By Bob Smizik | Sunday 9:35 a.m.
The early careers of two Pitt rookies in the NBA have been moving in different directions in recent games.
After a slow start, Sam Young is getting more minutes and scoring more points for the Memphis Grizzlies. After a dazzling start, with praise all around for his play, DeJuan Blair is getting fewer minutes and scoring fewer points for the San Antonio Spurs.
In a 103-98 loss to Milwaukee last night, Young played 15 minutes, made six of nine shots, had four rebounds and scored 13 points. It was the sixth time in the past seven games he played between 15 and 18 minutes.
In a win over Minnesota last week Young had a career-high 15 points in 18 minutes.
Here’s what the Grizzlies web site said about Young’s performance last night:
``. . . Sam Young provided a spark for the Grizzlies off the bench. Matched up against Luke Ridnour, Young was able to take the smaller Bucks guard to the block and tally six quick points to give the Grizzlies a lift.’’
Blair played only seven minutes last night in a 106-84 win over Washington. He had two points and three rebounds. It was the third straight game in which he played fewer than 10 minutes.
In last night’s game, Blair gave up some of his minutes to veteran center Theo Ratliff. The Spurs are a disappointing 5-6 this season.
In his past seven games, two of which were starts, Blair has scored 22 points. He has six rebounds in the past four games after having 26 in the previous four games.
Young is seventh in scoring for the Grizzlies with 5.2 points a game. Blair is averaging 5.2 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Spurs. He is tied for third on the team in rebounds.