OT - Dejuan Blair being annoyingly good

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!

 

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.

 

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!

 

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.

 

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

 

dude showed up to the pre-draft 6'5 and 280lbs. What does that say about his professionalism when he shows up that overweight? With questionable knees and poor quickness, what position is he ever going to be able to guard?

those reasons would be my best guess.

STOMP

 

Landry schooled Blair on defense though. Blair will always be a TERRIBLE defender. There is simply no position he can guard well.

 

Do you really still feel that that's a likely explanation? Pritchard was willing to bring in Turkoglu to fight with Batum, Webster and Outlaw. He was willing to bring in Millsap (or, apparently, Lee) to fight with Aldridge, Outlaw and, ultimately, Przybilla for minutes. He did bring in Miller, who will definitely cut into Blake's and Bayless' minutes, and probably into Fernandez's minutes, too.

The draft is clearly something Pritchard invests a lot of importance in, to judge from how active he's always been. Even in this, his most "boring" draft, he made a small move up in the first round. He was clearly willing to upgrade the power forward spot or the small forward spot (Millsap, Lee, Turkoglu)...I don't think "he purposely tanked the draft to avoid having more productive players" really stands up to scrutiny.

I appreciate your (and Brian's, Ed's and STOMP's) willingness to try and answer the question. I also wanted Blair...I was hoping he'd fall to Portland's first-round pick, let alone their second-rounders. So I'm still trying to understand the move myself. I believe that Pritchard is intelligent, informed and dedicated to his job. So, I'm trying to figure out the reason for passing on Blair with a fairly valueless asset (a second-round pick) that accounts for those attributes in Pritchard.

 

Yes, I've pointed this out twice. No one wants to hear it.

Blair likely will get garbage minutes behind Duncan and McDyess.

 

Yes, I've pointed this out twice. No one wants to hear it.

Blair likely will get garbage minutes behind Duncan, Bonner, and McDyess.

 

Really? Give some examples, Ed. How often, statistically, do undersized and slow players get better at defense.

 

This post is from the "Martell Webster looked dominant against the Kings" book.

 

Blair's lateral quickness is what's laughable. Considering his lack of knee ligaments, I don't really see that improving.