Is Blair right fit as Spurs’ center?

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

For Spurs center DeJuan Blair, the toughest part about Russia wasn’t learning a new language. It wasn’t living in a foreign country, alone and further from home than he’s ever been.

It wasn’t reimagining how to play basketball, having to mold his game with the run-and-gun, everybody-shoots-it ethos of the Russian Leagues.

For Blair, the toughest part about spending two months of the NBA lockout playing for Krasnye Krylya, in the Russian metropolis of Samara, was finding suitable sustenance to feed his ample belly.

“I found a T.G.I. Fridays and a McDonald’s,” Blair said, “so I was good.”

Back in San Antonio, and somehow more svelte than when he left for Russia, Blair finds himself amid one of the most heated battles of Spurs training camp.

After watching the Spurs’ frontline get consistently manhandled by Memphis meat-eaters Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol in last April’s playoffs, coach Gregg Popovich declared the hunt for a starting big man to pair with All-Star Tim Duncan to be the team’s top personnel priority.

Though the Spurs haven’t ruled out bringing in outside reinforcements, via free agency or trade, Popovich will also audition a handful of in-house candidates.

The 22-year-old Blair, who started the first 63 games last season and averaged 8.3 points and seven rebounds, is among them. So is second-year center Tiago Splitter, the former first-round pick who struggled in search of steady playing time as a rookie.

“I hope I’ve got a bigger role this year,” Splitter said. “It’s not in my hands, it’s in the coaches’ hands, but I’m prepared.”

? Neither Blair nor Splitter spreads the floor much on offense, which could lead the Spurs — somewhat reluctantly — back to 3-point specialist Matt Bonner, who led the NBA in long-range accuracy but appears better suited to spot duty.

Popovich’s search for a starting center dovetails with his stated desire to improve the Spurs defensively. Antonio McDyess, 37, would be in the mix, if not for the expectation he will retire.

“There’s got to be enough size there,” Popovich said. “We need a (big man) that can guard. If you get one that can guard, the more that guys spread the floor, the better off you are.”

With the 35-year-old Duncan having slipped from dominating MVP levels, his new sidekick will be asked to carry a greater load than ever.

In terms of sheer size, Splitter is the most prototypical candidate on the camp roster. The 6-foot-11 former Spanish League MVP battled injuries throughout his rookie season, appearing in 60 games and starting six.

“I think I learned a lot last year,” said Splitter, who will turn 27 on New Year’s Day. “It wasn’t a waste of time. I grew a lot. This year, I’m way more ready to play than last year.”

For the 6-foot-7 Blair, Lilliputian by NBA big-man standards, size has never been an asset. Often, he can be overmatched by larger, longer frontlines.

During the lockout, Blair watched DVDs of his first two NBA seasons. He didn’t always recognize the player he saw.

“I was trying to be a robot,” Blair said. “I wasn’t playing like me.”

The natural, free-flowing — and, yes, exuberant — player he was in two college seasons at Pittsburgh rarely showed in a Spurs jersey.

“I just want to bring that DeJuan Blair back,” Blair said. “I was having fun, smiling on the court and doing a lot of things I don’t think I did the past two seasons. I think I’ll have a lot more rage like I had my last season at Pitt.”

Blair’s weight has been an issue throughout his first two pro seasons. At one point last year, he flirted with 300 pounds.

After the playoff ouster against Memphis, in which Blair did not play in Game 5 or 6, Popovich challenged him to show more “responsibility and maturity.”

“That will get him to the next level,” Popovich said. “Short of that, he’ll have a hard time.”

Blair believes two months in Russia have matured him. His slimmer waistline, achieved despite an Americanized diet overseas, shows it.

The time alone, he says, provided much food for thought.

“Just being over there in that environment, I thought a lot,” Blair said. “I grew up a lot.”

Whether a grown-up Blair is the Spurs’ answer at center remains to be seen. With two weeks and counting before the start of the season, the search continues.

Z-Bo: Upset over Spurs still resonates for Grizzlies

Zach Randolph hasn’t forgotten about how good that Memphis’ six-game series victory over the Spurs felt last April.

He now might not be playing with the Grizzlies because of the lockout, but Randolph still is excited about one of the biggest series upsets in modern NBA history.

“It was a great feeling,” Randolph told Indianapolis radio station WFNI during a recent interview (hat tip:  Sports Radio Interviews.com). “The feeling was unbelievable. You could feel it. You can still feel it.

“Winning a playoff, going to the second round, game seven, it just got us hungry. We want to win a championship and to tell you the truth we are really ready to compete. That’s why I say the lockout happens when things are turning around, but once we get back in place we’re gonna be a team to be reckoned with.”

The Spurs certainly wouldn’t argue with that assessment, considering the way the season ended last year.

Randolph has struggled to stay in shape earlier in his career. But the unexpected playoff run is helping him steer away from the off-season burgers and fries that used to mark his diet.

“I’m doing this new training called chameleon training,” Randolph said. “It’s like special  ops. I’m just training and it’s really tough.”

The playoff run helped Randolph remake his image into one of the best players in the league. He’s determined to keep that edge once the lockout ends.

“The trainer said the training I had been doing was illusion training, like I had been doing fake training all these years,” Randolph said. “It’s something different for me and something good for me. I’ve been working out with him every day, taking my daughter to school and hoping we can get something worked out and get this season going on time.”

The Memphis franchise finished with incredible momentum after the unexpected playoff run. Randolph and the rest of the team can only hope the lockout is settled quickly.

TD, Manu named among NBA’s top 10 over-30 players

Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili are both nearer to retirement than to their peak years when they helped lead the Spurs to three championships together.

Duncan had a part in four NBA titles with the franchise, while Ginobili joined him for the last three titles.

Both will go down in history among the handful of greatest players to ever play for the franchise. They likely will both have their numbers retired by the team and should end up in the Naismith  Basketball Hall of Fame when their careers conclude.

But Duncan and Ginobili still have some basketball to be played before they decide to retire.

That remaining talent led Orange County Register NBA reporter Kevin Deng to list both Duncan and Ginobili among the in a recent list for the newspaper’s website.

and  in his compilation of top players.

Here’s his list of the top 10 players 30 or older in the league.

1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

2. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas

3. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers

4. Kevin Garnett, Boston

5. Paul Pierce, Boston

6. Zach Randolph, Memphis

7. Joe Johnson, Atlanta

8. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio

9. Tim Duncan San Antonio

10. Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Lakers

11. Steve Nash, Phoenix

12. Luis Scola, Houston

13. David West, New Orleans

14. Caron Butler, Dallas

15. Ray Allen, Boston

16. Jason Kidd, Dallas  

17. Chauncey Billups, New York

18. Jason Terry, Dallas

19. Stephen Jackson, Milwaukee

20. Elton Brand, Philadelphia

It’s a strong list and the fact that Ginobili and Duncan are ranked as highly as they are indicates that they still have some basketball ability left to contribute to the Spurs.

How much, we don’t know. But over the rest of their careers, Spurs Nation should savor the contributions of these two players who have been so important to the franchise over the years.