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Tyrus Thomas. Spurs should have targeted him.
I'm down on Blair right now, but he is better than all those guys you mentioned . . . by a mile.
Tyrus Thomas. Spurs should have targeted him.
Splitter won't be any defensive team savior. He does not intimidate penetrators at the rim.
Yep. I am so pissed that the Bulls didn't seem to want to deal with the Spurs last season and then wind up signing Bogans as a FA. AND . . . Flip Murray and Acie Law aren't even on the team anymore! The Bobcats beat us out for Thomas and then the Spurs give them Theo for nothing. Larry Brown owes the Spurs one, if you ask me.
Splitter is a much better defender than blair. He is not a shot blocker but his size makes much tougher on offensive player and his foot speed is very good as well. I think everyone likes blair as a Spur, but I still believe he is a situational player only at this point in his career.
His defense needs work but he can only become so good of a defender... put it differently, Dejuan's defense does have a limit, it isn't the sky. It just can't be for being that short. No 6'7" player will ever be able to defend against Amare, Dwight, Gasol, any of Boston's big men...just can't do it, there's only so much he can do to stop these guys, can't do anything about being short.
The list is obviously bigger than those named above. Any normal sized big man in the league that's fundamentally sound, doesn't have to be an athletic freak, should have his way with Blair. And of course, the big dudes that can jump as well, there's no question. I see the league getting more athletic every year, it's a trend we see in all sports, there seems to be more athletes at every position and by nature this makes sense. It's pretty much becoming a standard that 6'7" PFs or Cs have no place in the NBA. With all of the talent dispersed on so many different teams and conferences in the NCAA, you can get away with it in college. You pretty much have to because there's only so many men that are 6'10 or bigger and great at the game. In the NBA, not the case. Even if you have Dwight Howard bunnies, you're still gonna encounter guys just as athletic, only starting 4 inches taller, with larger wingspan.
Last edited by ALVAREZ6; 10-31-2010 at 02:16 PM.
ever seen Chuck Hayes play defense? he's shorter, maybe the same height as Blair, but he plays great one-on-one defense against the guys you mentioned. in fact it was his stellar post-defense that gave the Rockets a chance against LA in '09.
it can be done and it had been done. another guy that played solid post-defense and who was small was Malik Rose. he was great at using his body and he would often use the tactic where he would "pull the chair."
Ben Wallace is 6'8. Dennis Rodman is 6'9. Kenyon Martin is great at post-defense as well.
bottom line: there are and have been plenty of really good post-defenders who are "undersized."
Blair just doesn't understand defense. it has absolutely nothing to do with his height.
Wallace is 6'9", and so it Kenyon. 6'7" is a different story.
Hayes plays great one on one defense??? Perhaps he does for his size, but I'd like to see him play more myself because I have no memory of watching him play (although I've been aware of him for a while).
He hasn't averaged more than 5 points in his career, and the most minutes he's averaged in a season is 22. The most rebounds and blocks he has ever averaged, respectively, are 6 and 0.5.
These stats are nothing. Stats as a result of simply being in the game. When you're simply on the court, you're going to get a few rebounds and points due to the game itself. He plays largely because of Yao's absence and clearly isn't a great defender because he isn't playing many minutes, getting rebounds, and blocking shots. Why? Because he's 6'6"!!!!!
Back to my main point: You will not win a championship in the current NBA by starting a 6'6" or 6'7" big man. Period.
Last edited by ALVAREZ6; 10-31-2010 at 06:32 PM.
A power forward as short as blair is completey uselless offensively unless he has a reliable midrange shot, or floaters. Dejuan needs to come off the bench as soon as Tiago is healthy....
Do you see what you believe or believe what you see? Since when are the stats you mention going to be an absolute measure of how well someone plays defense. I would think that after seeing Bruce Bowen play we wouldn't use a stats argument to try and quantify a player's defensive worth.
Yes, Blair has obstacles, but come on. Barkley was like 6'4" and was one of the best power forwards ever. Height is not going to be the only factor here.
Barkley was listed at 6'7"..and yeah they say he's closer to 6'5" but this phenomenon is something we deal with. All players' heights are listed with shoes, so they're all listed an inch or two taller than they're actual height.
Barkley was a great power forward, did he win anything? Were there tons of very short big men that are widely considered some of the best to ever play the game, or is Barkley really the only one that stands out? Can you maybe pick out 1 more?
My point is, there's only one Barkley. This doesn't happen often at all. Chuck Hayes may be a pretty solid defensive player for his size, I couldn't tell you personally. But you cannot tell me he's going to stop a guy like Dwight Howard or Amare Stoudemire. He's obviously only played significant minutes in Yao's absence, and during the time Yao's out the Rocket's can't expect to win a championship. The team is stronger now and there's less need for Yao, especially with the way Scola has been playing and getting used to the NBA game, so maybe they can strive for that now. No team is going to win a championship with a 6'6" starting PF or C.
Again, as I didn't include this in my post, no height is not the only factor. Of course I know that a player's height is not the sole determinant of his effectiveness.
But for the PF/C position in the NBA, it carries a lot of weight. There's a ton of skills that go into the equation too. You bringing up Charles Barkley in my opinion supports my argument....if a team wants to win a championship in this current NBA while starting a really short big man, than that man better have skills that rival Chuck's, or close to them. Blair unfortunately doesn't, clearly, at least not now. I'm a big fan of Dejuan to be honest, but he is what he is.
If/when the Spurs meet up with the Lakers in the playoffs, it's pretty safe to say Blair will not be playing 30 mins a game, unless the Spurs want to lose.
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...hooting-touch/Blair looks for shooting touch
by Jeff McDonald
...Ive been 2 for 9, 2 for 10, Blair said. Its just been my luck. Hopefully, something will come around. Im praying for it.
...Im going to shoot until I make it, he said. Im not really thinking. I just play.
He should probably start thinking a little.
His foot speed won't be as good as you think it will be on the defensive end against much faster NBA players than what he played against in Euro and his lack of verticle leap makes him a player that plays below the rim. He will not be the defensive force the spurs need down low. Blair defensively is nothing more than a desperate option.
I'm still liking what I'm seeing from Blair. I think he just needs to settle in. He'll play this same way and suddenly put up a monster game.
Blair seems like a nice guy, but when watching his interviews I always cringe, he can barelly string a sentence together. Good to know the myth of splitter is about to dispel and he'll play vs the clippers, hopefully he'll be starting sooner than later. Rodman was 6-6.
I am referring to NBA big men and yes he will have plenty of foot speed to defend them. I think most know he will not be a defensive force but his defense will be a huge step as compared to what the spurs have had next to Duncan for years. Tiago is not an athletic freak but he is average by NBA standards for a 7-footer, not sure where you got that he plays below the rim ...
Disagree. Blair has the wingspan and base to be an extremely solid defender. I could even see him being a decent intimidator and blocking shots thanks to those arms. Look at a guy like Ben Wallace, or the legend Bill Russell, who barely made 6'9.
The reality is, Blair is just barely a sop re, in his very early 20's. He is technically a second round talent. He needs more time and more experience, which will lead to faster reactions and more confidence.
Did you really bring Bill Russell into the converstion when talking about Blair...:
in response to Blair being too short.. yes I did.Did you really bring Bill Russell into the converstion when talking about Blair...
This has nothing to do with talent, this has to do with physical attributes like height, and wingspan. Blair is right there in terms of wingspan and base, to compare with a Ben Wallace or a Bill Russell.
OTOH, of course he doesn't have near the mental for ude of a Russell, at least at this point.. he's rushing shots, he's not boarding well enough, he's slow on his rotations and he's letting guys shoot right over him instead of putting every ounce of effort into a contest. That last one might have something to do with Pop's schemes more often than not.
Regardless, he is physically capable of being a good defender. It's all in his head, at this point.. one can only hope that he "gets it out" sooner than later, so we're still contending. But even later, I see this guy as a Spur for life, so it is what it is. Just keep improving Blair.
I'm sorry but Blair won't ever be as nimble the defender as Russell was with no ACL's. I doubt he'd be even close with a Iron-Man suit.
What is the name of this topic? Blair is too short, or Blair is too slow?I'm sorry but Blair won't ever be as nimble the defender as Russell was with no ACL's. I doubt he'd be even close with a Iron-Man suit.
I realize he ain't a Russell, that doesn't mean one can't compare similar attributes between the two players.. I mean, I clearly said "in terms of wingspan and base", so I can't really make it any clearer.. and as great as having ACL's is, I can't say whether they would change his game much. He's a pretty big brute for 6'7 or so.. and those arms. Those arms, that wingspan is what it's all about. Those and his extremely wide base give him plenty of tools to work with.
Last edited by z0sa; 11-01-2010 at 02:34 PM.
You guys are reaching with the comparisons. Blair isn't Barkley, or Bill Russell, and they didn't play in the same times either.
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