48MoH: DeJuan Blair as the San Antonio Spurs

[benefactor]

Most black people are stupid... no exaggeration.

[anakha]

I would be surprised if he knows basic math.

Gee, I wonder why you've gotten banned several times already...

[exstatic]

Answering your question, I am not speaking of countering his "nose for the ball". I mean taking advantage of his 6'6 height on defense. That is something you can gameplan and exploit.

Luckily, like rebounding, you don't defend with the top of your head either. Blair's standing reach is that of your average 6'10 or 6'11" player.

[YODA]

Anyone have any information on how many of those rebounds were not putbacks from his own shows?

[z0sa]

Blair could be too good for Pop to bench him. Plus, you really think Tim and his aching knees will let that happen? Tim is a reserved individual obviously. That doesn't mean he isn't playing a big part in what happens behind the scenes. If Blair does well, he could get Tim more rest than in a long time. He's going to need it with the current big man situation, which could get ugly during the course of that long 82 game season+PO.

[ceperez]

Folks, to put things in perspective, Blair has near identical measurements as Milsap:

Height w/o Shoes Height w/shoes Weight Wingspan Standing Reach Body Fat No Step Vert Max Vert Bench Press Lane Agility 3/4 Court Sprint Class Rank
6' 6.25" 6' 7.25" 258 7' 1.5" 8' 9.5" 9.7 28.5 32.5 15 11.67 3.30 38

Blair:
ht w/o Shoes Height w/shoes Weight Wingspan Standing Reach Body Fat No Step Vert Max Vert Bench Press Lane Agility 3/4 Court Sprint Class Rank
6' 5.25" 6' 6.5" 277 7' 2" 8' 10.5" 12.0 26.0 33.0 18 11.50 3.45 NA


Note that Blair's reach and wingspan are slightly greater than Milsap. So that 1" height advantage does really count.

Milsap plays PF, so I would gather that its a completely legitimate position for Blair to play.

[anakha]

I think the team is good/deep enough where you can sit 1 player out on a given night and not worry.

I would really like to see nights where Manu, Tim and Tony don't even play.

Error, does not compute.

[mountainballer]

Folks, to put things in perspective, Blair has near identical measurements as Milsap:

wasn't it a better comparison to not look for a very similar player in terms of body type, but look for significantly taller players?
let's look at the Spurs roster.
Bonner: height (in shoes) 6' 10"; wingspan: 6' 8.75"; reach:8' 9.5"
Blair: height (in shoes) 6' 6.5"; wingspan: 7' 2"; reach: 8' 10.5"
Bonner has a height advantage of 3.5'', but he is actually the "smaller" player.

some more players labeled "decent" or "good" size for a PF (some even play Center):

Drew Gooden - height (in shoes): 6' 10"; wingspan: 7' 0.5"; reach: 8' 10.5"
Al Horford - height (in shoes): 6' 9.75"; wingspan: 7' 0.75"; reach: 8' 11"
Ronny Turiaf - height (in shoes): 6' 9.25"; wingspan: 7' 1.5"; reach: 8' 10.5"
David Lee - height (in shoes): 6' 9"; wingspan: 7' 0"; reach: 8' 10.5"
Joakim Noah - height (in shoes): 7' 0"; wingspan: 7' 1.25"; reach: 8' 10.5"
Troy Murphy - height (in shoes): 6' 11"; wingspan: 6' 11"; reach: 8' 9.5"

all of them are either above average rebounder and/or shotblocker. Blair's physical prerequisites are definitely those of the average 6'10 player.

[mathbzh]

You remind me something

Rebounding: It’s Not All About Height

By averaging 25 points and 14 rebounds against the Warriors thus far, Carlos Boozer, who is 6-9, has been receiving a lot of national attention for his play, particularly for doing what he’s done as a perceived “undersized” frontcourt player. In my opinion, though, once you get past 6-9, it doesn’t make any difference what size you are, you can play with anybody. Like I was telling some people last week, when I was in college, with a running jump I could touch the top of the backboard because I was one of the world’s best high jumpers. But most rebounds are taken below the height of the rim. So if I jump up and touch the top of the backboard, there are no rebounds up there. In fact, when I was at my best, if I had to outjump somebody to get a rebound, that was the last line of defense. In other words, I was under duress. I hoped to never let it get to that where I had to outjump a guy. Rebounding is positioning and timing. That is why Bill Laimbeer and Paul Silas were both quite good at rebounding even though neither one could jump very high.

Blair as the length of a 6'9 player so I guess he belong to the " once you get past 6-9, it doesn’t make any difference what size you are, you can play with anybody" group.

That being said, if he had to defend Gasol... he could look really undersized.

[silverblackfan]

You remind me something



Blair as the length of a 6'9 player so I guess he belong to the " once you get past 6-9, it doesn’t make any difference what size you are, you can play with anybody" group.

That being said, if he had to defend Gasol... he could look really undersized.

I don't know, the prooof is in the pudding. I want to see him go up against Gasol before I rule him out for defending him. Yes, Gasol can shoot over him, but Blair's toughness and lower center of gravity could really bug the out of Gasol.

[raspsa]

Rebounding is positioning and timing.. very true. But it also helps if you've got realy long arms and a fire-hydrant for a body..plus a realy huge chip on your shoulder for being bypassed in the first round of the draft.

[duncan228]

Blair's Work Ethic Shines Through
by Bill Schoening

It was a good half hour after a morning training camp practice had concluded, and Spurs rookie forward DeJuan Blair was still on the court, working on pick and roll manuevers and short jumpers around the basket with assistant coach Chad Forcier. With sweat pouring from his brow, Blair pressed on. It's the type of work ethic that has endeared Blair to his coaches and teammates.

It's not taking fans long to embrace the burly rookie. He was a big hit in the Spurs preseason debut on Tuesday night at the AT&T Center, pacing the team with 16 points and 19 rebounds. Similar performances were common during Blair's stellar two year career at Pitt. Following Tuesday's game, the softspoken Blair said, "It was fun. I just did what they asked me to do and that's rebound. Everything else came off of that."

While there's room for improvement in all phases of the 20 year old's game, his hard work, energy, and positive at ude could very well earn him a spot in the Spurs frontcourt rotation.

[nuclearfm]

[Allanon]

Luckily, like rebounding, you don't defend with the top of your head either. Blair's standing reach is that of your average 6'10 or 6'11" player.

I disagree, you do defend with your head, more specifically, your eyes.

If you can't see over a 6'10 guy posting you up, you're going to have problems. But I've beaten this to death and willing to wait and see... you're not the first to point out his standing reach, ie his height doesn't matter.

Reach is great but I think eye level is very important in defense as well. Giving up 4 inches is significant in that Blair might be able to reach as high as Lamar Odom, but he can't see over him and PF's with Lamar's height can obstruct his view of what's happening on the court.

Let's see how he does against these bigger PF's like Lamar Odom that he can go toe to toe with his long wingspan but can't see over due to his 6'6 height.

[lennyalderette]

whoever stated dejuan will not be planned around is dumber than a rock, if you guys were watching the preseason game, thats exactly what they did!!!!!!!! let me tell you so you can stop arguing about things that are already established!! when blair came down with about 10 rebounds around scola and landry, who were obviously frustrated by his presence, rick adelman called a time out, i was sitting right by the bench of the rockets and i can see scola and landry complaining to the coach about blairs rebounding!!, when they came back into the game they started doubleteaming him and fouling him (this is when he almost ripped landrys arm off)!!!!! to me that means they will change their game plan around dejuan blair!!!!!

[lennyalderette]

wasn't it a better comparison to not look for a very similar player in terms of body type, but look for significantly taller players?
let's look at the Spurs roster.
Bonner: height (in shoes) 6' 10"; wingspan: 6' 8.75"; reach:8' 9.5"
Blair: height (in shoes) 6' 6.5"; wingspan: 7' 2"; reach: 8' 10.5"
Bonner has a height advantage of 3.5'', but he is actually the "smaller" player.

some more players labeled "decent" or "good" size for a PF (some even play Center):

Drew Gooden - height (in shoes): 6' 10"; wingspan: 7' 0.5"; reach: 8' 10.5"
Al Horford - height (in shoes): 6' 9.75"; wingspan: 7' 0.75"; reach: 8' 11"
Ronny Turiaf - height (in shoes): 6' 9.25"; wingspan: 7' 1.5"; reach: 8' 10.5"
David Lee - height (in shoes): 6' 9"; wingspan: 7' 0"; reach: 8' 10.5"
Joakim Noah - height (in shoes): 7' 0"; wingspan: 7' 1.25"; reach: 8' 10.5"
Troy Murphy - height (in shoes): 6' 11"; wingspan: 6' 11"; reach: 8' 9.5"

all of them are either above average rebounder and/or shotblocker. Blair's physical prerequisites are definitely those of the average 6'10 player.

very good point

[Allanon]

Appreciate all the bro-mance coming from a Lakers fan, but remember it's ONLY 1 GAME!! If he does it again later this week, I'll start chugging that Kool-Aid myself.

Last night I couldn't believe blair's rebounding numbers. I couldn't watch the game last night but from what I've read I hope he becomes a more complete player. I know he can become a big contributor.

I was hoping to watch Blair versus Olympiakos but from what I've heard so far, they're not showing the game on any of the channels. I guess I'll just have have to settle for the highlights,

I'm sure Blair will get his though.

[NoOptionB]

What I want to see out of Blair the most is the PASSION. SPURS HAVE NOT HAVE TOUGHNESS IN THEIR BIGS IN A LONG TIME.

I want to see him muscle out a hard-earned rebound over a legit big opponent and then get over him and mad dog the out of the dude. Blair has that in him. Pop needs to unleash the beast. This is 2010.

Man's game.