Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010...9:48 pm
San Antonio Spurs 112, Phoenix Suns 110
Who would’ve thought four shots from one spot on the floor could mean so much? If the Richard Jefferson reclamation project needed a tidy little bow on it, RJ obliged on Wednesday night at the US Airways Center.
Jefferson hit four of five 3-pointers on his way to 28 points for the San Antonio Spurs in their 112-110 win over the Suns. Jefferson hit six of six free throws and grabbed four rebounds on the night too.
It was a far cry from Jefferson’s first game in Phoenix last season, when he scored just four points, shot 2-7 from the field and didn’t attempt a 3-pointer. It was a performance that in part lead to Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich telling the media afterward, “We had too many pathetic games from too many people.”
No, this wasn’t that. But really, it was all about those four shots, especially the three that came in as many possessions.
The first one was in the offense, a good play off a excellent pass from James Anderson. Jefferson should know that the long 2-pointer is the most inefficient shot in basketball, so he made sure to step back behind the line as he was gathering the ball.
The second one was just for kicks. He was open, so why not take it?
The third one? Well, that was a big middle finger to last season.
But the game wasn’t over with those nine straight points. The Suns still held the lead late in the game. And when it was needed, and any demons from last season might have crept back during crunch time, Richard Jefferson made sure they were dead and buried. Same shot. Same corner.
[Update: Our guy Bassy at NBA Playbook broke down Jefferson's fourth 3-pointer, make sure to check that out.]
Enjoy the video, folks.
Again, sorry for the wonky quality. I’m still working out some kinks in our video process.
83 Comments
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:56 pm
omgg if splitter and jefferson keep playing like this, then I’m pretty sure we’ll dethrone the lakers. Manu, blair, and parker had absymal games, and were all somewhat inconsistent. RJ saved us tonight, and anderson showed his true worh on defense tonight. And the duncan blair combo is NOT working, they’re aruging about rotations on offense all the time, preventing duncan from using his post game, and making him shoot jump shots. Duncan mcdyess start, and blair splitter off the bench, vets and youngans off the bench. I think we’re seeing some better defense w/o bonner, but him with duncan/blair works as well. Overall we got very lucky with RJ hitting those threes, and our defense could be better with the lineup I suggested.
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:57 pm
probably asking a lot but if Jefferson played at 80 percent of this every night the Spurs would be be considered favorites along with the Heat, Lakers, and Celtics.
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Wow! Sweet retribution tonight!! Without the turnovers we are a fabulous team.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Love it!
I also like what we see out of James Anderson just finding his way on the Spurs, and making several good plays, including a steal followed by a bucket, and a nice three pointer. Smart, composed player. Really looking forward to seeing him develop.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Hey TradeTp…
I was never in much disagreement with you regarding Parker, and am not sure if we shouldn’t give more minutes to Hill, Neal, and even Temple, except that if we are considering trading TP down the line, we are best off keeping his value as high as possible.
That said, I have to wonder if RJ’s emergence, and Manu as a starter, will crush any possibility that some Spurs’ fans dream about of TP being an All-Star again this season. Now, I seem to remember you being (unlike myself) in favor of Richard Jefferson all along, and hanging Popovich for not adapting the schemes to suit his talents… HOWEVER, surely you must admit in some deep private part of yourself that the credit for RJ’s seeming transformation this year has to be a credit to the summer spent with Pop. We still have to contend with an FO that reupped Bonner, while making no move for a Tyson Chandler, but it must be dawning on you that Popovich is not the worst coach we could have in charge. I mean, looking at RJ this year, that is some coaching job right there.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:55 pm
This was another crazy Spurs/Suns game. There were a number of big swings in the 4th quarter in which the game could have been won or lost. I know we’re only 4 games into the season, but this team has the potential to be a formidable opponent.
Tonight, Tony played very poorly, Blair had another bad game, we had 23 (YES 23!!) turnovers on the road, and a number of our younger guys played significant minutes (Splitter, Anderson, Blair, and Temple) yet we still hung in there and won this game. Here were some of my take aways.
1. Our defense wasn’t as terrible as the score might indicate. We limited them to 46% shooting from the field. They just attempted 15 more shots due to our incessant turnover problem.
2. RJ was unreal
3. After several games of looking subpar, Duncan looked like MVP material. I think this is what we can expect from Duncan for much of this season. Some nights he’s very human, other nights, he’s the two time MVP.
4. Anderson is going to be a decent contributor this year. Two of those RJ threes were due to very good passes from JA. He’s shooting the 3 pretty well plus he’s had one block in each of his last 3 games. It’s going to be interesting to see this young man develop.
5. Simmons appears to be the odd man out. He’s registered only 15 total minutes in 4 games. Maybe he will prove more valuable later on in the season, but I’d be surprised to see Pop play him much if Anderson continues to be this productive.
6. Splitter is getting some decent time, but I think it will be several weeks before he replaces Blair in the starting lineup. Splitter needs more time to get in game shape and adapt to the NBA. His performance was encouraging with 7 pts and 3 rebs in 15 min. He’ll get much better, but it will take a bit of time.
This was a very interesting game. It showed we had heart and refused to lose in spite of our repeated mistakes. It will be interesting to see what this team can look like when all of the Big 4 play well, Blair finds his way, Hill is healthy, and Tiago is integrated. In all reality, if we had showed this kind of intensity in the NO game, we’d be sitting at 4-0.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:23 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by MJ, Andrew A. McNeill. Andrew A. McNeill said: 48MoH / San Antonio Spurs 112, Phoenix Suns 110 http://dlvr.it/80JnX [...]
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:29 pm
In 4 games this season now (even before this game he was shooting 64% fg and 40% 3pt):
30 mpg
20 ppg
65% fg (on 10 fga/game)
53.3% 3pt (on 3 3pt fga/game)
3.3 rpg
2 apg
1.5 to/game
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:40 pm
Dice was solid even if the numbers don’t say it fully. Pop might put Dice as the starter once Bonner is back and just pull him out sooner to keep his minutes lower until Tiago can start.
Blair needs to see more second unit guys. He just doesn’t have the abilities fully developed enough to take on some of the starters.
Duncan had a great game because he had very little resistance on the offense end. He’s going to coast for a while, and I hope he does to some degree. He needs those legs in late spring/summer.
If RJ can help carry the scoring load with some of the other guys to make the team more well rounded, things should go well this season for the Spurs.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:06 am
Could we drop the calls for Blair not to start? The kid’s 21 years old, and needs time to adapt. Give it a rest. If he has a phase where he’s not playing well (very common in young players) then Pop will just have to give him fewer minutes whether he’s starting or not. One cannot possibly judge whether Blair can play effectively with Duncan based on 4 freaking games. And even though we haven’t played that well as a team so far, the fact is we’re still 3-1 with Blair in the starting line-up. Given the proper amount of time, there’s no reason that Blair can’t play well with Duncan.
Obviously in tonight’s game RJ saved our ass.
There were three major reasons for that:
(1) We are still not defending well for more than spurts. This seems to our most consistent, and potentially most serious problem.
(2) We are having problems taking care of the ball. 23 turnovers tonight was RIDICULOUS! What’s worse, it was a minus ten to the Suns. And it’s not just tonight. Thus far this season we’re in the bottom ten in the league in turnovers (we’re usually in the top ten for fewest turnovers). The only positive in this regard is that prior to tonight we were creating more turnovers than we were giving up, and creating more turnovers than we had in the recent past. Hopefully tonight was the aberration on that front.
(3) We are not rebounding as a team to our potential. Again, we are thus far in the middle of the pack league-wise, when we’re usually in the top ten, if not the top five. The following players are under-performing on rebounds, and need to get their ass on the glass, pronto: Manu, RJ, Anderson, Blair, Bonner, & Splitter.
In fact, if I have a gripe with Blair at this point, it’s his significant slippage on the offensive glass compared to his rookie year. Rookie year 4.8 orb. per 36 mins. — this year just 3.2 orb. per 36 mins. That’s a 33% reduction, and a drop in offensive boards as a team is the main reason that our total rebound rate is substandard this year. We need people to crash the offensive boards, and Blair’s one of the best guys to do it. He’s a natural. He’s got to get it going there, and I think he will, but that’s one area in which I’ll have less patience with him. Hopefully the coaches are helping him figure out what the problem is in the early going of this season. We need to get this corrected, and soon.
We have the struggling Rockets on Friday. They’re a very talented team that will be starving for a victory. I hope we come prepared with max energy. Let’s make it 4-1 heading into Charlotte next Monday!
November 4th, 2010 at 2:01 am
Pop always tinkers with the lineups, especially before the all star break. No doubt, Blair won’t get the start some games and it won’t mean that he’s in Pop’s doghouse.
Pop tinkers, us fans should know that.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:47 am
Jefferson with FOUR corner threes!
Wow.
November 4th, 2010 at 4:29 am
Great finish by the Spurs. Encouraging to see this early in the season especially considering all of the turnovers.
I’m curious to see how the team grows once their familiarity increases. There is a lot of room for improvement here.
November 4th, 2010 at 4:38 am
Who gave Steve Kerr that RJ costume?
November 4th, 2010 at 5:29 am
I had to suffer through the Phoenix broadcast of the game last night. No excitement whatsoever for Jefferson raining threes. Meanwhile I was losing my mind and thought Bruce Bowen had returned. Same bald head. Same corner. You have no idea how happy I am to hear the SA feed!
Speaking of Bruce Bowen, there was one possession late in the 4th where we actually rotated well and suffocated their offense until they used up all their clock and turned the ball over. Reminded me how long it’s been since I’ve seen what used to be our trademark defense, and it gave me chills.
After four games, it seems that we’ve found the 3pt shooting we need. If we can just get back to our defensive glory, then we’ve got a real shot of contending for the ring.
November 4th, 2010 at 5:56 am
I definitely don’t think Blair sucked last night. He certainly made some mistakes and I hate to see 3 TOs in 19 minutes, but he made some plays on both ends. He displayed some nice passing and showed some things on D. One of TDs blocks was assisted by Blair because he got a hand on the bounce pass slowing down the ball which gave TD enough time to rotate. He also made some bad plays, but that’s the kind of thing that improves with playing time. Also, he showed off his excellent rebounding again in this game with 7 in 19 minutes. All in all I thought he looked young, but showed a much better ability to operate on the floor with TD last night. We were +9 with him last night on the floor last night in a game we won by two. All in all I was encouraged.
I thought Temple was terrible, Hill needs to come back. Anderson’s play continues to show a lot of promise. He (and the other wings) needs to help more on those long rebounds though. That really hurt us last night. Not sure why Neal didn’t get more minutes.
TP and Manu didn’t play great but both of them made great drives to the basket during the game. I definitely think both of them will return to form as they get back into the swing of things. I think what we’re seeing now if the effects of taking the summer off. We’ll be greatful for it later.
November 4th, 2010 at 6:25 am
This early in the season, I think it’s more important to focus on the positives:
-23 TO’s and we still found a way to win
-our perimeter shooting is much, much improved over last season
-wing play; RJ, Anderson, and Neal have all surprised
-we were able to win w/o Hill and a sub-par game from TP (who usually torches PHX) and Blair
-much more depth/talent than last year; we have a legit 11 man rotation right now
-Splitter showed flashes again; the up and under against Warrick was nice, as was the rebound and putback; he’ll fit in just fine.
In regards to Blair, he’ll figure it out. It seems like he trying to do too much; he’s rushing. He’s young and learning how to operate in a new role. Of all the guys on the team, he’s one of the last I’d worry about.
Good all-around team victory in a tough environment. Very encouraging….
November 4th, 2010 at 7:17 am
There’s that corner 3. It was over in the corner all this time!
November 4th, 2010 at 7:37 am
So glad they won this one. I’m sure it will do wonders for their confidence.
RJ! He’s been playing like we all thought he would. He did have a handful of games like that last year but they were spread out through out the season. So far he has had four good consecutive games.
I loved TIAGO’s post move. It was very nice. Can’t wait to see him with more minutes under him.
TOO MANY Turnovers though. They could have put it away early but I think they had 3 straight turnovers at one point that lead to the SUNS taking the lead late. Then RJ saved the day.
Luckily TO’s is something that can be fixed.
I think they look good after 4 games. They could easily be 4-0 if they didn’t go cold for four minutes against the Hornets. But hey 3-1 is better than 1-3.
November 4th, 2010 at 7:46 am
I can’t wait to see Tiago get more minutes. He could lead the league in charges drawn. He got 2 in 15 minutes last night and there was one other that was so close that they initially called it a charge. His free throw stroke is UGLY, though. He’ll fit in perfectly!
November 4th, 2010 at 8:44 am
23 turnovers, a bad night for Parker, no Hill and Bonner, and we still win! what a great game from RJ!
but hey, guys, we need to congrat Timmy D on passing Gervin as the 2nd all-time scoring leader for the Spurs! only 81 more points to go before he passes The Admiral!
November 4th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Get used to the To’s lot of younger guys on the floor that’s what they do. Got to take the good with the bad. Remember 03 with Parker, Manu, Jackson, and Claxton they turned the ball over all the time but we had the defense to compensate. Defense in spurts is not going to cut it.
November 4th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Nice game from RJ. I’m excited that he’s doing so well so far.
Timmy was solid again, adding 17 rebounds to his 25 points.
Blair needs to start coming off the bench. He’s over-matched by starting big men. Plus, I think he got used to being option 1 or 2 during the pre-season and he’s having a hard time adjusting back to option 5. When Splitter gains the trust of Pop, I expect him to start and Blair to come off the bench.
Manu is Manu and Tony had 9 assists. Don’t look now, but Tony’s averaging more assists than Nash.
Splitter looked solid and seemed like he was mentally in the game. He had a great offensive rebound, up-fake, put-back, made the bucket, and got the foul. It doesn’t look like he’s Euro soft. He does have a terrible looking FT shot, like others have mentioned.
I thought Temple did a good job on Nash in limited minutes. It’s seemed like Temple’s length bothered him a little.
Anderson was solid yet again. He reminds me a little of James Harden from OKC. Just a trustworthy, all around player.
Neal didn’t get much burn, but he’ll get his chance when match-ups dictate.
23 turnovers is just dumb, although we won the game. If we cut the TO’s in half, we win by 15.
November 4th, 2010 at 9:37 am
lol, manu was being very stupid with the ball in the fourth quarter, but he’s still manu…
November 4th, 2010 at 9:45 am
Watching Splitter shoot FTs is like watching Barkley hit golf balls.
November 4th, 2010 at 9:55 am
@DRob
+5
November 4th, 2010 at 9:59 am
This season reminds me of the 2002-03 season..
That yr, we had a really veteran group (Willis, Kerr, Steve Smith, Danny) who din’t play much but were instrumental in bringing the group younger guys along (Manu, TP, Stephen Jackson, Speedy)…
Now we have (Timmy, Manu, TP, Mcdyess) who as veterans play a lot more, compared to the 2003 veterans, but have the same role in guiding the younger players (JA, Temple, Neal, Blair, Hill, Tiago etc)….
I remember Pop, in one of the early game post-game interviews during the 2002/03 season, said “there is some inexperience out there (Jackson, TP, Manu) which lead to mistakes and we are hoping to cut it bit-by-bit as the season progresses”…..
Similarly, i think this season we might see a few more turnovers etc early this season….but once everyone is on same page, it will get a lot better..
Cause we will need the youngsters to step up and win us some playoff games (like Manu/TP/Jackson/Speedy did in 02/03) and it’s great these guys are throw into the fire (so to speak!)..
Go Spurs…here’s hoping for a repeat of the 2002-03 season……
November 4th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Now that my Giants have won the World Series, I am ready for my Spurs to make a run at the Lakers. The season is early but I like the way things are looking. The key is that the big three stay healthy. Go Spurs Go!
November 4th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Oops
November 4th, 2010 at 11:08 am
How ’bout them Spurs!! They are looking great from an offensive standpoint but do need to work on cutting down on the TOs and D up some but gosh, 3-1 is a great start! With R-Jeff learning to do what he needs to do in this Spurs system, this team has a real legit shot at dethroning the Fakers. GO SPURS GO, WIN ONE FOR THE THUMB!!!!!
November 4th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
ThatBigGuy
November 4th, 2010 at 9:37 am
“Blair needs to start coming off the bench. He’s over-matched by starting big men.”
Okay, for the handful of you that keep wanting to assert the rather knee-jerk reaction to the 21 year old Blair’s subpar performance over just FOUR games by sending him back to the bench with his tail between his legs, I present you with the following data:
Blair STARTED 23 games last season. Games 7 & 8, games 25-31, games 33-43, games 58 & 59, and game 82. By the way, in all those games he started alongside Duncan.
During those games we played about the same proportion of “playoff opponents” as we did during the rest of the year.
Our win-loss record during Blair’s starts (14-9) resulted in the same winning percentage as the rest of our games (61%).
During Blair’s starts he averaged 23.4 mpg., 8.8 ppg., and 8.4 rpg. This translates into 36 mpg. averages of 13.5 ppg., and 12.9 rpg. For the season Blair’s ppg. and rpg. per 36 minutes was 15.4 ppg., and 12.7 rpg, respectively.
So, playing with our starters more, and against opponent starters more, Blair scored a bit less, but rebounded a little more per minute of court time compared to his production as a non-starter. And of course it’s normal that Blair would score a bit less as a starter because he was playing more with our star’s and leading scorers.
So, with the foregoing data in mind, how does one come up with an early exit from the starting line-up for Blair with the team winning 3 of its first 4 games? You think he’s not as good of a player at age 21 versus age 20? You think it’s smarter to start a 36 year old that claims this will probably have to be his last year in the league? You want to anoint Splitter already, even though he’s just come off a month layoff from injury, has only played TWO nba games for a grand total of 25 minutes, and will never be the rebounder that Blair is (nor does he have the athleticism of Blair, and his front court partner TD has now lost much of his)? You want to start Bonner?!!
Please try to make a rational case if you want to mess with the starting line-up at this EARLY juncture. Take a step back and rethink this.
“Plus, I think he got used to being option 1 or 2 during the pre-season and he’s having a hard time adjusting back to option 5.”
You think that’s an insurmountable adjustment? Really?!
November 4th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Something you wanna tell us, BASF? Y’all expecting an addition to the Family out there? ;P
Btw, congrats to your Giants on the win over my Rangers. Tough series all-around, but your bats were more impressive than I had been lead to believe!
As to last night’s game. Tough one on the road against an athletic and streaky-shooting team, but the D actually held the shooting to under 45%, and really only Dudley (3-3), Childress (3-4) and Warrick (7-9) shot over 50%. Nash had to take 22 shots for his 19 points and Richardson 18 for his 21, with both making only 8. TOs were horrific, but with a relatively frenetic pace, a few are to be expected. Still I’d like to see that number at least 5 or 6 lower in this type of game.
All things considered, a win is a win, and with Houston coming in winless Saturday (be wary, Spurs) some rest beforehand after a win will be all the sweeter!
Go Spurs Go!
November 4th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Should we consider inquiring about this guy for some veteran defensive depth on the perimeter? He was a factor in getting the Nuggets to WCF’s 2 years ago.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/Pacers-have-Dahntay-Jones-on-trading-block?urn=nba-282468
November 4th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
[...] They’re calling it the Richard Jefferson Reclamation Project at 48 Minutes of Hell, as Jefferson continued to hit threes and get to the line in San [...]
November 4th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
JH: Are you talking about swapping him for Simmons? If he’s having that difficult a time getting quality shots off for the Pacers, is he only gonna be a defensive sub? Something about him reminds me of Udoka.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
“You think it’s smarter to start a 36 year old that claims this will probably have to be his last year in the league? You want to anoint Splitter already, even though he’s just come off a month layoff from injury, has only played TWO nba games for a grand total of 25 minutes”
This is a good point. Even if Blair ends up best serving us on the bench this year, we need him there now. Even if McDyess proves himself to be our second best big, I wouldn’t want to start him until towards the end if it all in order to keep his minutes down. Also, Splitter is clearly not ready, although I think most of us like what we’ve seen in limited minutes. So yeah, it’s Blair for at least 20 games or so I’d say. That will certainly give us a decent sample size to evaluate him in.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
All this talk of who to start isn’t applicable to the Spurs.
How many times has Pop changed the lineups before the break? Every year Pop tweeks the lineup many times . He starts different combinations and experiements with the player rotations so that he has a good feel of the team by the end of the year.
All this jabbering about whether Blair should start or not sounds like talk radio.
As Spurs fans, we should be better than this.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
@jim henderson
i love blair, i absolutely love him, but i think his main flaw is that he’s too short. so i think its best that we don’t overplay him, at least not now. either way i think pop is going to figure out who needs to be out there at what time. i know we only saw limited action from splitter, but man did he impress me. the charges he took, the offensive rebounds, the and 1′s. he’s damn smart. splitter may not be ready right now, but i dont think its going to be long until he is to get major minutes. we’re talking about the euroleague mvp. nevertheless, i am extremely excited about this season. i was excited when we were starting off the year 1-3, now its the other way around. i believe!
November 4th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Blair will continue to get starts to find his role in the lineup and work out of his funk. Splitter will get starts as soon as he’s in game shape. Dice will get a couple starts just to see what Blair and Splitter do as a combo on the 2nd unit. Heck, Bonner might actually get a few starts just for kicks.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
RJ was completely amazing last night. I’m pretty sure the last three of the 3-pointers he made didnt even touch the rim when they went through. I look forward to watching RJ get even better as the season progresses.
I’m fine with Blair starting or coming off the bench, provided he stays aggressive on the rebounds and gets his patented easy putbacks, and two he plays hard and brings energy. Number 45 is still very young, but he is going to be very good, he just needs time to develop his game during the season. I see him doing much better in the next 10 games.
Tim Duncan did what he wanted to on the offensive end. But what really worries me is his inability to defend the P&R. Chris Paul and now Steve Nash are having their way against the Spurs, and I only wonder if all the other NBA teams are going to continually put Tim im pick and roll situations to exploit his weakness.
But he was clutch with his block on Hakim Warrick towards the end of the game. I like that.
Looks like Splitter is still feeling his way around, he took a few charges, but most of the charges he took shouldve been called blocks because his feet were in the restricted zone, Splitter will get better at this too.
I would love to see James Anderson and Gary Neal get more minutes. They played very well last night(especially Anderson) and Temple did a great job as well.
Don’t underestimate Houston. Even though they are winless, they have had a tough opening schedule..but they are still a really good team
November 4th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
splitter will have to learn to go up stronger. getting his shot blocked by childress is unacceptable. we got a good look at what he will bring this year. duncan looks like he will get some rest this year
November 4th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Damnit Jim! I’m a Spurs fan, not a surgeon! LOL! (Great post though!)
November 4th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Got sick and tired of seeing dragic and nash successfully use pick and roll…. omg i know by now I should be used to this, but it was too much. Defense needs to better! Go Spurs!
November 4th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Great game. Good signs from RJ thus far. I think the Spurs have improved greatly since last year. Neal, Anderson, and Splitter all will make valuable contributions in the rotation. This to go with RJ’s improvements, Parker and Ginobili in good health (no summer playing international too) will make the Spurs competitive with just about any team in the league in a 7 game series. 78 more games to go. Don’t look too much into this one guys.
November 4th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Bentley
“I’m fine with Blair starting or coming off the bench, provided he stays aggressive on the rebounds and gets his patented easy putbacks, and two he plays hard and brings energy.”
Same boat as far as opinion.
What I would hate to see is his confidence level deminish from forcing too much and not being himself.
I’ve seen some good players come on this team and be deminished to a point where they couldn’t play solid anymore on any team. I’ve also seen some former players that didn’t fit in the Spurs system and become Spur killers on another team.
I’m wondering if there is too much pressure being placed on Blair to play a certain way that is not natural and taking him away from his natural talents/abilities?
If he can’t get out of his funk…it wouldn’t be the first time a good post player couldn’t play well/co-exist alongside Duncan. Ifthe Spurs want Blair to be something he isn’t or can’t become on this team by mid season they might want to look at getting something for him.
It doesn’t do any good to both player and team to ride them into something they may never become only to lose out on getting something of value later prior to them playing their way in to ineffectiveness.
Now I never hope that happens. But it has in the past. Blair is a unique situation in both his ability to play a position that most never could play because of his height and having no acl’s.
I just hope he will become a solid contributor whether it is in starting or off the bench and that the team and himself can except his natural ability(s) to play in a manner that allows him to be the most effective.
November 4th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
christian
November 4th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
“i love blair, i absolutely love him, but i think his main flaw is that he’s too short.”
But Tim in Surrey has already expertly addressed this concern in a recent comment on the “….Spurs Front Court is Lopsided” thread:
Tim in Surrey
November 3rd, 2010 at 4:51 am
Read more: http://www.48minutesofhell.com/duncan-splitter-blair-spurs-center#comments#ixzz14MtRkP6T
“How big is he (Blair)? Let’s examine that. The NBA draft combine provides a couple of different height measurements–with shoes and without. Just as it is in baseball, with the slow gun and the fast gun, people use the bad measurement to criticize and the good one to praise. I’d rather pick one and stick with it. So, Viper160, if you refer to DeJuan Blair as 6’5″ then you should refer to Blake Griffin as 6’8″, Carmelo Anthony as 6’6″, and Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki as 6’10″. (BTW, Yao Ming without shoes? Still 7’5″!) However, the NBA typically uses the higher measurement (with shoes) and rounds up fractions of .5″ or larger, which is why they list Blair as 6’7″, Griffin as 6’10″, Carmelo as 6’8″, and Duncan and Nowitzki as 7’0″. On this board, we tend to use the NBA listing, so can we all agree to refer to DeJuan Blair’s height as 6’7″, rather than 6’5″?
Additionally, while it is useful to have your head above the crowd, it’s even more useful to have your hands there. That’s why the NBA also measures how high a player can reach with his feet flat on the floor. In Blair’s case, his standing reach is 8’10.5″, which compares favorably with Blake Griffin’s 8’9″. In other words, Blair can reach higher than Griffin unless they have enough time and space to jump from a running start. The NBA also combines standing reach with a player’s maximum vertical leap to see just how high their hands can go, even under those ideal conditions. In Blair’s case the measurement was 11’7.5″, which is only an inch below Griffin’s. That’s fine, but standing reach and wingspan are the best measurements of the barrier you pose as a defender. That’s why players, coaches, and GMs like to talk about “length” rather than “height”. DeJuan Blair has more than enough length to guard the interior in the NBA.”
Blair has the unique body type and talent to be one of those few players that have succeeded as relatively “short”, but very productive players at the power forward.
rob
November 4th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Blair will be fine, and could have a very good future on the Spurs. Blair is the type of guy that wants to improve his game so bad, so fast that it has overwhelmed him at the moment. He’s trying to diversify his offensive game too fast. It has resulted in a nasty funk to start the season. Trust me, he will grow out of this in due time. Good coaching, and teammates sticking with him and showing confidence in him will allow him to emerge more strongly an quickly. TD needs to mentor him like the admiral did with TD. It is a mistake to judge or to be very concerned about the 21 year old Blair after just 4 games. When it comes to Blair, “don’t worry, be happy”.
November 4th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
rob
“I’ve seen some good players come on this team and be deminished to a point where they couldn’t play solid anymore on any team. I’ve also seen some former players that didn’t fit in the Spurs system and become Spur killers on another team.”
Yeah, the first player that comes to mind is Hedo Turkoglu. We didn’t maximize his abilities and unfortuantely a team like Orlando did.
I think Blair will be fine, but I do agree with you in the sense that the Spurs coaching staff should try and maximize his talents, but at the same time not try and take away what he’s naturally good at(e.g hustle plays, rebounds,)
November 4th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
I kind of wanted to see Timmy and Splitter play together more. The one sequence in which both were
in the game, the Suns’ offense seemed a little flustered- even if didn’t show in the stats. Looking forward to Tiago’s eventual increase in playing time.
November 4th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
@ Jim
Regarding Blair, you state:
“Blair is the type of guy that wants to improve his game so bad, so fast that it has overwhelmed him at the moment. He’s trying to diversify his offensive game too fast. It has resulted in a nasty funk to start the season.”
And so I suggest a move to the bench for him to sort things out. I’m not saying that he’ll should never start an NBA game ever again, I’m just saying that he should come off the bench a few times and gain some confidence. You’re right, he’s a little overwhelmed, so why not take some pressure off him? If he has a couple 15 board games off the bench, maybe a couple 7 for 10 shooting games, he’ll settle down and then Pop can toss him back in the starting line-up.
Yes, I’d rather start Dice for a few games. Dice is averaging 6.3 and 7.8 in less minutes than Blair’s 4.3 and 6.5. Soon Splitter will be able to get a few starts too. Depending on the match-ups, I see Dice/Blair/Splitter sharing the starting duties eventually, anyways.
That’s my rational case.
November 4th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
On a different note, Fabricio Oberto has decided to retire due to heart palpitations.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/sport/othersport/article_1596721.php/Argentine-star-Oberto-retires-from-basketball
‘Tis a sad day. He was a good guy and I enjoyed watching him play.
November 4th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Bentley
November 4th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
“Yeah, the first player that comes to mind is Hedo Turkoglu. We didn’t maximize his abilities and unfortuantely a team like Orlando did.”
But Hedo didn’t work here long-term for a variety of reasons. Blair is much younger, has qualities that are not redundant on this team, and is a much more raw and unfinished product than Hedo was. It’d be different if Blair was a mature player, with established and known boundaries to his game. For example, if we had a mature player (or a player with clearly limited or substantially understood potential) and simply ignored his known & circumspect strengths to try and get him to be a player that he clearly wasn’t. That could be a problem. But that’s not the case here with Blair, who has not only significant, but substantially unknown upside. He is clearly a dynamic, not a static product.
A key for coaches and player development personnel with respect to talented young players is to see that player for what he can be, and not too quickly settle for what appears more natural for that player on the surface. It’s all about trying to develop and nurture that player at the optimum pace, but young, somewhat raw players are typically not immune from what I call the “funky phase” now and then, regardless of how effective his support system is within the organization. It’s a process with Blair, and there’s bound to be some uneven production along the way. Undoubtedly the coaching staff will be recalibrating their developmental emphases and strategies on a regular basis. But again, these first 4 games for Blair shouldn’t worry any of us in the least. Blair’s in good hands with Pop and this FO.
November 4th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
ThatBigGuy
November 4th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
“And so I suggest a move to the bench for him to sort things out.”
But he’s not here on an island. We’ve got all kinds of great coaches in this organization that are probably as we speak working with him so that he can find a better balance to his game while he continues to gain invaluable experience as a starter alongside the GOAT PF of all-time.
“You’re right, he’s a little overwhelmed, so why not take some pressure off him?”
Yes, but there’s multiple ways to relieve pressure, and the best way in this case in my view is to give him some mentoring/counseling time in practice and outside of the game, and some leadership & confidence during games. We have the coaching & player personnel to accomplish this. Anyway, it’s too early to pull him, unless it was by design very short-term, or it could be a big hit to his confidence unnecessarily.
“Yes, I’d rather start Dice for a few games. Dice is averaging 6.3 and 7.8 in less minutes than Blair’s 4.3 and 6.5.”
But is that a big enough difference to make a change this early into the season when the team’s 3-1? Why not stick with a guy who’s your future instead of a guy that’s retiring? I’m not saying that Blair should start the whole year. He hasn’t earned that yet. However, given a reasonable chance, I think he just might, and the team could be better off for it, both short and long-term.
November 4th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
A couple thoughts about the game last night that haven’t been touched on:
I liked Splitter on the floor protecting the basket with Duncan out of the game. That’s been a weakness lately and it was nice to see Dragic not get so many easy looks at the rim with the 2nd units on the court.
No matter how our 2nd unit shakes out, I definitely don’t see PHX killing us with their unit like last year. I still have nightmares.
Personally I thought Temple did a decent job on defense by keeping Nash from finding his rhythm. The absence of Stoudamire made it an easier task, especially with Lopez looking as a finisher of the roll.
November 4th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
@ Jim
Agree to disagree.
November 4th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
I thought I had heard the last of the trade Parker talk but some guy up there is still doing it. I am looking forward to seeing Blair not starting. They go into the game ready to post him up. He needs to play against the other teams reserves for now, where he over powers them better. With Bonner and Splitter coming back and RJ’s minutes increasing, I expect to see that happen. Then if Blair starts to roll like in preseason let him play. We got to many players that can get hot from time to time to play someone thats in a slump.
November 4th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Geez! Who would have thought that there would be such a fuss over whether Blair started or not. First of all, I am very disappointed in how he has played to start the season. I thought he would have a monster break out year (and he may yet have a big year). With that said, we are only 4 games into the season and had we played with ANY heart during the NO game, we’d be 4-0.
Blair needs to slow down and let the game come to him. If I had to guess, he’s put a tremendous amount of pressure on himself to be a go-to player on this team, especially after the preseason he had. Blair needs to relax, work on that jumper, and not force his shots. If he does this, we will see the return of the Beast.
Assuming Blair does not produce and continues to play poorly (which I don’t subscribe to this notion), who the hell do we put next to Duncan? McDyess needs to be preserved for the latter part of the year. We can’t afford to wear him out in November/December by playing him 30 min/night. Bonner (God forbid him starting next to Duncan) is still suffering from an ankle issue and we know Pop won’t rush him back prematurely.
Splitter will be a HUGE part of our team and will probably end up starting alongside Duncan. However, after taking off much of the past month with his injury and certainly not being in NBA condition, we can’t expect Splitter to start and play serious minutes for at least several weeks. I would be surprised to see Splitter start before mid December.
In the meantime, Blair will just have to work through his issues. Besides, even when Splitter eventually starts, Blair will still be playing at least 20-25 min/night. Pop will probably put McDyess on ice until Feb or March and use a rotation of Duncan, Splitter, Blair, and Bonner in that order. Chill out on Blair, folks. He hasn’t played well and we are still getting the wins. He’ll snap out of his funk. I’m just waiting for him to bust another 20/20 game on someone.
P.S. How interesting will it be to see Splitter and Scola face off this Saturday night? That should be a fun matchup even though we may not see it for too long.
November 4th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
wow, lot of nit-picking on blair. yeah, so he hasn’t gone gangbusters like in the preseason. all of a sudden he’s too short? too raw? too nervous?
ok i might agree with the last one or two, but no one questions paul millsap anymore. elton brand in his prime was pretty damn good too, and he wasn’t exactly paul bunyan. take it easy, blair will figure things out, and if he doesn’t look like he’s going to, don’t you think pop will bench his ass? also, ThatBigGuy, you talk about sending blair to the bench so he can work on his confidence:
“And so I suggest a move to the bench for him to sort things out. I’m not saying that he’ll should never start an NBA game ever again, I’m just saying that he should come off the bench a few times and gain some confidence.”
but when has benching a guy given him confidence?
November 5th, 2010 at 2:52 am
Jim Henderson
“Yes, but there’s multiple ways to relieve pressure, and the best way in this case in my view is to give him some mentoring/counseling time in practice and outside of the game, and some leadership & confidence during games. We have the coaching & player personnel to accomplish this. Anyway, it’s too early to pull him, unless it was by design very short-term, or it could be a big hit to his confidence unnecessarily.”
I know this comment was directed to someone else. But if I may comment on it…I think you’re wright in this case.
My fear may not be based on supportive numbers more so than personal idea. But I would hate to see his confidence (or ability) deminish from being forced into playing in a manner that doesn’t allow him to flourish in a more natural style of play. And/or even lose some of that natural ability from being made to play another way.
But I also agree that he is young and this coaching staff is some of the best in the business that should be able to nourish and morph Blair to becoming better all around than he is now. And that will take time.
One thing for sure…this will test/develop his mental toughness. Which may end up being the best training he can receive. Hopefully it doesn’t break him.
November 5th, 2010 at 5:17 am
[Thanks for the citation, Jim...]
For what it’s worth, I’m glad they’re starting Blair and hope they continue. I think it’s the smart play. We probably all agree that DeJuan is smart, hard-working, coachable, and has a lot of composure. He’s also still the youngest player on the team (only 21). He’ll adjust, and probably do so very quickly.
Remember that championships are won in the spring, not in the autumn. It is important to have the best record possible and get home-court advantage in the playoffs, as Manu pointed out. But the two Spurs teams with the best records ever (’95 and ’06) didn’t win titles. I think the point of the regular season, as far as the Spurs are concerned, is to make the playoffs with a team that will play as well as possible IN THE SPRING. The regular season record is important, but only a secondary goal.
Pop is investing in Blair because he knows Bonner and McDyess don’t need the minutes right now (especially Antonio, who is historically the latest bloomer in the entire league). But DeJuan really does. Tiago will need minutes too, but probably not as many, simply because he has already been playing the kind of game the Spurs want him to play, at the professional level. DeJuan, however, is having to change the nature of his game. You can only do so much in practice, so he needs some playing time to become comfortable. As long as the Spurs are able to win most of their games, it seems like a smart move to start Blair-at the very least until Splitter is 100%.
Another way of putting it is that Pop has the dials set for good performance and optimum development right now, which is wise for a young team (!) with ambitious playoff goals. That will probably change around the time of the rodeo road trip. I expect that, as usual, Pop will re-evaluate the lineup and set the dials for optimum performance and good development from then on.
My $.02
November 5th, 2010 at 6:25 am
“Pop is investing in Blair because he knows Bonner and McDyess don’t need the minutes right now”
This is key. In fact, too many minutes could be a detriment to his play later. Not enough minutes could be a detriment to Blair’s. Give the young, raw guys time to develop and conserve the older vets. In a few weeks I’d like to see both Blair and Splitter getting more time than McDyess, even if we think McDyess is better.
November 5th, 2010 at 6:35 am
Over the summer, Blair added to his game - a jumper, a few post moves. As a result, the team is asking more of Blair (a good thing) - we’re isolating him in the post 1 vs. 1, which very rarely happened last year. (Most of Blair’s post up opportunities came after offensive rebounds where guys were scrambling.) Most people talk about how the game slows down in your second year, but for Dejuan, it’s the opposite. Because we’re asking him to do things he’s unfamiliar with, the game has actually sped up.
Now, Blair’s going up against a set defense each time. That’s totally unfamiliar territory for Dejuan in the NBA. As a result, he’s going through some growing pains like most young players do.
I think Dejuan is just trying too hard to show a few new aspects of his game. He’s clearly rushing - even his layups haven’t seemed easy.
I’m sure the coaching staff is talking with Dejuan, telling him to simply go out and play - don’t think, just play. And do what you do best - attack the glass, run the floor, and out-work your guy. If he does those things, the rest of his game (the jumper, the isos in the post) will come in time.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:07 am
@ Andy
I’m looking at this from the perspective of one who has played through the college level, so when I say “I’ve seen this type of situation,” I have actually seen this situation. In my experiences, you can bench a guy without destroying his confidence. Blair is a smart guy. He’s well aware of his very slow start. If Pop sat him down and asked him to come off the bench, he’d probably agree, knowing that Pop was trying to help him.
Some players would feel as if Pop was saying “naughty naughty” to them, banishing them to the end of the bench Mahinmi-style. But that’s not the case here. We all know Blair can be a good part time starter. Blair knows he can be a good part time starter. Pop knows this. It’s just a matter of having him step back, take a deep breath, focus on throwing down a couple 20 rebound games, and get back into the swing of things.
So, by benching him in this manner, I would say his confidence would actually improve. I mean, come on, he’s shooting 23% from the field. He can’t have much less confidence than he has now, can he?
November 5th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Blair would obviously be more effective off the bench. @ThatBigGuy mentioned several reasons why. His confidence needs a booster shot. Going up against these second units can assist him with that. His shot has been getting blocked a lot lately before it even gets to its apex. All of his starts were NOT alongside TD last season. Still taking some getting used to. Dice looks good out there. Who cares if he’s retiring or not? He’s sppreading the floor and not clogging the lane. Blair needs to forget about his offense and focus on what he’s good at. Once he stops looking for his shot he will find himself with easier opportunities.
November 5th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Try again Phoenix.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Bankshot21
November 5th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
“All of his starts were NOT alongside TD last season.”
Oh really? Care to identify which one’s were not?
The rest of your comments indicates that you don’t understand the game too well. I’ll leave it that.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
I double-checked Blair/Duncan starts. You’re right, just 4 out of Blair’s 23 starts were without Duncan (games #7, 29, 37, & 82). But that still doesn’t take away from the main point: that Duncan & Blair play fine together, and they have the potential to get much better with time.
By the way, how many players have ever gotten two 20/20 games in their rookie season?
Blair was one (two of the games in which he started). Any others?
And yet you want a guy like that to be a bench player?
November 5th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
From my previous post:
“By the way, how many players have ever gotten two 20/20 games in their rookie season?
Blair was one (two of the games in which he started). Any others?”
To answer that question, you’d have to look at the rookie seasons of some of the greatest centers/PF’s to ever play the game. Guys like Abdul-Jabbar, Olajuwon, Chamberlain, Russell, Moses Malone, Shaq, Unseld, Duncan, Dwight Howard… Any way you look at it, it’s not a long list in the 60-year history of the NBA.
November 6th, 2010 at 12:27 am
Actually Howard did not do it. Just one outlier has done it in the past 15 years: The Number One draft pick, Joe Smith, for the 1995-1996 GS Warriors. Even Duncan only did it once his rookie season, and he played a lot more minutes that year.
November 6th, 2010 at 6:47 am
Jim,
I’m glad you had the wherewithal to find that data yourself. Kudos to you. While doing your research you should have seen that his production was at hits peak in the games Duncan DID NOT play. My knowledge of the game is debatable, as is yours so your statement concerning it, I find quite superfluous. Tip ins, hustle plays, recipient of pick and roll is his niche. Looking for jumpers and tear drops is him going out of his niche which is why he hasn’t been looking too good. The game he has looked best was actually the loss to New Orleans where he was vintage (I know it’s only his second season but I like the word vintage) gobbling up boards during the short lived comeback. The authority of Spurs basketball contrary to popular belief is not the too much time on his hands to research meaningless data Jim Henderson. We make up a conglomerate of fans who like to voice our opinions. Do not attempt to belittle such opinions. Its simply to easy to belittle you as well.
November 6th, 2010 at 7:05 am
DeJuan Blair had TWO 20/20 games last year….BOTH games Duncan’s boxscore read DNP COACHES DECISION.
November 6th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Bankshot21
November 6th, 2010 at 6:47 am
“I’m glad you had the wherewithal to find that data yourself.”
No surprise there. I’m the one that originated the data, something many on here don’t bother to do to support their claims.
“……. While doing your research you should have seen that his production was at hits peak in the games Duncan DID NOT play.”
You take out the GOAT PF of all-time, who do you think is going to absorb that vacuum? Blair of course, and that’s what happened on occasion. But the fact is, in the majority of Blair’s games WITH Duncan he had solid games (including two double-double’s, and many quite close), and the team won a comparable regular season percentage of those games.
“Tip ins, hustle plays, recipient of pick and roll is his niche.”
But you apparently don’t understand that BLAIR HAS NOT YET COME CLOSE TO CARVING OUT HIS FULL “NICHE”, yet seem to want to settle for what he already does best at age 21. That suggests to me a lack of perspective when it comes to the important area of player development.
“The authority of Spurs basketball contrary to popular belief is not the too much time on his hands to research meaningless data Jim Henderson.”
There are two kinds of opinions: One that carries some weight, backed up by data, knowledge, experience and logic, and others backed up by some amorphous substance in one’s head unsupported by objective facts. I’m happy to put some of my time into the latter. It makes for a much more meaningful conversation in my view. Saying things like “Blair would OBVIOUSLY be more effective off the bench”, without any data or systemic logic to support such a contention, is fine, but clearly lacks even a semblance of authority.
“DeJuan Blair had TWO 20/20 games last year….BOTH games Duncan’s boxscore read DNP COACHES DECISION.”
WHAT’S YOUR POINT!
November 6th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
From previous post:
“I’m happy to put some of my time into the latter.”
“Latter” should read “Former” instead.
By the way, here’s an example on how you build confidence in a young player:
Danilo Gallinari, the young 22 year old SF scorer of the NYK’s, had struggled mightily with his shot early on in this season. For the first three games he was shooting 5 for 24 from the field (24%), including 2-11 from three (18%), and an avg. of 6 ppg. According to some on here his confidence must have been shot at that point, and he should have taken a seat on the bench for awhile to regroup. Well, Gallinari was not benched. His team showed confidence in him by sticking with him and giving him encouragement, and he responded in his most recent two games with 13 for 24 shooting from the field (54%), including 8 for 13 from three (61%), and an avg. of 20 ppg.
In addition, even though Blair has struggled incorporating some of his inchoate offensive skills this year thus far, he is still averaging a respectable 9.6 boards, and 1.5 steals per 36 minutes.
Blair has played well enough for us to stick with him at this early juncture (with a 3-1 record), as the Knick’s did with Galinari. Blair has a bigger adaptation this year than Galinari does so it may take a bit longer for him to snap out of his funk, but the wait could very likely be well worth it. A young, budding star gains confidence by being deemed worthy of the starting role, even if he has some off-game growing pains along the way. You don’t yank him after FOUR games.
November 6th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Regarding Blair, it’s important to realize that our staff is trying to develop DB into a more complete player. And that next year we will be without McD, so would you rather go with more DB, or more Bonner to back up Tim and Tiago (presumably) next season and beyond? I like DB’s natural game, but I am willing to see what he can add to it, and give him every chance in the world to make it work. We haven’t won against any solid competition, and against weaker teams especially, we should give DB all the development opportunity possible. Truly, the worse-case scenario is that he can’t adapt, and he remains nothing more than an undersized hustle/dirty-work guy. If it comes to that, he may be a fan favorite, but he will max out at 20 minutes night throughout his career, even if he shines in that role… I don’t really have a problem with that, but we should find out what the possibilities are. Maybe DB will return to a role of being a devasting offensive rebounder playing along Matt Bonner, in which case he definitely needs these minutes to improve defensively regardless.
November 6th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Jim,
A point can be made without proof being provided. Especially when I KNOW I am right. You mentioned something about Blair’s starts being with Duncan and I stated that was incorrect. I do not need to state which games he didn’t start along side TD. You did that. And how do you figure his niche isn’t carved out yet? Do you know how many players peak @ 21 and don’t reach their “full potential”? DeJuan is a beast at what he does and incorporating new things into his repetoire is having an ill advised effect on his game. The #’s show that. No graphs or mathematical equations needed. As far as Gallo is concerned that’s a foolish comparison that I’m surprised someone of your intellect would even make. Gallo was shooting poorly. HE’S A SHOOTER. He’s not changing his form or attempting 2 develop a post game. If that was the case then said comparison would make sense. Gallo was also a starter last year. DeJuan wasn’t. Do you see where all the holes in the comparison lie? Try maybe a JJ Hickson comparison to better make your point.
November 6th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
[...] Jefferson scored 22 points and hit 4 of 5 3-pointers in what is one of the best stories of the young season for the Spurs. Manu Ginobili was very Manu Ginobili-like on Saturday night. He scored 28 points and [...]
November 7th, 2010 at 11:35 am
Bankshot21
November 6th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
You don’t get it. I’m done trying to explain it to you. You continue to make rationalizations in a futile attempt to make yourself “right”. At this point I’m wasting my time on this subject. When Blair becomes an all-star in 3-4 years, get back to me. In the meantime, go ahead and continue to wallow in ignorance. Just not on my time.
November 7th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Jim,
Nice white flag. LMAO.
November 7th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I’ve never seen someone get flustered to the point of insult hurling. What kind of establishment is 48MOH running over here. I’m ignorant for disagreeing with someone. Can someone, anyone, please tell me where that’s a rational depiction? Should I be as low as the gentleman who called me ignorant and say an insult in return. Or should I take the high road and let those having textual tantrums look silly? Hmmm…decisions decisions. HA HA HA.
November 7th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Bankshot21
November 7th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
When you make comments like these, “Especially when I KNOW I am right”, the point was not to offend you, but to knock you a bit off your stubborn horse. It’s not about a difference of opinion when you assert that you “know you’re right”. At that point it’s not even a debate about the facts. In my view it is pretty clear that you don’t have a good understanding about (I used the term “ignorance”, which you took personally - sorry about that) the value of proper player development in a young player with obvious potential. Don’t take it personally. But the point is the FO sees the potential, a hall of fame coach sees it, and many on this blog see it, such as td4life in his recent comment, which shows a reasonable perspective on this issue:
“Regarding Blair, it’s important to realize that our staff is trying to develop DB into a more complete player. And that next year we will be without McD, so would you rather go with more DB, or more Bonner to back up Tim and Tiago (presumably) next season and beyond? I like DB’s natural game, but I am willing to see what he can add to it, and give him every chance in the world to make it work.”
Sorry if I offended you, but you really don’t seem to have an open mind when it comes to certain issues, and rarely even use data to back your points up; in this case the importance of player development for a key young guy on this team, a team that is now 4-1 with him starting. And despite Blair’s early struggles, he has made a meaningful contribution to those wins, in ways that don’t even show up in the box score.
November 7th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Jim,
You asked me what games he didn’t start along side TD…as a fan I was POSITIVE that both his 20/20 games were Duncan-free. That’s what I knew I was right about. I watch the games like many of the other common folk on here. Like I said already, it isn’t about comprising stats and graphs and mathematical equations. Your usage of Gallo in that example was not good at all. I firmly stand by that and gave examples of why it was a poor comparison. You did not quote that I notice. You said you were done and I was to be left wallowing in my ignorance. Of course I took offense it was offensive. Did I take it personal? Not a chance. I like Blair. He’s on my fantasy team. The more he plays the better for me. That being said his efficiency is best with the 2nd unit. It’s that simple. Why wouldn’t I want him to be an All-Star? I’m a die hard fan of the Spurs. It is my OPINION, which is all we have, that he’d better serve us as a reserve. Many people say “agree to disagree” regarding debates with you but that’s far from my style. I’m on a stubborn horse sticking by my opinion…but you’re doing the same. You don’t see that?
November 7th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Bankshot21
November 7th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
“You asked me what games he didn’t start along side TD…as a fan I was POSITIVE that both his 20/20 games were Duncan-free. That’s what I knew I was right about.”
Okay fine, but you do see the fact that Blair & Duncan played fine together for 85%+ of their games last year instead of 100% does not change the point I made with the data that I originally presented on this matter. But you chose to ignore the more substantive point, and instead raised a red herring as if it were meaningful.
“Your usage of Gallo in that example was not good at all.”
It is not a “perfect” example, but I wholeheartedly disagree that it’s irrelevant. Gallo did start 50 more games than Blair last year, on a crappy team, but that does not make the Blair comparison irrelevant. Blair starting 23 games is not meaningless. Blair’s two main natural strengths are rebounding & scoring. He’s having a confidence problem this year mainly as it relates to his shooting/scoring. Sure Gallo is more of a shooter, particularly from distance, but to suggest that their confidence issues have no similarities is also inaccurate. The fact is, they’re both 21-22 years old with limited NBA experience, and struggled with their confidence early on with their scoring. The Knick’s encouraged Gallo to work it out on the court, and you’re proposing that we kick Blair back to the bench after just 4 games. I disagree, for all the reasons previously stated.
“That being said his efficiency is best with the 2nd unit. It’s that simple.”
If by efficiency you mean “production”, I agree, but the same could be said about all of our bigs: on average they’re going to get more production when playing without TD because they’re going to get more opportunities. If you mean “efficiency”, you haven’t presented the necessary data to back up those claims. And using just the 4 games this year is not nearly a large enough sample size.
“It is my OPINION, which is all we have, that he’d better serve us as a reserve. Many people say “agree to disagree” regarding debates with you but that’s far from my style. I’m on a stubborn horse sticking by my opinion…but you’re doing the same. You don’t see that?”
I take it you have heard the expression that some opinions are worth more than others, right? This is not because the “person” offering them is more or less valuable, but that some expressed views simply make better use of available facts, logic, and history to in effect give more generally acceptable credence to their “opinion”. We all have a “right” to our opinion, but every “opinion” is not “equal” in terms of credibility.
Or as I said in a previous comment:
“There are two kinds of opinions: One that carries some weight, backed up by data, knowledge, experience and logic, and others backed up by some amorphous substance in one’s head unsupported by objective facts.”
Both are fine, but certainly not equal in terms of credibility.
November 11th, 2010 at 6:28 am
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