How is it that DeJuan Blair can still be kicking butt?! Oh, and I hate to admit it, but I may have (again) written-off San Antonio too soon. They now have blowout wins against the Grizz and Clipp Show.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2009/11/no_ligaments_no_problem.html http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/meniscusinjuries1/a/meniscus.htm
Thanks for that, guys. Man, I had thought Blair's injury was the same As Roy's. Appreciate the clarification.
So it seems that his knee is vulnerable to injury. His career will probably be a flash in the pan, like Roys. I'd still rather have that than Jeff Pendergraph. I remember that draft, and several of us were rooting for them to take Blair.
It was absolutely inexcusable to not take him with our two 2nd round picks once he had dropped that far, seeing as they were non-guaranteed contracts. You don't get low risk, high reward options very often... At least we've finally got comparable players in Thomas and C. Smith.
Maybe, but maybe not. The ACL functions differently for each individual person. Some people can't walk 20 feet normally without one and some people can live a very active lifestyle without one. There are a dozen different ligaments, muscles, tendons, and cartilage that all come together in the knee. Each individual has differences in their body geometry that puts more or less stress on varying areas of the knee. If the other muscles and ligaments are strong enough an individual could easily play basketball for 20 years without any injury or long-term damage. Another individual without an ACL could have their knee give out every couple weeks causing further damage. It just varies greatly person to person.
Blair has not been around as long as Roy. Give it some time. I was one of the people very disappointed we passed three times on Blair.
the amazing creskin will now perform his incredible fecal throwing illusion, and the next time some sticks on the wall it will be the first
i remember that night. it was "omg we r sooooo lucky i cant belieb]ve he slipped to us!" to "fucking kpee moron ass shit cock idiot fart" 3 times in 25 minutes brutal
Heck, before the draft, I was hoping we'd trade up for a chance to draft Blair. When he fell and we passed on him THREE times, I was livid. I couldn't believe it. The guy was EXACTLY what we needed in a back-up 4. As predicted, his rebounding has successfully translated to the NBA game, where he continues to be an elite level rebounder. The knee injury thing ended up being a total red herring. Since high school, Blair hasn't missed a single game, or practice due to a knee injury. He played in all 72 games his two years at Pitt, played all 82 games his rookie year and missed a single game, due to a sprained wrist, during his second NBA season. He started 65 games for a team that won 61 games and had the best regular season record in the Western Conference during his second NBA season. He has contributed far, far more as an NBA player (3293 Minutes Played, 1360 Points, 1110 Rebounds) than the three guys we took instead combined (2771 Minutes Played, 837 Points, 537 Rebounds). It's unfortunate and cruelly ironic that one of the guys we took instead of Blair missed his entire second NBA season due to a torn ACL. It was stupid to pass on him at 22, and insane to pass on him at 31 AND 33. To date, he has proven to be the second best big man in that entire draft, trailing only Blake Griffin. BNM
