San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker kicked of the first day of EuroCup with a 87-78 win over fellow Frenchman and San Antonio Spurs draftee Nando De Colo and Valencia.

Asvel went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter to take a 28 to 17 lead and at the half were up 34 to 27.

DeColo and Valencia got as close as two points before Parker hit two three-pointers to push ahead. Asvel needed Parker's fourth quarter heroics to pull ahead for good late in the game after the teams stayed close throughout the game.

Parker's defender had his work cut out for him as Parker showed off a very versatile offensive game scoring from the outside and getting to the basket easily on his way to 34 points.

Knicks center Ronny Turiaf added 12 points off several Parker assists.

De Colo struggled throughout the game and finished with just seven points in Valencia's loss.

Parker and Asvel will play their next game in the first round of Eurocup against Lukoil Academic, while De Colo and Valencia look for their first win against BC Oostende.

As we reported here, Spanish team Unicaja Malaga has been interested in signing San Antonio Spurs' Tiago Splitter for the duration of the NBA lockout and reportedly offered him a huge amount of money.

According to solobasket.com, Splitter will sign with Unicaja for the duration of the NBA lockout.

Gradually, the movement has taken shape that has been brewing in recent weeks: Tiago Splitter will play for Unicaja until the end of the NBA lockout.

Poco a poco ha tomado forma el movimiento que se ha ido gestando en las últimas semanas: Tiago Splitter será jugador de Unicaja hasta el final del cierre patronal de la NBA .

The report went on to state the on-going lockout hastened Splitter to make the decision to play with Unicaja and the reason, given by the report, why he declined to return to his former team Caja Labroal was because he did not agree with coach Dusko Ivanovic's methods.

If the report is true, then this would mean Splitter has went back on his statement that he would not play for any team during the lockout and instead rest up and heal nagging injuries. However, with no end in sight for this NBA labor impasse, perhaps it is wise for Tiago to get time on the court and be ready if and when the NBA returns.

The news also shouldn't come to a huge shock. As we reported, Splitter's Brazilian national team coach Ruben Magnano did state Splitter was leaning towards signing with Unicaja.

But it will be interesting if true. Aside from Unicaja, reportedly there are other teams such as Milano, Valencia and other European teams which are in the hunt for Splitter's services.

What do you have to say Spurs fans? If the report is true, how do you feel about Splitter playing during the lockout?

While the NBA lockout raged into nuclear winter yesterday, arguably the league's best player was in London on a promotional tour.

While there, our friends at HoopsFix.com got a few minutes to chat with Maimi Heat's LeBron James about a hypothetical one-on-one game between he and Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant. LeBron was asked who would win in said match up and before saying he would always take himself in a game of one-on-one, he said it will never happen because basketball is a team sport. Check out the video.

I loved 90% of this answer. The last sentence was awfully crass, though. But at the same time I still liked this response. It showed self confidence but it also showed an understanding of something larger than oneself.

Kobe had a very different version of how it would work. Kobe said one-on-one is what he does, but added that LeBron is more of a Magic Johnson type of player.

LeBron's right, it'll never happen unless they decide to mess around during practice for the 2012 Olympics. Hopefully someone has a camera handy in case that does happen!

On this special episode of the Spurscast, Jeff and I talk about what exactly could come from the players rejecting the last deal and disbanding from the union.

Aside from a very high possibility of the 2011-12 season being cancelled, we talk about the ripple effect, which probably means more San Antonio Spurs players will be heading overseas.

We also talk about losing one of Tim Duncan's final seasons, the Spurs' chances at winning a championship looking even slimmer as another year goes by and what the loss would mean to team staff, gameday staff and local business.



Song: "Sad but true" Metallica

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OK so the NBA lockout is going to last a "tad" longer and may axe the entire 2011-2012 NBA season but that doesn't mean we can't take a stroll down San Antonio Spurs memory lane.

Case in point, former Spurs guard Derek Anderson crushing former Seattle Supersonic Vin Baker on his way to the rim during his first season in San Antonio.

Check out this March 2001 video of Anderson deciding it was a good idea to remind Baker he should not have gotten in his way.

As we recently reported, San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker was voted by the fans MVP of the month of October for his play with French club ASVEL-Villeubanne.

Parker averaged 19.3 points, 51.2% field-goal shooting, 4.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.3 steals during October.

"Thanks a lot !!!! Trophée du jour du mois d'octobre. Merci beaucoup!!!!" said Tony.

Check out Parker receiving his award. Congratulations Tony. Now just make sure you stay healthy for whenever the NBA returns.

Tony Parker on WhoSay

It was the news no San Antonio Spurs fan let alone any NBA fan wanted to hear. The players rejected the owners latest offer, looking to decertify the union, and take this labor impasse to court.

It all but means the nail in the proverbial coffin for the 2011-2012 NBA season.

But while many fans and players have shown their angst, Manu Ginobili is just simply waiting this out and hoping for word an agreement has been reached.

"One day they say one thing, that they are close and the next day that negotiations are broken. We are just waiting for them to say 'We've found an agreement and we start.'"

At this point that's all anyone can hope for but Manu has been maximizing his extra time away from the court. He has been training (which should be to the delight of the Spurs coaching staff seeing how they cannot contact him during this lockout) and has been catching up on Argentina's Liga Nacional.

"I saw the league doing very well," Ginobili said.

"It's improving year by year.

"Training with Estudiantes is great for me and I think I help them.

"I'm taking advantage of the chance that I haven't had for a long time, which is to see the league."

I'm sure Spurs fans are happy to know he has just been training during this lockout mess but as Manu has stated before, the possibility of playing with another team still weighs on his mind.

• Boston.com hopes the Boston Celtics can pull a page out of the San Antonio Spurs' play book and win an title with an aging core and in particular how a shortened season can help Boston like the lockout did for the 1999 Spurs.

• Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich chats with a participant at this past Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon in San Antonio.

• Is this Spurs' Tony Parker new squeeze he took to the BNP Paribas' Tennis Masters Final?

• Manu Ginobili spoke on the progress of a new stadium being proposed in Argentina and talked about his kids.

• Express News' Tim Griffin gives a healthy scoop of NBA player's Twitter reactions to today's news the lockout might have ended the NBA season.

Native Texan and current wide receiver for the University of Utah Dexter Ransom grew up playing basketball and a variety of other sports before making football his sport of choice.

But growing up in Sanguin, Texas like most people in Texas, he was a huge San Antonio Spurs fan and like many young Texas boys, aspired to one day put on the silver and black uniform.

Like many boys in his community, Ransom aspired to play one day in the NBA for the San Antonio Spurs.

“I have played sports my entire life, but when I was younger I loved basketball,” Ransom recalled. “I started playing basketball when I was really little, and then picked up baseball.

Many boys in Texas and perhaps the globe share Ransom's dream of playing in the NBA and with the Spurs. I know I did. 

And although Ransom decided on football, I am sure the Spurs are still his favorite NBA team even though he is miles away from Texas.

However, with the NBA season on the edge of being canceled, perhaps Ransom made a wise decision to put on the pads instead of lacing up his sneakers.

Has the latest NBA lockout news have you bummed out? Does the thought of losing an entire NBA season just bringing you down? Well how about a classic George "Iceman" Gervin Nike commercial to get your mind off things for a bit.

Check out this video and see the San Antonio Spurs legend show off his dribbling skills, and do a leg pass to the next player. Gervin can be seen at the 0:35-0:37 mark in the clip, so keep your eyes open.

This video really shows the skills the Iceman possessed even at an older age. I can't even imagine what it was like to have to guard him on the court when he was in his 20's and making his mark on the NBA.

For comedy purposes, you can see a more "slimmed" version of Cleveland Cavaliers' Baron Davis before he was sent to the Clippers were he was introduced to a whole new style of culinary living.

One last funny clip the video possesses is Phoenix Suns' Vince Carter doing some dribbling moves as well. Don't worry Carter fans, he doesn't all of a sudden get injured and lay on the floor for about 20 minutes like he usually does in an NBA game.