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Furthermore, the Spurs could play .285 ball the rest of the way, and still continue their streak for 50-win seasons.
^^^ This....
Blair's pick and roll talent is certainly magnified when paired with Ginobili. If anything, it helps keep Blair focused, and with his head in the game...
Furthermore, the Spurs could play .285 ball the rest of the way, and still continue their streak for 50-win seasons.
You do realize that a vast majority of Blair's baskets come from being spoon fed, right? Almost any big in the league can look halfway decent when Ginobili is giving you the ball right next to the hoop.
I don't know if it was because of injuries but usually Tiago will get subbed after 5-6 minutes and then Tiago will return to sub for TD near the end of the 1st qtr...but not this time.
I only hope that Pop isn't thinking of giving Bonner more minutes....because this will surely up what has been a nice and fun season to witness.
Trade Bonner = Taking Pop's CRACK away from him.
Gary Neal had a good game, but I still dont understand why he is the primary ball handler when De Colo is on the floor.
Dear Pop,
No more Nando-Neal-Green-Bonner-Blair lineups. OK? Ever.
(At least I think I saw that for a while last night. Maybe it was a nightmare.)
Is Danny hitting some sort of wall? What gives with this guys defense?
RRT win and the coach gets close to a failing grade? BS. But thanks for the grades as always.
Popovich rotations were horrible
Duncan playing with the bench sporadically
no splitter with the bench at all
lots of blair/ bonner or diaw frontlines
randomly throwing bonner into the game in clutch time in the 4th
sticking with Mr. All or Nothing Danny Green
didnt play ginobili enough, he looked like he could go at least 15 minutes
not riding the guy who was hot in blair
the no playmaker lineups
not taking advantage of luke walton guarding splitter in the post by calling plays for him
and people need to stop being fooled by Danny Green
hes been exposed this season
inconsistent shooter whos defense depends on his confidence from hitting shots
when hes good hes good but when hes bad hes really bad and can lose you games
cant defend any plays involving a screen and he happens to play the position which depends most on screens being used
getting torched by jared dudley, rip, joe johnson, dion waiters etc
its gonna be a trainwreck in the playoffs when he defends one of the best offball players in the league in kevin martin and ray allen if were lucky enough to get there
should just move his ass to the bench where he belongs and reduce his role with the starters
That's not really fair. Blair is very good on the pick and roll. He was by far the best on the team until Splitter came along. Blair is also a pretty talented scorer. He's added a couple of shots to his game since he was drafted. The problem with him is defense. That hasn't changed.
Spurs have a lot of players good at the pick and roll. Duncan, Splitter, Blair. Even Baynes, if he understands the system could fit that well. Heck, even Diaw (when he's engaged), although he's more a pick and popper. Spurs teach their bigs well (obviously they pick their guys well too). He rolled well, but Cleveland also did not play good D on some of those. Blair's pop-a-shot isn't that reliable a shot though. It has better odds than his jump shot, but it's still iffy.
He's definitely not a talented scorer. He can score, but it depends on a lot of factors. There are a few talented scorers on the team, and Blair isn't one of them.
Now if we just win out the rest of the season, we'll hit the 70 win mark; pshh that's easy.
The way the offense runs, Blair rolls to the hoop better than anyone on the team not named Splitter. It's the one thing he can do as long as the defense isn't specifically trying to prevent it, and if the defense does that, they open themselves up to other things. Blair has very good hands and good offensive instincts. The shots that you call iffy are shots that he didn't have coming out of college, so he's constantly working on it. He scores on just about every team, so trying to split hairs about Cleveland's D is lame.
Seriously, if you're going to bag on him, you need to pick the other end of the floor, where he's damn near as bad as anyone that's ever put on a Spurs uniform. If he played anything approaching average defense, Pop would overlook his height, and so would most of us.
I apparently do not see what you see in Blair's pnr defense. He pokes some balls away but he doesn't force ballhandlers away to the baseline and away from the rim nor close out jumpers from bigs. His weakside rotaions helping on pnr's are just plain awful.
There's no point in talking on him defensively.
That said, Blair's offense is dependent on the matchups. And he needs a guard like Manu (especially) or Parker to set him up well. I'm sorry, but Duncan is a pretty good roller. Many of those big dunks have come off of it or shots (if the defense packed the lane). Splitter is probably the best, but the team is loaded with guys who can screen and roll. It's the Spurs major component in the system, so it makes sense.
Cavs D at times was bad. This is what I mean by matchups. Blair's effectiveness can vary greatly. Otherwise, they'd P&R the second units to death with Blair, but the scouting report says ways you can reduce that effectiveness greatly on Blair as the roller.
There's a reason why his minutes aren't consistent. Even with Duncan out, they haven't been exactly consistent.
Irving was 2-15 from floor with only 2 free throw attempts.
Agree, Blair is useful when paired with Manu. But his defense/rebounding isn't good enough and would be exposed in the playoffs, bigs rotation should be TD/TS/Diaw/Baynes.
Possible temporary ailments instead of long term.
And those were right at the end of the game. . .on a bailout call that wasn't even a foul, upon reviewing the replay.
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