Because of general manager Sam Presti's ties to the San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City 
Thunder have often been compared to the four-time NBA champs. But it's not just the media and the blogosphere that is making that comparison.
Darnell Mayberry, Thunder beat writer for the Oklahoman, tweeted recently that ESPN's JA Adande asked All-World forward Kevin Durant what duo he wants he and guard Russell Westbrook to resemble most and Durant replied he wants them to be like a famous Spurs duo.
"ESPN's @jadande(J.A. Adande) asked KD which great duo in the history of the game he hopes to be like. Durant said Tony Parker and Tim Duncan."
My only issue with this statement is that he didn't say "I want me, Russ and James Harden to be like Duncan, Parker and Ginobili". Otherwise, this is a great response from Durant. Had he said Jordan and Pippen it would've just started some ridiculous Jordan-Durant debate. He's a bit young for a Magic-Kareem reference and let's all thank whatever lord we pray to that he didn't mention those two four letter words. You know, Kobe and Shaq.
I hope Durant, Westbrook and Harden get a title or two, but I also hope the Spurs get a chance to send them home once in the playoffs. By the way, the Spurs and Thunder square off this Saturday at the AT&T Center, right before they start the Rodeo Road Trip.
Briefing Session
The San Antonio Spurs (14-9) return to action tonight on the second night of a back-to-back after overcoming a Houston Rockets 18-point lead to win 99-91 after Tim Duncan’s 25 points and 31 minutes on Wednesday. Tonight will be the Spurs’ fourth game in five nights, and that could mean Duncan may not play any minutes tonight.
In their first meeting of the season on January 23, the Spurs barely defeated the Hornets 104-102 in New Orleans behind a season high 28-points from Duncan, and a career high 17-assists from Tony Parker.
The Hornets arrive in San Antonio from a 17-point thrashing at the hands of the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. The Spurs are 11-1 at home, so New Orleans’ chances of stopping their own three game losing streak doesn't fare well.
Case No. 24: New Orleans Hornets
Record: 4-18. Road: 2-7. Last 10 games: 1-9
Commendable areas for the Hornets
Offensive boarding: The Hornets are ranked 9th in the NBA in offensive rebounding as the team grabs 11.7 offensive boards per game. The Spurs saw how tough it is to close out an opponent as the Rockets out-rebounded them on the offensive end12-to-8 for 17-second chance points Wednesday.
Defense: The Hornets are still playing solid defense by holding their opponents to 93.4 points per game which is ranked 9th in the league. It’s a shame the Hornets’ lack of offense is what’s held them to only four wins.
Deficient areas for the Hornets no comments
For all the San Antonio Spurs fans who are already picturing New Orleans Hornets center 
“Sports Illustrated reported the Rockets have had extensive discussions with the Hornets about Kaman and appear to be in the lead to trade for him.
SI also reported, while the pieces are still being discussed, the Rockets offer has involved center
Oh and there is also news the Indiana Pacers are looking to snag the big man and are reported to be another leading candidate for a trade with the Hornets.
A league source said Wednesday night that the Indiana Pacers, one of several other teams reportedly in the mix for Kaman, could, in fact, be the leading candidate for a swap.
Now it may not be time to panic yet, Spurs fans. There are some league sources that are saying that this isn’t true, and the Rockets are nowhere near close to signing Kaman, but I’m not sure who to trust on this one. Any deal with the Hornets seems to be shrouded in conspiracy these days, so you really never know what to expect.
One thing is for sure though, if the Spurs want to land Kaman, they’re going to have to come up with a deal soon. Project Spurs’ Trevor Zickgraf has already come up with a few options, it may be time to start seriously considering those and find out what the Spurs really need.
no commentsThough it’s a condensed season, I have the privilege of covering the San Antonio Spurs’ home 
games here at Project Spurs.
While attending home games, I began to notice themes game-by-game. One theme I’ve noticed is the chemistry between two former European players currently producing with the pick-and-roll on offense for the Spurs -- Tony Parker and Tiago Splitter.
When Parker and Splitter run the pick-and-roll together, its become more and more consistent that something positive is going to be the outcome of the play. Either Parker will hit the outside jumper as two defenders trail Splitter on the roll, or Parker will wait just long enough to get Splitter the ball in the right spot at the right time.
Though Splitter played just 17 minutes in the Spurs’ win on Wednesday against the Rockets, I noticed that he and Parker were most productive when playing on the floor at the same time.
I spoke with Parker after the game about the chemistry he and Splitter have running the pick-and-roll, he definitely agreed there is something working there.
“I love playing pick-and-roll with Tiago,” said Parker, “for whatever reason, when he rolls, he’s always in a great spot. It’s like I always find him, and I just like playing with him.”
Parker, who spent time in Europe before coming to the NBA, said the connection between him and Splitter derives from their roots in Europe.
“I guess it’s like the European connection, I know he’s from Brazil but he’s been playing in Europe forever.” said Parker, “When he was 13, he was in Spain so he played in Europe for so long, so I guess we play the pick-and-roll pretty well together.”
Here’s a breakdown of how well Parker and Splitter play in the pick-and-roll. Their minutes together definitely show the progress. no comments
While San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan may no longer be the centerpiece to the Spurs
offense, he was able to play Captain Comeback tonight in leading the Spurs past the Rockets 99-91.
Duncan didn't act alone though, and If he was going to pair with anyone to dig the Spurs out of their first half rut, it would be a player he has won three NBA Championships with - Tony Parker.
"Tim and Tony did a great job of leafing the way for the whole group," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I thought that everybody else followed. They never gave in because Timmy and Tony didn't allow them to."
The Rockets got off to a blazing start in the first quarter with a 13-3 run in the first four minutes of the quarter.
The Spurs were down 8-20 when the second unit started coming in. Danny Green and Tiago Splitter checked in with 5:20 left in the quarter, and Gary Neal and Matt Bonner soon followed, leading the Spurs on a 11-6 run to pull within ten points.
But when the quarter ended, Rockets guard Kevin Martin alone scored only three points less than the entire Spurs team.
While the Spurs did their best to guard Martin in the second quarter, he still scored eight points, with Courtney Lee chipping in as well. no comments
Entering tonight's San Antonio Spurs vs. Houston Rockets game, which tips off in about 30 minutes, there's not much these teams don't know about each other.
If it wasn't enough that they share the me state and Interstate 10, tonight's game will be the sixth time these teams have seen each other, including two preseason games.
"Well as far as we don't have to play them again," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "If we play them ten more times, we'd get even more recall."
While Houston is 2-1 in the regular season series, this is hardly a cake walk for the Rockets, backup point guard and former Spurs draft pick Goran Dragic said before the game.
"They've had some good games and it's tough to play against San Antonio," Dragic said. "They are a very good team, especially their home games are very tough for us."
Dragic also noted that he was one of many that expected the Spurs to go downhill quick once Manu Ginobili was injured.
"I thought they were really going to struggle after Manu got hurt but they are a great team," he said. "A few new guys stepped up, especially (Kawhi) Leonard and (Danny) Green,"
Leonard and Green will have to step up again tonight as they have another tough task ahead, guarding Rockets guard Kevin Martin, who currently leads the Rockets with 20.5 points per game.
no commentsThe San Antonio Spurs (13-9) will host the Houston Rockets (12-9) tonight in the AT&T Center 
which will mark the last time these two Texas teams will face off this season. The Rockets hold the season series lead at 2-1, and the Spurs need to get the win to tie up the series especially if these two team meet in the playoffs.
For a full preview of this game, check out Project Spurs' Paul Garcia's in-depth preview but as these two teams get ready to tussle, here are five things to keep an eye on during the game.
- Spurs pour in the points against the Rockets. Houston has allowed the Spurs to score over 100 points in nine of their last 10 meetings.
- There's no place like home for the Spurs against the Rockets. Houston has lost in 31 of the past 37 visits to San Antonio.
- Spurs seriously need to keep Samuel Dalembert off the glass. Dalembert grabbed 31 offensive rebounds over a five-game stretch from 1/13/12 to 1/19/12.
- Let's keep it a high-scoring game tonight Spurs. Houston is 5-0 when opponents score less than 90 points.
- The Rockets sure do like to score in the paint. Houston scored 50 points in the paint in four consecutive games this season from 1/11/12 to 1/16/12.
It was less than a year ago the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki especially were on top of the
world. They knocked off the Miami Heat, exercising every demon both the franchise and Dirk himself ever had. Now is the reigning Finals MVP ready to retire?
Not quite, but Dirk does have an idea of how much longer he wants his career to play out.
Enrico Cellini with Ballin' Europe pulled some quotes from Dirk's recent interview with "La Gazzetta" and in that interview the big German said he's going to play out his current contract and make a decision from there.
“I’ll play for at least two more years. Afterward, I’d like to stay in the basketball world. I see myself as a teacher to the kids, but I still don’t know if I’ll do it here in Texas or in Germany,” Nowitzki said.
Here's the positive San Antonio Spurs fans. You only have watch Dirk's unstoppable fade-away for probably a couple more seasons. The bad news is you'll probably only get another season or two of Tim Duncan.
Here's my question for Spurs fans. Once Duncan and Dirk both retire, who is more likely to rebuild faster, Dallas or San Antonio?
It’s been almost a month since Manu Ginobili broke his hand. Since then, the San Antonio Spurs have been playing admirably, sitting at 13-9, and a game behind
This is some great news for Spurs fans. Manu is still probably a couple weeks away from returning though. Hopefully he’ll be back to full speed around the middle of the month. His original timetable was around 6 weeks. That would put his return at around February 13th. The Spurs are hoping Manu can come back during the 9-game Rodeo Road Trip, which would be huge considering all the struggles the Spurs have had on the road (3-8).
Even if he is able to finally use the left hand, since it is his shooting hand, it may take some extra time to get back to full strength. But we all know Manu is an extremely hard worker, and he’ll get himself ready to go as soon as he possibly can.
no commentsAccording to Yahoo! Sports, free agent forward Kenyon Martin will make his decision on which 
team he will join by this weekend and one of those teams interested in his services is the San Antonio Spurs.
However, the Spurs do have competing teams looking to add K-Mart. The Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, and Los Angeles Lakers all have reportedly shown interest in the free agent big man who played with Xinjiang Gyang Hui of the Chinese Basketball Association during the recent NBA lockout. But due to CBA rules, he cannot play for an NBA team until the CBA season is over which could be later this month.
“He’s a veteran guy who knows how to win at a high level and in a playoff environment,” one NBA general manager said. “He also plays multiple positions. If you get him to a situation where he can be an Antonio McDyess-type of guy, that’s a heck of a guy to add to your roster.”
The Spurs do have a need in the front court and adding K-Mart would help address interior defense and not to mention add a bit of intensity on the court for San Antonio. Though he may be undersized, he can defendmultiple-positions. Adding him alongside Tim Duncan would be effective and also bolster the Spurs size off the bench by bringing in DeJuan Blair.
Also keep in mind, there are reports the Spurs are interested in adding Chris Kaman, who, in my opinion, would be the preferred addition over Martin.
What do you have to say Spurs fans?
