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Great Rebounder..... Good Energy..... But Is Horrible On Defensive Rotations....Seems to only Play Well When Manu Is On The floor Running the O....
Is this guy really going to be demoted to a 10mpg role? The guy is a monster on the boards and an energy guy from the bench.
Thoughts?
Great Rebounder..... Good Energy..... But Is Horrible On Defensive Rotations....Seems to only Play Well When Manu Is On The floor Running the O....
To be honest, our interior D has been so bad overall for so long that it's hard to remember what is supposed to look like...
This just in...Pop is an idiot.
So yes, Blair could be demoted to a 10-minute per game role.
And Ian Mahinmi could sit on the bench or even be inactive for the entire year. And by the way, we're paying him for the entire year as well.
No because Bonner is playing...
I think im gonna be sick to my stomach.
The latest obsession is with pairing one big who can stretch the floor with one post-up big, which is why we're seeing McDyess playing almost exclusively with Duncan and Blair almost exclusively with Bonner. Never mind the lack of a center-sized player and rim protection/shot blocking with that second pair and never mind about having two dominant rebounders/post-up scorers on the floor at once to punish the other team down low, it's all about being able to "stretch the floor". That outweighs everything for this coach. Not to compare the two front lines, but just as an example, do you think the Lakers give a about "spreading the floor" with their front line? No, they know that those three can punish teams down low and that's precisely their modus operandi. Not one is a great shooter (one can't even shoot with any distance), but none of it matters if you can dominate the game in the paint. Duncan rarely get's doubled anymore any way, so how much more space does he need to operate?
Don't get me wrong, I like McDyess with him more than any of the other bigs and in theory that makes some sense, but not to the point of exclusivity. As seen yesterday, despite Blair being the third best big on the roster, because the Spurs were playing an elite team and Duncan was going to be inevitably counted on for 36-38 minutes, that meant that Blair was bound to play only 10-12. Never mind the fact that he was highly productive in his first rotation, he still only played 10 minutes. Apparently attempting to work back in the struggling Bonner in the biggest game of the year to date (this loss essentially ended any chance of claiming the second seed), just for the threat of his making a couple of three's, was more important than playing superior talent, which also happened to be more productive.
I can't figure out why Blair didn't get more playing time either. It's not like the Nuggets have an army of skyscrapers.
Blair's future (as suggested by Sean Elliott) will be at the SF position. I hope he plays the summer league exclusively at the position and develops a consistent 15-20 foot jump shot. If he is successful with the transition he could become an all star. For now, he probably is best suited for 15 min per game. His size inside and inexperience will get exploited by the bigger teams if he is on the floor for longer stretches.
No chance Blair's future is at the SF position. If anything, he's more likely to play more C than SF. But let's face it, he should be strictly a PF. He lacks the lateral quickness to stay with face-up PF's, so there's no way he could go out to the perimeter to guard fleet footed SF's, who have superior ball skills. He'd be totally exposed off the dribble.
What? When did he say that? I watch every game, because I'm local.
DeJuan Blair will never make even a passable SF. He's relatively quick for a big, but as a SF, he could only be considered a plodder without a jumpshot. Even if he develops a jumper, it's never going to be that effective, because he's not going to be able to break people down off the dribble. Without that threat, you play him close.
Dejuan is a PF with room temperature defense. He can score in the paint against pretty much anyone, and rebound like a mother er. Don't fix what ain't broken.
conversely what small forward could stop him from posting up. Sean knows a thing or two about the sf position, so if he thinks Blair can do it then that's good enough for me.
As for the minutes against Denver, I'm sure Pop was matching up. If you play Bonner, you pull Birdman WAY away from the hoop and neutralize his shot blocking, especially in "help mode".
When did Sean say it?
Sean spoke about it in a post game show about 10 games back.
Blair is clearly a PF. Are Davis, Powe, Maxiell, Smith, Diogu, Bass, Brand, Evans, or Millsap playing SF? They all have similar body types. The reality is in today's NBA, where speed, quickness, athleticism and shooting ability are at a premium, no one is going to play an undersized PF at SF. If anything, those guys play some undersized C, but never SF. The Jazz experimented with Millsap playing some SF a few years back, then quickly went away from it. Theoretically, he could have bullied SF's in the post too. But defensively, if you can't guard a position, then you can't play it. Offensively, Blair would have to be paired with a PF or C who was a perimeter threat, otherwise there would be a serious lack of outside shooting on the floor.
I call BS. Sean never said that.
Maybe this is a better list to illustrate how unlikely it is that we ever see Blair play SF and what direction the NBA is going in: Smith, Diaw, Thomas, Odom, Harrington, Jeffries, Green, Lewis, Jamison. All players, with the exception of Diaw (SG), who broke into the NBA with their primary position being SF. Granted, again with the exception of Diaw, all were considered combo forwards, but PF was considered their second position. Now, the majority of them play almost exclusively PF. Blair playing SF would not only go against his strength's (while exposing his weaknesses), but would be the opposite of the direction the NBA is going in, which is smaller, rather than bigger.
lol @ Blair at SF. Not nearly enough quickness and speed, no midrange game. And tbh, I'll take Blair's D over Bonners any day, and his rebounding and inside presence over Bonners 3 point shooting as well. I don't understand what Pop's thinking bring Bonner as the first big off the bench, but I'm hoping its just cuz of health issues with DeJuan's knees that he doesn't want to risk by playing him big minutes
blair as a sf lmao
Blair should be the first big off the bench and Bonner should be cleaning toilets at the arena.
Plenty of effective undersized PF/C in the league... off the top of my head: Millsap, Hayes, Landry...
I thought we were past the whole "Duncan need a big that spreads the floor" myth while Bonner was out and TD was scoring as good as ever? Heck, I'm sure he appreciates somebody else sharing the rebounding load...
I'd rather him see the minutes than Bonner. His defense is questionable but more so on the rotations than just straight up D. He's already got 26 blocks which is Bonner's season total for last season so it's not like Bonner is a better shot swatter. And there's no question his rebounding is right there with some of the best in the league.
My only real complaint of him lately is that he seems to not hold the screen out on the perimeter long enough for the guards because he's trying to roll inside for the pass.
Guess you need to watch the post game show more often.
Actually, it's called slipping the screen (you never really set one) , and it's VERY effective (read:layup) when they double the ball handler, which they usually do with Manu or Tony.
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