Jan. 17, 2008

By Bill Hass
theACC.com

GREENSBORO - Tyrelle Blair knows he won't dazzle anyone with his statistics.

But the 6-foot-11 Boston College senior also understands that winning and losing aren't based strictly on the box score.

"Real basketball connoisseurs believe that defense helps a team," Blair said. "I might block three or four shots a game but alter eight or nine more. If teams can't score, they won't win."

As a case in point, consider the Eagles' 76-66 victory over Miami on Tuesday night. Blair was credited with seven blocks, but both coaches felt his impact went beyond that.

"I think he probably changed more shots than he blocked, and that's probably as important," BC coach Al Skinner was quoted afterwards.

Hurricanes coach Frank Haith said his players were "intimidated" by Blair, particularly early on.

"The first two plays of the game, we tried to get the ball inside ... but Blair affected us," Haith said.

As a result, Miami fell into a 20-4 hole to start the game and was never able to catch up.

Swatting shots away is something Blair has done ever since he began playing basketball. As a youngster, he was always taller than everyone else his age.

"The most natural thing was for me to knock the ball away, especially when someone came right at me," he said. "When I got in high school, I knew it was one thing I could always fall back on."

Never a big scorer, Blair made his presence felt defensively. He led the state of Florida in blocked shots as a junior and senior, averaging 9.8 blocks his final year. Although he played at a high school in Tallahassee, he didn't receive any recruiting attention from Florida State and wound up at Loyola University in Chicago.

After two years there, Blair decided it would be in his best interest to play at a bigger college. He visited Memphis, then Boston College. He liked BC so much that he canceled visits to Texas A&M, West Virginia and South Florida.

"I liked the ACC," he said. "I used to go to Florida State games. It's a league with a great track record. At Loyola, there were some good players (in the Horizon League) but in this league the talent is amazing."

Blair sat out a year under NCAA requirements, then made a modest impact as a junior, averaging 2.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 16.2 minutes per game. He has improved those marks across the board this season to 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 blocks in 24 minutes. He has set personal highs with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 blocks, all in different games - a triple-double of career bests.

While there are no plays specifically designed for him, the Eagles run some plays for their post players in general. Although he will never be a scoring machine, Blair said he has some moves.

"I have left-hand and right-hand hook shots, a face-up jumper, a turnaround jumper," he said. "I try to demonstrate those in practice so (point guard) Tyrese Rice will have confidence to throw me the ball. In a game, I try to make the most of my opportunities. I can get some offensive rebounds and hit some free throws (71 percent)."

In the long run, though, Blair believes playing solid defense could be his ticket to getting some looks by the NBA. And that's where the skill of shot-blocking comes in. His 11 blocks against Maryland are the second-most in a Division I game this season (Shawn James of Duquesne had 12). And, through games of Jan. 13, he ranked fifth in blocks per game at 4.0.

So how does a player become good at that aspect? Skinner said it's a mind-set combined with quickness.

"First of all, you've got to be defensive-minded," Skinner said. "It really has to be part of your makeup, as previously we had Sean Williams and he was very similar that way.

"Quickness is a very important factor in blocking shots. If most good offensive players can measure you, they're going to be able to score. If they can't measure you, then your quickness can get you to a shot and that improves your chances of being a good shot-blocker because it throws off their offensive timing."

Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio admires Blair's timing.

"From what I've seen, he has very good timing, and I think that's the big thing with shot-blockers," Gaudio said. "He knows when to leap, he knows when to stay on the ground. He's not over-anxious. Some kids are really over-anxious; they get hung up in the air and then they pick up some unnecessary fouls. He has a real knack for it, and no question is one of the better shot-blockers I've seen in a long time."

Statistically, Blair is the best in the ACC since Alvin Jones of Georgia Tech averaged 4.3 blocks in the 1997-98 season.

There's a lot that goes through Blair's mind when he sets out to block, or alter, a shot.

"Where the ball is, where my man is, how far away the shooter is from the rim," he said. "I gauge the flow of the game, when might be a good time to gamble. There are certain times when you have to go anyway, like late in a game and someone has an open lane to the basket.

"If I can't reach a shot, maybe I can get someone to shoot it higher and make them miss. When I see players hesitate, that's encouraging."

In high school, Blair used blocks as intimidation or to get the home crowd excited, so he often swatted the ball out of bounds or off the backboard for those effects. But he has learned that keeping the ball in play can be even more vital, so he's trying to do that more often.

"I have the DVD of NBA highlights," he said, "and I've watched guys like (former Boston Celtics standout) Bill Russell. Russell kept the ball in play, which gave his team a chance to get the ball, go down and score."

As important as his presence is to the Eagles' interior defense, there's another way in which Blair is proving valuable. Skinner harps on his older players to be senior leaders and Blair took that to heart after the Eagles absorbed a 25-point loss to Kansas and an unexpected loss to Robert Morris, both on their home court.

"I'm known as a laid-back guy," he said, "but I took it upon myself, along with Tyrese and John Oates, to call a team meeting. We aired out some issues. I said that we've got to play better if we're going to get to the NCAA Tournament. When we're watching that Sunday selection show, we want to be one of the teams picked."

For whatever reason, the Eagles came out of the meeting with a renewed determination and better team play. They handled Wake Forest, 112-73, and followed that with the solid win over No. 21 Miami to improve to 3-0 in the ACC (12-4 overall).

"I think we have exceeded expectations that we were going to struggle this year," Blair said. "Scoring is not an issue with us. If we give a solid defensive effort and play as a team, we'll be all right."

The Eagles next play Saturday at Virginia. Although road wins in the ACC are notoriously hard to come by, Blair looks forward to those games.

"It's different on the road," he said. "The court is different, the rims are different, the atmosphere is different. But I enjoy it. This is what you play ball for, and you should make the most of it."

Whatever the outcome, don't look for dazzling box score stats from Blair. But do expect him to make an impact on the game.

Bill Hass is a long-time observer of ACC sports. His career at the Greensboro News & Record spanned 36 years, from 1969 until his retirement in March, 2006. He is now writing "Bill Hass on the ACC" for theACC.com. His weekly columns will keep fans plugged in to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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