On DeJuan Blair
In the 2009 draft, the Spurs, with their 2nd rounder, their first pick in that draft, drafted Pittsburgh product, DeJuan Blair. Known for his elite rebounding talents, Blair had great games in the Big East and was the Big East co-player of the year, sharing the honors with Connecticut's 7"3 shot-blocking presence, Hasheem Thabeet.
DeJuan Blair had huge games against Hasheem Thabeet, seemingly overpowering that 7"3 presence with his lower body strength. It had to be noted he took Thabeet down while grabbing a rebound. "The Beast" made his name knownseemingly with that one wrestling sequence.
However, as everyone soon found out, Blair miraculously had no ACLs. Many medical staff members in the NBA advised their general managers to not draft DeJuan Blair, out of caution. All but one team, the San Antonio Spurs. They knew that Blair never missed games or practices because of his ACL problems, and valued his good work ethic.
They took a chance, and selected Blair. It was well known that before the scans came out, Blair was projected as high to be a lottery pick, who can make a definite impact with that terrifying rebounding of his. He dropped to the 2nd round, because of his lack of ACLs, his height, with the combination of that massive weight, making him a tough player to value. The hype in Spurs fandom was ridiculous, and shot through the roof, stating that the Spurs did it again.
On James Anderson
A junior out of Oklahoma State University, Anderson made his presence known in one way. He was an elite scorer, a definite impact player. The reigning Big 12 player of the year then realized his stock, and declared for the NBA draft. College coaches had praises for him, particularly for his work ethic, and that he takes care of business.
James Anderson, throughout his draft process, suffered a hamstring injury, which prevented him from working out with NBA teams. Projected as high to be a low-end lottery pick by some, Anderson's stock plummeted. Draftexpress had Anderson at 30 in their mock draft at draft night, mostly concerning his inactivity.
Once again, a team took their chances to select the Big 12 Player of the Year. The San Antonio Spurs took the decorated college player using their 20th pick, hoping that his game translates to the pros. The hype on James Anderson only lasted for a few days on Spurstalk, mostly because he was held out of summer league.
The question
Why was the hype so contrasting? Was it because of positional needs? There are many personality similarities between these two individuals, with a completely different game. They also had situational similarities in their draft process, all the way until draft night. Is there any way someone can answer this question?
Maybe James Anderson will answer them, by showing us his talent during the pre-season or the regular season. For now, all we can do is just wait and see.
Sometimes guys who score a lot in college just don't do it in the pros. But good rebounding is a skill that if you are good at it in college you will also be good in the pros. The transition from college to pros is easier for rebounders than for scorers.
Blair is a lot better. That's why he was hyped more.
Untrue statement. How was Blair a lot better than Anderson? They play different positions, their talents are contrasting. How is Blair a lot better?
Rebounding impacts the game more than shooting. Blair is one of the best rebounders in college basketball history. Therefore, Blair>>>Anderson.
C'mon Chieflion...this is basketball 101.
Unless you expect Anderson to rebound like Blair at the SG position, which happens to be humanly impossible unless he cheats on defense and hovers around the rim. Anderson brings his elite skill set, at least at the college level. Blair was a short 6 foot 7, in the NBA as a power forward who had superb rebounding abilities. Both players have or had risks of their games not translating to the pros.
I love Blair, but let us not affect our judgement based on what Blair did the last season because this is about draft hype.
Anderson is a nice prospect...but his ceiling is probably a really good role player. Blair is a mid-range shot away from becoming a dominant force down low.
I would argue that Anderson has more defensive potential than Blair would ever have. I completely disagree with the dominant force down low description because Blair does not really have go-to post moves as of yet.
I'm not sure what's so hard to understand here.
I don't think it is hard to understand that Blair is shorter than most NBA power forwards who are more physically imposing than most college bigs.
Blair's post ability is more based on strength than a go to move...and I have no idea what you are talking about when you say "Anderson has more defensive potential than Blair". Throughout the course of the season Blair became a very good team defender.
You are seriously overrating Anderson here.
Since when did rebounding become about size? Blair proved last year that what you are saying here is pure BS. Multiple 20/20 games don't lie.
Are you feeling well?
That's your opinion. He was atrocious at that. Couldn't rotate to save his life.
I was only asking why the hype was so contrasting.
I asked about draft hype. I didn't want this to be how Blair did during the season. What Blair did in the season had nothing to do with draft hype.
Then you didn't watch many games. I watched them all...and he improve vastly over the course of the season.
Anderson is a complete and total question mark on defense right now. There are literally hundreds of player that have the physical ability to play defense but just don't. Anderson could very easily become one of those.
Well...rebounding = more impact. That's not hard to comprehend.
I would hazard that the reason is something that you touched on in your post. Since we are talking about hype post-draft pre-season, most of that is created in fans minds by some indelible image during college. Usually then posted and rewatched continuously on Youtube. We got that with Blair physically annihilating Thabeet; a guy who went second in the draft.
Being ridciulously pathetic from the start to being bad is an improvement. I will give you that. I watched almost all the games and I cannot give you that Blair is an extremely good team defender. Matt Bonner rotated better than him.
Your second paragraph is just an assumption. We don't know yet but college coaches have praised his help defense in the past.
It's re ed comparing the 2 when Anderson hasn't even played a game yet. They were both fantastic players in 2 of the hardest conferences in college basketball.
lol ability. Where's James White when you need him?
That's like saying Pau Gasol impacts the game more than Kobe Bryant. I can't take you seriously.
Seriously though, they do different things and I don't see why Anderson doesn't get his hype for doing what he does at an elite level which is a total contrast for what Blair does at his elite level.
And for the record, I believe rebounding has more impact than scoring, but I don't want to touch on what Blair did in the season because it has nothing to do with his draft hype, because he hasn't played.
I am not comparing the 2 player's talents. I am comparing the draft hype between the 2. The contrast between the hype is just ridiculous based on what they accomplished as college players.
The biggest thing for me personally was that by this time last year I had seen Blair play against other NBA players/prospects and he showed off his beastly rebounding along with some other skills that were a pleasant surprise. Basically he looked like a legit NBA player. With Anderson I don't know anything about how he'll fare going against NBA players so I can't really place expectations on him and thus there's no reason for me to get excited or hyped.
Blair's performance against Thabeet alone gave him tons of press and recognition but Anderson was just as impressive as Blair at the collegiate level. It would be stupid saying he couldn't ultimately be the better player one day.
.... No.....
It's important, but are you really going to sit here and tell me rebounding outweighs the impact of ball games MORE than shooting the ball??
Get real...
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