Training Camp Interviews - 12/11/11

[angelbelow]

Tiago Splitter: http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/111211_splitter#

Dejuan Blair: http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/2011/...allmov-1931935

Think Dejuan's improved his public speaking/interview skills a bit. (A little shaky at the beginning but he gets better as the interview goes on.) Hope his weight loss/muscle addition helps us out. He also says that the past 2 years hes been playing like a robot and this years hes gonna be "Dejuan." Wouldn't mind seeing some of the emotion he displayed at Pitt on the court.

[The Truth #6]

Surprisingly, I really liked what I heard from Blair in this interview. While we all expected him to show up grossly out of shape after getting cut from his Russian team, instead he appears in good shape and much more mature and well spoken.

In fact, his experience in Russia might actually have done him more good than I thought. Whether or not if that's actually true, if nothing else it could positively effect his relationship with Pop - and considering Blair plays basically only on emotion (because he has little technical skill) I think he may have his best year yet, by far. What I'm getting at it is Blair may now be able to fulfill several of Pop's goofy catchphrases..."corporate knowledge" (now that it's his third year)..."he's gotten over himself" (now that he's been cut by a Russian team he was supposed to be the star on)...and most importantly he now "has something to prove".

I'm only half serious. Still, given that the Spurs won't go far in the playoffs, here's to Blair for hopefully making the regular season a little more interesting.

[timtonymanu]

Liked what I heard from Blair. He has matured a bit. Hopefully it shows on the court if he ends up not being traded.

[slick'81]

love hearing from splitter time to see if hes for real or not

[Plumblbw]

I always thought Blair sounded a little dumb in the previous interviews I'd seen of him. Perhaps it is just maturity, but he definitely came across very well in this interview and hopefully it's a sign he'll be more professional going forward.

[slick'81]

i agree with blair he seemed to be thinking to much instead of just reacting unleash the god damn beast

[Mark in Austin]

Blair looks and sound impressive. Let's see if it translates into on court success.

[AFBlue]

I'm surprised Blair included his rookie season when he said he wasn't himself. I definitely see that from his sop re campaign (only time he smiled was in rookie v. sop re game on all-star weekend), but "Rookie DeJuan" came in with a chip on his shoulder and an edge to his game. I'm glad to hear he wants to regain that edge. I'd the Spurs are going to be successful, they need consistent minutes from a beastly Blair.

[AFBlue]

Also, maybe I'm just taking it for granted, but I don't think Splitter has anything to prove...he just needs opportunity to contribute because there's very little projection for what/how he'll produce IMO.

[Fireball]

i agree with blair he seemed to be thinking to much instead of just reacting unleash the god damn beast

This ... there are some teams with a too talented frontline where Blair has problems, but there are also enough teams he can totally beast on. Don't think Dejuan, just play and give us some 20/20 games again from the bench ...

[TDMVPDPOY]

surprise he didnt speak in that tone in his rap videos...

[xellos88330]

I ain't no 3!

[Xevious]

I think our best option is to start Blair along side Tim. That's when we had the most success last year. That way Splitter can cover Bonner's ass on D.

[Fireball]

I think our best option is to start Blair along side Tim. That's when we had the most success last year. That way Splitter can cover Bonner's ass on D.

If no other big comes to SA, this is exactly whats gonna happen ... maybe Splitter and TD would be on the field in crucial minutes at the end of a game, but thats it ...

[JR3]

blair doesn't work for us unless we get rid of bonner. We need the flexibility to put tim and splitter in at the same time. This would mean bonner ans blair on the court at the same time.. and I hate that! Bonner or Blair has to go. I choose bonner for obvious reasons.

[Xevious]

blair doesn't work for us unless we get rid of bonner. We need the flexibility to put tim and splitter in at the same time. This would mean bonner ans blair on the court at the same time.. and I hate that! Bonner or Blair has to go. I choose bonner for obvious reasons.

Everybody keeps asking for the Duncan/Splitter combo. How will Splitter do guarding the athletic forwards out there? Because Duncan will get lit up nowadays. And Blair/Bonner playing together in the second unit is recipe for disaster.

[Fernando TD21]

Duncan interview:

[therealtruth]

Everybody keeps asking for the Duncan/Splitter combo. How will Splitter do guarding the athletic forwards out there? Because Duncan will get lit up nowadays. And Blair/Bonner playing together in the second unit is recipe for disaster.

I like Duncan and Splitter together for locking down the paint. That alone should help the perimeter defenders be more aggressive because they know they have two 7-footers behind them. But like you said Bonner/Blair together is horrible for defense. That's why it's important to get another big to prevent that combination.

[Dex]

This ... there are some teams with a too talented frontline where Blair has problems, but there are also enough teams he can totally beast on. Don't think Dejuan, just play and give us some 20/20 games again from the bench ...

Problem is, none of those teams will be in the playoffs...