- Austin American-Statesman – Columnist Kirk Bohls waxes poetic about DeJuan Blair and how the Spurs capitalized on the rest of the NBA’s mistake.
- Express-News – The Blair articles continue! This time it’s Jeff McDonald telling us how the Spurs coaches are not trying to change Blair’s game yet while they learn what type of player he is and how to best utilize him.
- Express-News – McDonald also checks in with the Spurs other young preseason star, George Hill, who discusses his work this offseason to improve his three point shot, especially from the corners. Consistently hitting that shot will be a huge step for him.
- Sports Illustrated – Chris Ballard, one of my favorite journalists, has an interesting article about Idan Ravin, an ex-lawyer who is now the hottest NBA trainer. While there is no connection with the Spurs, I couldn’t help but think about Pop while reading this. Ravin is popular for his ability to connect with players and meet them on their level. While this is different than Pop’s approach, I think he is popular with players for treating them all equally and really thinking about how to get the best out of the team.
- 48MoH – Timothy Varner shows with advanced statistics (yay!) that Theo Ratliff is still an elite defender when it comes to protecting the rim and describes how he can help the Spurs.
- PTR – jollyrogerwilco breaks down a beautiful play by Manu Ginobili and DeJuan Blair from the Spurs game with the Thunder.
- ESPN – The preseason predictions are in and the consensus is that the Spurs will win the Southwest Division but finish second in the West to the Lakers. Sounds about right to me.
- Empty the Bench – DeJuan Blair as Rookie of the Year? I like how it sounds but I just don’t see him getting the minutes or touches. Doesn’t mean he isn’t talented enough, though.
- SLAM – Tim Duncan checks in at the number 6 player in the league according to SLAM. You know a player is good when he is “slipping” and is still one of the top ten players in the league.
