It's day two of Toros TV and the Austin Toros (the San Antonio Spurs D-League affiliate) show you around after their win against the Dakota Wizards at the 2011 D-League Showcase in South Padre Island, Texas.

From waking up, taking in the view, breaking down game video and more be a part of life with the Toros.

On episode 234 of the Spurscast, it's another cell-cast as I'm out of town, but Jeff and I still had a chance to get together and talk about the latest San Antonio Spurs news.

After our week in review, we discussed the games against the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics games at length, which Jeff was there on the road with the Spurs representing Project Spurs. We also went over some of the things we liked and disliked about the past week's games.

To end the show, we took differing viewpoints on our topic of the week, "have the Spurs come back down to earth?"

Listen to us debate the topic and then leave your comments!

The Spurscast. The original Spurs podcast.

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Editor's note: Please welcome our newest staff writer, Paul Garcia, to the Project Spurs family. He'll be bringing his unique takes along with his "Views from the Couch" column to Project Spurs weekly. He is very active during Spurs games on twitter so be sure to follow him there.

With the recent departure of Ime Udoka, there is a roster spot still available for an extra wing player (SG-SF) with the San Antonio Spurs. The reason I focus specifically on “wing” player, is because the Spurs (33-6) already had three different wing players on the roster (Bobby Simmons, Danny Green, Ime Udoka) and neither made significant contributions to reserve a permanent spot with the squad. Really, right now the only wing players are Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, George Hill, and James Anderson (when he returns from injury).

So the question is asked: Do the Spurs still need another perimeter defender?

Three Levels: The Big Boys, All Star-esque, Just Playing Basketball

Let’s go look at some numbers against some of the league's top wing players that San Antonio has played thus far!

[Metrics: mpg = minutes per game. FG = Field Goal. FG% = Field Goal Percentage. FT = Free Throws per game. TO = Turnovers per game. Rbd/ast = Rebounds/ assists per game. PPG = Points per game.]

Assessment Classifications:

Horrible D = this player scored well above their scoring average, while shooting an extremely high percentage on limited shots. They also may have involved teammates well or gotten to the free throw line at will.

Solid D = The player got near their scoring average, but took almost as many shots per point.

Excellent D = this player had many turnovers, shot an awful percentage, or was held WELL under their average scoring.

The Big Boys

--Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) (24.9 ppg): One game (Spurs 1-0): 31 mpg, 8-27 FG, FG 30%, 2-2 FT, 5 TO, 21 ppg. Assessment: Excellent D.

--Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) (28.2 ppg): Two games (Spurs 2-0): 35.5 mpg, 8.5-19 FG, FG 45%, 2-3 FT, 5.5 rbd, 3.5 TO, 19.5 ppg. Assessment: Excellent D.

--Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) (23.9 ppg): One game (Spurs 2-0, DNP in second game): 42 mpg, 10-20 FG, FG 50%, 10-14 FT, two TO, 31 ppg. Assessment: Horrible D.

--Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics) (19 ppg): One game (Spurs 0-1): 35 mpg, 7-10 FG, FG 70%, 2-2 FT, 1 TO, 18 ppg. Assessment: Horrible D.

All Star-esque

--Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers) (21 pts ppg): Two games (Spurs 2-0): 37 mpg, 8-16.5 FG, FG 48%, 1.5-3.5 FT, 3.5 TO, 20.5 ppg.  Assessment: Solid D.

--Gerald Wallace (Charlotte Hornets) (16.5 ppg): One game (Spurs 1-0): 32 mpg, 2-11 FG, FG 18% , 2-2 FT, 1TO, 7 ppg. Assessment: Excellent D.

--Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers) (13.7 ppg): One game (Spurs 1-0): 19 min, 3-7 FG, FG 43%, 4-5 FT, 1 TO, 10 ppg. Assessment: Solid D.

--Ray Allen (Boston Celtics) (17.6 ppg): One game (Spurs 0-1): 39 mpg, 13-16 FG, FG 81%, 3-5 FT, 1 TO, 31 ppg. Assessment: Horrible D.

--Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers) (23.5 ppg): Two games (Spurs 2-1, Gordon had one DNP): 37 mpg, 9-17 FG, FG 53%, 3-4 FT, 6.5 ast, 3 TO, 22 ppg. Assessment: Solid D.

Just playing basketball

--Jeff Green (Oklahoma City Thunder) (15.5 ppg): Two games (Spurs 2-0): 26.5 mpg, 3-8.5 FG, FG 35%, FT 3-4, 9.5 ppg. Assessment: Excellent D.

--Luol Deng (Chicago Bulls) (17.8 ppg): One game (Spurs 1-0): 42 mpg, 6-17 FG, FG 35%, 5-5 FT, 18 ppg. Assessment: Solid D.

--Michael Beasley (Minnesota Timberwolves) (20.9 ppg): Four games (Spurs 4-0): 27.25 mpg, 5.3-12.75 FG, FG 42%, 1-1 FT, 2.5 TO, 12 ppg. Assessment: Excellent D.

Explanation Please

The results show you that the Spurs held five players to horrific games (Excellent D). They allowed four players to get their usual numbers (Solid D), and only allowed three players to really put on a show (Horrible D). So, when you add the figures; it shows defensively, a 9-3 advantage for the Spurs perimeter defense.

Let’s look a little closer to the players that will most likely be involved in the playoffs (because that’s what matters): The Spurs held three players (Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green) to awful games (Excellent D). They allowed Luol Deng to get his average numbers (Solid D) and could not stop (Horrible D) Carmelo Anthony, Ray Allen, or Paul Pierce. So essentially, they went 4-3 against playoff players, but finished 5-2 in their team record.

Considering Paul Pierce and Ray Allen shot 76% combined, it’s highly unlikely they will ever shoot that great a percentage against the Spurs again. Even though Carmelo had a big game, rumors are he may not finish the season with Denver. He could end up in New Jersey or New York. So by those calculations, the Spurs perimeter defense could have held all these players to a 6-1 defensive performance. What does that translate to? The Spurs 3 wing players (Ginobili, Jefferson, Hill) have been doing a great job defensively against the leagues top wing players.

Holding Down The Fort

Here’s a quick look at how the Spurs wings are holding down the perimeter defense and contributing on the offensive end:

[I measure a wing by: minutes, FG shooting, 3PT shooting, steals, Turnovers while in the game, personal fouls committed and points]

Manu Ginobili: 31.8 mpg, FG 44%, 3PT 37%, 1.87 stl, 2.5 TO, 1.8 PF, 19 ppg.

Richard Jefferson: 31.7 mpg, FG 48%, 3PT 43%, .58 stl, 1.24 TO, 1.9 PF, 13.3 ppg.

George Hill: 27.8 mpg, FG 47%, 3PT 38%, 1.09 stl, 1.42 TO, 2.3 PF, 11.4 ppg.

James Anderson (Only played in six games): 17.7 mpg, FG 42%, 3PT 50%, .33 stl, .67 TO, 1.5 PF, 7 ppg.

What’s the call?

Judging whether or not to add another wing; instead of a big man, I think, rests solely on how well James Anderson plays when he returns from his injury. He only played in six games and looked magnificent. But, how do we know that’s how consistent he’ll be in March? Jefferson, Ginobili and Hill average 30.43 minutes per game right now. With a fourth wing getting steady minutes; such as Anderson or another player; Ginobili, Hill's and Jefferson’s minutes would decrease in the long run. This would be great for RJ and Ginobili. It’d be good to have Ginobili under 27 minutes by late March, to make sure he’s ready for the playoffs. The Spurs could use another big, but we’re already at the point where Tiago Splitter is barely getting any playing time nor has DeJuan Blair been getting steady minutes either. My call, is to give Anderson a shot when he returns from the injury and see how he fits in. If he’s back to being consistent; rotate those four wing players, if not, start searching the market for available wings before the trade deadline. The Spurs are 33-6, to have a record like that and be number one in the NBA, they’re doing something right.

[All stats used as of 01-12-2011]

Follow me on twitter: @24writer

The San Antonio Spurs continue to play well enough to win ball games. This time Matt Bonner provided the needed boost from the bench and some gritty second half defensive effort.

The Spurs won over the Milwaukee Bucks 91-84 for their four straight victory and stay on top of the NBA standings with a 33-6 win-loss record.

What are the numbers that stood out in this Spurs' recent win? Let's find out!

85 - The Bucks had a huge advantage from the foul line making 17-20 (85%) free throws. The Spurs made 10-13 (76.9%) of their foul shots.

42 - The Spurs won the inside battle as they outscored the Bucks 42-36 on inside points.

39.5 - For the fourth straight game, the Spurs has held their opponents to less than 40% shooting from the field. They held the Bucks to just 32-81 (39.5%) field goal shooting while making 37-80 (46.3%) of their own shots.

39 - The Spurs' bench outscored the Bucks' reserves 39-29.

23 - Manu Ginobili had a solid all-around game scoring a game-high 23 points, while adding seven rebounds, four assists and a steal.

22 - The Spurs shared the ball better, they finished the game with 22 assists compared to just 14 from the Bucks.

17 - It was Matt Bonner's turn to shine, he led the Spurs' bench with 17 second half points. John Salmons also scored 17 points for the Bucks.

16 - Tim Duncan had 16 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, and one assists in 33 minutes of action. 

15-14- Andrew Bogut ripped the Spurs with 15 points and 14 rebounds, although he only had two points and four rebounds after halftime.

8 - Tony Parker scored eight points and had nine assist for the Spurs. Antonio McDyess provided a solid boost from the Spurs' bench with eight points, five rebounds, two steals and one assists. Drew Gooden scored eight points, grabbed three rebounds, one block and a steal for the Bucks.

5 - The Spurs took care of the ball very well with only five turnovers for the game, the Bucks had 11 turnovers as a team.

0 - Duncan, Bonner, George Hill and DeJuan Blair did not commit a single turnover for the entire game. Richard Jefferson was held scoreless in 28 minutes of playing time going 0-5 from the field.

Rookie Watch: Neal scored 10 points and grabbed six boards in 18 minutes. Tiago Splitter did not play.

What's Next? The Spurs will host the Dallas Mavericks at the AT&T Center in San Antonio on Friday.

Follow Robby Lim on Twitter @RobbyLim21

For those of you who have ever wondered what a day in the D-League is like, Carldell “Squeaky” Johnson of the Austin Toros (the San Antonio Spurs D-League affiliate) takes you behind the scenes and provides you with all the answers you’ve been looking for. In his first episode of Toros TV Squeaky shows fans what the team has been up to while in South Padre Island, Texas for the NBA D-League Showcase.

Earlier today the Toros snapped their six-game losing streak with a Texas-sized win over the Dakota Wizards, 119-97.

This Friday the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks will face off in San Antonio as this Texas rivalry continues. Though there is no definitive word if Mavericks' star Dirk Nowitzki will play due to a knee injury, this game should still be hotly contested.

Currently, the Spurs have a five-game lead over the Mavericks in the Southwest Division so the Mavericks will want to pick up a full game on the Spurs while the Spurs hope to extend their division lead.

With that being said, if you are in San Antonio and watch to catch the game at the AT&T Center, tickets prices are down 36% this week, so now is the time to buy. Click HERE to grab some great seats and be a part of the Spurs-Mavericks rivalry this Friday in San Antonio!

After tonight's game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the San Antonio Spurs will host the Dallas Mavericks this Friday who may not be with their super-star Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki is still recovering from a knee injury and will sit out tonight's contest against the Indiana Pacers:

Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle wasn't talking about Dirk Nowitzki and his chances of playing tonight as the Mavs try to snap a two-game skid at the Indiana Pacers.

It is expected that Nowitzki will miss his eighth consecutive game tonight since spraining his right knee on Dec. 27. (source espn.com)

Currently, the Spurs (32-6) sit atop the Southwest Division and have a five-game lead on the second place Mavericks (26-10). Though Friday's showdown is important for Dallas to close the gap with the Spurs, I'm sure the Mavericks will not risk further injury to Nowitzki and sit him out of the game.

Stay tuned!

Box Score | Advanced Stats | Gameflow

The San Antonio Spurs continued their winning ways on Tuesday night and extended their win streak over the Minnesota Timberwolves to 16 games.

While 16 wins may make the Timberwolves seem like the Spurs' punching bag, someone forgot to tell them, as they've taken the Spurs down the stretch in all four games this season, Tuesday night's being no different.

A first quarter lead kept the Spurs ahead all game, but Kevin Love and company would not go down without a fight.

Love finished the game with 20 points and 20 rebounds, continuing his rebounding dominance over the rest of the NBA.

Martell Webster and Luke Ridnour also scored 20 points apiece for the Wolves, while six players paced the Spurs with double figures.

Manu Ginobili led all Spurs in scoring with 19 points, Richard Jefferson had 17, Tim Duncan had 16, George Hill had 13 and Tony Parker finished with 12 points and 13 assists.

Quoteable

"Man, I'm tired of playing these guys. These dudes cause fits for us." - Richard Jefferson.

In Retrospect

Jeff Garcia talked to fellow bloguin-ite Dave Kelsey from TwolvesBlog before last night's game and got his thoughts on the Wolves game plan against the Spurs.

"Give the ball to Darko and Love, and let them shoot it 40+ times combined. Our guards are terrible, and I'd personally sit out Beasley anyways. No one else on our team can really create their own shot, and Darko and Love have already had a ton of success against the Spurs already this season. It would appear they are our best option for victory."

Fantasy Focus

Martell Webster has been playing a consistent role with the Wolves this year and that's translated well to the stat sheet. He's averaging 13 points and 3.5 rebounds per game this season and has scored in double figures in 11 of his last 15 games, definitely worthy of your watch list.

If you took a chance on Tiago Splitter at any time this season, he continues to get little to no time on the floor and his spot might be better utilized with another player. Splitter has played a combined 36 minutes in his last five games and has only scored in two of those games.

In Black & White

Spurs drop T'wolves by technical knockout (San Antonio Express-News) 

Technically speaking, Spurs whistle past Wolves (StarTribune.com)

Tweeting the game

@NBA Mauer made a mockery of the #Spurs #Wolves game last night. 5 Ts in 10 secs with Wolves coming back makes fans say bleh...Fix It! #NBA - @donedam.

Despite owning the NBA's best record (32-6), the San Antonio Spurs were only given a 1% chance to win their fifth NBA title according to 157 NBA players in a poll conducted by Sports Illustrated.

The Los Angeles Lakers garnered 69% of the votes.

The poll was conducted during the month of December where the Spurs went 13-2 while the Lakers were 10-5 which included a loss to the Spurs.

Look, I get the Lakers are the reigning NBA champions but this Lakers team has been dealing with internal turmoil, dealing with injuries, Kobe Bryant dealing with a bothersome knee, and have the huge task at making it back to the Finals for a third straight season. It will not be easy for them.

But you know what? This is fine. Let the Spurs continue to remain under-the-radar. This is just more locker-room material for the team. Come playoff time and the Spurs are marching their way to the NBA Finals, I'm sure the 157 players who voted might ask for a re-vote.

What are your thoughts Spurs fans? I know you want to sound off on this.

(image blogs.orlandosentinel.com)

The San Antonio Spurs showed a lot of poise down the stretch beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-96 and swept their season series against the Wolves 4-0. The Spurs beat the Timberwolves for the 16th consecutive time.

It's time to look at the numbers that stood out in this Spurs' recent victory.

83.3- The Timberwolves did a great job from the foul line making 20-24 (83.3%) of their free throws. The Spurs weren't that bad either hitting 22-28 (78.6%) of the foul shots.

50 - The Spurs connected from the outside, going 11-22 (50%) from behind the arc, including 3-4 (75%) from Richard Jefferson. The Timberwolves shot a woeful 8-23 (34.8%) from the three-point area.

38- The Timberwolves pounded the ball inside and outscored the Spurs 38-28 on inside points.

37.8 - For the third straight game, the Spurs has held their opponents to less than 40% shooting from the field. They held the Wolves to just 34-90 (37.8%) field goal shooting while making 37-79 (46.8%) of their own shots.

36 - The Spurs led 36-25 after the first period and never relinquish the lead.

20 - Kevin Love had another dominant performance scoring 20 points and 20 reboundsfor his sixth 20-20 game of the season.

19- Manu Ginobili had a great all-around game as he led the Spurs with 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals.

18 - Luke Ridnour and Martel Websterscored 18 points a piece for the Timberwolves.

16 - Tim Duncan had 16 points, eight boards, three blocks, two assists and two steals in 30 minutes of action. Matt Bonner added 16 points and four rebounds off the Spurs' bench. The biggest lead of the game was 16 points.

13 - Tony Parker scored 12 points and dished out 13 assists for the Spurs. George Hill provided a solid boost from the bench with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. The Wolves had 13 steals for the game.

7- Darko Milicic and Michael Beasley scored just seven points each for Minnesota.

0 - Duncan and Gary Neal did not commit a single turnover for the entire game.

Rookie Watch: Neal scored three points in 17 minutes. Tiago Splitter was scoreless in two minutes of playing time.

What's Next? The Spurs will visit the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on their second night of back-to-backs.

Follow Robby Lim on Twitter @RobbyLim21