Manu prefers home court advantage in NBA Finals

Written by Quixem Ramirez on Jun 03, 2013 16:30.

The San Antonio Spurs have won four NBA titles in the last 14 years. One important common denominator of each title?

The Spurs have held home-court advantage in each series. The extra home game wasn't usually necessary-- they swept the Cavaliers; the Knicks were ousted in five games; New Jersey was dispatched in six games -- except for in 2005, when they tangled with the Pistons in a low-scoring seven-game series.

The Spurs escaped with a seven-point victory in Game 7. The home team won five of the seven games in the series by 18.2 points per game.

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Spurs Roundtable: Heat or Pacers? (Video)

Written by Jeff Garcia on Jun 03, 2013 15:00.

On this episode of the Project Spurs-News 4 San Antonio, Spurs Roundtable, Jeff Garcia, Jesse Blanchard and Paul Garcia discuss if the Pacers or Heat will be a more favorable matchup in the 2013 NBA Finals.

Jesse brings up how Miami could help Tim Duncan receive more attention if this is indeed if final shot at an NBA title, Paul talks why Indiana might be a better matchup while Jeff says "bring on the Heat."

All this and much more including a discussion of whether this is San Antonio's last shot at an NBA crown.

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NBA Draft: Mid-Major star Isaiah Canaan works out with Spurs

Written by Trevor Zickgraf on Jun 03, 2013 13:30.

The NBA Draft is just 24 days away and the San Antonio Spurs continue to work out players projected as late first round to mid second round picks. However, instead of bringing in another swingman, the Spurs worked out Murray State point guard Isaiah Canaan.

Charles Gardner of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel writes that Canaan paid a visit to the Spurs prior to working out with the Milwaukee Bucks. Canaan averaged 21.8 points per game in his senior season for the Racers on 43 percent shooting and 37 percent shooting from 3. That was a down year for Canaan, who shot 46 percent from 3 last year. He is two time reigning Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and second team All American last season. Technically he's a point guard, but only averaged 4.3 assists last year. He'd be a great shooting guard if he weren't 6'1".

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Splitter: Ginobili, Duncan helped my transition into NBA

Written by Jeff Garcia on Jun 03, 2013 12:00.

Entering the NBA, San Antonio Spurs' Tiago Splitter had lots of expectations to produce immediately, however, that did not happen.

It took a few season to get things going but this season Splitter has been putting up solid numbers and has vastly improved defensively and offensively. He has been running the pick-and-roll to near perfection and he is a critical cog in the Spurs' system but he might have not improved without the help and tutelage of his teammates Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan.

In an interview with Brazilian site Folha de S. Paulo, Tiago credits Ginobili and Duncan in helping him during his transition to the NBA and setting the example for him to follow.

"Ginobili helped me to adapt to the team. Ease I have to play with it. A guy who has a very good vision of the game," he said.

And there's Duncan who shares the paint with Splitter during battles on the court.

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Spurs Deserve More Respect

Written by Rey Moralde on Jun 03, 2013 10:30.

During the NBA Finals, Rey Moralde of The No Look Pass will be contributing to Project Spurs during the San Antonio Spurs' chase for title number five.

The San Antonio Spurs are getting a lot of rest. By the time they get to Game 1 of the NBA Finals, they would have a total of nine days off, which can

really only be good for the old bones (by NBA standards) of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and even Tony Parker.

What I don't get is when some people thought that the Spurs had an "easy path" to the NBA Finals.

We all know how tough the Western Conference is. But even with the awful injuries that happened, the Spurs didn't seem like overwhelming favorites in each of the rounds that they played. When the Kobe-less Lakers got into the playoffs as the seventh seed, some people thought that the Lakers could pull off the upset. But the Lakers were only deadly in name and they easily got wiped off the first round in a sweep as their inferior play showed and the injuries continued to mount.

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Dwight Howard 'hates' seeing Duncan's jersey

Written by Rey Moralde on Jun 02, 2013 12:29.

During the NBA Finals, Rey Moralde of The No Look Pass will be contributing to Project Spurs during the San Antonio Spurs' chase for title number

five.

Dwight Howard went on vacation early as he and the Los Angeles Lakers got eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs in a clean sweep and it seems the pain of losing to San Antonio is still on his mind.

He was recently interviewed by T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times for a Sunday column. Howard talked about the Lakers, getting movie opportunities, and working on his free throws.

Howard also talked about being eliminated in the postseason, which included a certain name drop.

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(Photo) Spurs' NBA Finals jersey looks good

Written by Jeff Garcia on Jun 01, 2013 17:49.

It may just be a small patch but it's something the San Antonio Spurs haven't had on their jersey in quite some time.

Manu Ginobili showed off a photo of the Spurs' jersey which bears the 2013 NBA Finals patch already sewn on. Now tell me that just isn't one beautiful sight to see.

Just five more days Spurs fans and final leg of the quest for title No. 5 will begin.

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Video: Parker on winning the title for Duncan

Written by Rey Moralde on Jun 01, 2013 15:00.

During the NBA Finals, Rey Moralde of The No Look Pass will be contributing to Project Spurs during the San Antonio Spurs' chase for title number five.

Tony Parker has been a different player these last few years. Even though Tim Duncan is still there, the San Antonio Spurs have really become more of Parker's team. They transitioned the offense into one that predicates ball movement instead of one that uses a lot of the post.

Parker has also become quite a leader. Duncan is in the twilight years of his career. And over the last few years, Parker has taken more of the load of the squad. So when Parker told Duncan last year that he'll help him get back to the Finals, I'm not surprised. Here's what Parker told Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports:

Duncan "remembered [the promise] and reminds me every time we passed a playoff round," Parker told Yahoo! Sports. "He said, 'We're going to ride you to the end.

"Timmy means a lot to me. I learned so much from him. From the first day I arrived in San Antonio he's always had my back. He's a very good friend, very close to me on the court and off the court."

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Video: Green, Ginobili, Joseph on trip to NBA Finals & more

Written by Jeff Garcia on Jun 01, 2013 13:30.

San Antonio Spurs' Danny Green, Manu Ginobili and Cory Joseph spoke to the media after a recent practice to talk, what else, the NBA Finals.

Green weighed in on the Pacers and Heat series and noted how physical the two teams are with one another and scouting the teams in anticipation of the Finals.

Ginobili spoke on making a return to the Finals after a long drought, and being appreciative of this postseason run. Manu went on to state the team isn't familiar too much with East teams and in particular how he has not face Miami this season. Interesting to note Manu said he would like to see Indiana advance simply for the Spurs to gain the home court advantage.

Joseph talked about how much the D-League experience helped him this season and how it is paying off in the playoffs and more.

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Miami or Indiana? Boris Diaw weighs in

Written by Jeff Garcia on Jun 01, 2013 11:30.

The San Antonio Spurs continue to wait patiently for things to be settled in the Eastern Conference Finals between the Heat and Pacers and fans and media are asking which team would the Spurs rather face.

Both teams present issues for the Spurs in the Finals and Boris Diaw weighed in.

In an interview with French site BasketSession.com, Diaw, who is making his first appearance in an NBA Finals, initially picked Miami but changed his mind and noted the Pacers present their issues as well in a seven-game series.

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