Over the summer, DeJuan Blair dedicated time to improve his game and physical conditioning. He worked on his mid-range jump-shot and learned some back-to-the-basket moves. His offseason regimen seemed to pay some dividends, playing great basketball during the preseason games, to earn a starting spot in the San Antonio Spurs' lineup.

However, six games into the young season, Blair has struggled with his starting role.

He is averaging 4.5 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting just 27% from the field in 23 minutes of action. The glaring setback in Blair's game is field goal shooting and he seems to be a better fit off the bench.

In 82 game last season, Blair averaged 7.8 points and 6.4 rebounds on 55.6% field goal shooting in just 18.2 minutes per ball game. This means Blair was more effective coming from the bench last year compared to being a starter this season. But it's still early, for all we know, he might still be finding his way through the starting lineup, and could get out of his early shooting slump in the coming games.

Nonetheless, it's an interesting point of discussion. The Spurs could benefit more by making some lineup changes. For instance, Antonio McDyess has played well early and appears to be in prime condition despite being 35 years old. In six games this season, McDyess has averaged 7.2 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 48% from the field in 24.5 minutes per game.

McDyess had a double-double (11 points and 10 rebounds) against the Houston Rockets last Saturday and then followed it up with 7 points, 5 boards and four blocks performance against a hard-fighting Charlotte Bobcats team.

And then there's Tiago Splitter, the Brazilian big man who was the center of the Spurs' offseason revamp. Splitter is slowly catching up with the Spurs' scheme of things and despite missing the entire preseason due to injury, he has been effective so far in four regular season games for the Spurs with limited time on the floor.

In four games, Splitter is averaging 4.0 points, 2.8 rebounds on 54% field goal shooting in just 11.8 minutes per ball game. He is also aggressive in attacking the basket and is savvy around the rim scoring on put backs. Against the Bobcats, Splitter scored five points, grabbed four rebounds (three offensive) and had one steal in 11 minutes of action.

This only means the Spurs have a lot options on whom to use as their starting center including Tim Duncan.

But here's the thing, the Spurs are 5-1 and are currently on a four game winning streak with Blair as their starting center, so why fix something if it isn't broke right?

What do you guys think? Is it time to bring Blair back to the bench? If so, who should be starting?

According to Spanish newspaper Diario de Sevilla, George Felton, San Antonio Spurs Director of College Player Personnel, went on a scouting trip throughout Spain this summer, scouting some of the brightest young international players.

Reportedly one of his stops was in San Pablo to take a closer look at Tomas Satoransky, a 19-year-old shooting guard from the Czech Republic.

Satoransky is one of the more highly regarded 20 and under players in Europe and was sixth in scoring in the U20 tournament this summer, averaging 15.8 points to go along with six rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.6 steals.

According to eurohopes.com, Satoransky has some room to grow, but has a great skillset to grow on.

Satoransky is a skinny, athletic play-maker with excellent size at 6-6. He gets off the floor extremely well and can really finish around the rim, but is most notable for his excellent feel for the game, as he sees the floor incredibly well and is an absolutely spectacular dunker.  Tomas mixed in a strong first step with excellent footwork and some spin-moves, showing great fluidity and coordination to go along with his nice size. Although he didn’t always have the strength to finish his moves inside. He plays with a strong winning spirit, looking highly unselfish, yet still being very active, even if his perimeter shooting needs to improve.

Satoransky plays point guard in Europe, but he has the size to play shooting guard if he improves his perimeter game and bulks up a bit.

The Spurs have tapped into Europe to build their team for the last decade and it looks like they won't be stopping any time soon.

It may be a little too soon for Satoransky, but don't be too surprised if the Spurs turn heads by drafting another skinny 19-year old point guard from Europe.

X-factor.  Noun.  A hard-to-describe influence or quality.

Every championship team has one or more.  It's the player that seemingly comes out of nowhere and does the little things necessary to take a team's stars from good to great.  The x-factor is rarely a marquee name.

San Antonio Spurs fans will find it hard to forget the performance of Steve Kerr in the 2003 playoffs.  Without him, there may be one less banner hanging in the AT&T Center today.  The Los Angeles Lakers had Ron Artest. The Boston Celtics had Rajon Rondo.  The Chicago Bulls had too many to name. Players that probably aren't Hall of Fame bound; in fact, they may not even make an All-Star game.  But they play above expectations when it counts and take their team to a new level of competition.

Expectations.  Every player has them.  Some are high, some are low.  The stars meet or exceed them night in, night out, year in, year out - Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, George Hill - fans know what they are going to provide when they hit the hardwood.  But one need not look further than the LeBron James experience in Cleveland to know that they cannot do it alone.

So who is going to be the x-factor that takes the Spurs to the next level in 2010?

Richard Jefferson.

That's right, you heard me.  RJ - the man Spurs fans love to hate heading into this season- is poised to give the Spurs the edge they need to contend for another NBA championship.

It makes perfect sense if you think about it.  Jefferson's sub-par play last year disappointed everyone, there is no doubt.  But when he did play well, it almost certainly led to a Spurs victory. 

In 2009-2010 when RJ scored double digits, the Spurs were 38-16.  The Spurs were over twice as likely to win with Jefferson scoring in double digits as they were when he laid a proverbial egg.  This is no coincidence.  He fills a crucial gap in the Spurs offense that, when playing well, makes the Spurs very tough to beat.

He's proving the hypothesis already this season.  Jefferson is on a tear.  He is averaging 18 points per game shooting 60% from the field and over 50% from the three-point line.  He hasn't become a bigger part of the offensive game plan - he averaged 9 shots per game last year to his 10 shots per game so far this season - he is simply playing better.

And it can hardly be argued that this was expected by anyone following the Spurs.  The talk of the off-season was who could the Spurs pick up to fill his role in the offense;  how would Tiago Splitter perform; could James Anderson mature fast enough to help the Spurs immediately?  With all of the attention off of him, Jefferson managed to find his game in the off-season and it has shown.

Keep watching.  He will prove me right.  You'll see.

The Charlotte Bobcats gave the San Antonio Spurs a good fight. Down by nine points with a little over three minutes left in the game, the Bobcats worked hard and cut the Spurs' lead to just two with 26.8 seconds remaining.

However, Manu Ginobili made a driving layup with 4.9 seconds left and the San Antonio Spurs (5-1) held on for a 91-95 decision over the Charlotte Bobcats (1-6) to extend their winning streak to four games.

It was another "grind-it-out" game for the Spurs and now, it's time to check out the stats of the game.

46 - The Spurs hit their outside shots, connecting on 12-26 (46.2%) from three-point line, including 5-7 from rookie Gary Neal. They also controlled the boards beating the Bobcats 46-41 on the rebounding department.

39.8 - The Spurs held their opponents under 40% field goal shooting for first time in six games, the Bobcats made just 33-83 (39.8) of their shots from the floor. While the Spurs made 36-85 (42.4) of their field goals that proved to be the difference of the game.

26 - Ginobili had a game-high 26 points, including a driving layup with 4.9 seconds remaining that sealed the Spurs' win.

16 - Tyrus Thomas led the Bobcats with 16 points off the bench. They also did a good job on limiting their turnovers, Charlotte only had 13 miscues compared to the Spurs' 16.

15 - Rookie Gary Neal had another great shooting night, he scored 15 points on 5-7 shooting from behind the arc, including consecutive 3s that pushed the Spurs' lead to 88-82 with 5:48 left in the game.

7 - Antonio McDyess had another solid effort of the Spurs bench. He had 7 points, five rebounds and four blocks in 22 minutes of action. The Spurs also held three Bobcats starters to just 7 points a piece (Gerald Wallace, DJ Augustin and Nazr Mohammed).

6 - Richard Jefferson had his worst performance of the young season. He only scored 6 points on 3-9 shooting from the field. However, he had 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal in 33 minutes of action and finished the game with the highest +/- rating at +6.

0 - George Hill went scoreless in 21 minutes of playing time. While DeJuan Blair and Jefferson had zero turnovers for the game.

Rookie Watch: Neal had 15 points in just 14 minutes of playing time. Tiago Splitter continues to be effective in limited minutes, he scored 5 points, grabbed four boards and had a steal in 11 minutes of action. James Anderson had six points and two rebounds.

What's Next? The Spurs will face Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday in San Antonio. It will be the second time the two teams meet this season, the Spurs won their first meeting 97-88 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Last week former San Antonio Spurs player Fabricio Oberto retired from the NBA due to health concerns over his heart.

While many Oberto fans wished him well and reminisced about his playing days, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili decided to take it one step further and honor his friend with a jersey "retirement" ceremony at the "GinoDome."

Ginobili is such a great friend huh?

San Antonio Spurs' 2010 NBA draft pick Ryan Richards underwent a second shoulder surgery on Monday.

He previously had surgery on his left shoulder and will most likely not be playing basketball this season.

However the 19-year-old has confirmed that he has undergone a further repair which will keep him on the sidelines for a further five months, all but ending his hopes of playing this season. (source mvp247.com)

The San Antonio Spurs needed to work overtime to put away a scrappy Houston Rockets team that played without Yao Ming.

The Rockets (0-5) decided to rest Ming against the Spurs to preserve him for their next game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Spurs (4-1) caught a break when Houston lost starters Aaron Brooks and Kevin Martin to left ankle sprains.

Still, it was a win in the end, with that let's check out the numbers that stood out in this game.

85.7 - The Rockets took care of their free throws, making 18-21 (85.7%) shots for the game. The Spurs did not fare very well from the foul line, converting just 17-25 (68.0%) of their free throws.

50 - Even without Yao Ming the Rockets managed to dominate inside the paint outscoring the Spurs 50-42, with 20 points coming from Luis Scola.

45 - The Rockets hit their outside shots, connecting on 9-20 (45%) from behind the arc. The Spurs weren't that bad from the three-point line either, making 9-21 (42.9%) of their 3-point attempts, including 4-5 from Richard Jefferson.

38 - For the second straight game the Spurs' reserves were owned by their counterparts. The Rockets' bench outscored the Spurs' second unit 38-28.

28 - Manu Ginobili had a game-high 28 points, including a jumper that forced the game into overtime. The Spurs also continued to share the ball well and finished with 28 assists, fourteen coming from Tony Parker.

27 - The Spurs' running game seemed to be effective, they had 27 fast break points against the Rockets' 18.

24 - Martin led the Rockets with 24 points despite playing only 23 minutes.

22 - Richard Jefferson continues to be efficient and productive, he added 22 points and 3 rebounds from the Spurs while shooting 8-13 (61.5%) from the field and 4-5 (80%) from behind the arc.

11 - After committing 23 turnovers against the Phoenix Suns, the Spurs took care of the ball this time and only had 11 turnovers for the entire game.  They also had 11 steals, including five from Tony Parker. The Rockets only have five steals as a team.

10 - George Hill came back to the Spurs' lineup and scored 10 points, added five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 23 minutes of action.

7 - Tony Parker had a great all-around game, he had 21 points, 14 assists and five steals against the Rockets. More importantly, he scored 7 of the Spurs' 11 in overtime.

0 - Tim Duncan did not commit a single turnover in 38 minutes of action, he had 19 points, 11 boards, 3 assists, three blocks and a steal for the night. Chase Budinger went 0-5 from the field against the Spurs and the Rockets remain winless after five games.

Rookie Watch: Gary Neal had five points off the bench but only shot 2-9 from the field. Tiago Splitter had two points and two rebounds in 11 minutes of action. Rookie James Anderson did not play against the Rockets as he returned to his hometown of Junction City, Arkansas to be with his fiancee during the birth of their daughter.

What's Next? The Spurs will hit the road once again when they visit the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday.