• Express News' Tim Griffin talks about Spurs' draft pick Ryan Richards' appearance today at the Spurs' shootaround:

It was a routine shootaround for the Spurs before their game Wednesday against Detroit with one noticeable exception.

Assembled media members were treated to a brief glimpse of 7-foot power forward Ryan Richards from England, who was drafted in the second round by the team in the 2010 draft and still has not signed with the team.

• ESPN.com says the San Antonio Spurs are continuously being slept-on despite their domination of the NBA this season:

The Spurs may be the next NBA champions, yet they garner less attention than less-successful organizations because they do it as a team. There's no flashy team nickname like The Heatles, no bravado and no tacky preseason championship-type celebrations. Just teamwork and wins.

Teamwork -- a foreign word in this era of squads led by superstar egos and talent. No one player on the Spurs is in the top five for individual statistics in the league. Yet, in the final seconds of a close game, the options are plentiful because the talent is there.

• Spurs.com talks to Steve Novak about how he became a Spur:

One moment a Bighorn, the next a San Antonio Spur. “I think,” Novak says, “I definitely won that day.” His wife, Christina, would agree. Now Christina and their 7-month-old son, Mack, are preparing to move from Milwaukee to San Antonio.

• Spurs fans meet and greet George Hill and DeJuan Blair:

• Former Spurs player Carl Hererra has some legal woes:

A former San Antonio Spurs basketball player pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal misdemeanor and was sentenced to a year of probation, putting an end to years of wrangling over his tax case.

Carl V. Herrera, 44, quietly told Senior U.S. District Judge W. Royal Furgeson that he was glad to put the matter behind him.

A federal jury convicted Herrera of felony tax evasion in a 2007 trial after the Internal Revenue Service alleged he owed more than $550,000 in back taxes for 1994 through 1997.

But Furgeson threw out the conviction because he didn't think Herrera willfully did it. (Express News)

• TheSpoof.com says Los Angeles Lakers' Ron Artest and Spurs fan "Coffee" Bob will make a Starbucks commercial together.

Hit the jump to read about how you can win free tickets to an upcoming Spurs game, Detroit Pistons head coach recalling the 2005 NBA Finals, a member of the Spurs remembers a tornado, Popovich on Hornets coach Monty williams, and more.

Recently, the city of San Antonio was announced as the host city of the WNBA All-Star game this coming July but the San Antonio Spurs want the NBA All-Star game to return to the Alamo City.

Back in 1996, San Antonio had the privilege to host the NBA All-Star weekend but since then, the NBA has not given San Antonio a chance to host another.

However, Spurs Sports & Entertainment has reached out to the NBA about their continued interest in hosting another All-Star weekend in San Antonio:

Spurs Sports & Entertainment President Rick Pych says the organization has shared with league officials its continued interest in hosting another NBA All-Star Game in San Antonio.

But he says the only way it makes sense for the Alamo City to host the event a second time is if the game is staged the same place it was played in 1996 — in the Alamodome.

“We do have an interest in bringing the game back to San Antonio,” Pych says. “And we have talked to the league about it. But we would want to have it at the Alamodome.”

Having it in San Antonio's Alamodome does make sense. It has a larger seating capacity, in downtown San Antonio, close to major attractions and hotels, and will provide more opportunity for fans to attend at a lower ticket price.

If the NBA All-Star game can be held at the new Cowboys Stadium, why not the Alamodome?

Next year Orlando will be the host city. Let's just hope after the All-Star game is over, Spurs fans will hear the news it's returning to San Antonio.

Note: Travis Atkins, staff-writer at Project Spurs' affiliate site Toros Nation covering the San Antonio Spurs' D-League affiliate Austin Toros, recently did an in-depth interview with Toros guard Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson. In this interview, Johnson talks about growing up in a neighborhood where violence was common, never giving up on his dreams, suffering through Hurricane Katrina, and more.

By Travis Atkins, Toros Nation
Austin Toros point guard Carldell “Squeaky” Johnson is in his fourth year with the team, a rarity in a league where rosters change from day-to-day. Since his first year in 2007, Johnson has seen dozens of teammates come and go, some to the NBA, some to other professional teams and some just out of basketball.

Johnson has fallen into the category of a good player that everyone likes and is a team leader, but has never been able to break into the NBA. For Squeaky, whose road to Austin was long and rocky, playing for the Toros has not been a minor league struggle, but a dream realized.

“I never actually thought that I would be the guy that would be on the pedestal,” Johnson said. “Going to the NBA wasn’t the ultimate goal for me. For me it’s being successful and not doing things that my father wouldn’t agree of. With that being said, yeah I’ve made it and for me to continue playing basketball without actually thinking it’s a job or getting a job, I’m making it.”

Squeaky is having his best season yet with the Toros, averaging a career high in minutes (34.5), points (12.3) and assists (6.5). Overall, Johnson has enjoyed his time in Austin.

“It’s been great man,” Johnson said. “It’s been a lot of ups and downs. I went from starting, to being a role player, to a guy that was just supporting the team in different ways. Now I got the job of starting and being part of the team and I’m excited about it.”

Johnson wants to keep playing basketball as long as possible and said he would love to be back with the Toros for a fifth season. If that doesn’t work out, he would be fine with playing somewhere overseas. 

Squeaky, who was given his nickname by his aunt after a character from Laverne and Shirley (Squiggy), has had some stability the last four years as a member of the Toros, something he has not always had. Johnson was a senior star point guard at the University of Alabama-Birmingham in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit his hometown of New Orleans.

Click HERE for the complete article at Toros Nation.

On this episode of the Spurscast, we discuss the week that was for the San Antonio Spurs. What we liked, and didn't like from the Spurs in the past few games. We also talk other Spurs news.

In the second half of the show, we dive right into the main topic: Are there any lingering concerns from the Spurs loss to the Lakers? We go over the pros and cons of the loss to the Lakers, what this might mean down the road for the Spurs, and much more.

The Spurscast. The first and original San Antonio Spurs podcast.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The San Antonio Spurs will be facing the Detroit Pistons tonight and Spurs' Antonio McDyess says Tim Duncan will be ready to have a bounce-back game after his less-than-stellar performance against the Los Angeles Lakers where he finished the game with two points, seven rebounds, 1-7 shooting in 23 minutes.

(video woai.com)

After their first home loss in more than three months, the San Antonio Spurs will try to get back to their winning ways and sweep the season series against the Detroit Pistons tonight at the AT&T Center.

San Antonio (51-12) has used a 29-3 home record to help build a four game lead over Boston in the entire NBA. Their 22 straight home victories came to an end with a 99-83 loss to the defending champion Los Angeles last Sunday.

Tim Duncan was held to only two points and 1-of-7 shooting for the second time this season against the Lakers. 

Rookie Greg Monroe is averaging 15.4 points and 10.3 rebounds while shooting 59.1 percent over his last eight games with the Pistons. He had 12 points and seven boards Sunday night, and was one of seven players to score in double figures for Detroit (23-41) in a 113-102 win over the Washington Wizards.

Tayshaun Prince returned from a four game absence due to back problems and scored 20 points while Rodney Stuckey had 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Duncan had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Monroe scored 14 and grabbed 13 boards in San Antonio's 100-89 road win on February 8 at Detroit. 

Hit the jump to find out the keys to the game for the Spurs and Pistons, and which team wins this game.

• San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan had this to say about Los Angeles Lakers' Andrew Bynum and how he disrupted the Spurs' offense in the loss to the Lakers:

“He bothered a lot of people in the lane,” Duncan said, “and just his size was definitely the difference.” (nba.com)

• The Spurs are regrouping after the huge loss to the Lakers:

• With Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love is racking up the double-doubles this season, Spurs' Tim Duncan ranks among the top 12 players all-time in career double-doubles:

Of the top 12 all-time double-double leaders (points-rebounds), according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Wilt Chamberlain stands alone at 966. Malone is next at 894 and Elvis Hayes had 890. The only active player on the list is San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan with 704, one behind Charles Barkley. (espn.com)

• Austin Toros' Marcus Cousin has been called up to the Utah Jazz, and added two new players. Read all about this at Toros Nation.

• Speaking of the Toros, check out this great article about the Toros' new home, the Cedar Park Center at Toros Nation.

• Spurs' Gary Neal suffered concussion-like symptoms recently and the NBA is taking steps to prevent this injury to its players:

According to STATS LLC data reviewed by the AP, eight NBA players have missed games this season because of head injuries, concussions or concussion-like symptoms and there's been an average of nine players per season who've missed playing time over the previous five years.

Besides Paul, Miami's Mike Miller, San Antonio's Gary Neal, Phoenix's Vince Carter and New Jersey's Anthony Morrow and Damion James all have dealt with blows to the head since Feb. 15. (nba.com)

Hit the jump to read about how you can win free tickets to a Spurs game this month, what Neal's former coach at Towson said about him, the Spurs falling out of the number one spot in NBA rankings, and more.

It seems like just months ago the San Antonio Spurs were on top of the Western Conference with a 10-game lead. That number has now slipped to five with 19 left in the regular season. So how exactly do those remaining 19 games fare for the Silver and Black? Well, for starters, 10 of them are on the road, where the Spurs are 22-9 this season, with nine at home.

San Antonio has only lost three at the AT&T Center and four of their final nine home games will be against above .500 teams. Out of those 10 on the road, nine are against above .500 teams, which the Spurs are 27-11 against. It’s probably fair to say the Spurs will win most if not all but a couple of their remaining home games.

The road is where San Antonio may have some trouble. With trips to Houston, Miami and Dallas scheduled in a span of seven days, to open their last 10 road trips, things could get a little rough. Let’s not also forget there are six back-to-backs in those final 19. In the Spurs’ previous 12 back-to-backs, they swept six times and were either swept or split the other six.

Then, there’s also the issue of facing teams fighting to either hold their playoff spot or earn a postseason berth. So many scenarios, so little time and so much that could happen. To make things easier, let’s go ahead and break down the final 19 and predict how the Spurs will finish the year. Each opponent’s current record is in parenthesis.

• vs. Detroit (23-41), 8:30 p.m. on March 9

The Pistons have barely shown up for practice, and I’ll be surprised if they show up for this game, figuratively speaking of course.

• vs. Sacramento (15-46), 7:30 p.m. on March 11 and 7:30 p.m. on April 6

No way the Spurs lose to the second worst team in the West. There’s just no way.

• at Houston (33-32), 7:30 p.m. on March 12 and 7:30 p.m. on April 1

Check out this video from this past weekend where San Antonio Spurs guard George Hill spoke to the youth of San Antonio on choices and consequences in life.

Afterwards, he fielded questions from Spurs fans on beating the Miami Heat, taking pressure shots, life lessons he learned from head coach Gregg Popovich, what he learned from Spurs' assistant coach Jacque Vaughn, having game ticket scavenger hunts for Spurs fans, and more.

On Thursday, it will have been two weeks since the NBA trade deadline passed. The San Antonio Spurs still stand a top the league with the best record at 51-12. After witnessing the Los Angeles Lakers and Andrew Bynum take full advantage of the Spurs in the paint Sunday afternoon, keeping in mind the team made no moves at the trade deadline, one has to wonder if the questions about the Spurs lacking size in the frontline will hurt them down the stretch and in the playoffs? 

I’m hear to ask the question: How does the Spurs' frontline compare with the other playoff teams? 

The Spurs frontline consists of Tim Duncan (6'11), DeJuan Blair (6'7), Matt Bonner (6'10), Antonio McDyess (6'9) and rookie Tiago Splitter (6'11). That’s five players deep, and not one of them is seven feet tall.

I’ve compiled several playoff teams from both conferences to see which team depends on their front line the most and who may have the greatest advantage in the paint. This will help to determine where the Spurs frontline is and what to expect from them in the playoffs.

I’m focusing on a few statistics: How much does each team depend on their frontline for offensive production? What is the amount of rebounds per game each frontline will grab? What is the frontline's amount of blocks per game? Where does the team rank defensively regarding these 13 teams chosen?

For the offensive percentage statistic, I calculated it in this manner: Frontline points per game divided by total points per game, the percentage that was left is what I call “Percentage of teams offense”. For the rebounding percentage, I calculated frontline rebounds per game divided by overall rebounds per game. I called this "Percentage of team rebounds." 

All stats are used as of March 7, 2011.  

If you don't want to read every individual statistic, I suggest you pay attention to "percentage of offense, rebounding, and ranked defensive position." The summaries beneath each team will explain potential matchups for the Spurs. 

Current Western Conference Playoff Teams