OT - Dejuan Blair being annoyingly good

[Rastapopoulos]

He's got 14 boards and 12 points in just over 17 minutes!

I've got to believe that the Blazers felt that they just couldn't draft him after they'd made all that fuss about Miles's knees. It would have been too blatantly hypocritical.

 

[drexlersdad]

welll kp targeted pendegraph...WTF if he turns out to be milsap I'm gonna be pissed

 

[Nikolokolus]

He basically has no ACLs in either knee, he may look good for a little while, but he's a ticking time bomb.

 

[BenDavis503]

He has terminator knees!!!

 

[drexlersdad]

He basically has no ACLs in either knee, he may look good for a little while, but he's a ticking time bomb.

Good for a little while is better than most second rounders ever do

 

[Wizard Mentor]

He basically has no ACLs in either knee, he may look good for a little while, but he's a ticking time bomb.

Do you have any confirmation of this? I read dozens of articles this offseason, and I only heard innuendo.

 

[BalancedMan]

Good for a little while is better than most second rounders ever do

Exactly. This is what I was saying back in the draft. Even if he only plays for two or three years at a productive, healthy level (and I heavily doubt that will be the case) then he will be worth the second round pick we could have used on him. I think that we missed the boat going after both Cunningham and Pendergraph in the second round.

I continue to say that Blair and Calathes would have been a better 1-2 draft at the top of the 2nd round. I like Pendergraph, but only if Blair wasn't available. Rebounding is the thing that transfers to the NBA more so than any statistic. Blair's lack of height is lessened by his monster wingspan and reach.

Smart move for the Spurs, one of the few times I've been apt to criticize draft decisions in the KP era.

 

[BenDavis503]

Isn't it funny though, that we didn't draft him because his knees, and the guy we drafted is out for the season from injury!

 

[The Sebastian Express]

Except he isn't out for the year.

 

[SheedSoNasty]

Naturally, he falls in the laps of the Spurs. I don't wish him ill will in terms of his health, but I hope for our sake that he doesn't pan out.

 

[Ed O]

He basically has no ACLs in either knee, he may look good for a little while, but he's a ticking time bomb.

As opposed to never looking good?

The best thing we've heard about Pendergraph is that he's going to be waiving a towel on the bench well, and that someday he MIGHT turn into a player.

Why not get a guy who actually already is a player and worry about injury later?

The Blazers missed out.

Ed O.

 

[PapaG]

Blair scores 16 points on 15 shots and gets lit up by Carl Landry on defense.

Spurs lose by 14.

Is he a miniature version of ZBo?

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

he also had 19 boards in his first preseason game as a rookie

i dunno

i still wanted him, and i'd take him now

 

[tlongII]

Blair might be pretty good, but you have to remember he was going against the smallest team in the NBA.

 

[maxiep]

Blair might be pretty good, but you have to remember he was going against the smallest team in the NBA.

It seems to me that team with those "small" backups like Landry and Hayes slapped us around pretty well a few months ago.

 

[andalusian]

It seems to me that team with those "small" backups like Landry and Hayes slapped us around pretty well a few months ago.

That team also had one Yao Ming to offset that problem - and for at least a game also had the finger wagger.

Blair is going to have a real problem scoring against teams with length - and if you pay attention to what Landry did to him on defense - try thinking what will happen when he has to go against bigger, stronger and better backup PFs...

Yikes.

 

[Nikolokolus]

As opposed to never looking good?

The best thing we've heard about Pendergraph is that he's going to be waiving a towel on the bench well, and that someday he MIGHT turn into a player.

Why not get a guy who actually already is a player and worry about injury later?

The Blazers missed out.

Ed O.

I'm not saying KP should have taken Pendergraph over Blair, I'm just saying it's unlikely that Blair will be able to play in a couple of years -- I was trying to offer the reason KP (and everybody else) passed up on him.

 

[MIXUM]

of course hes a steal.

the spurs are the patriots of the nba.

front office is just a step above everyone else

 

[Eastoff]

Are you going to have him play over Outlaw?

 

[Wheels]

Are you going to have him play over Outlaw?

 

[oldmangrouch]

Are you going to have him play over Outlaw?

Depends on the circumstances/matchups.

Travis is only viable as a "PF" if he is teamed with Joel or Oden. If Joel or Oden go down, we need a PF who will hammer the boards - and that isn't Travis!

 

[Minstrel]

As opposed to never looking good?

The best thing we've heard about Pendergraph is that he's going to be waiving a towel on the bench well, and that someday he MIGHT turn into a player.

Why not get a guy who actually already is a player and worry about injury later?

The Blazers missed out.

I understand why you feel that way, and I feel a bit similarly. But, out of curiosity, why do you think Pritchard passed on him? I'm not implying that Pritchard passing on him automatically means he wasn't worth having, I'm just curious how you reconcile how obvious you feel drafting Blair was with Portland's (presumably) intelligent GM passing on him despite knowing all the arguments that have been put forth in favour of drafting Blair.

In the Nash/Patterson era, it was easy (and often reasonable) to say "front office incompetence." Generally we don't feel that way about Pritchard, so what do you think his reasons for passing were?

Again, I'm just curious, not passive aggressively trying to say "In KP we trust." I think it's an interesting exercise to try and reconcile moves that some of us (me included, in this case) think go against the seeming logic of the situation with the smart GM who made those moves. I've gone through that exercise with Billy Beane moves, at times.

 

[PapaG]

I understand why you feel that way, and I feel a bit similarly. But, out of curiosity, why do you think Pritchard passed on him? I'm not implying that Pritchard passing on him automatically means he wasn't worth having, I'm just curious how you reconcile how obvious you feel drafting Blair was with Portland's (presumably) intelligent GM passing on him despite knowing all the arguments that have been put forth in favour of drafting Blair.

In the Nash/Patterson era, it was easy (and often reasonable) to say "front office incompetence." Generally we don't feel that way about Pritchard, so what do you think his reasons for passing were?

Again, I'm just curious, not passive aggressively trying to say "In KP we trust." I think it's an interesting exercise to try and reconcile moves that some of us (me, included, in this case) think go against the seeming logic of the situation with the smart GM who made those moves. I've gone through that exercise with Billy Beane moves, at times.

I keep hearing how the Blazers need a back-up PF who can defend. That wasn't Blair. It may not be Pendergraph, either, but it certainly is not Blair. He seems to be a high-volume shooter who needs the ball to be effective in order offset his defensive deficiencies. He had some nice numbers last night, but then, so did Carl Landry against him, on fewer shots, and Landry's team won by 14 points.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I understand why you feel that way, and I feel a bit similarly. But, out of curiosity, why do you think Pritchard passed on him? I'm not implying that Pritchard passing on him automatically means he wasn't worth having, I'm just curious how you reconcile how obvious you feel drafting Blair was with Portland's (presumably) intelligent GM passing on him despite knowing all the arguments that have been put forth in favour of drafting Blair.

In the Nash/Patterson era, it was easy (and often reasonable) to say "front office incompetence." Generally we don't feel that way about Pritchard, so what do you think his reasons for passing were?

Again, I'm just curious, not passive aggressively trying to say "In KP we trust." I think it's an interesting exercise to try and reconcile moves that some of us (me included, in this case) think go against the seeming logic of the situation with the smart GM who made those moves. I've gone through that exercise with Billy Beane moves, at times.

At least for me, part of the frustration of the Pendergraph/Cunningham picks over Blair (and technically Claver as well) was that I don't understand KP's reasoning at all for passing on Blair. I'm generally not an IKPIT-er, but at least in the disagreements I've had with our actions in the past (not making deadline moves, keeping RLEC, etc.) I could understand (though disagree) about the team's mindset for doing or not doing the action.

But, seriously, what's the downside with Blair? He's already an elite offensive and defensive rebounding machine. His "basketball size" is much better than his height measurement, b/c he has freakishly long arms and LMA-esque hops (do we call LMA unathletic?). I didn't see any of the game he got abused on D in, but he seemed to do pretty well guarding other Big East PFs and C's (the same ones, coincidentally, that Dante guarded) all last year. He knows how to score around the basket. The only red flag I heard the entire draft cycle about him was his ACL issue. So let's dig a bit deeper into that.

I understand that you don't want to waste a high lotto pick on someone who has no ACLs. But seriously, this guy's been playing high-level college basketball for 2 years without ACLs, and hasn't so much as missed a practice. And when he's played, he's been all-NCAA good. And he's been all-NCAA good in an ability that transitions better to the NBA game than any other measurable college or Euro skill. So it seems that everyone would say "yes, he has the ability to be a good NBA player--even if in a limited skillset for backup PF". Does he have personality issues? Does he get into off-court trouble? From the accounts I've read, he's a saint off the court that does all kinds of charity/community service work and the people around Pittsburgh love him.

Again, that's not someone I'd use the #5 pick on. But in the offseason we targeted Millsap and Lee. The biggest hole on our roster (after the Miller signing) is 4/5...if LMA goes down we're basically hosed. Our first 3 draft picks were all PFs. So why did KP pass on the best PF in the NCAA last year? It wasn't production, it wasn't a poor positional fit and it wasn't personality. So it seems to me that it was "injury concern". But this is the same guy who took Oden, even with all of his medical red flags--presumably because he thought (and I agree) that a guy with Oden's talent was worth taking anyway. Why did he not think that about Blair, and instead take JP and DC?

 

[BrianFromWA]

I keep hearing how the Blazers need a back-up PF who can defend. That wasn't Blair. It may not be Pendergraph, either, but it certainly is not Blair. He seems to be a high-volume shooter who needs the ball to be effective in order offset his defensive deficiencies. He had some nice numbers last night, but then, so did Carl Landry against him, on fewer shots, and Landry's team won by 14 points.

I didn't see the game you're talking about, but I went to the box score and play-by-play . Blair and George Hill were the only ones with positive +/- numbers. He had 19 rebounds in 22 minutes. Of his 15 shots, 10 were layups/tips from rebounds or deep post position. He had 5 jump shots. I don't see that as being a "high-volume shooter" as much as a "super-effective garbageman". And yeah, I'd like him on the team.

 

[oldmangrouch]

I understand why you feel that way, and I feel a bit similarly. But, out of curiosity, why do you think Pritchard passed on him? I'm not implying that Pritchard passing on him automatically means he wasn't worth having, I'm just curious how you reconcile how obvious you feel drafting Blair was with Portland's (presumably) intelligent GM passing on him despite knowing all the arguments that have been put forth in favour of drafting Blair.

In the Nash/Patterson era, it was easy (and often reasonable) to say "front office incompetence." Generally we don't feel that way about Pritchard, so what do you think his reasons for passing were?

Again, I'm just curious, not passive aggressively trying to say "In KP we trust." I think it's an interesting exercise to try and reconcile moves that some of us (me included, in this case) think go against the seeming logic of the situation with the smart GM who made those moves. I've gone through that exercise with Billy Beane moves, at times.

It's a fair question.

As you know, I feel the same way Ed does on this subject. In fact, I will take it one step farther and ask why we drafted Claver over Casspi. I cannot reconcile this draft with KP's usual competent, and assertive, approach.

It is possible that he is gunshy after the Oden situation, and was unwilling to draft Blair due to his knees. That is contradicted by his willingness to draft Claver over Casspi.

The other theory, which made you really annoyed when I mentioned it before ,is that KP just plain punted the draft this year. He wasn't really interested in adding another player(s) to the mix. If he had drafted Casspi and Blair, they would be fighting Webster and Outlaw for playing time....and the team has too few minutes to keep everybody happy as is!

 

[julius]

Isn't it funny though, that we didn't draft him because his knees, and the guy we drafted is out for the season from injury!

I believe he isn't out for the whole season.

 

[RoyIsClutch07]

I don't think it's a question or a doubt that he had game. There is something there that the blazers didn't feel comfortable with. Whether if it was character or health. They were non committal. Don't forget the terms KP likes to use. It's a "fit" that he is looking for. Maybe he didn't feel Dejuan fit here. Pendergraph apparently did.

He had a good game. I don't think it was a fluke or production due to the competition he was facing. I think he is probably that good. But...

Let's see if he stays healthy.

 

[Draco]

I believe there was something with his attitude and character that brought up red flags.

 

[Ed O]

It's a fair question.

Agreed. And no obvious answer.

It is possible that he is gunshy after the Oden situation, and was unwilling to draft Blair due to his knees. That is contradicted by his willingness to draft Claver over Casspi.

I don't know much about Casspi, but I think he might have expected to come over NOW. Claver does not, and I don't think there's any opinion/info that his knee might be shot like Blair's are.

Being gunshy about a guy due to injury, though, is a definite reason.

The other theory, which made you really annoyed when I mentioned it before ,is that KP just plain punted the draft this year. He wasn't really interested in adding another player(s) to the mix. If he had drafted Casspi and Blair, they would be fighting Webster and Outlaw for playing time....and the team has too few minutes to keep everybody happy as is!

That's a possibility.

Another one? Pendergraph and Cunningham might have been higher rated statistically/quantitatively than Blair. I find it odd that Portland took two senior power forwards in the early second round... if there's some sort of systematic bias towards these players (and bias is not always bad, not) then it would help explain the picks.

Another one? Maybe Blair has a higher upside. Maybe Blair can be a "plus" starting power forward, while the odds of Pendergraph and Cunningham doing that are lower. But the odds of Blair flaming out (due to injury? Due to lack of physical tools?) may have been considered higher. KP may have chosen not to "swing for the fences", and instead went for the safer picks. Personally, I think you should swing for the fences in the second round, but maybe he figures we already have enough home runs on our team and just need a few singles and doubles to sprinkle in...

The final option, of course, is that KP and his system just messed up. That they didn't have Blair on their board and didn't react well when he fell to where he was a good value, and that at that point they'd already become invested (emotionally? With agents?) with Penderham. I dunno.

Ed O.