Blair continues to ride the pine in San Antonio
 

Anyone know or care to speculate on why he sat out Game 1 despite showing up in shape and having a great training camp?

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Pop was saving him for tonight's game against the Thunder....after all during last year's regular season he played great against and since this isn't the playoffs Pop will give him minutes now.

Makes sense....lol

I think it is because he sucks.

It doesn't matter how in shape you are if you can't rotate on defense.

Wasn’t Blair the “Thunder Killer” last year? I'm sure Pop was saving him for their next game.

This year the NBA's Luxury Tax is the Thunder Killer.

facepalm Stop using these two excuses as long as Bonner is getting more minutes than Blair. Plus, Blair is not as bad as most people here would like to believe.

Why not trade him
 

I say move him. You could probably use him and Neal and get something back. I know it won't be much but you could get maybe a young big in the same situation as Blair. Here's three


1.) Ed Davis-if you look at Toronto Ed seems to be like thier Dejuan Blair he is the odd man out. Not sure if Toronto would want Blair but with Jonas and Bargini there they could use a guy like Blair who brings a littl toughness.

2.) Austin Daye-I know Daye is more of a small forward than a Power Forward but he is almost 7'0 tall and his length could bother some people. Plus I think he is coachable. I think Pop could do wonders with Daye.

3.) Anthony Randolph-It seems that Randolph shows flashes everywhere he goes but is the odd man out everywhere he goes. Like I said about Toronto not sure if Denver would want Blair but he might be more valuable to them than a Randolph would. Another player I think Pop would do wonders for.

please trade bonner already

Trade IDEA
 

What about CP3 (unsure if her wants to stay after this year; according to Simmons the young guys don't like playing with him as they want to run and gun) plus rotation Big man for Bonner, TP and Blair.

Blair hits up Twitter after DNP

DeJuan Blair
✔
@DeJuan45
This is wat I expected! Lol I'm just not wat dude wants out there it just hit me!! And that's respect! Just KNO I'm doing my part! #SALUTE

he may be saving him for tonight.

if Manu plays, i think Pop was doing the same for him. i think it's gotten to the point where Pop needs to start Blair if we're keeping this team. only reason i say that is because we have no firepower in the big position off the bench and Diaw would play great with Manu, Jackson, and (if Pop would play him) De Colo while our starters kept around the same level of play with Diaw starting.

last night we played SJax as backup PF (yeah baby who called that one?! :lol this guy!), but i think he's only valuable if we stick with him in that position and mix/match our other guards. i think Pop needs to either play/start Blair (because Blair/Splitter will never work as both can't shoot and we'll have 2 opposing bigs in the paint the whole time) or play Jackson full time with Splitter and move a De Colo or Manu to SF so we can be more lethal on offense than with Bonner just spotting up at the 3. Jackson can do what Bonner does plus more.

If Manu plays? Do u know something we don't?

When Blair isn't rated as the worst defensive player on the Spurs roster, I will stop pointing out that he plays worse defense than Matt Bonner.

Agree, Blair is not helping the team than Bonner. Pop knows.

Doesnt matter whose better between the two because they're both terrible and this team would be better off without them both. All we want is a big that can hold his own in the low block, grab offensive rebounds and make his own offense that way. I know it sounds alot like GREG ODEN, but truth is I cant stand either Bonner/BLair and want to get a ROI (return on investment) for both. Package Neal with them for all I care to bring someone worthy

First off good call on SJAX PF role. We saw glimpses last year in WCF with him playing that position and am sure well see it alot more this year. I'd like to think that Blair is a situational player against certain teams but truth is so should Bonner (If hes not shooting or is "cold as ice" (Yes Rick James reference), dude should not be playing. I know his per minute stats are better than Blair but he should not see anywhere near the amount of PT of say Splits and Diaw. Bonner/Blair should see whatever minutes relegated to the 4th big depending on the opponent.

Forget ratings. As I watch, they're both bad for sure.

It's like this:

Poor defense & No rebounds (Bonner) vs. Poor defense and rebounds (Blair)

You lose with something with both. I'd just rather lessen the blow.

Bonner is just flat out a better defender than Blair.

Blair is short (people shoot over him), doesn't play good position defense (so people go around him), doesn't rotate well (doesn't effectively help other players), etc.

Bonner, for all his lack of ability, boxes out, plays solid post D, and makes the right rotations.

And look at Blair's rebounding rate. He has statistically gotten worse at rebounding since his rookie year (though improved on scoring average). Meaning we are integrating him into the offense more but he isn't really helping us more.

The Spurs tried to trade him ALL SUMMER LONG.

Nobody wants an undersized big man who can't shoot, is getting worse statistically, runs his mouth on twitter, and has ticking time bombs where his knees should be.

Blair puts better numbers up, but what you need to keep in mind is that Pop's approach is to take the guy who is less likely to screw up over the guy with a high risk/reward ratio.

In other words, on some nights Blair can go for 20 and 20 and carry us.

But you never know when you're going to get one of those games vs. one where he goes 2/7 with 3 rebounds in 28 minutes.

And you can guarantee he makes the defense worse every time he steps on the court.

He's like the choice between a semi-hot chick who, on any given night, might give you a really nice time or might curse at you, hit you with her purse, and knock out your car windows, or the mediocre looking girl who has cookies in the oven and your favorite meal on the stove every time you come over.

Given that, Pop goes with the sure thing who won't ruin his night.

Im praying to GOD you didnt just say Bonner is a sure thing. The only sure thing with that guy is come playoff time, he's the other teams best player since he helps them more than he helps us. I do not need to expand further on that subject. I do get your point but between the two players, regretfully I would give the nod to Bonner and trust me when I say I hate to say that.

I'm not saying he's a sure thing in terms of productivity. I'm saying he's a sure thing in the sense that you can put him out there and won't screw up and miss an assignment. You can count on him to play hard, play smart position defense, rotate well, not turn the ball over, and hustle.

You can't count on him to rebound or make contested shots.

Or make shots at all in the postseason. Trust me I get where you're getting at. Between the two, Bonner is definitely the safer bet

This now from the SA paper:

But among the jokes and re-tweets were a couple of comments that left plenty of room for interpretation: DeJuan Blair: @DeJuan45 This is wat I expected! Lol I'm just not wat dude wants out there it just hit me!! And that's respect! Just KNO I'm doing my part! #SALUTE. DeJuan Blair: @DeJuan45 I'm just joking ill b good somebody out there likes wat I do!!!! BELIVE that! Ok I'm out bout ta b (cont) tl.gd/jrkcu0. “Dude” is presumably Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who saddled Blair with his fifth DNP-CD (coach’s decision) in nine games dating back to last year’s playoffs. Blair, a starter in 62 of 66 games during the regular season, saw his role evaporate in the postseason, leading many observers — including Blair himself — to believe the undersized power forward from Pittsburgh was on the trading block.

Spurs Nation

Check out DeJuan's latest tweet (which had to be removed from the newspaper)-- and even better some of the responses!

https://mobile.twitter.com/DeJuan45/...42325363556352

Last I checked he was still listed at 6"7"... when you've grown taller than Steven Jackson u can start complaining. Nothing to see here folks.

Exactly. And I know he worked on that jumper over the summer, but please limit it to 1 or 2 tops a game if you DO get PT. He took at least 3 jumpers. Would like to see him to the quick spin and layup, but guess he needs Manu for that

Interesting stat... Blair was +9 in only 10 minutes of play. His other stats were mediocre.

Only Diaw had a better +/- number.

He keeps this up he will be gone come deadline.

agreed! he looked like he was on a heat check when he hadn't make any shots

I agree with Dr. Real's analysis of Bonner , however Blair plays himself out of games.

Last night, after complaining on Twitter about lack of playing time, what does Blair do for his first position? Shoot a flat jumper early in the shot clock. This whole summer he's being saying the right things about letting the offense come to him, and being patient, and he couldn't wait one possession to fire a bad jumper.

I know Blair has the potential to be better than Diaw and Bonner, he has good post moves, he can move without the ball, and he can rebound the best out of the team. He just doesn't , for whatever reason. I know he's only 6'6, but he could compensate for those short comings, he just mentally checks out and complains.

I'm not sure I agree with your point. I suggested packaging him and Neal. So somebody who could use Neal might take Blair as fillar.

This is his last season as I'm certain pop is tired of his antics. This is his fourth season so no more excuses. He is what he is at this point and nothing more. Hope we can get something in return when we do flip him

the part that disturbed me was that he wasn't satisfied nor did he want to pick and roll AT ALL. he was in it for himself that game, especially with that tweet. he didn't try to open up teammates nor try to get himself open. he just wanted the ball around where TD catches it and shoot it quickly. i hope he's gone sooner than later.

Neal is like Blair: both are undersized in their true positions (SG for Neal) and Neal can't handle the rock to be a PG. for basically a situational player, Neal is like a Steve Kerr and you won't get much for him. Blair, undersized and unable to shoot or play defense, isn't attractive either. i highly doubt that RC didn't try to package Blair from the get go either.

Exactly. He lacks the mental toughness pop demands.

He did rebound well, but that was about it. It's plus minus numbers were partly a result of his good rebounding and partly a result of other peoples hustle.

Combined they don't make enough to bring back anybody good in return. And those are mediocre players. Our mediocre players are better than other teams mediocre players. So the spurs have no interest in getting back equivalent mediocrity.

The player that I would try and acquire for Blair is Perry Jones. I dont see the thunder utilizing Perry, but he would provide some size and athleticism.

I agree that those players are medicore right now but I also say that guys like Austin Daye and Ed Davis have enough potential and upside that they are worth a shot on. At worst you get more length.