San Antonio Spurs rookie Tiago Splitter has been dealing with a strained calf injury which has prevented him from playing a single preseason game. Looks like he will continue to be out for the season opener against the Indiana Pacers.

"I'm not planning on Tiago for the opening night," Popovich said, "If he's going to be ready, he'll have to change my mind."

As I have stated before, Splitter has had a long offseason playing in the Spanish Finals, the 2010 World Championships and has dealt with a list of injuries leading up to him joining the Spurs.

Perhaps it's best he rest up now, delay his NBA debut and miss the opening days of the season than him sitting out games towards the end of the season when playoff positioning is at stake for the Spurs.

(source Express News)

Marcus Cousin and Kevin Palmer have been waived by the San Antonio Spurs.

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have waived center Marcus Cousin.

At the same time the Spurs have placed guard Kevin Palmer on waivers. Palmer was signed by San Antonio on October 20.

With the two cuts, the Spurs' roster is at 14. Recently coach Popovich stated he will likely go with a 13 man roster. If so, then the final two players on the "bubble" are Alonzo Gee and Bobby Simmons both competing for the backup small forward position.

Knowing Popovich and his history, he tends to prefer seasoned veterans which is great for Simmons and not so great for Gee. Should Gee be waived, expect him to return to the Austin Toros.

Well this is just a big pile of awesomeness!

As part of a collaboration between the NBA and Marvel Comics, check out this cover art of an enshrined San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili with Thor, Captain America and Iron Man.

Got to love Thor raising his hammer in respect to the Spurs' Big 3!

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has set his season-opening starting lineup, and it appears he'll stick with what has worked during the preseason.

Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Tim Duncan and DeJuan Blair will be taking the court first when the Spurs open the 2010-11 season at home next Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers.

If there was ever any doubt on whether or not Blair could start a center, his performance throughout the preseason has put those doubts to rest. Blair has averaged 11.8 points and 8.8 rebounds through six preseason games.

Ginobili, a previous sixth man award winner, will start this season after coming off the bench for a majority of last season's games. He'll likely make his return to the bench at some point during the season if the second unit runs into trouble on the offensive end.

Tiago Splitter could also affect the lineup once he is healthy and back into game shape, but Pop will likely be cautious with Splitter early in the season.

The Spurs will play their last preseason game tonight at home against Houston.

Como ya lo saben el inicio de juego de pretemporada para los San Antonio Spurs se llevo acabo el pasado 7 de octubre contra los Rockets de Houston.  Lamentablemente el hecho de que los Spurs tienen a tres de sus jugadores lesionados Tiago Splitter, Richard Jefferson, y Garrett Temple, no resulto nada favorable para este juego ya que los Spurs fueron derrotados 90-87.  Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, y Tony Parker dieron apertura al juego pero quien llevo la delantera en cuestión de puntuaje fue DeJuan Blair con 12 puntos. Parker aporto con 10 puntos, Duncan atrapo 5 rebotes y Ginobili logro ayudar con 5 asistencias.

El segundo enfrentamiento de pretemporada para los Spurs fue contra el Heat de Miami. Resulta ser que el famoso "Dream Team" (traducido al español como "El equipo sonado") con Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James sobrenombre ganado debido a la reconstrucción del equipo con nuevos jugadores este ultimo verano, no mostró ser tan fuerte como esperábamos. En el primer cuarto del juego ambos equipos anotaron 26 puntos y aunque al final de medio tiempo el Heat de Miami llevaba la delantera por cuatro puntos los Spurs salieron victoriosos en este juego ya que rápido los alcanzaron y sobrepasaron ganando 90-73. Para este juego nuevamente el mayor contribuidor fue DeJuan Blair con 13 puntos.

Super emocionante fue el juego que vivieron los Spurs contra los Clippers de Los Angeles ya que ganaron los Spurs 100-99 al anotar Gary Neal de los Spurs una canasta de tres puntos justo cuando quedaba solo un segundo y medio para el final de juego.

Algo interesente sobre esto fue que Manu Ginobili fue quien guio a Gary Neal para que lograra esta canasta durante el ultimo tiempo fuera de ellos. DeJuan Blair también nos sorprendio nuevamente aportando al puntuaje de los Spurs con 21 puntos mientras Tim Duncan ayudo con 17. Este juego tomo lugar en "El Palacio de los Deportes" en la cuidad de Mexico.

Y después de dos victorias consecutivas los Spurs se volvieron a topar con la derrota al enfrentarse a los Cavaliers de Cleveland. Esto juego fue una verdadera pena ya que los Cavaliers mantuvieron la delantera de principio a fin derrotando a los Spurs 106-80. Este fue un juego esperado por DeJuan Blair ya que el joven jugador estubo matriculado en la Universidad de Pittsburg. Lo único que si me queda usar a nuestra defensa  para este juego es que definitivamente se sintió la ausencia de nuestro trio Duncan, Parker, y Ginobili ya que aun no habían regresado de su visita a Mexico para este juego.  Para este juego quien ayudo con mas puntos fue Gary Neal con 10 y un total de 3 asistencias mientras ambos, DeJuan Blair y James Anderson anotaron 9 puntos cada uno.

Finalmente Jeff Garcia de Project Spurs entrevisto a Garrett Temple la semana pasada. Asi es que no olviden ingresar a la pagina para leer su articulo sobre esto.

Es todo por hoy!  Volvere la próxima semana para seguir manteniendolos actualizados!

Although we recorded a show last week, which would have been episode 226, the file never made it online so we decided to give it another run this week.

With one week prior to the San Antonio Spurs' regular season tipoff, Jeff and I discuss the team's latest moves, including trading Curtis Jerrells and waiving James Gist. We also predict which Spurs will be the next to go as Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has decided to keep only 13 players on the roster.

We discussed the battle for the backup small forward spot, and if James Anderson could end up stealing that spot away from Bobby Simmons and Alonzo Gee, and if Richard Jefferson's work in the offseason is paying off yet.

The Spurscast. The first and original Spurs podcast.

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San Antonio Spurs fans have heard it all about the team being old and boring. Not only that, being a fundamentally sound team is considered a bad thing in the eyes of the sports world despite winning four titles in the past decade.

Well some people still don't get it.

Check out this quote from themoneytimes.com comparing IBM to the Spurs:

If IBM (NYSE: IBM) were a basketball team, it'd be the San Antonio Spurs. No disrespect to Spurs fans, but like Big Blue, they're old and boring but are well-managed and execute perfectly. While the basketball purist might get some excitement from a fundamentally sound pick and roll leading to an off-the-glass jump shot, the fans want highlight-reel dunks.

First the Spurs are no longer old. They recently had an influx of youth with Tiago Splitter, DeJuan Blair, James Anderson, George Hill, and Garrett Temple.

Second they are not boring. I suppose the writer never actually sat down to watch a Spurs game or might have forgotten Manu Ginobili is quite the exciting player.

Third. If the fans want highlight-reel dunks from their team then why not ask a team like the Phoenix Suns how much of that pays off in the playoffs? Sure it's great but rarely does it equate to championships.

Fourth. Sure the quote compliments the Spurs but there still exists the innuendo of negativity surrounding the Spurs' style of basketball.

Perhaps I should just get off the proverbial soap box about this back-handed compliment and realize this might be "old-news" and something no amount of griping will change a person's opinion on the Spurs. 

The team does have four titles and that speaks for itself but I'm sure other Spurs fans still do not like to hear the franchise being mislabeled as such.

The San Antonio Spurs announced they have picked up the fourth-year option on George Hill's contract. He is now signed through the 2011-2012 season.

The decision to exercise the option does not come as a surprise. Hill turned heads his rookie season when he was thrown into the starting lineup when Tony Parker suffered injuries. Last season, he made vast improvements to his game, became an important part of the rotation and finished second in Most Improved Player voting.

According to HoopsHype, Hill will make just over $2 million next year with the option being picked up, which should save the team some money if they decide to extend Parker's contract or re-sign him next summer.

With the regular season getting closer, the San Antonio Spurs will have the unenviable task of cutting down their roster to 13 players as Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich stated yesterday.

Curtis Jerrells was traded to the New Orleans Hornets (a nod in Garrett Temple's favor) and James Gist was waived by the Spurs.

Now the Spurs' roster stands at 15 which means the remaining camp hopefuls (Marcus Cousin, Alonzo Gee and Bobby Simmons) are playing for the final roster spot.

Among the camp hopefuls, Cousin appears to be a long shot. He has played decent basketball in the preseason (averaging 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in five preseason games) but with the injury to Tiago Splitter, the Spurs might keep him around for insurance but it is doubtful he will last long with the team.

However, should he be waived, he could be headed to the Austin Toros.

With Gist gone, the final roster spot is now between Simmons and Gee for the backup small forward position.

Between the two, Gee may have the bigger upside and is probably the better offensive player. However, he only played sparingly (three games with limited playing time) in the preseason which is telling.

The Spurs could be leaning towards veteran Simmons who has played in all six preseason games.

During the preseason, Simmons has shown balanced scoring, defense and hustle for the Spurs. His NBA experience might also come into play especially seeing how coach Popovich tends to favor more seasoned players over younger players which is not a good sign for Gee.

If my assessment is accurate and coach Popovich goes with a 13 man roster, then we will see Cousin and Gee waived and Simmons in silver and black.

This makes the final preseason game against the Houston Rockets much more interesting for all three players.

Do you agree? Give us your take on who do you think should make the final roster. I'm pretty sure you all have interesting opinions and ideas on this matter.

(NBA Photo)