Spurs notebook: Blair still attempting to fit in

Though he expressed doubt in July that the Spurs valued his services and no doubt he was being shopped to other teams, forward-center DeJuan Blair insisted he was not surprised to be back in training camp.

Blair’s doubt was fueled by his disappearance from the Spurs’ playing rotation in the playoffs, when he logged just 76 minutes in 10 of the club’s 14 postseason games.

During his participation in the U.S. Olympic team’s training camp in Las Vegas — Blair and teammate Kawhi Leonard were on the select team of young NBA players that helped prepare Team USA for the London Olympics — Blair told the Express-News he felt “torn down” by a postseason demotion that followed a starting role in 62 regular-season games. He was nearly certain the team would trade him, though he stressed that he did not ask for a trade.

There was no trade, and Monday, Blair reported to camp in decent condition and vowed to do what he can to regain a prominent role.

“I’ve got to go and try to figure out what this team wants from me and what they need from me,” he said. “I’ve got to use that as fuel to start my engine and just keep going. Right now, I’m just worrying about my body and getting ready for training camp.”

Asked directly if he preferred ending up elsewhere, Blair was evasive.

“I’m here,” he said.

They’re free: Reserve big man Tiago Splitter did his best Tuesday to ignore the nightmare of his horrid foul shooting in last season’s playoffs as he discussed one of the holes in his game. After a season of steady improvement from the foul line — he finished the regular season at 69.1 percent, a big improvement from the 58.2 percent he shot in seven seasons in the Spanish League — Splitter made only 16 of 43 postseason foul shots (37.2 percent).

“I’m always going to work on that,” he said. “Last season, I improved way more than the first season and struggled a little bit in the end. It was more confidence stuff than other things.”

Sloan visits: Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan, winner of 1,221 games as coach of the Bulls and Jazz, was a visitor at Tuesday’s first session of training camp. Long a role model for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, Sloan retired 54 games into the 2010-11 season.

Open scrimmage: The Spurs will hold an open intrasquad scrimmage at the ATT Center tonight. The public is invited free of charge.

Tipoff is scheduled at 7:30 p.m., with fan activities starting at 6:30 p.m.

There’s a preseason game on tap Saturday at the ATT Center against Italian League power Montepaschi Siena, winner of six straight Italian League titles.

mikemonroe@express-news.net

Twitter: @Monroe_SA

Key dates

Today: Intrasquad scrimmage (free admission, open seating) — 7:30 p.m., ATT Center

Saturday: First preseason game — vs. Montepaschi Siena, 7:30 p.m., ATT Center

Oct. 31: Regular-season opener — @Hornets, 7 p.m., KENS NBA TV

Nov. 1: Home opener — vs. Thunder, 8:30 p.m., TNT

Spurs turn keys over to Leonard this summer

Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs is doing his best to expand his game during the Las Vegas summer league. TOM REEL / EXPRESS-NEWS

LAS VEGAS — For Kawhi Leonard, it didn’t take long for the memories to come flooding back Tuesday.

Out the locker-room door, past the framed photos of UNLV greats, hang a right down the tunnel, and suddenly he was back on the floor at Thomas Mack Arena, reliving a moment from his past.

As an All-American at San Diego State, Leonard played in Las Vegas on numerous occasions, most recently in the Mountain West conference tournament his Aztecs won in 2011.

“Walking through the tunnel and looking at those pictures brought some memories back,” said Leonard, now a second-year small forward and the undisputed leader of the Spurs’ summer-league team.

Then, Leonard did something seldom seen during his All-Rookie first season in the NBA.

He smiled.

The goal for Leonard this week has been to channel his inner Aztec. So far, so good.

Handed the reins of the Spurs’ summer squad and instructed to be The Man, the newly turned 21-year-old has responded by averaging 25 points in the first two games.

Leonard had 27 in Tuesday’s 92-81 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, using an array of scoring moves last seen at San Diego State.

“This is the time to test drive a little bit,” summer league coach Jacque Vaughn said. “Get him out there and put him in positions he normally doesn’t get a chance to be in, and see if we can see a little growth.”

That means a steady diet of pick-and-rolls, with Leonard as the trigger man. It means pulling up and shooting off screens. Occasionally over the past two games, Vaughn has called Leonard’s number in the block, with post-ups and pin-downs.

None of that happened in the regular season, when Leonard found his way to 7.9 points per game without the Spurs ever calling a play for him.

“It’s a big difference,” Leonard said. “I was standing up, spotting up (during the season). I’m learning to shoot off the dribble, coming off ball screens. I’m trying to get my ball handling better. Also, I’ve got to learn how to pass. I’ve been working on all that.”

It is obvious that Leonard’s growth has been the Spurs’ pet project in Las Vegas. On more than one occasion, coach Gregg Popovich — usually content to sit back and observe summer league proceedings — could be seen engaged in a lengthy one-on-one with Leonard.

“We want him to rebound it and push it up the floor himself,” Popovich said. “We want to get it thrown ahead to him and have him go attack the rim. We want to put him in pick-and-rolls and let him make decisions, so he expands his game.

“He’s going to be a good one. We don’t want him to just be a spot-up shooter in the corner.”

That’s good to hear, Leonard said.

“I don’t want to be a stand-in-the-corner guy my whole career,” he added. “I’d like to take control of the game, and be a focal point to help my team win.”

During one breathless stretch of the first half Tuesday, Leonard unpacked his entire bag of tricks.

He took his man off the dribble, from midcourt line to rim. He grabbed a rebound at one end and took the ball 90 feet for a finger roll at the other.

When Leonard crossed over a pick late in the first half and rose to drill a contested 3-pointer near the top of the arc, even his summer-league teammates were impressed.

“He kind of showed everybody a little bit of what he can do,” guard James Anderson said.

There’s no telling how many of these new skills Leonard might bring with him back to San Antonio.

Certainly, he’ll see fewer chances to handle the ball once he rejoins a backcourt with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in it.

For now, Leonard is enjoying his time in Vegas, where the good memories run deep and he is once again the go-to guy.

By pulling a page from his past, Leonard is preparing for his future.

No amnesty for Spurs: The Spurs have opted not to exercise their so-called “amnesty” provision for this season.

Per the latest collective bargaining agreement of last December, teams are allowed to waive one player who was on their roster last summer, without his salary counting against the cap.

Teams that did not use it for last season faced a Tuesday deadline to trigger it for 2012-13. Those teams, like the Spurs, who have yet to use the amnesty provision can roll it over throughout the life of the CBA.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

Spurs rookie gets trial by Durant’s fire

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

OKLAHOMA CITY — During a timeout in the second half Sunday, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich turned to his rookie small forward and uttered words that might have made a lesser man gulp.

“I told him, ‘You’re now going to guard the leading scorer in the league,’” Popovich said. “ ‘And you’re not coming out of the game.’ ”

Offered the assignment of defending Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, with no help and no quarter, Kawhi Leonard did not blink. For a 20-year-old learning the NBA on the fly, that was success enough.

Durant, the NBA’s two-time defending scoring champion, finished with 21 points in 28 minutes of a 108-96 Thunder romp, but Leonard at least made the matchup moderately interesting. Durant made five of his nine shots, and did the bulk of his damage from the foul line, where he was 10 for 10.

“I just tried to take it as a challenge,” said Leonard, who at this time last year was defending players in the Mountain West Conference. “You know he’s going to get his points. You just hope to make it tough on him.”

With the game already out of hand, there was little risk in allowing Leonard a trial by fire.

“We wanted him to get experience and see what it was like,” Popovich said.

Leonard didn’t win the battle with Durant, but neither did he give in.

His finest moment came during a first-half stint against Durant, when he forced his Oklahoma City adversary into a trap and a turnover.

Durant had his moments in the matchup as well. One came late in the third quarter, when he buried a 20-footer in Leonard’s face.

“He did a good job,” Popovich said of Leonard. “It didn’t mean Kevin didn’t score, but it was fun to watch.”

WOOF, WOOF: Spurs center DeJuan Blair and his Oklahoma City counterpart, Kendrick Perkins, were issued technical fouls after a dust-up in the second quarter.

“He was just barking, making something out of nothing,” Blair said. “So I barked back.”

For Perkins, whose hot-headedness has become the stuff of NBA legend, it was his third technical already in the young season. It was Blair’s first.

Since each technical comes with an automatic $2,000 fine, Blair said he planned to appeal his foul.

KNEED REST: Blair and point guard Tony Parker left the game in the second half after each taking a knee to the back of the leg.

Both were sore and bruised but could have played had the game still been in reach. Barring a setback, both said they would be ready for Tuesday’s game at Milwaukee.

SEEING DOUBLE: Afforded a season-high 34 minutes, six seconds of playing time, Leonard turned in the first double-double of his career with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Without the benefit of a normal summer indoctrination or full training camp, Leonard says he is becoming more comfortable with the Spurs’ system by the day.

“Every game is a learning experience for me,” Leonard said. “I’m just trying to listen to what the coaches tell me and learn from each game.”