Dejaun Blair

[StreetBaller905]

blair is a second round pick making 1st round money but man did the spurs get a steal

[SApuro_]

I guess we can't complain too much. We did steal him in the 2nd round. When I found out his deal was 2.7 mil for 4 yrs and not 3 I was a able to sleep a little better.

[DBMethos]

Another double-double last night and he was easily the best player on the floor for the Spurs.

[SApuro_]

We just have to remember hes a rookie. We have to keep our expectations for this kid reasonable. He still needs to learn the system and adjust to being a pro.

[Blame Rasho]

I can't believe we landed him. I am so glad we locked him up for 4 years. He is on a dirt cheap contract and he can't rebound like no other person in his draft class.

[Marc]

I guess we can't complain too much. We did steal him in the 2nd round. When I found out his deal was 2.7 mil for 4 yrs and not 3 I was a able to sleep a little better.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 34105.html

It is more than $2.7M

[Magz50]

based off Summer League play, Beast was ranked 8th out of all rookies..not too shabby for a second round pick

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/0 ... gs.summer/

[dmespurs]

based off Summer League play, Beast was ranked 8th out of all rookies..not too shabby for a second round pick

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/0 ... gs.summer/

And he didn't play in two games.

[SApuro_]

Blair is the key toward filling the rebounding whole we had last year. If he can get 5-6 boards in limited mins I'll be a happy camper. Anything is better than the def liability of Bonner. Even though when the red rocket is on from downtown...he's on.

[Nolan]

I guess we can't complain too much. We did steal him in the 2nd round. When I found out his deal was 2.7 mil for 4 yrs and not 3 I was a able to sleep a little better.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 34105.html

It is more than $2.7M

Even at 4 years 4 million its still a steal of a deal. Even if he doesn't produce an average salary of 1 million is nothing.

He really looked good in summer league and he only played 25 minutes a game. The thing that impressed me the most about him was his low post scoring, he a much better scorer than I thought he was.

[Donald Kaufman]

Can't wait to unleash this guy. I'm really looking forward to seeing #45 do his thing.

[co_laper]

I really think we have overrated this guy. He's a guy that will surely have a better year, NEXT YEAR. Not this year.

As a rookie big man, he'll learn the NBA and instead of the one doing the dirty works, he'd probably be the one getting the dirty works from opposing bigs.

While he's a very good rebounder, he doesn't provide strong defensive coverege. You can't let him guard a scoring PF. That'll be constant foul trouble. So you put him againts a Center who has 4 inch advantage over Blair and is no slouch like Thabeet. He'll learn, but on his first year, he'd be getting teached a lot by opponents.

I think there will be nights where he came in, energized the team, got rebounds and put backs. But I really doubt he'll provide that consistently. I see him as a guy that gets 25 minutes one night, 8 minutes the next.

That's why I think Bonner will eventually get more minutes than Blair because atleast Bonner is consistent at doing nothing... Uhm.. I mean he consistently open the floor for Duncan. S-U-C-K-S!!!

[realfung]

The youngs are not a factor for the Spurs now.

[Nolan]

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/articles/2009/08/16/spurred_into_action/?page=full

As for Blair, the rebounding machine from Pitt, Popovich said, “He’s going to play right off the bat for us. He can rebound. I’m not going to teach him how to shoot threes. We know what he can do.’’

Sounds like Blair is going to be getting alot of minutes early on hopefully he performs.

[Curtis Lemansky]

How much playing time will Bonner receive this season? Around 10-12 mpg or around 20 mpg?

[co_laper]

Well... there's 96 minutes of playing time in both PF and C position.

If we're talking about regular rotations, only 4 guys will be playing. So it's not likely that Mahinmi gets 8 minutes for 82 games.

Position battles will be Duncan, McDyess, Bonner, Blair, and Ratliff.

My guess is at the start of the season, Blair will get the most bench minutes. Duncan will likely get 34 a game. McDyess perhaps about 32. 30 minutes left and that's Blair for about 20 and then either Bonner or Ratliff for about 10. I'm hoping Ratliff gets 10 minutes because I think with Duncan, Dice, and Blair, we could surely use a shotblocker. Bonner's long range shooting isn't really important anymore since we have Dice as our jumpshooter. Dice is just a much better version of Bonner.

The only way Bonner gets 20 minutes a game is if Blair doesn't produce. Then we'd have 30 backup minutes shared between Ratliff and Bonner. Ratliff IMO isn't a 20 minute player anymore. He'd be solid at 10. So Bonner will get 20 if Blair sucks.

[Curtis Lemansky]

Interesting.

I just read your previous post about Bonner vs. Blair and it seems to indicate that Bonner will get more playing time at the expense of Blair this season. You said "That's why I think Bonner will eventually get more minutes than Blair " so I wonder what made you change your mind.

Also obviously you probably know much better than I am about Popovich's preferences but dont you think 32 mpg is too much for McDyess? Even last year in Detroit when they had no options on frontcourt,they used him only for 30 mpg. He is 35(only one year younger than Finley and Ratlif) has 14 years under his belt (as much as Finley and Ratliff). Dont you think playing him 32 mpg will basically tire him out and reduce his effectiveness significantly for playoffs? IMO (considering how Popovich was really careful in the past about keeping his older players fresh for playoffs) 25-27 mpg seem like a more accurate prediction for Dice.

[co_laper]

I have no doubt that at the start of the season that Blair will get every opportunity to play. So the above post is simply what I think is gonna happen early in the season.

Ofcourse if all goes well, Blair produce and get 25 minutes a game averaging somewhere around 10 points and 8 boards. But do I think that will happen? No. Like I said before (either here or another thread) is that Blair is a rookie big man who (like most rookie bigs) will be inconsistent, pick up cheap fouls, and be on the receiving end when it comes to doing the dirty works. Personally, I feel Blair will be a much bigger factor NEXT YEAR. Not this upcoming season.

So since I personally feel that's what gonna happen to Blair this season, it is my feeling that Bonner will eventually win the rotation spot by the end of the season. Much like what happen with George Hill last year when Pop opts for the veteran Jacque Vaughn over the rookie. And this won't be the first time either. In Horry's last year, Bonner played well enough in the regular season only for Pop to opt for Robert Horry when March comes around. I'm not saying Bonner should play ahead of Horry, but there's a pattern here.

As for Dice's minutes. That's just a prediction of mine. My guess is that unlike years past when we have Horry off the bench and a starter next to Duncan who gives 20-25 solid minutes, our current backup has no one that deserve that many minutes if Blair doesn't play as good as everyone expect. I truly doubt Dice will get 32 minutes a game at the start of the season. But I'm sure when March comes around and the rotation get shorten, Dice will get atleast 30 minutes a game.