Monday, April 26th, 2010...6:24 am
DeJuan Blair: Making his bones in the Playoffs
AT&T CENTER - A year ago, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said about then-rookie George Hill, “these playoffs aren’t for George.” And through three playoff games this season, current Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair hadn’t done much to prove that this year’s playoffs fit him very well either.
But on Sunday night, Blair left his mark on the 2010 NBA Playoffs, providing the motor for a big second half in the Spurs 92-89 win in Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks.
Blair scored seven points and hauled down seven rebounds in the contest, with most of his damage coming in a second half stretch that, after battling back from a 14-point third quarter deficit, helped the Spurs build a seven point lead at the end of the period.
“He reacted well for being such a young guy in a big playoff game,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Blair postgame. “He did a great job for us.”
Through four playoff games this year, Blair put up averages of 3.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in less than nine minutes per game. But his primary role is to bring energy off the bench and buy San Antonio some time to rest Tim Duncan.
And, apparently, show some toughness.
During the second half run that put the Spurs in control of of the game, Blair got tangled up with Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki after a free throw. Nowitzki seemed to swing his arm in the direction of Blair after getting tied up and was assessed a technical foul. Blair, for his participation, received a scolding from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
“It’s just Dirk being Dirk, me being me, and that’s not good,” Blair said. “I was smiling, I didn’t say nothing.”
The skirmish led to a physical stretch of play that featured three flagrant fouls, including a flagrant type 2 and the ejection of Mavericks forward Eduardo Najera, and the wonder if the game would get out of hand.
Luckily, it didn’t and the Spurs were able to make enough plays down the stretch to win the game and take a soul-crushing 3-1 lead in the series versus the Mavericks. The Spurs now have three opportunities to close out the series and face the winner of the Portland Trail Blazers - Phoenix Suns matchup.
And much of the credit goes to the energy and tenacity emanating from DeJuan Blair. Though his per game numbers don’t jump off the page, it’s not often that rookies feature prominently for playoff teams led by Gregg Popovich.
If the way Blair has responded to what’s been put on his plate this season is any indication, don’t expect this to be the last time The Beast leaves his prints on the playoffs.
59 Comments
April 26th, 2010 at 6:42 am
Man, what a great game from Blair. It was really nice to see him contribute, as we all know he is going to be a big part of this team going forward. TD wasn’t playing well tonight, so it was nice to see The Beast giving him a spell come in a do some good things.
Plus, that’s a really great picture to go along with the article. Blair with a huge grin on his face, and that twirp Barea in the background looking frustrated. I love it.
April 26th, 2010 at 7:09 am
I like the nickname “Dejuan Bear”.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/New-nickname-alert-DeJuan-Blair-is-DeJuan-Bear?urn=nba,235986
April 26th, 2010 at 7:11 am
He reminds me of Malik Rose in 2003…
April 26th, 2010 at 7:12 am
Love DeJuan vs. Barea expressions in your photo.
Another great Dejuan facial expression came on the play when Parker drove, got tied up, fell to the floor then batted the ball between Haywood’s legs. As DeJuan grabbed it off the floor from Haywood (one of Carlisle’s “50-50 plays”) and turned toward the rim he bared his teeth in a fierce, beastlike snarl. Barea was in the picture but wisely backed off.
April 26th, 2010 at 7:16 am
Pure speculation, but he seemed a little too energetic in the first few games, missing layups (although some were tough). But he seemed a bit more settled in this game, and by that I mean he played the way he always plays. Like a beast.
April 26th, 2010 at 7:41 am
DeJuan Blair is the lovechild of Bruce Bowen and Wes Unseld. Dude is one serious badass. Had my eye on him ever since he nearly butchered the shoulder of some guy who tried to reach over him for a rebound in preseason. It was brutal. Play on, young man.
April 26th, 2010 at 7:51 am
How about “The Kid” as a nickname for George Hill?
April 26th, 2010 at 7:57 am
Jordan,
How about 48 Minutes of Hill? I think Jason Kidd would agree with that!
April 26th, 2010 at 8:03 am
Nice, KOC. I like it.
April 26th, 2010 at 8:03 am
I like “the little fundamental” for Hill’s nickname.
April 26th, 2010 at 8:05 am
@NL
I agree. He seemed to rush everything early in the series. As an undersized PF, it’s going to take time and game experience to adjust to the taller, longer shot blockers in this league, but I have no doubt he’ll figure it out.
Similar to Landry and Millsap, they too struggled early in their careers. But it didn’t take them long to learned how to operate down low efficiently. I expect Blair to be on the same trajectory.
Also, as he improves his jumper (take it out to 15-18 feet), combined with his sneaky athleticism and quickness, he’s going to be a touch matchup at the 4/5 spot. His confidence at the line has dramatically improved over the course of the season. I expect his jump shot to improve along the same lines.
April 26th, 2010 at 8:08 am
Back in the middle of the season I commented after a game and said that DeJuan is the DaOne but GHill is The Man. Go Spurs Go!! Let’s give cuban more reasons to hate the Spurs!!!
April 26th, 2010 at 8:10 am
@KOC
Very nice. He needs his own fan website!
April 26th, 2010 at 8:12 am
@Tyler
I couldn’t agree more with Blair’s confidence. He got fouled late in the game and just stepped up to the line and drained the first shot. I was shocked that he looked so confident taking it.
April 26th, 2010 at 8:27 am
Hillfire and Brimstone?
April 26th, 2010 at 8:54 am
How about “Sugar Hill”?
April 26th, 2010 at 9:13 am
I was worried that POP would put Blair on ice because he is a rookie.
POP put him out there and you can tell he was for lack of a better word, nervous. He was missing a lot of put backs. I’m glad he finally got some to go down last night. I hope it boosted his confidence.
THe more effective he is, the more rest TD can get.
I love how he didn’t back down in a big playoff game.
DBLAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 26th, 2010 at 9:26 am
Pop is pretty well forced to keep Blair at least somewhat in the rotation right now since the potential big men off the bench are Bonner (seems to not be suited for playing the Mavs, can’t figure out why) Blair and Ian (hahaha, like Pop would ever play him).
The APM numbers on Blair from Wayne Winston did not look good, but it was a painfully small sample size. Scale out his average production thus far to a per 48 mins scale and it looks pretty tasty (again, small sample size). And the recklessness out of Blair down low is much preferred to the liability that a player like Bogans is on the perimeter.
April 26th, 2010 at 9:29 am
@TradeTP Sorry to keep picking on you, but I wanted to ask about your response in the last thread…
You said it took 86 games for Pop to finally get Blair some minutes. That’s not true. He played him a bunch all season. He wasn’t playing 35 minutes a game, sure, but you have to remember that he’s never played 80-100 games a year before now… so maybe saving him a bit was a good thing. I know its easy to say when you’re getting the Ws, but I feel like his PT has been handled very well.
And while I’m directing things at @TradeTP (not meant to be malicious, I promise)… do you still think we should find better value for Tony Parker via trade? I know GH is looking good, but I LOVE our 3 guard rotation right now! The entire 4th quarter is subbing 1 for the other to keep them all fresh with all 3 in there at the end of the game (well, on offense anyway)… running those maddening pick-and-rolls to both sides for either ball handler… just awesome basketball!
April 26th, 2010 at 10:29 am
@ Tyler
I had mentioned something similar to Blairs game the other day. I totaly agree with you that once is mid-range game and a bit more ball skills come around he will be a tough matchup at the forward position. Im glad I did not see the foul on Manu live because I probably would have thrown the remote at the tv thinking I would hit Najara. Good game Spurs. I hope they close it out
Tuesday night. Go Spurs Go!
April 26th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Tyler
April 26th, 2010 at 8:05 am
Yeah, I agree. If he can really work on and develop a step-back-fade-away from 15-20, I think Boozer-like play could be in his future (he’s probably about 2-3″ shorter than Booz). Blair is a special talent at his height, no doubt.
April 26th, 2010 at 11:00 am
i like Grizzly Blair!
April 26th, 2010 at 11:02 am
@Kevin,
Good point about the 3 guard rotation. I, too, love seeing TP, Hill, and Ginobili playing together. Someone is either getting to the bucket or taking a wide open shot.
April 26th, 2010 at 11:27 am
@Manugi20
Sugar Hill is good…
April 26th, 2010 at 11:40 am
How long before Cuban cans Carlisle after Spurs take the series?
April 26th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
[...] The Fu Manchu: Andrew McNeill sings the praises of Dejuan “Bear” Blair, the ACL-less Spurs rookie who is quickly making a name for himself with his performance in this series. [48 MoH] [...]
April 26th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
idahospur
April 26th, 2010 at 11:40 am
How long before Cuban cans Carlisle after Spurs take the series?
I don’t think he will. He’ll give him at least another year.
April 26th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
@ Jim Henderson
It’s my understanding that Cuban is still paying Avery and owes Carlisle another 2 yrs. If he canned Carlisle he would then have to hire a new coach essentially paying 3 head coaches salaries simultaneously. For that reason alone Carlisle will be back.
April 26th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
It’s a pretty good feeling knowing that this spurs team could have swept the ”Second best in the west ” sometimes even getting strong considerations to be the best team in the west lol know wonder Cuban hates us…
The only other team thats looking sharp right now is the jazz so I really like our chances to keep moving on.
First things first though, send those ponies back to their stables in game 5.
April 26th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Kevin:
I disagree that he played “a bunch” He got about 18 min a game. For our second leading rebounder I dont think that is enough, especially when Bonner/Mason are getting the same minutes.
I like the three G rotation as well. Can Tony handle coming off the bench? Can he handle deferring to not only manu, but hill?
Tim has probably 1-2 years left where he will be a really good player. I would shop Parker all we can and see what we can get from him. I think we can package Parker/McDyess to ATL for M.Williams and Josh Smith. I would do that in a heartbeat. I wouldnt give Tony away for nothing but we have to be aware of age, and rebuilding all while getting W’s
Dont be a pussy and put an asterisk beside calling me out. That’s what this blog is for. Everyone here is passionate and opinionated about the Spurs. We all want rings and we each see different ways to get there. Just ask.
April 26th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
@Virilene.Manly
“Dude is one serious badass. Had my eye on him ever since he nearly butchered the shoulder of some guy who tried to reach over him for a rebound in preseason. It was brutal. ”
You mention preseason but he had a shoulder ripping nighlight in the NCAA against the #2 pick overall and co Big East Player of the Year Haseem Thabeet. Check it out on Youtube if you haven’t seen it. It’s worth a look. Grizzly Blair and The Beast are names I luv for Blair. For Hill I really dig U-eee-poo-eee. I get a laugh out of it everytime Sean says it and now the national commentators are starting to bring it. Rock on George…
April 26th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
@Trade TP
Blair would get burn but he was flat out foul prone most of the time, bonner may have been getting more minutes like you said and like I said as well, I agree with you that he may be better than both bonner and dice but he wasn’t able to stay on the floor too long because of foul trouble… we’ve seen what he can do with heavy minutes Ex: thunder, mavs… don’t worry too much about his playing time as I’m sure they’re only going to increase cuz pops rotations are getting tighter.
I would rather comment more on this matter during the offseason but whatever, I would love to try and keep our core as it is at least one more year so I would use our expiring contracts to get a legit 7″ that can alter some shots. We’ve all seen what exp. contracts can do so it wouldnt be that much of longshot
April 26th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Carlisle stays for at least another season, seeing as he’s got 2 years left on his contract. Plus, Cuban still owes Avery Johnson another year worth of salary from when AJ got fired. I don’t see Cuban firing Carlisle, hiring someone else, and then end up paying the salaries of 3 coaches next season.
April 26th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
este:
Cuban has a money tree, and business sense. What he doesn’t have is basketball sense. So there’s nothing that would stop him from paying 3 coaches simultaneously if (in his basketball-sense-bereft head) that gets him closer to a title.
Trade tp:
No one wants to tell you to shut up, but when everyone’s riding high on the Spurs’ showing this series, why bring the bazookas on each other over trade machine stuff?
Q for everyone, how does losing as a 1 and a 2 seed in the span of 3 years reflect on Cuban’s “I hate the Spurs” comment? Any chance his buffoonery starts getting ridiculed in the press this offseason?
April 26th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Blair is a rook playing for a coach that has historically never trusted rookies. 18 mins a game seems perfectly acceptable in that situation - especially considering a good number of games where he was getting good run he’d end up in foul trouble.
In the playoffs, considering how awkward he looked in the first three games, 9 mins a game doesn’t seem out of place to me, either. Add in that Dallas has a lot of big forwards to create matchup problems and the fact that for a couple of games, at least, Bonner did a serviceable job covering Dirk and the PT makes a lot of sense.
And hey, Tony is good, and I generally dislike anything and everything TradeTP posts on these comments and try to ignore him. But if all he is saying is “shop around” and try to get a top-20 player for him, hell, go ahead and shop, but no one is gonna make that trade unless it puts us even deeper into luxury tax mode.
April 26th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
[...] you can’t play anyone who makes a lot of mistakes, as some young players — including Hill, last year — do. But if you have a player who makes good decisions and has young legs … [...]
April 26th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
@ Carlisle staying posters…
Everyone is correct, Avery is still getting paid and Carisle still has two more years (at 4MM a year). That’s big bucks. Cuban and the Mavs have the second highest payroll in the NBA so Cuban doens’t really care about the money. I can see him keeping Carlisle on for one more year only but it will be clear his job is on the line. I certainly can’t predict what Cuban does… who knows maybe he does go ballistic and pays for 3 coaches next year.
@Phoebus
Cuban is starting to get some heat in the media (1st and 10 on ESPN) for his comments about hating the Spurs and about his comments abotu the refs etc. They are saying that he makes these comments and sits in the stands while the players and coach have to deal with the repercussions and pressure of his comments. Interesting to see if others follow suit.
One the same clip Skip Bayless (whom I usually can’t stand) called out Dirk for waiving his finger to the crowd and Barea for pounding his chest and staring at the SPurs bench during Friday’s 17-0 run. How di dthe Spurs react? Great to hear the Ponies being called out by the media.
April 26th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
In regards to Carlisle’s situation:
If we do send the Mavs packing - let’s not get ahead of ourselves here - I think Carlisle stays another year.
What a 1st round exit will most likely do though, is make Dallas an active team this offseason. I can see them making some waves this sumemr, even if it means pushing farther into the luxury tax. I’d expect him to be active in the sign and trade market, which should already be pretty hot.
I’ll say this about Cuban: I don’t really care for his antics and the stuff he says in the media (the “I hate the Spurs” comment was taken out of context btw), but I have a ton of respect for a guy willing to fork over money to see his team win (hey we have one in Peter Holt!). He’s turned that franchise around by himself. I would take an owner like Cuban over a Sterling or Dolan any day.
April 26th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
@TradeTP not a pussy, just don’t want to sound like these other guys.
@Tyler
I don’t like Mark Cuban and the way he conducts himself, but I’m in agreement with you. It could be a lot worse. He’s basically like one of us with a boat load of money. If I were running the Spurs, I’d probably take some heat from the media when I say that Jason Terry is a “punk” or when I refer to the “Thuggets”. Gotta admire that about the guy, he’s a diehard.
April 26th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
@Tyler,
Spot on about the jumpshot, I’ve mentioned this before, but once he makes people come to him at 15 feet he’ll murder them.
@TradeTP,
You know i disagree with you on the trade aspect, but I can respect that trading tony is an option to bring in a better quality frontline or just all round freak player. If someone makes you a no brainer than you really have to look very hard at it.
I still don’t believe it should be one of our top directives though.
If this series thus far has shown us anything it is the absolute luxury having three top quality guards in a rotation brings.
When any one of them has a slow game someone else picks it up and runs with it. Rolling with Manu, TP & George at 36 minutes per night sounds really really good to me. We don’t want a Mason or someone of that caliber for our third major guard.
Bring in Splitter if possible. If that works then we hold onto everything else we can and hopefully end up with an improved Hairston, Blair, Hill youth movement, the Big 3, and quality frontline rotation of Splitter, Duncan, McDyess.
Now I think that is a team with loads of depth, chemistry, and quality.
This is the same post i’ve made in 50 different threads, and its not even original. It’s really just looking at the front offices direction and agreeing with it.
They set out to do this at the beginning of the season and let the team work itself round, and it has.
April 26th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
TP and Dice for Josh Smith and Marvin Williams? Seriously? Tell me you’re pulling a joke to lighten things up here because every Hawks’ fan will laugh at you for even thinking about such lopsided trade scenario.
April 26th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Dr. Who
interesting the link between Mavs acting likes asses and Spurs consequently playing better. Remember all the respect Kobe publicly gives Manu? Makes him a formidable opponent doesn’t it?
April 26th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
I can’t believe I didn’t get to watch this game live. I had to listen to it on XM while driving back into town. I love watching the Spurs win ugly as the other team crumbles in a game they should win. Warms my heart.
April 26th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
As a university of pittsburgh student, I was so happy when the spurs drafted this guy. He is exactly wat the article calls him, a beast. He was too use to using his strength to move ppl in college and get his shot off, so as mentioned he needs to develop a jumper, but this guy is pure energy and joy and he will be a solid double double machine in a year or 2.
April 26th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
@ Trade TP,
Are you crazy? Trade a top 5 guard for what?
You guys get on my freakin nerves wit ha ll this trade TP and this guy for this guy and this dude.
Roger Mason make 5 milli and hasnt really produced for us since ne been here. He is a spot up shooter, not an attacking ball handler. YO ucan tell from his minutes (and asking to be traded), that he wnat be here next year. RJ has siad that me wouldnt mind playing for NJ again. With his on again, off again play, he just might get the chance. Releasing these two frees the Spurs to keep TP (Im thinking no other team in the league can match our guard play TP-GINOOOBLI-HILL & Temple). We can get a 6′8″- 6′9″ swingman (forward), make a nice pitch to Taigo, and Spurs will be fine. Proper balance of youth and vets to take us to the Duncan twilights.
If I hear anyone else talking a TP trade again im comin to Texas and throwing you out- cause you aint real Spurs fans! You got it?
April 27th, 2010 at 2:21 am
@trade TP
in the past I have been pushing to package parker, but I love him as sixth man! He’s ideal in that role. And as I’ve said forever, Ginobili is our best point guard and best player, if only he stays healthy. If we don’t win it all this year, which isn’t a very big “if”, changes will have to be made, but if the big 3 get their 4th together, then it’s only RJ (who’s been a bit better lately) who we should look to trade. You have to admit, that if we were to win it all, or even win the conference, then dumping Parker would be somewhat insane. (Though the “diminishing return” thing means that you’d still like to get value back while his value is still high, it’s true.)
Anyway, Manu rocks. Our youngs + McD are making RC look very smart, and TP is a joy to watch as a sixth man (loved him in game 3.)
—- —- —-
No freaking way ATL trades Smith, unless it’s in a no-brainer move like for CP3, or CB4, or something like that.
Carlisle has to stay. The coach is not the problem; this was a must win series for them. Dirk is mad skilled but can always be beat. Kidd is their biggest liability, though butler, and marion should be better than they are this year.
anybody who says the mavs were our toughest matchup is dead wrong. Utah and LA, should we get that far, either one of them is a team we will have to play our best basketball, maybe near perfect, to win.
but enough of all that. I love the San Antonio Spurs! Go spurs go!
April 27th, 2010 at 3:46 am
Carlisle stays for at least another season, seeing as he’s got 2 years left on his contract. Plus, Cuban still owes Avery Johnson another year worth of salary from when AJ got fired. I don’t see Cuban firing Carlisle, hiring someone else, and then end up paying the salaries of 3 coaches next season.
April 27th, 2010 at 5:32 am
Ian and TD- I would agree that the ATL trade is a pipedream but Im throwing that out as a POSSIBILITY for those saying “I would never trade TP.”
I also heard that Smith wanted out of ATL. In addition when the Bucks win the series more players might want out!
Again my idea is that Parker will get the best value. And we have to be willing to make adjustments to continue our success.
I agree that I like the three G rotation of Hill Parker Manu. They all bring something different. Hill can make open Js, Tony has the speed and Manu can do it all. What happens 1-2 down the road when Manu is breaking down, TD is useless, Tony is slowing? REload not REbuild.
Big Game tonight. I think we rest Tim as much as possible and give our bench guys some real minutes tonight. Get temple, ian, and bonner a chance to warm up.
April 27th, 2010 at 5:40 am
disagree that the Jazz are tougher. They had a great 4 games agaisnt us when they were healthy and we were green. With Okur and Kirilinko out, we should be so lucky to get the Jazz in the WCF. even with Boozer and Williams. We have the personnel to hurt them and we are so much deeper. But we wont need to dream about the Jazz becasue it isn’t likely that they beat LA.
On another note, whats up with the homecourt advantage thing with Dallas? Can someone explain this to me; If we steal a game from the Mavs at home, and if the series goes to seven, we go right back to their arena for the final game. How is that an advantage?
April 27th, 2010 at 6:52 am
@Jacob it’s called advantage lost when the series goes to game 7. If Spurs lose at home (game 6), that home-court advantage Spurs “stole” is immediately forfeit, that’s all.
April 27th, 2010 at 7:23 am
Maybe Cuban will fire Carlisle and put himself in at coach? That might be interesting…
April 27th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Dejuan “Mexican Jumping Bean” Blair? How does that grab you.
Levity aside, Blair, as we said in a previous post, reminds us so much of Wes Unseld, who led the Washington Bullets (now known as the Wizards thanks to their politically correct late owner) to their first and only NBA title in 1978.
At 6-foot-7, Unseld was also a bear of man at the post, contesting every rebound and finding ways to put it back into the rim even if he was relatively undersized as a center. Look up what legendary New York center Willis Reed said when Unseld was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1988 (it’s on Youtube) and you see just how tough he was.
Blair, for all his perceived shortcomings (pun intended), has the makings of becoming like this small “Big Man” who was ahead of him.
April 27th, 2010 at 8:55 am
i like Heavy D. the l’s are too squential in grizzly blair and the beast just sounds lame. sometimes nicknames aren’t necesarrily flattering. big baby davis, the fridge anyone?
i like Indy-G as bill schoening refers to him. sugar hill is kinda queer.
April 27th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Guys of 48MOFH, we have play-off fever, can’t you post anything new now?
Thanks!
April 27th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
I’m with Mexico on this one.
April 27th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Before game four with the MAVs I was very fearful the plan would be to finish off Manu with another elbow to the nose. Just wouldn’t put it past Dallas, which remind me of the Pistons of old.
Now I am thinking Manu is sacred territory(his throw down by Najera made the jaded national media)…..but now concerned about injuries for all the Spurs on the court tonight. Seriously. I will be holding my breath nobody gets creamed.
April 27th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Ditto.
April 27th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
We get a lot of requests for more, more, more. We like this. It’s good to have readers. And it’s better to have readers who genuinely appreciate our efforts. But we’re also four guys with careers and lives and studies and families and all that. This is a labor of love. And if it ever morphs into something more, than I suppose ‘more, more, more’ will turn into ‘whoa fellas slow down’. We’re trying to push it to that point, but it’s one slow step at a time.
This is probably a cultural reference that won’t carry any weight, but there is a fantastic Belle and Sebastian song called ‘This is Just a Modern Rock Song‘ that has a fitting line: “We’re four boys in our corduroys/we’re not terrific but we’re competent.”
@Mexico fan, We’ll see if we can’t increase the volume of content. In addition to your comment, I received two emails today asking the same thing. Time to man up, I guess.
April 27th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Put some concrete in that Late Tim and harden the F*** up
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