Scrub Series: Appreciating Dejuan Blair

**DJR210** · 02-03-2015

He was a strong rebounder his first two years in the league before the lack of ACLs(and weight gain) caught up with him.

What do you mean, he lost weight over the years compared to his rookie season.. This was actually his downfall IMO, once he shed the extra pounds he was no longer effective at boxing out and seemingly lost his knack for the rebound.

**DMC** · 02-03-2015

I told everyone here what Blair was when he was here, and plenty of you thought he was a prodigy.

**Uriel** · 02-03-2015

I'm not entirely convinced that it was Blair's lack of ACL's that caused him to regress so significantly. I think part of it was also the Spurs' player development staff itself. They told him to lose weight and add a jump shot to his game during the summer. That had two adverse effects.

First, because he lost so much weight, he lost the low center of gravity that made him such a prodigious offensive rebounder. Second, his deteriorating offensive rebounding prowess was compounded by the fact that he was now being forced to drift out to the perimeter to accommodate his new jump shot.

Almost all of Blair's offensive production came on cleaning up misses at the rim. Deprived of his only elite NBA skill, he never became a serviceable player again.

**TheGreatYacht** · 02-03-2015

He's a savage

**Johnny RIngo** · 02-03-2015

Originally Posted by DJR210

What do you mean, he lost weight over the years compared to his rookie season.. This was actually his downfall IMO, once he shed the extra pounds he was no longer effective at boxing out and seemingly lost his knack for the rebound.

Really? Could have sworn he got fatter every year. Guess I'm remembering him wrong.

**Sean Cagney** · 02-03-2015

Originally Posted by pookenstein

Yes he did.

We were 61-20 at that point, Dallas, #2 in the Conference finished 57-25. I guess Pop wanted to tie the Bulls record @62-20.

That was his thinking no doubt about it, thing is it backfired big time and the Bulls were nowhere near the finals and the Spurs out in round one because of the injury. Hindsight 20-20 I guess.

**spursparker9** · 02-03-2015

Got to admit Blair played good during last year playoffs round 1.

If he didn't get suspended, who knows what may happen.

**Chinook** · 02-03-2015

Originally Posted by Uriel

I'm not entirely convinced that it was Blair's lack of ACL's that caused him to regress so significantly. I think part of it was also the Spurs' player development staff itself. They told him to lose weight and add a jump shot to his game during the summer. That had two adverse effects.

First, because he lost so much weight, he lost the low center of gravity that made him such a prodigious offensive rebounder. Second, his deteriorating offensive rebounding prowess was compounded by the fact that he was now being forced to drift out to the perimeter to accommodate his new jump shot.

Almost all of Blair's offensive production came on cleaning up misses at the rim. Deprived of his only elite NBA skill, he never became a serviceable player again.

Very true. He wasn't a fit with the Spurs as a 6-5 center, but he probably would have been productive next to a stretch five like Hawes or Frye.

**Malik Hairston** · 02-03-2015

Originally Posted by Chinook

Very true. He wasn't a fit with the Spurs as a 6-5 center, but he probably would have been productive next to a stretch five like Hawes or Frye.

I agree with Uriel's post, too, and it's also partly due to egos/realistic view on one's self, tbh..

Blair could have carved out a niche as Reggie Evans + much better offensive skills(Blair is levels above Evans as an offensive player, not even close), but being a rebounding specialist as a 4th big on a team isn't a glamorous role that appeals to most young players..

Egos and overvaluing self-worth has played a huge part in the failures of many NBA players, and it always will..

**G-Dawgg** · 02-03-2015

DeJuan Blair. He didn't have enough smarts or class to be a Spurs type player..

**DJR210** · 02-03-2015

Originally Posted by Johnny RIngo

Really? Could have sworn he got fatter every year. Guess I'm remembering him wrong.

nah..the Whataburger jokes just never stopped

**DMC** · 02-04-2015

Uriel is correct. Blair came in with something the Spurs didn't teach him and when they corrected his positioning, he was lost out there. You could tell the rest of the team was playing around him, only Manu knew how to capitalize on his ability to move to the rim. Blair probably still sends Manu a box of cigars once a year.

**Sean Cagney** · 02-04-2015

Originally Posted by spursparker9

Got to admit Blair played good during last year playoffs round 1.

If he didn't get suspended, who knows what may happen.

He showed up against his old team that is for sure, extra motivation and it's a shame he doesn't play like that every single night. He is on the bench with the Wiz and getting little minutes, shows you he only shows up when super motivated and actually played out of his mind in that series IMO. I guess he doesn't have the hunger otherwise.

**apalisoc_9** · 02-04-2015

Originally Posted by Uriel

I'm not entirely convinced that it was Blair's lack of ACL's that caused him to regress so significantly. I think part of it was also the Spurs' player development staff itself. They told him to lose weight and add a jump shot to his game during the summer. That had two adverse effects.

First, because he lost so much weight, he lost the low center of gravity that made him such a prodigious offensive rebounder. Second, his deteriorating offensive rebounding prowess was compounded by the fact that he was now being forced to drift out to the perimeter to accommodate his new jump shot.

Almost all of Blair's offensive production came on cleaning up misses at the rim. Deprived of his only elite NBA skill, he never became a serviceable player again.

This is a really good post...