If Blair is so GREAT, why did none of the other GMs pick him? CLEARLY there is something wrong with him that he is touched less than michael jackson (too soon?) Get over it already! there must be some trades in the works so relax and wait for FA day
From the Yahoo draft tracker: Analysis: Big get for the Spurs. Blair was considered a possible lottery pick until teams were scared off by his knees. One team official even said he couldn't find Blair's ACLs on the medical scans. Still, the Spurs don't have to invest first-round guaranteed money in him. He's a bruiser, he'll work hard and for about 12-15 minutes a night Gregg Popovich could love him. Couldn't find Blair's ACLs? Um....... ding ding ding, we have a winner.
Because we passed on Blair with THREE PICKS, I am canceling my season tickets, declaring the Blazers and Pritchard a complete bust, and am in general no longer a Blazer fan. WHOS WITH ME!!
I guess we'll see how Blair turns out, he might have an extra chip on his shoulder to prove people wrong. The Pitt coach said the guy never missed a practice or game because of his knees.
So a 2nd round pick wasn't worth taking a risk on a guy who was projected as high as 4 before his knee problems were made public? 2nd round picks are a crapshoot at best, so why not take a chance on talent, even if his knees blow out in the first year, most 2nd round picks don't make it into training camp, let alone in the league. There was nothing to lose, everything to gain.
If Blair's knees are toast, I'm glad Portland didn't waste any picks on him and instead got two other more serviceable bangers, one of which I think is going to have a pretty nice career.
Yea I guess they are so toast, that San Antonio took him. How often has San Antonio fucked up on draft picks?
ESPN has been saying all night that Blair doesn't have any ACL's. Hey, he can't tear what he doesn't have!
They haven't drafted a starter since 2001, and Hill is the only draft pick since then in the rotation. Their best pick since Parker was Leandro Barbosa, who didn't even play for them. So the answer is...plenty of times. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SAS/draft.html
They took him because he was the best prospect left? How do you know that Portland wouldn't take Blair if Pendergraph and Cunningham were off the board.
Who said anything about starters? Plus you are wrong. One they drafted is starting somewhere else, his name is Luis Scola. Another is Benoh Udrih. Tiago Splitter is still overseas and would be solid contributor to an NBA team even if 2nd string. Leandro Barbosa in 2003. Secondly, why are you limiting the timeline? Greg Popovich and his crew have been running that team for 20 years. Picks in the 2nd round include Manu Ginobili. Parker was picked 28th. Oh by the way, no links needed. Go look em up.
Scola never played for the Spurs. They received Vassilis Spanoulis in return for a guy who never played for them. Udrih plays for the worst team in the league. You posted "how often has San Antonio fucked up on draft picks?". I gave plenty of examples; they miss more than they hit, and their second round track record since Ginobli is terrible outside of Scola, who never even played for them.
Spurs draft picks since 1994, when Pop started running the show. 94 - Bill Curley - 1 (22) 95 - Cory Alexander - 1 (29) 96 - no pick 97 - Tim Duncan (consensus #1 pick) 98 - Felipe Lopez - 1 (24) 98- - Derrick Dial - 2 (52) 99 - Manu Ginobli - 2 (57) (great pick) 00 - Chris Carrawel - 2 (41) 01 - Tony Parker 1 (29) great pick 01 - Robert Javotkas - 2 (55) 01 - Bryan Bracey - 2 (57) 02 - John Salmons 1 (26) - traded on draft day with Mark Bryant and Randy Holcomb for Speedy Claxton 02 - Luis Scola 2 (55) never played for them, traded for player not in NBA 02 - Randy Holcomb 2 (56)
03 - Leandro Barbosa - 1 (28) - traded to PHX for future protected 1st round pick 04 - Beno Udrih - 1 (28) - traded for 2nd round draft pick, Jacque Vaughn replaced him 04 - Romain Sato - 2 (52) 04 - Sergei Keraulov - 2 (57) 05 - Ian Mahinmi - 1 (28) 06 - Damir Markota - 2 (59) 07 - Tiago Splitter - 1 (28) 07 - Marcus Williams - 2 (33) (waived during 2007 season) 07 - Giorgos Printezis - 2 (58) 08 - George Hill - 1 (26) - Pop rumored to have wanted Batum; got Pritchslapped 08 - Goran Dragic - 2 (45) - traded to PXH 08 - James Gist - 2 (57) Hardly a home run in every instance.
