It seems the long NBA season has taken its toll on the young rookie-forward in San Antonio, DeJuan Blair. If you look at the month of March, for example, his averages have dropped from 7.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest to 5.3 points and 6.1 rebounds in 18 minutes a game. The rookie is also averaging nearly two turnovers per game.

“He’s a young basketball player,” says Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “He’s got a hell of a lot to learn about a hell of a lot of things. But his future looks bright. He is certainly coach-able and hardworking.”

And just when it seemed Blair was hitting the wall face first, came his performance in a Spurs' victory over the Denver Nuggets, Blair had 12 points and 8 rebounds, including 4 offensive boards, in 18 minutes of action. Everyone, including coach Pop has took notice.

“I thought he hit a wall a couple weeks ago, but he’s come out of it,” said Popovich. “I think he’s starting to regenerate.”

With the playoffs around the corner, a giant question is will Pop continue to give Blair quality minutes? Highly doubtful.

He has had trouble staying consistent this season.  If the playoffs started today, one potential team the Spurs would face would be the Dallas Mavericks, and Blair has had his share of trouble with Dallas.

In his three meetings with Dallas, Blair is averaging 1.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in 11 minutes. Also, acquiring Caron Butler from the Wizards gives the undersized Blair a match-up nightmare. Butler will not only be able to work Blair off the dribble, but use his size to back the smaller Blair down and work him in the post.

Blair also struggled this season against the first place Lakers. If by some miracle the Spurs were to face the Lakers in the later rounds of the Western Conference Playoffs, Blair has averaged six points but only a measly 3.3 rebounds per game against the much larger Lakers front court.

Of the top Western Conference teams, Blair has played his best basketball against the Nuggets. He averaged 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds against the Nuggs. He is averaging 2.25 offensive boards a game when playing Denver.

Blair has the one thing needed to scale the rookie wall seeing how the playoffs are fast approaching -- a desire to grow as a player and learn the game. And there is no one better to learn from then the greatest power forward to ever lace them up, Tim Duncan.

“He’s a young guy and he’s willing to learn,” said Duncan. “He’s willing to do the work it takes. You put those two things together and it’s easy to extend a hand to help someone like that.”

Blair might have hit the proverbial "rookie wall," but he has all the tools around him necessary to climb and overcome this dreaded rookie curse. He has a head coach and a team that are confident in his ability to succeed. And as a young player in a grown man's league, confidence is essential if Blair is to be a consistently good player in a league where greatness is defined by consistency.

Let's just hope he smashes this wall come playoff time. Hulk style!

This week's mailbag comes from Winston C. who trying to tell his friend just how good Tim Duncan is on the court.

"My friend and I are big time basketball fans. We're both 15 so we've obviously missed part of Duncan's career. Well I haven't. I've been watching the Spurs since I was 4 and he's been watching the Rockets since he was 11. Obviously he's missed a lot of Duncan's career, but seen a lot of Howard's. I'd given him stat comparisons between the two players proving Duncan is better and similar stuff. I need professional writers, you guys, to write an article that I can enjoy and share with him proving why Duncan is better AND why Duncan is the best Power forward of All time. I cannot understand why he doesn't think Duncan is the best power forward of all time. He's ignorant and needs to be informed. Please help me in this situation. Many thanks guys." --- Winston C.

Winston C,

Thanks for this question and I think it actually deserves a full article on Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard. But to prove your point here are some facts.

Tim Duncan

Dwight Howard

Arianné and Jeff are back for the latest Spanish edition of the Spurscast. In this episode, Arianne recaps the last games for the Spurs, and we discuss Manu Ginobili's new contract and the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Spurs.

Remember, Project Spurs was the first Spurs blog to have a Spurs podcast and the first to have a Spanish podcast for Spanish-speaking fans.

Jeff y yo estamos de regreso con el Spurscast en Español mas reciente.  En este episodio Arianné repasa los juegos de los Spurs y discutimos el mas nuevo contracto de Manu Ginobili con los Spurs y los Lakers de Los Angeles contra los Spurs.

Recuerden que Project Spurs fue la primera página de Internet en tener un podcast de Los Spurs y la primera en tener un podcast en español para los fanáticos de habla hispana.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

By Jeff Cerda, Project Spurs

The Spurs knew they could not afford to lose another game to a opponent with a losing record, and they played like it early in the game. The Timberwolves came into San Antonio with a overall record of 15-65 and a hapless 5-35 record on the road, so with those stats in the Spurs favor, they took full advantage.

The first quarter started off with a Matt Bonner three-point shot assisted by George Hill, who was returning after missing four games. Wolves' Al Jefferson would answer with five points making sure they would keep pace with the Spurs. The two teams exchanged baskets early to keep the game close and it looked like it was going to be yet another tough battle for the Spurs against a much less talented team.

After the Wolves' Corey Brewer layup put Minnesota up by seven at the 5:41 mark, Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich decided he had seen enough and called a time out to talk things over. After the time out the Spurs went on a 9-0 run to take the lead 24-22, and forced the Wolves to call a time out of their own. Spurs' Roger Mason Jr. sunk a three-point shot to push the run to 12-0, but Wolves' Kevin Love would make two free-throws to stop the bleeding. Little used Spurs' center Ian Mahinmi would get a slam dunk to put the exclamation point on the quarter and give the Spurs a 33-26 lead.

In the second quarter the Wolves used old fashion three-point plays to get back in the game. The Wolves went on a 12-4 run to get back in the game and tied the game at the 8:56 mark in the quarter. Back-to-back three-point shots from Mason Jr. and Bonner and a two point shot from Tim Duncan would give the Spurs the lead again 45-39.

The teams exchanged baskets to put the game at 49-43 Spurs. But this is when things really got going for the Spurs. The Spurs went on a 20-4 run which included a 10-0 run at one point but what was more impressive was that in the whole quarter they went on a 32-8 run. Needless to say the Spurs were off and running away with this game. The runs had the Spurs up big at the half, 69-47.

In the third quarter the Spurs did not let off of the pedal and kept making the Wolves play for their sloppy, lazy defense. By this point the Wolves looked like they were ready to pack their bags and head off to Cancun or Rio De Janeiro. Duncanplayed less than four minutes in the quarter which I’m sure made Spurs fans happy since the next game is against their interstate rival the Dallas Mavericks. Spurs' point-guard Tony Parker led the way in this quarter with eight points and Mahinmi chipped in seven points as the Spurs pushed the lead to as many as 29 points at one point in the quarter.

The Spurs shot 60% from the field as the Wolves had zero interest in playing defense and merely settled for trading baskets with the Spurs and found themselves down 74-98 at the end of the quarter.

By the time the fourth quarter came around the Wolves were simply going through the motions of the game, while the Spurs starters were getting some rest and the bench was finishing out the game. Spurs' guards Malik Hairston and Keith Bogans scored the first eight points of the quarter for the team as the two teams still continued to trade baskets.

Mahinmi fouled out with 5:08 to go in the game finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds, a much better game than Spurs fans have seen from him lately. The Spurs continued to knock down three-point shots, making 5 of their 14 in the quarter, shooting 14 of 26(53.8%) overall for the game. Bogans scored 11 of his 17 points and Hairston scored 13 of his 14 points in the quarter to help close out the game and give the Spurs a 133-111 victory.

Join Jeff and I along with several guests and hopefully a ton of callers as we officially record our 200th episode of the Spurscast.

We'll be live for over five hours from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. CST. We have some great guests lined up and some awesome prizes to give out.

We'll discuss our beginnings from episode one recorded in May of 2005, talk to someone that has been around as a listener since the early days, reminisce and if we get enough callers, play a few minutes of the Spurscast that has our very own Jeff Garcia has forbidden me to play until now.

For every five callers, Jeff is letting me play one minute of a 15 minute long, epic drunken Spurscast. Luckily I was sober to record it all, so be sure to get your calls in. We'll be taking them throughout the five hour show and we'll have a live chat running the entire time.

If you tweet about the show, please use the hashtag #spurscast200 and stay with us all day as one person will be able to win a one-year subscription to SLAM Magazine among other giveaways.

According to Chris Tomasson of NBA Fanhouse, Spurs forward Richard Jefferson is considering opting out of his contract this summer, the same contract that would pay him $15 million next season.

And Spurs fans rejoice.

Jefferson has caught the ire of Spurs fans all season long because his contributions on the court never matched his salary. While he's started to find his role and contribute more lately, Jefferson's contract handicaps the Spurs from being a player in free agency this Summer.

According to Tomasson, Jefferson will look at several factors before deciding whether or not to opt out before the June 30 deadline.

Jefferson said he will look at several factors before the opt-out deadline of June 30. Those include what the NBA's economic climate looks like due to the possibility of a 2011 lockout, how the free-agent market sizes up, how the Spurs' future looks and how they do in the playoffs.

"If you win a championship, you might opt out,'' he said. "If you lose in the first round, you might stay. You can't say it's going to be one way or the other. That would be foolish (to not take many factors into account). Guys like LeBron (James), it doesn't matter.''

Jefferson, who never really has fit in with the Spurs and whose scoring average is the lowest since his rookie season of 2001-02, said his value is not as high with a slower-tempo team such as San Antonio as it would be with more up-and-down unit. Jefferson played with faster-paced New Jersey from 2001-08, and twice averaged more than 22 points in a season.

After signing Manu Ginobili to a three-year, $40 million extension, Jefferson's $15 million off the books would be some major cap relief for the Spurs, who are currently in position to pay the luxury tax a second straight year next season.

If Jefferson opts out, could Tiago Splitter be in a Spurs uniform soon?

By Jeff Cerda

After losing to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, the Spurs were hoping to bounce back with what should have been a "W" against a less talented, injury-stricken Memphis Grizzles team with a 39-39 record.

The Grizzlies were without Marc Gasol and Ronnie Brewer. But as Spurs fans know, this does not usually go well for the Spurs when the opposing team is lacking players due to injuries.

In the first quarter the Spurs looked like they were going to run away with the game with the Grizzles looking sloppy at times. The Grizzlies did not score a field goal the last 2:50 of the quarter. With Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and OJ Mayo scoring all but 2 of the first quarter points for the Grizzlies, this was looking like it was going to be a easy win for the Spurs.

The Grizzlies were missing open jumpers and not playing the best of defense and the Spurs were making them pay for it. Seven different Spurs scored in the opening quarter and DeJuan Blair even grabbed his own miss from the free throw line which led to one of Matt Bonner’s six threes for the night. The Spurs were up 30-21 at the end of the first.

The second quarter was where things really started changing. The Grizzlies were still struggling early in the quarter, as far as shooting goes, and the Spurs built the lead to as many as 13 points.

The Grizzles kept fighting and started making shots consistently late in the quarter. They were getting their team involved in the scoring this quarter instead of just the trio of Mayo, Gay and Randolph carrying the load. The Spurs were blowing assignments defensively and it was the Grizzlies who were making the Spurs pay this time. In the last 2:30 of the quarter the Grizzlies outscored the Spurs 14-7 and the Spurs got outscored 37-27 in the whole quarter and ended up going in to the half down 58-57.

The Grizzles started the third quarter on a 9-2 run to go up 67-59. The Spurs would answer with back-to-back three-point shots from Manu Ginobili and Bonner which put the Spurs to within 69-65. San Antonio was starting to look good again after blowing that 13 point lead.

A few moments later Ginobili got a steal and made a nice cross-court pass to a waiting Garrett Temple for a three-point shot which put the Spurs down only one and forced the Grizzlies to call time out and talk things over. After the time out the two teams went back and forth exchanging the lead a couple of times, but the Grizzlies would lead at the end of the third quarter at 84-80.

Early in the fourth quarter the Spurs were getting the stops they needed but they were not getting the buckets they needed on the offensive end to fully capitalize. At one point the Spurs got seven consecutive stops but only produced two points off of them. Two points off of seven straight stops is not going to get it done, especially when it is in the fourth quarter, the most crucial time of the game.

With 3:26 to go in the game the Spurs trailed 100-94, an illegal defense free-throw from Ginobili, a pair of free-throws and a put back from Tim Duncan put them within one with 2:30 to go. The Grizzlies kept their composure and answered with a Mike Conley jump-shot and the Spurs started to get desperate.

In the remaining minutes of the game the Spurs decided to start shooting up three-pointers with no luck. Roger Mason, Bonner, Temple, Ginobili and even Duncan all missed three pointers. In the last 2:30 of the game it was the Spurs who went scoreless to end the quarter, while the Grizzlies scored the last eight points to take the game 107-99.

The Spurs shot 32% from the three-point line while the Grizzlies shot 44%, and with Memphis shooting nearly 50% from the 3 point line, it’s hard to win. Another tough loss for the Spurs as the roller-coaster regular season comes closer to the end.

Game Notes:

• Garrett Temple got his third straight start since Tony Parker is working his way back in the line up from a broken hand and George Hill nursing a sprained ankle. Temple had eight points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and was 3 of 7 from the field on 26 minutes of playing time.
• George Hill has still not participated in practices and his timetable for a return is unknown. With Parker's minutes increasing as the games come along, look for him to start come playoff time.
• The Spurs were outrebounded 48-39 with Zach Randolph grabbing 15 for the Grizzlies. Duncan recorded his 37th double double while Zach Randolph recorded his 55th, putting him in second for the season trailing only Dwight Howard.
• The Spurs are in the eighth spot at 48-31 in the Western Conference playoff race which currently pits them against the Los Angeles Lakers. A team the Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich admitted wanting to avoid.
• The Spurs will next play the Denver Nuggets in Denver.