During his unimpactful time with the Spurs, Dejuan Blair was dismissed by many for being too short or undersized for his position, especially on the defensive end. Obviously height was not something he could control so no one faulted him too much for it. The Spurs simply erred by drafting someone who was too short/undersized for his intended role and that was what made him a perennial defensive liability. Or was it?
Spending much of his time in San Antonio at around the 300 pound mark, Blair certainly wasn't horizontally undersized... And was he really undersized overall from a defensive perspective? For instance, Blake Griffin may be 6-9 but has T-Rex arms and a shorter standing reach and wingspan than Blair had. True, Blake's neck is longer and his shoulders are higher than Blair's were, causing more obstruction to the view of an offensive player but if all other things are equal between two players (obviously in real life Blake has a bunch of other advantages), doesn't the player with a longer reach have the defensive advantage over the taller player with a shorter reach? I think so in most situations assuming that overall height differential is no more than a few inches and assuming the short guy with the long arms keeps his arms up and plays active defense rather than traffic cone defense like Blair did. Obviously there are a lot of factors but all this Blair was undersized crap was overblown tbh and he was just more of a scrub than any of us realized. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't improve much in Dallas.
Despite Blair being more of a defensive scrub than anyone ever thought I will miss the frequent meltdowns about Blair/Bonner frontlines during critical stretches of important games. Some classic stuff tbh. I am looking forward to pop coming up with an even more ridiculous frontline combo during critical stretches. Baynes/Bonner could be bad but it can't be as bad so we'll have to see.
he is undersized, that much is obvious. His biggest problem is that he was most suited for playing sumo at the center position, but his legs would never last with that much weight. Being less of a fatass makes his advantages much less usable since he has to play pf where he's still undersized without having faster feet and softer hands than his counterparts.
He never developped a good enough J that would have helped keeping him on the floor
Drafted 37th, Blair is 8th out the 2009 draft in WS. The 7 ahead of Blair were drafted before 37th.
Blair is 6th in WS/48. 3rd is Patrick Beverley with the small sample size of 713 minutes.
The Spurs did very well with Blair.
OTOH, Blair's production was dropping.
And just ahead of Blair in WS/48 at 5th best is ... Jeff Pendergraph (also with a small sample size of 880 minutes). Playing time knocks Pendergraph down ironically to 37th in WS. So very good in per minute, disappointment in playing time.
And just below Blair in WS/48 at 7th best is ... Danny Green; 17th in WS. Not bad for a 46th pick.
24th in WS/48 is Patrick Mills, 36th in WS. Not bad for a #55 pick.
30th in WS/48 and 40th in WS is Nando de Colo. Not bad for a #53, especially with only one year to ac ulate WS.
my doesn't need no excuses though, he was just left out in old for no reason maybe something unpleasant happened between him and Pop but no one knows what's happened behind the locker-room door, or maybe that was just because he doesn't have a foreign origin or any foreign affiliation? He will flourish in Dallas and live up to his potential (I believe he will), best wishes to my Blair.
dice was a terrible defender...................... blair proved throughout that season he deserved the starting spot in the playoffs..........................
He made stupid decisions on both sides of the court on a regular basis. If you're going to play C with that much of a height disadvantage, you have to have a good IQ for the game and/or play balls to the wall all the time. He did neither consistently. He just ate whataburgers
Sounds like a good fit for the Mavs.
True, with his 300 pound frame all he had to do was hold up his 7-2 wingspan to be somewhat effective. Apparently he didn't even do that. But I'm wondering how he got the reputation as an energy guy off the bench if he couldn't even get a hand in a guy's face?... Some disconnect tbh
Op you have everything wrong, Dejuan is undersized who cares about his wingspan? Blake Griffin jumps like a flea is a physical type of player and muscular, on the other hand Dejuan was a fatso until last year never developed shots donīt have a big vertical jump, my theory is that when he was a little kid he thought will be a 7 foot guy so always played center never create shots or nothing, I see him shorter than Manu not 6ī7 for DB.
And now he spent some time in the gym he looks great but basketball wise he still sucks so itīs no surprise he is undersized and always will be.
Pop gave chances to everyone, Kawhi got his chance and he is using it or look at Danny Green or the best case Gary Neal playing PG.
I personally believe DB sucks, but besides that I believe he doesn`t get the system.
Too bad Blair couldn't have patterned his playing style and career after Malik Rose. That guy should have been his role model in terms of being a half-decent undersized big.
Yeah. There's some taller guys who don't have a 7'2 wingspan so Blair could definitely have been a better defender.
Blair being undersized would've been canceled out had he had an iota of athleticism.
He is undersized, to say otherwise, would be false.
Blair doesn't lack athletecism. He's got quick feet on offense, so his defense is a matter of choice. Loss of playing time didn't seem to be motivation enough for him to improve, and that's the epitaph of his career as a Spur.
If Blair played defense like a big, his length would never have been an issue. Dirk Nowitzki is really tall, and he swats at the ball as opponents go to the rim instead of going for a shot block. Blair either does that or tries to draw a charge. The last person he blocked at the rim was Hasheem Thabeet, and that was when he was still at Pitt.
Somehow I will miss the days of the Red Rocket/Whataburger combo watching Zbo and Gasol perform layup and post drills ftw tbh. So bad that it was good in a way. Like watching a bad B movie tbh. Pop couldn't replicate that now if he tried. He simply doesn't have the personnel unless... he goes with a 5 guard lineup
who's gonna have a better record next year: Milwaukee or Dallas?
My problem with Blair was his at ude. He just seemed to laugh and not take his profession seriously. He made goof after goof and he just laughed about it. Now, I realize the laugh was covering up his embarrassment, but he seemed to often just give a half-assed effort. To me he seemed more professional his first year with the Spurs. He seemed to be a great teammate, and I really wanted him to succeed with the Spurs, but it just became annoying to see him mess up and laugh about it. I wish him well.
I wish him well too, just wish it were with another team other than the Mavs, the Lakers, and Heat can be included in this.
I have the feeling that Pendergraph will be an improvement however.
Blair lost his edge. He had a chip on his shoulder his rookie year and played like it. Without that edge he was just another undersized power forward.
I got banned from realgm for saying no one cares about Blair...
haters............................................ ...
Did you know Blair had 14 and 11 in his first game as a rookie? In just 23 minute
How many times did Blair check into a game and get A foul 30 sec. later. Another
foul 45 sec. later then back to the bench. I hope he gets more playing time with his
new team. Luck with you Dejuan.
You are right on the money. Any coach who wasn't senile or played favorites - in other words - anyone but Pop could see the reality in front of him - and would NEVER,NEVER, EVER - think that keeping Bonner and letting Blair go was acceptable. Any other fans - except Spurs fans would be up in arms and storming the front office - when they saw that Bonner was kept and Blair let go.
Idiot coach, idiot fans and I can't wait for this to bite the Spurs in the ass and watch idiots cry over it.
I agree with both of you. During that stretch in the regular season where Pop got the flu, Mike Budenholzer took over and he let Dejuan Blair play for a couple of games. Blair played really well in those two games that he was given an opportunity. Once senile Pop got well, he put Dejuan Blair back into the doghouse.
The Popsuckers are forgetting that the Spurs had the best record in the NBA in 2011 & 2012 when Blair was in the starting lineup for the majority of games. Ever since Pop put Blair into the doghouse, the Popsuckers automatically assume that Blair is a scrub... smh. Popsuckers are ignoring that Stephen Jackson himself said that "Pop only cares about three players."
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