Blair a new fan-favorite, and other first impressions
By Jeff McDonald
A handful of scattered thoughts after the Spurs' 99-85 loss to Houston in their preseason opener ...
* Spurs fans are going to be disappointed with how little rookie DeJuan Blair plays once the regular season begins. Blair was a monster tonight (16 points, 19 rebounds). And his hair-on-fire style of play sure is fun to watch. Chasing down his own miss in the second half Tuesday night, Blair drew the second-loudest ovation of the night (the first coming when Manu Ginobili first rose from his chair during pre-game introductions).
Still, it's difficult to envision him cracking an early big-man rotation that is sure to include Tim Duncan, Antonio McDyess and Theo Ratliff, with a dash of Matt Bonner for 3-point shooting good measure. There simply aren't a lot of minutes to go around.
Gregg Popovich, we know, still has questions that Blair must answer before earning a permanent spot in the rotation.
"I don't want to denigrate anything he's done in the past, and I don't want to over-emphasize anything he's doing well," Popovich said Tuesday, albeit before Blair went all Dennis Rodman on the AT&T Center. "I don't know exactly where to put him yet, as far as what kind of impact he might make."
* More from Popovich's pre-game evaluation of Blair: "When you're an undersized big in this league, the first thing you learn is, offensively, is it's a whole lot tougher than you thought it was going to be. When you're going after 6-10 and 7-foot guys every night, it's a lot different than college, when your ass got you over every night. Offensively, it's a comeuppance. Or, maybe he'll say, 'Pop, you're full of it,' and he's Barkley.
"We know it's not going to happen, but I want to wait and see what's going to happen offensively, because of that. Will he get down? If he does get down, how long will he be down? How will he fight back? But rebounding-wise, he can rebound with anybody. He's a monster on the boards."
* Matt Bonner can still be useful to this team. Even after an offseason makeover meant to specifically upgrade the position he plays, Bonner has a chance to earn minutes if he shoots the ball like he did Tuesday (14 points, 4-of-7 from 3-point range). Yes, he comes with his deficiencies, which have been well chronicled, but Bonner was the Spurs' most accurate 3-point gunner last season and could be again. Perhaps he's not meant to play 30 minutes a night as a starting center, but Bonner still has his uses as a spot shooter. Think of him as Steve Kerr in a bigger body.
* Ian Mahinmi. Yipes. Mahinmi's bid to convince the Spurs that he's worth keeping did not get off to a good start. He had three points and four rebounds in 17 minutes, and made just 1-of-6 field goals. The most impressive display of his athleticism -- on a goaltend of Luis Scola -- resulted in two points for the Rockets.
It's probably folly to draw too many conclusions from one preseason game, but with that Oct. 31 deadline looming for the Spurs to decide whether to extend his contract, Mahinmi is definitely on the clock.
* We can see why Popovich is so enamored with George Hill. He's just a different player than he was at this time last year. Hill is running the point with confidence and poise, leading Popovich to declare him "my favorite player." After a season in which the Spurs' backup point guard spot was largely unsettled, Spurs fans should feel comfortable with Hill in that role. Popovich certainly does.
Pop just needs to get his head out of his ass.. Sorry, I know that he's all about not playing rookies so much but Blair is a different animal. This guy is going to help this team tremondously on the boards, specfically the offensive boards. We all saw that Matt Bonner disappeared during the stretch run last year, and I think if given the chance...Blair will not disappear ala Bonner. I dont HATE Bonner, but I don't LOVE him either.
blair will play.
I have to agree here and I think it will be a source of great debate this year amongst fans.
Blair's still got to prove he can defend adequately at the NBA level.
There's no doubt that his rebounding and physicality translate, and are potential huge assets. But if he's not getting back and cheating/gambling defensively, he's going to have a hard time getting on the court.
Regardless of how long your arms are, if you're a 6-6'' PF/C in the NBA you have to be as fundamentally-sound as possible to have any chance defensively.
Like I said in another thread, he'd be wise to take a couple of notes from someone like Hayes, whom he played tonight, that has proven capable of getting it done at a very similar size.
* Ian Mahinmi. Yipes.
lol. not want we want to see
Blair is just a flat-out beast. While it's too much to expect that kind of performance night in and night out, I do believe his energy, sheer desire and strong play will force Pop to find some minutes for him.
Blair may have a more difficult time scoring because of his height and tougher compe ion. Yet, if today's stats are an indication of what we can expect from him, then his offensive contribution may not necessarily come in points, although I believe he can score. His offensive contribution may come in offensive rebounds. He will help the Spurs have more second chance opportunities.
blair will get more minutes than mcdonald is suggesting. i think that ratliff, bonner and blair will share time depending on situations and matchups. also, there will always be the occassional injury or need to sit someone throughout the season. if in those opportunities blair demonstrates himself to be a force on the boards then he will be a regular part of the rotation.
and pop is the bill parcells of the NBA, always making sure to temper the overreaction of others to any one young player. he was no different with manu.
CIA Pop
Pop really needs to play Blair...get him "seasoned" in the Season. Once play-off time comes he will be tested don't bring him in, as a last min adjustment. We are gonna need his athleticism. From the scrimmage and Highlites from Houston Game....this guy is gonna be a beast. Going to Fridays game can't wait to see what he dose vs the Greek team!!!
....will Duncan play on Fri?
Anyone know?
I think Blair is going to get a fair share of minutes. Pop is going to carefully ration playing time to Duncan and Mc Dyess so someone will have to fill in// if Blair continues to play with the same intensity, no way can Pop leave him sitting on the bench.
defense is important - so is any kind of above average production on a basketball court.
and one thing can already be taken as a given thing: Blair is a far above average rebounder, also on NBA level.
he will see his minutes on the court, because this is still the most effective way to make a player better. Blair will have a lot of work to do in practice, to learn the fundamentals of defense, but Pop will give him the chance to immediately put the lessons into action. it's not that Blair would eat minutes from defensive giants. so the increase of overall production should more than balance an eventual decrease of defensive performance when minutes from Bonner, Haislip or Ratliff go to Blair.
so I'm pretty confident Blair that will play 20MPG, even if he struggles on defense.
If he's able to reach a rate of around 12 rebs per 40 mins, I'd be very pleased. Getting a few points as well, improving his defense and he'll be in the playoff rotation. Still too early though. Good luck to the kid, he's got talent and passion.
I think all the points above are extremely valid as to why Blair will be fighting for minutes. And I agree with all of them- with the obvious being that we have Mcdyess, Ratliff and Bonner as well.
But I have become a Blair fan-why? The guy has guts and heart. He plays like a Man-just think opposite of Bonner. When Blair goes out there-you think Man.
I cannot emphasize enough what energy and hustle he brings into his game when he's out there. You can see he's mentally tough as -a trait, that will give him more minutes as the year progresses. You can't buy mental toughness. Yes, he's damn rough defensively, and if he doesn't learn the defensive rotations fast enough and execute them well, he won't be getting as much time as he wants.
But, make no mistake, Blair is going to be a force to reckon with and we fans are going to love him-it's just a matter of time...
Last edited by Spursmania; 10-07-2009 at 12:00 PM.
I don't think minutes will be a problem by December, assuming he plays well..the problem is that we only have 3 capable post defenders on the team in Duncan, McDyess, and Ratliff..Ian is an average defender with a presence..everybody else is either below average or bad(Bonner, Blair, Haislip)..
So that reason won't be a cause for Blair losing minutes IMO..
Ratliff needs to be big for this team though..
Told you Hill was the chosen one
Told you Mahinmi was a bust
I'm wondering if Pop is referring to Blair's jump shot. I think it's still an unknown whether Blair can make a jumper consistently or what his range is. The potential issue could be that an opposing defender could sag off of Blair and clog the paint, limiting Tim's ability to maneuver and closing the spaces used by the guards to penetrate.
Right on. Because of these reasons and the fact Bonner can't really rebound for sh*t, Blair will get his minutes. Blair will be fine, he'll get the practice time, coaching and mentoring he needs for him to develop on both sides of the ball. Spurs are deep enough this year to overcome any of Blair's deficiencies.
Agreed. Blair will get his PT because he wants to rest Tim and Bonner can't be the guy who subs in for either of them.
Blair will get plenty of playing time.
I sure hope the FO gives up on this bum soon
Why's that?
Comments on Hill sound promising.
Great point. Blair needs to use his muscle and low center of gravity like Hayes, who I thought was great in the playoffs last year.
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