The San Antonio Spurs did their homework over the summer.

They brought in Brazilian big man Tiago Splitter, drafted Oklahoma State star James Anderson, signed sweet-shooting Gary Neal from Italy and then invited a few more quality players to training camp with four more possible positions to fill.

There is more work to be done but the Spurs' front office made a nice start in the offseason towards assembling a team that could compete for the NBA title at present, and at the same time build for the future. The Spurs now have their "Big 3" surrounded by a supporting cast with a nice mix of experience, youth and athleticism.

The team has gotten younger while staying competitive. Gone are the days when coach Popovich can say "we're older than dirt." Splitter, DeJuan Blair, George Hill, Anderson and Neal are already a nice young core to start with but the question is how will they mesh and catch-up with the Spurs complex system?

Hill is already playing like a seasoned veteran. His game has tremendously improved after two years in San Antonio. Blair has proved to be a rebounding machine and an energy guy off the bench.

Splitter, Anderson and Neal? They already made names for themselves overseas or in college but how will their game translate into the NBA remains to be the seen.

However, the Spurs are not the only team which is facing these kinds of questions while entering  training camp. All the other 29 NBA teams have their own issues and concerns. For now, the Spurs must be anxious and thrilled about what their new players could bring to the table.

For instance, is Splitter the real side kick that Tim Duncan has been waiting for? He was the best big man in Europe before he came over to San Antonio so it's safe to say he'd be fine. During the first day of training camp, Splitter already impressed and has shown that he can fit right in.

Anderson is already being hailed as another draft day steal and if he brings his prolific scoring in San Antonio how could we argue?

And what if Neal becomes an able replacement for Roger Mason Jr.? That would certainly make the Spurs a serious contender for the title this coming season.

But there's another thing, with the Spurs lineup getting younger will it be best for them to tweak their style of play particularly on offense? Should they try to run more? Here's a look on how they played in the previous seasons.

Based on these stats, it showed the Spurs have been always one of the slower paced teams in the NBA preferring half court sets and deliberate plays. It simply indicates the Spurs win when they dominate on defense while pace was hardly a factor.

But last season they already made some changes on their personnel and it dramatically altered their character.

They were ranked 20th on pace factor last year, which is their highest since their 2003 championship, used four more possessions per game and were seven spots higher than the 2008-2009 season. That meant change has already started last season and that trend might continue.

The change in offensive pace might be inevitable as most of the players are more adept at slashing to hoop and driving to the basket. Gone are the days when their role players were merely jump shooters. Hill, Richard Jefferson, Anderson, and Neal can all create their own shots.

Most of their big men are also quick enough to run on transition. Splitter runs the floor pretty hard, Duncan is not flat-footed either and ditto for Blair. This is not to say the Spurs should adapt the fast paced game like the run-and-gun Phoenix Suns. But a variation of half court sets, motion offense and transition offense might be in order for them to be more effective and efficient on the offensive side of the floor.

Doing so could make them harder to predict on offense as they can change the tempo of the game to their liking while trying to keep the opposing teams' defense off-balanced.

Nonetheless, in order for them to dictate the tempo of the game it has to start on defense. Every NBA title they've won since 2003, the Spurs where either 1st or 2nd in defensive efficiency.

They have to get back to being a dominant defensive squad to be able to impose their will on offense. A great defensive play could always lead to easy transition baskets if you have the proper personnel. Now the Spurs have the right players to do the job. It's up to them if they are willing to push up the tempo or not; but first they will have get better on defense.

What are your thoughts? Do the Spurs need to run more on offense?

(photos Express News)

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Kirk Penney had a fantastic performance at the 2010 World Championship playing for New Zealand. Now he is trying to prove to the San Antonio Spurs he can duplicate his performance and display more in training camp.

Here is what he had to say about his experience with the Spurs in training camp:

"It's really hard to know where you stand," said Penney who has been released by the NZ Breakers for one last tilt at his NBA dream. "I'm really looking forward to the games, and just want to be able to hang around long enough to play in them and show what I can do."

"There are a lot of variables involved, so all I'm trying to do is show what kind of player I am and just see where the cards fall after that," he said.

"That's all I can do." (source stuff.co.nz.com)

Penney averaged 24.7 points while shooting 45.8% from the field and 36.7% from the three-point line at the World Championship. He also finished second in scoring at the World Championship and averaged more points than Team USA's Kevin Durant. Not to mention he scored 37 points against Lithuania.

San Antonio Spurs' guard Tony Parker was interviewed by KTKR in San Antonio and spoke on his free agency, the Spurs chances this season, if he is staying in San Antonio, why the Spurs can win:

On how his free agency will play out:

“For me, it’s going to be very simple. I just want to focus on this season and we have a great opportunity with this team and I just want to stay focused on that. I can’t control you or anybody else in the media, can’t control what they’re going to say, and [if it's] going to go crazy inventing something that my wife said and she didn’t say. I can’t control all that. I’m just going to focus on my team.”

On whether he wants to stay:

“Of course, of course. I’ve said that plenty of times, but nobody’s listened to me. They don’t care, they just want to create stories. It sells better.” 

On whether he’d like to test the free agent market or would rather have a deal done now:

“We’ll see. We’ll see. We’ll see. We’ll see. For now, I just want to focus on the team and training camp starting tomorrow. I can’t control that. If the Spurs want to do something, I’ll be willing to listen, obviously. But we’ll see. It’s a long way. I’m going to use Manu [Ginobili] as an example. He went through it last year, and so we’ll see what happens.”

On why this is the last year the Spurs can win:

“I know people think I’m saying that because of my contract here, but I really feel like because of Timmy I’m saying that, not because of my contract. I’m saying that because of Timmy because then it’s going to be tough. It’s a long season and Timmy’s like 34, going to be 35. That’s why I felt like this is our last chance to win a championship. When Timmy’s gone, then it’s going to be really tough.”

Visit sportsradiointerviews.com for the complete interview.

Arianné is back for the latest Spanish edition of the Spurscast. In this episode, Arianne recaps the latest new on the San Antonio Spurs for the Spanish speaking Spurs fans.

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

Arianne regresa con el Spurscast en Español mas reciente con todos de las noticias de los Spurs.

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

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The Spurs announced that Tiago Splitter suffered an injury in camp today.

The San Antonio Spurs announced that today in practice Tiago Splitter suffered a strained right plantaris muscle. Splitter will undergo a seven-to-ten day rehabilitation program after which a timeline for his return will be determined.

For Spurs fans who have been anxious about seeing Splitter in the silver & black after three years of waiting, the wait continues.

Marcus Cousin, a 6-11 center out of the University of Houston, and James Gist will likely see more preseason playing time due to the injury.

In a move that isn't all too surprising, the Spurs waived guard Thomas Gardner today, three days into training camp.

Gardner, who was signed on September 27, becomes the first training camp invitee to get his walking papers.

The odds were stacked against the 6-5 guard coming into camp with several other guards. He was competing with Kirk Penney, Gary Neal and Garrett Temple for a roster spot.

If the Spurs and Austin Toros see enough potential in him, the Toros could pick him up as one of the three waived players they can assign to the D-League affiliate.

The San Antonio Spurs recently announced the hiring of Brad Jones as the new head coach for their D-League affiliate the Austin Toros. Jones spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Utah Flash and prior to joining the Flash he worked with the Utah Jazz as a regional scout.

Myself and Michael De Leon had a chance to speak with Jones to discuss the state of the Toros, his thoughts on getting hired as head coach of the Toros, thoughts on Alonzo Gee, working with the Spurs and much more.

For the full interview, listen to the audio below and don't forget to check out Toros Nation for more on the Austin Toros.

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Granted training camp has begun in the NBA but pretty soon these guys are going to have to actually begin playing some games so us bloggers have some material to write about. Until then, however, we are more than willing to speculate endlessly on the upcoming season - who will stand out, what to expect, how we stack up. Perhaps the most prominent figure in the eternal speculation is the San Antonio Spurs' most promising acquisition arguably since Tim Duncan:  yes, I am talking about Tiago Splitter.

We have looked at Splitter from many different angles in this off-season - what skills he will bring to the table, how will he compete with his counterpart big men, how he has performed in the World Championships and how that translates to the NBA.

Splitter will be joining some very talented individual players in the 2010-2011 NBA rookie class. This begs the question - does Tiago have what it takes to emerge as a Rookie of the Year candidate for the Spurs? This may raise another question in your mind as you are reading this - isn't it way too early to begin prognosticating end of the season awards?

Yes.

Am I going to do it anyway?

You bet.

First though, lets whet our palate with some history. Four out of the last five Rookie of the Year winners were guards. The NBA, after all, is a guard dominated league. They have also all averaged over thirty minutes per game in their inaugural seasons.  Immediately, Splitter is placed at a disadvantage. As a center, he clearly does not fit into the first category and, knowing Spurs coach Popovich as we do, I find it unlikely that Tiago will see more than thirty minutes per game as a rookie. Though I won't call it impossible, it is highly unlikely. These statistics only put Splitter at a disadvantage if he is competing against players who fit the profile better. That brings us to our next question - who will be Splitter's chief competition for the award?

Bleacher Report takes a look at what I believe to be the top four candidates in 2010-2011:  John Wall, Blake Griffin, Evan Turner, and DeMarcus Cousins. They quickly have eliminated Cousins based on the fact that a true "center" has not won the award since Shaq back in 1992 - a statistic working against our man Splitter as well.  Narrowing the field to Wall, Griffin, and Turner they have this to say:

John Wall has simply a better situation with the Wizards than Griffin and Turner have.  Nevertheless we can’t forget that Blake Griffin was the favorite last year.

John Wall has 50 percent chance of winning it, while Griffin has 20 percent and Turner 15 percent.

This seems like solid analysis. Wall is joining a Wizards team that lacks a leading scorer and will need him to perform immediately.  During his time with Kentucky, Wall has more than demonstrated his ability to be an effective scorer and was arguably the most talented player in the NCAA last season as a freshman. On a fully stacked Kentucky team, Wall averaged almost 17 points per game in 34 minutes of play. What can we expect on a much less talented team? At least as many minutes and even more opportunities to put points on the board. At this admittedly early point in the year, Wall is your odds-on favorite to emerge from the pack early and often this season.

Contrast Wall's opportunity with Splitter's. Tiago will be joining a Spurs team already contending for an NBA Championship without him.  He is coming to play for a coach that does not like to rush young talent. Anyone remember George Hill as a rookie? And even his head coach doesn't expect him to have a large impact in scoring - a big problem considering he will be the one drawing up the plays.  Pop recently said in regard to Tiago's offense, "He's a really, solid player who's going to have a great NBA career, but he's not going to lead us in scoring." 

For a Rookie of the Year candidate that is game, set, match.

Fret not Spurs fans. As we have said here on Project Spurs many, many times Splitter's success should not be measured in such terms.  He is not the next Duncan. I am utterly convinced that Splitter will make an immediate impact with the Spurs, but only as an effective role player. Perhaps down the line he will take his place amongst the top players in the NBA, but for now, set your expectations to "stun."  He won't be our Rookie of the Year, but he may just help to carry this team to another NBA Championship.

Trey Gilder, we hardly knew ye.

Last week it was reported the San Antonio Spurs had brought Gilder in for a workout, which led most to deduce he'd be joining the team for their 2010-11 training camp.

Not so much.

In what is at the very least coincidental and in the very likely correlation, the Spurs and Bobby Simmons are now in the courting phase.

Popovich and the Spurs have made no secret of their less-than-certain status behind Richard Jefferson at the small forward position. They've made no claims that they in fact know exactly how they plan to address the need and complete their roster's puzzle.

They're keeping an open mind and given the dearth of free-agent options, they're probably open to suggestion.

So it should come as no surprise what was believed to be a week ago, isn't the reality of today. Simmons simply wasn't on their radar, or at least wasn't believed to be attainable.

He is now.

Simmons didn't seek out the Spurs the way Keith Bogans did a year ago. He made the rounds and was actually working out for the Mavs about the same time Gilder was working out for the Spurs. But like so many things in life it doesn't matter how you get there, only that you do.

Simmons is "there," with the Spurs, so what now?

One of the D-League's first significant success stories, the NBA's 2004-05 Most Improved Player and eventual $46.4 million-dollar-man, Simmons comes with plenty of question marks.

As Mark Deeks of ShamSports puts it:

Simmons's career transition from "can do anything except shoot" to "can do nothing but shoot" is complete.

While simplistic and a bit tongue-in-cheek, the best humor's usually weighted in truth.

Deeks (Sham) isn't all that off-base.

Simmons has always had an ideal build for a small forward. He's over 6-7 in shoes, he's got a 7-foot wingspan, he's by no means frail ... he's nothing if not a quality piece of clay.

After being traded twice, waived and being drafted by the Mobile Revelers two years after entering the league, Simmons molded himself into a quality midrange player. Free-throw line extended and off the elbows, chances are you'd see a quality shot and not too many turnovers, either.

While the shooting is still likely there and the ability to take care of the ball likely remains, that "can do anything except shoot" seems a distant memory. Between surgeries, age and the affect playing on bad teams has on one's fundamentals, edge and focus, one has to wonder just how effective a player he still is.

Offensively, at this point, he could actually do quite well playing off a trio like the Big 3. He's not a player that's looking to create on his own, get to the free-throw line or make plays for others, he's a finisher -- so long as it's not at or above the rim. Give him a skip-pass, hit him in transition, find him on a kickout for a midrange jumper, off a rotating defense or just an in-rhythm 3, Simmons is a capable player -- it's not out of the realm he could actually look a better fit offensively than Jefferson at times. It's simply skill-set.

Prior to this past year, Simmons averaged 47.5% from the 3-point line's left corner on 137 attempts. He also managed to shoot 44.6% from the right corner during the 2008-09 season, which could bode well for him and the Spurs. It's no secret the small forward sees plenty of opportunities from the corners -- the spacing is partially dependent upon those opportunities and it's one of the reasons Jefferson's abandoning of the 3-point line during last year's playoffs really compromised the Spurs half-court offense; closer in proximity, easier to defend.

Defensively, Simmons and Jefferson are of a similar mold at this stage. At his best, Simmons is more adept at disrupting passing lanes and moving his feet than Jefferson, but he's in no way leaps and bounds a better defender. They're both physically strong and capable against players of similar stature but their effectiveness tends to depend upon the opposition, not necessarily the other way around.

Seeing as last year can't be used as any true barometer or gauge by which to judge the player Simmons has become, not when he was viewed as nothing more than an expiring contract and apart from their current youth movement, one can only look to the most recent play in order to get the best read possible.

In the last two seasons prior to last year (2007-08, 2008-09) Simmons has averaged:

• Games:    70.5
• Minutes:  23.05
• Points:       7.7
• FG%:       43.5
• 3P%:        39.9
• PER:        11.15

Somewhat amazingly, Simmons has only surpassed what's deemed to be the average player's PER mark, 15, in one season (2004-05).

The Spurs can't solely depend on Manu Ginobili and George Hill to provide all of their postseason 3-point shooting and given their other potential options are a rookie (Jame Anderson) and two veterans making the jump from overseas (Gary Neal and Kirk Penney), it couldn't hurt to have another option at their disposal.

However, Popovich is impressed with Simmons albeit it is just the beginning of training camp.

"Bobby has been impressive because he came without a guarantee," Popovich said. "He wanted to show that he's better than what the conventional wisdom is out there."

The risk is minimal, the reward isn't all that high. But if the best of what's left of Simmons comes to fruition, he'd be a nice addition.

Just not the final piece to the puzzle.