DeJuan Blair has been a Spur for only 32 regular-season games, but he's already learned an important lesson: Be ready for anything from coach Gregg Popovich.
Blair was one of two Spurs frontline starters who opened Sunday's game against the Toronto Raptors on the bench. The other, of course, was team captain Tim Duncan, whose absence at the opening tip made Blair's return to the bench nothing but a footnote.
“It looked a little funny out there with Tim not starting,” he said. “At the same time, he did it for a reason. Tim needed a little bit of a rest, and he got it. He came in and still played well.
“Coach Pop knows what he's doing.
“You've just got to be ready on any given night. Whether you're starting or coming off the bench, you've got to come out there and bring energy. I think I'm the team's energy guy.”
Blair laughed at the suggestion he might be approaching the mythical “rookie wall.”
“Rookie wall?” he said “Uh-uh. I'm just playing. I think the rookie wall is for rookies who have a lot on their plate. I don't really have a lot. I just have to come and play and give a little energy. We've got the rest of the team. I'm just energy, so I don't think I'm hitting any wall.”
Finley update: Though small forward Michael Finley, who has missed the last 13 games with a sprained left ankle, has begun some light shooting drills, he remains a week or two from a return to action, according to a team spokesperson.
Finley suffered a Grade 2 sprain of the left ankle in the Spurs' Dec. 5 loss to the Nuggets, at which time the Spurs said he would be out about four weeks. The 15-year veteran has been with the team on its last two road trips but has yet to participate in any practice activities.
Cold hearted: Tony Parker is the latest Spur to complain about cold symptoms. The All-Star point guard blamed an Arctic cold front that gripped Washington, D.C., and Toronto when the Spurs played there.
“Like everybody. A lot of guys on the team have colds. You go on the East coast, and you're not used to it. I was in a short T-shirt and had to go to Toronto. It was freezing.”
Manu Ginobili, Matt Bonner and Marcus Haislip also have reported annoying cold symptoms.
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