blair question.....

[popeye64821]

i've been following blair since his frosh yr at pitt....i know he doesn't have any acl's......but i've been hearing all this talk from ppl and columnists stating that he may only last 5 yrs or so.....is that true?.... i thought because of his body build that he doesn't need the acls to ball.....i'm a lakers fan and im on the east coast, so ever since he got drafted by you guys i haven't been following him as much....gosh i hope blair tears the league up even more this yr and for many more.....

[Donald Kaufman]

Every interview I've read/heard of him, he's pretty adamant that it's not an issue. It explains why he dropped to us at 37th overall in the draft, because he was projected to be a surefire first rounder.

Armchair experts can speculate on how long they think he'll last in the pros, but unless they also happen to be doctors as well, I wouldn't put too much stock in what they say.

Apparently he's working on his midrange game this offseason, and I think he's going to improve in leaps and bounds over his solid rookie year. I love his game and hope he's a Spurs for a long time to come.

[co_laper]

No one can know the answer to that for sure. So far, not having ACLs have not made Blair missed any games or have any injuries to his knee so who knows when that'll happen. It can be this season, it can be when he's 40, it might never happen at all.

[SApuro_]

I'd be more worried about Bynum or Oden's career than Blair's. The kid looks to be healthy. He showed some nice flashes last year. 20/20 games dont just happen to anyone.

If he continues to improve on his defensive rotations and develops a short range game. He will be more deserving of mins.

I love the way Pop coaches the rooks. You have to prove yourself before you are given anything.

[BFrizzy]

I agree with the above responses, if it was definite that he only had 'x' years to play in the NBA we'd all know by now. The fact is that there arent that many people around in the league with this kind of medical issue so it's just a wait and see scenario. So far so good though!!

[Black_Jack21]

I hope his midrange game comes along, becuase of his height he isn't going to get alot of easy looks at the rim. If he can stretch the defence a little the points will come.
But he defiantly will make a solid impact forthe spurs, he already has two 20/20 games i think and can only get better.
I wonder what the record is for a second rounder in their rookie year...?

[Xjrsimx]

I still get up on the rim at age 32 with No Acl's and I'm 6'1" but I also only weigh 195 lbs. With the load he carries around I dunno. Luckily for us spurs fans he doesn't rely on vertical though and relies more on spin/hooking type first step moves and a wide body because I can't imagine a long career if he was a big leaper.

Hopefully a jump shot does become part of his skill set, that would help preserve his body also.

[dropshot001]

if he's made it this far without big problems then i think he will be fine

[tbdog]

People dont realise that Blair didnt one day lose both his acl's, he lost them gradually, to the point when he lost them totally. His body has adapted to playing with out them for over a period of time. This is why it is not an issue for him. If he or any play tore them to the point of it being removed or whatever the procedure would be, then it will be near impossible to adjust over a short period of time to play without them

[Xjrsimx]

People dont realise that Blair didnt one day lose both his acl's, he lost them gradually, to the point when he lost them totally. His body has adapted to playing with out them for over a period of time. This is why it is not an issue for him. If he or any play tore them to the point of it being removed or whatever the procedure would be, then it will be near impossible to adjust over a short period of time to play without them

I'm basically in the same situation as Blair in that I've had no ACL's for a very long time (Crushed my knees in a car accident at age 6) And I agree with what you are saying, however you can't just say the body has adapted to not having them and his body is going to continue to be ok. When you've got missing parts it stressess other parts of your body and as you age, the parts of you that are stressed most break down fastest. Knees have enough problems in the daily pounding of the NBA nevermind the added complications of missing body parts. Hopefully he takes up yoga or something

[Blame Rasho]

if he's made it this far without big problems then i think he will be fine

I think so as well. I am glad that we have him, and I hope he can be a productive Spur for years to come.

I expect for him to become a bigger part of our rotation with Spliiter easying his role to just power forward instead of center that he had to play at times last year.

[Donald Kaufman]

I'm happy for our bigs rotation to be mainly TD, Blair, Splitter, Dice and the occasional Matt Bonner sighting for when we're blowing teams out or vice versa.

He got a 20-20 game in his rookie year, I don't know many bigs than can claim that.