Earning his Spurs: Part Two

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DeJuan BlairAdjustments are what make the playoffs so great. Any team can flop a game, watch some tape, figure out what they need to do, and do it. But what separates a good team from a great team is that teams ability to execute the adjustments on court. That’s why the spurs have been one of the best teams of the last decade. Gregg Popovich is one of the best coaches there is when it comes to playoff adjustments.

So, with the Spurs being heavily out rebounded in game one, maybe Pop would give DeJuan Blair more minutes and opportunities to secure the glass. Blair did get more minutes, just not a lot more. Blair played eight minutes in game one. In game two played a total of ten minutes and 51 seconds.

Blair’s game two statline: zero points, four rebounds.

Blair missed all four of his shot attempts and of his four rebounds, one was offensive. He did however, in his limited minutes, play great defense on Brendan Haywood, and was extremely active in the paint on both ends of the court.

Tim Duncan is in full on playoff mode and is taking no prisoners. Watching Duncan play right now is a thing of beauty. As long as Timmy has that hunger in his eyes, it doesn’t seem like Blair will get a lot of minutes. But that doesn’t mean he wont get some in another series. The Mavericks front court is huge and could easily over power Blair in the post. Blair might have a huge heart and play physical ball, but eventually the size of the Mavericks will wear him down. Like always, it will be up to Duncan to carry us. And we Spurs fans are perfectly fine with that.