender and Blair being better on offense. I think we agree on that point although it seems like you'd rank Hayes great on defense and Blair great on offense. While I think Hayes was really good on defense, I don't think Blair was superb on offense (good but not superb).

[100%duncan]

Blair's offensive game is overrated imho. He shined when there were no other options other than the corpse of Dice and a declining TD. Look, he isn't even playing in Washington now.

[Calispursfan11]

Blair's offensive game is overrated imho. He shined when there were no other options other than the corpse of Dice and a declining TD. Look, he isn't even playing in Washington now.

Definitely a good point there. Our frontline options were thin at the time. Amazing how TD rejuvinated himself though after that. Now we are pretty good up front.

[DJR210]

except he is now in Washington :rolleyes

:lol fail

[SupremeGuy]

except he is now in Washington :rolleyes:lmao

[Seventyniner]

Getting him at #37 was still quite a steal. It's too bad he had to start, though. He would have been a perfect 4th (energy) big for a lot of teams.

[spursparker9]

Is Blair the 15th guy on Washington?

[Mel_13]

Is Blair the 15th guy on Washington?

14th. They cut Glen Rice, Jr..

[hater]

Getting him at #37 was still quite a steal. It's too bad he had to start, though. He would have been a perfect 4th (energy) big for a lot of teams.

except he isn't. He was a scrub in Dallas and now is riding the pine in Washington.

dude sucks.

[Johnny RIngo]

He was a strong rebounder his first two years in the league before the lack of ACLs(and weight gain) caught up with him. His defense was awful which made him an overall poor fit next to an aging Duncan. Not really a useful player for a contending team but he was fun to watch(especially those circus shots). Don't miss him one bit though.

[pookenstein]

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Manu+Ginobili+San+Antonio+Spurs+v+Phoenix+SQOnLMkl uoOl.jpg

Didn't he break that arm in the very last game before the playoffs? Against PHX?

[pookenstein]

Yes he did.

M_uTbRTMIvw

We were 61-20 at that point, Dallas, #2 in the Conference finished 57-25. I guess Pop wanted to tie the Bulls record @62-20.

[PingPong]

except he is now in Washington :rolleyes

And collecting DNP....

[playblair]

its no coincidence manu&parkers decline happened the same time blair was let go..................... blair was an elite PNR player................. manu/blair PNR was virtually unstoppable............... blair set amazing picks for parker PNR.................. a "scrub" player doesn't have 2 30/20 games................ bring back blair........................

[DJR210]

He was a strong rebounder his first two years in the league before the lack of ACLs(and weight gain) caught up with him.

What do you mean, he lost weight over the years compared to his rookie season.. This was actually his downfall IMO, once he shed the extra pounds he was no longer effective at boxing out and seemingly lost his knack for the rebound.

[DMC]

I told everyone here what Blair was when he was here, and plenty of you thought he was a prodigy.

[Uriel]

I'm not entirely convinced that it was Blair's lack of ACL's that caused him to regress so significantly. I think part of it was also the Spurs' player development staff itself. They told him to lose weight and add a jump shot to his game during the summer. That had two adverse effects.

First, because he lost so much weight, he lost the low center of gravity that made him such a prodigious offensive rebounder. Second, his deteriorating offensive rebounding prowess was compounded by the fact that he was now being forced to drift out to the perimeter to accommodate his new jump shot.

Almost all of Blair's offensive production came on cleaning up misses at the rim. Deprived of his only elite NBA skill, he never became a serviceable player again.

[TheGreatYacht]

He's a savage :lol


http://youtu.be/uTnDkOAuwYs

http://youtu.be/W168Fdom3fI

[Johnny RIngo]

What do you mean, he lost weight over the years compared to his rookie season.. This was actually his downfall IMO, once he shed the extra pounds he was no longer effective at boxing out and seemingly lost his knack for the rebound.

Really? Could have sworn he got fatter every year. Guess I'm remembering him wrong.

[Sean Cagney]

Yes he did.

M_uTbRTMIvw

We were 61-20 at that point, Dallas, #2 in the Conference finished 57-25. I guess Pop wanted to tie the Bulls record @62-20.
That was his thinking no doubt about it, thing is it backfired big time and the Bulls were nowhere near the finals and the Spurs out in round one because of the injury. Hindsight 20-20 I guess.

[spursparker9]

Got to admit Blair played good during last year playoffs round 1.

If he didn't get suspended, who knows what may happen.

[Chinook]

I'm not entirely convinced that it was Blair's lack of ACL's that caused him to regress so significantly. I think part of it was also the Spurs' player development staff itself. They told him to lose weight and add a jump shot to his game during the summer. That had two adverse effects.

First, because he lost so much weight, he lost the low center of gravity that made him such a prodigious offensive rebounder. Second, his deteriorating offensive rebounding prowess was compounded by the fact that he was now being forced to drift out to the perimeter to accommodate his new jump shot.

Almost all of Blair's offensive production came on cleaning up misses at the rim. Deprived of his only elite NBA skill, he never became a serviceable player again.

Very true. He wasn't a fit with the Spurs as a 6-5 center, but he probably would have been productive next to a stretch five like Hawes or Frye.

[Malik Hairston]

Very true. He wasn't a fit with the Spurs as a 6-5 center, but he probably would have been productive next to a stretch five like Hawes or Frye.

I agree with Uriel's post, too, and it's also partly due to egos/realistic view on one's self, tbh..

Blair could have carved out a niche as Reggie Evans + much better offensive skills(Blair is levels above Evans as an offensive player, not even close), but being a rebounding specialist as a 4th big on a team isn't a glamorous role that appeals to most young players..

Egos and overvaluing self-worth has played a huge part in the failures of many NBA players, and it always will..

[G-Dawgg]

Fuck DeJuan Blair. He didn't have enough smarts or class to be a Spurs type player..

[DJR210]

Really? Could have sworn he got fatter every year. Guess I'm remembering him wrong.

nah..the Whataburger jokes just never stopped

[DMC]

Uriel is correct. Blair came in with something the Spurs didn't teach him and when they corrected his positioning, he was lost out there. You could tell the rest of the team was playing around him, only Manu knew how to capitalize on his ability to move to the rim. Blair probably still sends Manu a box of cigars once a year.

[Sean Cagney]

Got to admit Blair played good during last year playoffs round 1.

If he didn't get suspended, who knows what may happen.
He showed up against his old team that is for sure, extra motivation and it's a shame he doesn't play like that every single night. He is on the bench with the Wiz and getting little minutes, shows you he only shows up when super motivated and actually played out of his mind in that series IMO. I guess he doesn't have the hunger otherwise.

[apalisoc_9]

I'm not entirely convinced that it was Blair's lack of ACL's that caused him to regress so significantly. I think part of it was also the Spurs' player development staff itself. They told him to lose weight and add a jump shot to his game during the summer. That had two adverse effects.

First, because he lost so much weight, he lost the low center of gravity that made him such a prodigious offensive rebounder. Second, his deteriorating offensive rebounding prowess was compounded by the fact that he was now being forced to drift out to the perimeter to accommodate his new jump shot.

Almost all of Blair's offensive production came on cleaning up misses at the rim. Deprived of his only elite NBA skill, he never became a serviceable player again.

This is a really good post...

[Dex]

Wizards' DeJuan Blair Obliterates Hornets' Brian Roberts with Brutal Screen
(http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2356322-wizards-dejuan-blair-obliterates-hornets-brian-roberts-with-brutal-screen?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national)

[DJR210]

Wizards' DeJuan Blair Obliterates Hornets' Brian Roberts with Brutal Screen
(http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2356322-wizards-dejuan-blair-obliterates-hornets-brian-roberts-with-brutal-screen?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national)

Beautiful screen :tu

He channeled the force of 50,000 patty melts into that one

[Dex]

Beautiful screen :tu

He channeled the force of 50,000 patty melts into that one

:lol

[SupremeGuy]

Beautiful screen :tu

He channeled the force of 50,000 patty melts into that one:lol