San Antonio Spurs fans know what happened between Houston Rockets' Luis Scola and the Spurs.

In sum, after being drafted by San Antonio in 2002, the Spurs could not get him to join the squad and the Spurs would eventually trade him to the their inter-divisional rival Rockets where he has become a great player in the NBA.

Now some Spurs fans still wonder what could have been.

Before the Spurs-Rockets game this past Saturday, I had a chance to speak with Scola where he spoke on the Spurs best record, Tim Duncan and more. To read part one of this interview click HERE.

Jeff: The Spurs own the best record in the league. Did you expect this coming from San Antonio?

Luis: To be honest I didn't expect this, that they would be this good at this point of the season. After I saw them play, it makes perfect sense.

During the summer at the FIBA World Championship you played phenomenally. Are you worried about fatigue setting in for you as the season progresses?

No I think it helped me.

Manu Ginobili did not get voted into the All-Star game by the fans. Does he deserve a spot on the Western Conference bench even though other guards in the West are just as deserving?

Oh yeah no question! There's a lot of great players in the West but he deserves it. I think he will go.

You battled against Tim Duncan since you came into the NBA and now that he is nearing the end of his career, have you noticed any decline in his game out on the court?

I'm such a big fan of Tim Duncan. I'll never say he is playing worse or declining in his career. I just think he is just dangerous and he's just a great player. He's maybe not getting the same numbers as before but I think he still has the ability to do it if he wants to.

• The San Antonio Spurs Western Conference rival Los Angeles Lakers seem to struggle against the elite in the NBA which includes the Spurs:

They are 0-2 against the top three teams in the West other than themselves, losing against the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks.

"We're not playing very well against these top teams," said Kobe Bryant after scoring 41 points in the losing effort against Boston. "So we need to elevate our level and we need to get better, if we're to defend our throne."

At 33-15, the Lakers trail the Spurs by 7½ games for the No. 1 seed in the West. Los Angeles has the fifth best record overall, behind San Antonio, Boston, Chicago and Miami. (source espn.com)

• Express News' Tim Griffin reports on how ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" discussed the Spurs.

• Spurs' Tiago Splitter will be the new pitch-man for Ford:

Northside Ford has hired Splitter to be its first celebrity spokesperson.

Splitter, who was named MVP of the Spanish League last season while playing for Caja Laboral Vitoria, will appear in a series of television commercials for the San Antonio auto dealership. (source bizjournals.com)

• Former Spur Michael Pitts was honored as his jersey number 44 was retired:

As Sweetwater’s basketball program looks to move forward this season, current players got a taste of past Red Devils success on Saturday night. At halftime of the Red Devils’ 62-53 loss against Morse, the school retired the No. 44 jersey of Michael Pitts, the 1979 CIF Player of the Year.

Pitts played collegiately at California and was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in the 1984 NBA Draft. He tried out for the Spurs twice unsuccessfully before playing in France and Spain for three years. (source sandiegoreader.com)

• According to the Star-Telegram, The Texas Rangers took time to visit a San Antonio hospital but the Spurs are quite difficult to make a visit:

Stop No. 2: Audie L. Murphy Memorial Hospital (Hunter, Hawkins, Loux, Nadel) The four toured the veteran's hospital, walking in rooms and visiting patients. There is a mural with the Rangers logo on the wall, and the team was lauded for making the trip, with an official saying they can't even get the San Antonio Spurs to visit the San Antonio hospital.

• Former Spurs center Christian Welp will be inducted into the Olympic High School Hall of Fame - his high school Alma Mater.

After defeating the Houston Rockets last night, the San Antonio Spurs (40-7) will embark on their annual Rodeo Road Trip on Tuesday against the Portland Trailblazers. Here is what Spurs' Manu Ginobili had to say about the upcoming road trip.

(video woai.com)

The Spurs picked up win number 40 on the season and their third consecutive win, beating the Houston Rockets 108-98 on Saturday night.

The Spurs played from behind for most of the first quarter until they went on a 7-0 run with three minutes remaining to close the gap, ending the quarter down one, 25-26.

In the second quarter, they went on an 11-0 run, led by two DeJuan Blair dunks and a three-pointer by Manu Ginobili, one of only two three-pointers made by the Spurs in the first half.

The Spurs closed out the first half up 53-51. Tony Parker had 14 points, while Manu Ginobili and DeJuan Blair had 10 apiece. Kevin Martin led the Rockets with 10 points.

Points in the paint seemed to be the key for the Spurs in the first half as they outscored the Rockets in that category 32-22.

While the Rockets were able to stay with the Spurs through the first half, they fell behind in the second half as the Spurs stepped up their defensive efforts and kept building on their lead.

"I think second half defense was very good. I don’t think they got as many offensive rebounds and we didn’t turn the ball over too much," Manu Ginobili said. "We played pretty well in the first half. We just let them get too many offensive rebounds, turning the ball over and stuff like that."

While Spurs forward Richard Jefferson has been on a bit of a slump lately, he was able to shoot himself out of it last night, scoring 12 of his 18 points in the second half.

“He (Jefferson) was aggressive all night, he played well," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He caught with the idea of trying to be a scorer whether it was shooting the ball or driving it. He did a good job the entire time he was on the court. He also did a good job on the defensive end.”

While Jefferson shot himself out of his slump, Rockets guard Kevin Martin likely shot himself into one. His 10 first quarter points were the only points he scored all night. Martin missed his final seven shots, including five three-pointers.

“I think sometimes you can’t settle for just taking long shots. You have to move the ball a little bit better. I don’t think we moved the ball as well as we needed to move it," said Rockets coach Rick Adelman.

"They put a little false pressure on us and we gave into it. The big guys put some pressure on our bigs and it pushed us further out on the court. We didn’t take what defense was giving us. We kind of just gave into it.”

Six Spurs scored in double figures. Aside from Jefferson's 18, Ginobili scored 22 points, Tony Parker scored 17, DeJuan Blair had 14 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots, George Hill had 14 and Tim Duncan had 12.

James Anderson, who was recalled from the Toros yesterday, got into the game late, playing just over three minutes and scoring two points. It was the first time Anderson scored since before his injury in November.

“We’re just going to keep trying to play the way we’ve been playing," Popovich said. "We’re going to try to improve and if there’s a spot for him it will show itself. We’re not going to force anything.”

I had a chance to speak with Anderson pre-game, who said he was surpassed to get the call from the Spurs after only two games in Austin.

"I actually thought I was going to play this morning in Austin and I got the call and I was told to come back here tonight," Anderson said. "It feels good just being back with the team and it definitely feels good be back on the court playing period."

The Rockets game was the Spurs' last home game before they embark on the nine-game rodeo road trip. They'll start the road trip on Tuesday night against the Portland Trailblazers.

For Spurs rookie Gary Neal, although he is well-traveled after playing two seasons overseas, he said he wasn't sure what to expect from the road trip.

"This will be something new for me. I really don't know how I'm going to pack for this," Neal said. "We got a break in the middle after the first three games so we get to come back to San Antonio and rest up and repack and reload our bags, but you know this is new for me, it's a new experience so hopefully it doesn't beat us up too bad."

Make sure to check back on Project Spurs tomorrow as our newest writer, Miguel Castro, will have a rodeo road trip preview.

The San Antonio Spurs (40-7) made sure they got the win before going on the long Rodeo Road Trip against the Houston Rockets. They went 5-8 from behind the arc in the fourth period, including two tightly contested 3-pointers by Manu Ginobili to pull away and beat the Houston Rockets 108-95.

Now, it's time to look at the numbers in this Spurs' recent win.

88.9 - The Spurs went to the foul line a lot and took advantage of it. They went 24-27 (88.9%) of their free throw attempts. The Rockets, on the other hand, made just 10-16 (62.5%) foul shots.

39 - The Rockets won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Spurs 39-32.

25 - The Spurs shot 8-16 (50.0%) from behind the arc while holding the Rockets to just 5-20 (25.0%) from the 3-point area.

24 - San Antonio's running game was effective, outscoring the Rockets 24-13 on fast break points.

23 - Luis Scola had a game-high 23 points for Houston and added 10 rebounds and three steals.

22 - Ginobili led the Spurs with 22 points, four assists and two steals. Both teams were even in the assists department, finishing 22 dimes a piece. 

18 - Richard Jefferson played his best offensive game in the last 12 games scoring 18 points on 7-8 field goal shooting. The Spurs won their 18th straight home game, extending the longest home winning streak in the NBA this season.

17 - Tony Parker added 17 points and five assists for the Spurs.

14 - DeJuan Blair had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. George Hill scored 14 points and had five assists off the Spurs' bench.

12 - Tim Duncan chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes for the Spurs.

10 - Chuck Hayes and Kevin Martin scored 10 points apiece for the Rockets.

9 - The Spurs will play nine straight games away from home for this year's annual Rodeo Road Trip.

3 - The Spurs had six blocks shots for the game, three coming from Blair. The Rockets had three blocks as a team.

0 - Hill and Tiago Splitter did not commit a single turnover for the entire game.

Rookie Watch:  Splitter had three points and three rebounds in 14 minutes. Gary Neal had two points, one assist and a steal in 21 minutes of action. James Anderson scored two points and one rebound in only three minutes of playing time. This was his first game with the Spurs after recovering from a stress fracture injury and being recalled from a short stint with the Austin Toros.

What's Next? The Spurs will visit the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden on Tuesday to start their annual Rodeo Road Trip.

Follow me on Twitter @RobbyLim21

The San Antonio Spurs picked up win number 40 tonight as they defeated their divisional rival Houston Rockets 108-95 improving their league leading record to 40-7.

After the game I spoke with Spurs' guard Gary Neal, who finished with two points and one steal, about the win against the Rockets, his first Rodeo Road Trip and more.

Jeff: Spurs had the edge tonight on fast-break points 24 to 13. This up-tempo style seems to be a perfect fit for the young players on the team.

Gary: We have some energy coming off the bench with George (Hill), and DeJuan (Blair) playing in the starting lineup and I get to play a little bit and I think the tempo plays a lot to us. Tim Duncan is a major key for our offense but at the same time we still have Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and George Hill too, that you also have to try to implement into the offense and try to get them to be most effective.

I think we have a great balance. We run when we need to, and when the game is close we know that we can go into TD and he can come through for us.

The edge in fast-break points stands out, especially going against a defensive-minded team like the Rockets.

Yeah, we knew they were going to come in and play hard and play aggressive. I think we had a good balance tonight of running and also executing on offense the way coach Pop wants us to. I just think to get the win at home before we go on the nine game road trip is extremely important.

Getting 40 wins at this point of the season has to be a great feeling.

Oh yeah! It's huge. Right now I think we are six or seven games in front of the closest team in the West. That's what you play 82 games for, to have the home-court advantage and to position yourself in the best position to make it to the Finals. That's our goal to make it to the Finals and win a championship so that's what these 82 games are doing for us and we just hope we can continue to stay healthy and continue to keep building on our record.

How does it feel to go on your first ever Rodeo Road Trip?

We'll see. If you ask me that at the end of the road trip I can probably give you a better feeling. We are just going to take it one game at a time and hopefully we can come back with more wins than losses.

Have any of the veterans who have done the road trip given you any advice about it?

No, we haven't really talked about it. It's probably going to be a situation where you got to pack enough underwear and stuff like that. As far as basketball goes, we'll take it one game at a time, respect every opponent, and just come out and compete for those 48 minutes to try to win.

• It’s rare that DeJuan Blair gets to matchup with someone his own size (literally); but in the game against Houston tonight, Blair finally has that opportunity, writes Tim Griffin:

“DeJuan always takes any challenge,” McDyess said. “But when he sees a guy his size that he can be bigger and stronger than him, he always plays hard. He always plays well against guys like that.” 

• If the Spurs team were football players, what positions would they play? Tim Griffin wrote an interesting piece about his ideal Spurs football squad:

George Hill: His earlier experience makes him an ideal wide receiver or a defensive back. I could see him as a shutdown cornerback who would relish the chances to contain a top receiver — much like he accepts his defensive challenges in the NBA.

• On Wednesday night, BYU’s Jimmer Fredette made headlines for his 43-point game against No. 4 San Diego State. Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski wrote a piece on where Freddete is currently assessed amongst NBA scouts:

Nearly every NBA team had a representative – including general managers Pat Riley of the Miami Heat, R.C. Buford of the San Antonio Spurs, Daryl Morey of the Houston Rockets and Bryan Colangelo of the Toronto Raptors – to watch him drop 43 points on No. 4 San Diego State on Wednesday night in Provo, Utah.

• ESPNs Marc Stein revealed who he has picked as his All Star reserves. In his Weekend Dime column, he chooses two Spurs players to represent the West:

Stein on Ginobili: Reinforcing the long-held notion that the Spurs are at their most dangerous when their crafty Argentine lefty is healthy, Ginobili has been the best player on the league's best team through the season's opening half. Which makes him an automatic.

Stein on Duncan: You likewise get the feeling that David Stern will make Duncan his Commissioner's Pick to replace Yao if the coaches don't pick him ... so I decided to bank on that and leave him available to Stern.

Squeaky Johnson of the San Antonio Spurs' D-League affiliate Austin Toros is back with a brand new episode of Squeak TV. Check it out.

Before tonight's tipoff between the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets, I had a chance to speak to Rockets' Luis Scola to get a few thoughts on tonight's matchup and if playing against the team that drafted him still adds any extra motivation.

Jeff: Playing against the team that drafted you in 2002, does playing against the Spurs still add any extra motivation?

Luis: No that happened a long time ago. We're playing against a great team at their home, it's a great court to play and it's always a fun game to play. I think that every game that goes by, the less it has to do with being drafted and traded. (sic).

What is the key for the Rockets to come out of San Antonio with a win?

Just play a solid game. This is a very solid team, they really know how to play. So if you want to play any other way that is not solid, they're going to punish you. Just play a solid game, stay in the game. It's a tough place to play but if we play solid we have a chance. (sic).

Come back tomorrow for the complete interview with Scola.

The San Antonio Spurs (39-7) play the Houston Rockets (22-26) tonight at the AT&T Center. This will be the Spurs last home game before cows, bulls, sheep and country music invade the AT&T Center for the annual Stock Show and Rodeo. The Spurs will begin their Rodeo Road trip in Portland on Tuesday night and won’t return until February 23, against the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

This will be the second meeting between the Southwest Division rivals; the Spurs narrowly escaped with a win (Spurs 124- Rockets 121) on November 6 in San Antonio, as the Spurs needed overtime to put Houston away. Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 28 points and 5 assists. Richard Jefferson provided 22 points and Tony Parker added 21 points and 14 assists. Houston was led by Kevin Martins 24 points, along with Luis Scolas 20 points and 8 rebounds. The Spurs almost let a 13-point lead slip away and Houston poured in 29 points to force overtime against San Antonio.

The Spurs currently posses the leagues best record and are 9-1 in their last 10 games. The Spurs score 104.3ppg while holding teams to 96.9ppg (Victory Margin: +7.3). The Spurs home record is 24-2 thus far.

The Rockets come into Texas at 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Rockets score 105.3ppg but give up 104.8ppg (Victory Margin: +0.5). The Rockets are 9-16 on the road.

The Top 3 Players For Each Team

San Antonio

Manu Ginobili: 18.7ppg, 4.9ast, 1.76 stl

Tony Parker: 17.5ppg, 6.9ast, 1.39stl

Tim Duncan: 13.6ppg, 9.5rbd, 2.0 blk

Houston

Kevin Martin: 23.3ppg

Luis Scola: 19.3ppg, 8.3rbd

Aaron Brooks: 12.4ppg