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definitely top 5. maybe top 2.
Blair destroyed Thabeet in their first match up last year, but in the second one Thabeet had the better game.
Game 1 Pitt vs UConn
Blair: 22 points, 23 rebounds, 1 block
Thabeet: 5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks
Game 2
Blair: 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks
Thabeet: 14 points, 13 rebounds, 5 blocks
Pitt won both games.
definitely top 5. maybe top 2.
Very possible, need to see how it pans out though. I'm sure this thread will be bumped in the near future.
Hmmm. Wes Unseld came in to the NBA as a 6'7" CENTER and was not only Rookie of the Year, but the MVP. Now, I'm not predicting anything near that for Blair (all I'm hoping is that he starts and grabs 10 boards a game), but it's quite possible Blair will be able to contribute right away. In fact, I'd bet on it.
If you guys have ever looked at Wikipedia's NBA Drafts; the ones that list the pick, the team, the player, highlighted if they were all-star/something like that, etc, etc; than you will notice how many players are busts, only average players, backups and scrubs are picked in the top 10, top 20 and the first round in general. Not to mention the second round is even worse, haha. But seriously a ton of the guys picked in the top 15 will either bust/not live up to expectations. I say 2 or 3 guys in the top 20 live up to the hype/become an all-star.
Saying Blair is one of the two best players in this draft is a little far though. I would say Blake Griffin is definitely ahead and there are those Guards that don't bust there in the 1st round. We'll see how this whole thing pans out.
I agree with what some other posters have written about rebounding being a skill that tends to translate better from college to the NBA than other skills. The other thing Blair has going for him is the luck of having been picked by the Spurs, who need more rebounding but are in pretty good shape in most other areas. As a rookie whose main job it will be to rebound, I think he has a good chance to be extremely successful. If he'd been drafted by a lottery team that planned on using him as a 6'6.5" PF centerpiece, I think those odds drop a bit.
good point. the one thing the Spurs need from him just happens to be his specialty: eating glass.
You know how it's foolish to start thread demanding to cut players after one summer league game? Well, it's also foolish to claim we had a top two pick after one summer league game.
Unless that guy's name is Tim Duncan. Other than that, how about a little patience. Let's wait until the guy goes a full 82 before deciding where he belongs in reference to this year's draft.
In the near term, Blair might be one of the top 2.
Down the line (4-5 years), unlikely.
In any event, he's a complete heist as a second round pick!
It's foolish to avoid making strong opinions on the internets. And this claim was not made after one summer league game.
minutes each game PLEASE
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/s...he_boards.html
Spurs' Blair bangs the boards
Jeff McDonald
San Antonio Express-News
LAS VEGAS — A mere 65 seconds after checking into his first NBA summer league game, Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair hip-checked his way through a pair of defenders, snatched an offensive rebound away from two defenders and double-pumped the ball back into the basket.
From his courtside seat at UNLV's Cox Pavilion, New Orleans coach Byron Scott shook his head in amazement.
“That is a man down there,” Scott said, motioning in the direction of the wide-bodied Blair.
On the day that the Spurs made him the 37th overall pick in the NBA draft, Blair swore he would make sure every team that had passed on him regretted it.
He wasted little time scratching one team off his hit list Sunday.
In his highly anticipated summer league debut, Blair — a 6-foot-7 All-American from Pittsburgh — finished with 13 points to go with 10 rebounds as the Spurs beat New Orleans 92-86.
After it, Blair was in too good of a mood to say, “I told you so.”
“I was just having fun,” Blair said, flashing a quick smile. “I showed a lot of people what I can do, what they missed out on.”
Widely regarded as the best rebounder in college basketball last season, Blair thrived as advertised in his maiden summer league foray.
He entered the game with 5:10 left in the first quarter. Thirty-five seconds later, he recorded his first rebound, bird-dogging a defensive rebound into the corner.
Six minutes into his stint, Blair already had five rebounds.
“If there's a rebound, he's going to go get it,” said Spurs assistant coach Don Newman, who is guiding the summer league squad. “He has such a knack for that. He does it better than anybody did it in the college game.”
Blair scored most of his points on putbacks. Three of his four field goals resulted in 3-point plays.
In that, he did not show the Spurs anything they did not already know.
“That's what I do,” Blair said. “That's what's on the scouting report.”
It can be folly to project too much from one summer league game. Often, what happens in Vegas really does stay in Vegas.
Just as it was for George Hill, the last top Spurs rookie to come through the Cox Pavilion.
A year ago, Hill missed 23 of 25 shots during the Spurs' first three summer league games, leading to knee-jerk doubts about his ability to play in the NBA. He led the Spurs with 25 points Sunday, going 7 for 13 from the field, including a pair of soaring dunks.
By the end of the first quarter, Hill had made twice as many field goals (four) as he did all last year in Vegas.
Malik Hairston scored all 16 of his points in the second half for the Spurs, including 11 in a three-minute stretch of the third quarter. The 6-foot-6 swingman showed off a shooting range rarely seen in his 15-game stint with the Spurs last season, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers.
It was Blair, however, who generated the most silver-and-black buzz. He was the last Spurs player to leave the arena after the game, held up by a media horde clamoring for his attention.
Blair seemed unimpressed by the whole affair.
“I just did what everybody thought I could do,” Blair said, shrugging. “I rebounded.”
Even though it was only a summer league game, the Spurs believe Blair will be producing similar statistical lines in NBA arenas someday soon.
If he does, Blair would be as significant an offseason addition as any for a team that ranked 18th in the league in rebounding last season.
In the meantime, the Tour de Vengeance goes on, though Blair says he came to terms with his draft-night snub on draft night.
“It's in the past,” Blair said. “I'm not really worried about that now. Fans don't know who got drafted where.”
Fans don't, but Blair does. He is out to show the rest of the NBA what it missed out on.
One team at a time.
people need to give it up with the 6'6 or 6'7 talk. his reach is TALLER than blake griffin's. WTF cares where the top his crown is?
I agree, but it'd be dumb to compare him to Griffin who can jump out of the gym.
H.L. Mencken would be proud.
Montaigne might disagree.
Good point, but irregardless if Griffin jumps like a gazelle, it ain't gonna do him any good if Blair has boxed him out and he finds himself near the free throw line.
Out of all the PF drafted in the 1st round, how many are better then Blair. I think that Griffins overall game is more refined especially offensively but mark my words Blair will push Griffin around.
I say that Blair overall is the 2nd best, most productive Pf drafted in the first round.
The answer would be no. , Brandon Jennings might turn out to be really special. People thought he was talking trash. He is playing very well now.
yeah, but nobody (or at least very few) have claimed that griffin is undersized, but makes up for it with jumping ability. most are willing to give him the size right off the bat, because the top of his head - which is never used to provide a basketball skill - is higher off the ground.
And it would be foolish not to have stupid takes on the internet either. What's you point.
And yes, the comment was made after one game because remember, from SL on forward, what you did in college doesn't matter, it's what you do against the pros that counts.
And Blair had one good game against the JV pros. One good game doesn't define a career, just like one bad game doesn't ruin it.
Spurs fans are starting to sound just like Cowboys fans right now. If you need proof, see one Troy Hambrick.
I'm not denouncing the guy, just saying give the guy time to prove himself against the real big boys, not just the JV squads before ejaculating all over yourself.
Remember, premature ejaculation can be cured.
La de dah. Fear of premature ejaculation is for fools like you.
Embracing premature ejaculation is for fools like you.
Although I wouldn't say that he is top 2, I wouldn't say that its far fetched to call him one of the top two players. It's definitely arguable.
Nah, it's for those who aren't scared of the fools of the internets.
lol @ your sig
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