By Jeff Cerda, Project Spurs

The Spurs knew they could not afford to lose another game to a opponent with a losing record, and they played like it early in the game. The Timberwolves came into San Antonio with a overall record of 15-65 and a hapless 5-35 record on the road, so with those stats in the Spurs favor, they took full advantage.

The first quarter started off with a Matt Bonner three-point shot assisted by George Hill, who was returning after missing four games. Wolves' Al Jefferson would answer with five points making sure they would keep pace with the Spurs. The two teams exchanged baskets early to keep the game close and it looked like it was going to be yet another tough battle for the Spurs against a much less talented team.

After the Wolves' Corey Brewer layup put Minnesota up by seven at the 5:41 mark, Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich decided he had seen enough and called a time out to talk things over. After the time out the Spurs went on a 9-0 run to take the lead 24-22, and forced the Wolves to call a time out of their own. Spurs' Roger Mason Jr. sunk a three-point shot to push the run to 12-0, but Wolves' Kevin Love would make two free-throws to stop the bleeding. Little used Spurs' center Ian Mahinmi would get a slam dunk to put the exclamation point on the quarter and give the Spurs a 33-26 lead.

In the second quarter the Wolves used old fashion three-point plays to get back in the game. The Wolves went on a 12-4 run to get back in the game and tied the game at the 8:56 mark in the quarter. Back-to-back three-point shots from Mason Jr. and Bonner and a two point shot from Tim Duncan would give the Spurs the lead again 45-39.

The teams exchanged baskets to put the game at 49-43 Spurs. But this is when things really got going for the Spurs. The Spurs went on a 20-4 run which included a 10-0 run at one point but what was more impressive was that in the whole quarter they went on a 32-8 run. Needless to say the Spurs were off and running away with this game. The runs had the Spurs up big at the half, 69-47.

In the third quarter the Spurs did not let off of the pedal and kept making the Wolves play for their sloppy, lazy defense. By this point the Wolves looked like they were ready to pack their bags and head off to Cancun or Rio De Janeiro. Duncanplayed less than four minutes in the quarter which I’m sure made Spurs fans happy since the next game is against their interstate rival the Dallas Mavericks. Spurs' point-guard Tony Parker led the way in this quarter with eight points and Mahinmi chipped in seven points as the Spurs pushed the lead to as many as 29 points at one point in the quarter.

The Spurs shot 60% from the field as the Wolves had zero interest in playing defense and merely settled for trading baskets with the Spurs and found themselves down 74-98 at the end of the quarter.

By the time the fourth quarter came around the Wolves were simply going through the motions of the game, while the Spurs starters were getting some rest and the bench was finishing out the game. Spurs' guards Malik Hairston and Keith Bogans scored the first eight points of the quarter for the team as the two teams still continued to trade baskets.

Mahinmi fouled out with 5:08 to go in the game finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds, a much better game than Spurs fans have seen from him lately. The Spurs continued to knock down three-point shots, making 5 of their 14 in the quarter, shooting 14 of 26(53.8%) overall for the game. Bogans scored 11 of his 17 points and Hairston scored 13 of his 14 points in the quarter to help close out the game and give the Spurs a 133-111 victory.

Join Jeff and I along with several guests and hopefully a ton of callers as we officially record our 200th episode of the Spurscast.

We'll be live for over five hours from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. CST. We have some great guests lined up and some awesome prizes to give out.

We'll discuss our beginnings from episode one recorded in May of 2005, talk to someone that has been around as a listener since the early days, reminisce and if we get enough callers, play a few minutes of the Spurscast that has our very own Jeff Garcia has forbidden me to play until now.

For every five callers, Jeff is letting me play one minute of a 15 minute long, epic drunken Spurscast. Luckily I was sober to record it all, so be sure to get your calls in. We'll be taking them throughout the five hour show and we'll have a live chat running the entire time.

If you tweet about the show, please use the hashtag #spurscast200 and stay with us all day as one person will be able to win a one-year subscription to SLAM Magazine among other giveaways.

According to Chris Tomasson of NBA Fanhouse, Spurs forward Richard Jefferson is considering opting out of his contract this summer, the same contract that would pay him $15 million next season.

And Spurs fans rejoice.

Jefferson has caught the ire of Spurs fans all season long because his contributions on the court never matched his salary. While he's started to find his role and contribute more lately, Jefferson's contract handicaps the Spurs from being a player in free agency this Summer.

According to Tomasson, Jefferson will look at several factors before deciding whether or not to opt out before the June 30 deadline.

Jefferson said he will look at several factors before the opt-out deadline of June 30. Those include what the NBA's economic climate looks like due to the possibility of a 2011 lockout, how the free-agent market sizes up, how the Spurs' future looks and how they do in the playoffs.

"If you win a championship, you might opt out,'' he said. "If you lose in the first round, you might stay. You can't say it's going to be one way or the other. That would be foolish (to not take many factors into account). Guys like LeBron (James), it doesn't matter.''

Jefferson, who never really has fit in with the Spurs and whose scoring average is the lowest since his rookie season of 2001-02, said his value is not as high with a slower-tempo team such as San Antonio as it would be with more up-and-down unit. Jefferson played with faster-paced New Jersey from 2001-08, and twice averaged more than 22 points in a season.

After signing Manu Ginobili to a three-year, $40 million extension, Jefferson's $15 million off the books would be some major cap relief for the Spurs, who are currently in position to pay the luxury tax a second straight year next season.

If Jefferson opts out, could Tiago Splitter be in a Spurs uniform soon?

By Jeff Cerda

After losing to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, the Spurs were hoping to bounce back with what should have been a "W" against a less talented, injury-stricken Memphis Grizzles team with a 39-39 record.

The Grizzlies were without Marc Gasol and Ronnie Brewer. But as Spurs fans know, this does not usually go well for the Spurs when the opposing team is lacking players due to injuries.

In the first quarter the Spurs looked like they were going to run away with the game with the Grizzles looking sloppy at times. The Grizzlies did not score a field goal the last 2:50 of the quarter. With Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and OJ Mayo scoring all but 2 of the first quarter points for the Grizzlies, this was looking like it was going to be a easy win for the Spurs.

The Grizzlies were missing open jumpers and not playing the best of defense and the Spurs were making them pay for it. Seven different Spurs scored in the opening quarter and DeJuan Blair even grabbed his own miss from the free throw line which led to one of Matt Bonner’s six threes for the night. The Spurs were up 30-21 at the end of the first.

The second quarter was where things really started changing. The Grizzlies were still struggling early in the quarter, as far as shooting goes, and the Spurs built the lead to as many as 13 points.

The Grizzles kept fighting and started making shots consistently late in the quarter. They were getting their team involved in the scoring this quarter instead of just the trio of Mayo, Gay and Randolph carrying the load. The Spurs were blowing assignments defensively and it was the Grizzlies who were making the Spurs pay this time. In the last 2:30 of the quarter the Grizzlies outscored the Spurs 14-7 and the Spurs got outscored 37-27 in the whole quarter and ended up going in to the half down 58-57.

The Grizzles started the third quarter on a 9-2 run to go up 67-59. The Spurs would answer with back-to-back three-point shots from Manu Ginobili and Bonner which put the Spurs to within 69-65. San Antonio was starting to look good again after blowing that 13 point lead.

A few moments later Ginobili got a steal and made a nice cross-court pass to a waiting Garrett Temple for a three-point shot which put the Spurs down only one and forced the Grizzlies to call time out and talk things over. After the time out the two teams went back and forth exchanging the lead a couple of times, but the Grizzlies would lead at the end of the third quarter at 84-80.

Early in the fourth quarter the Spurs were getting the stops they needed but they were not getting the buckets they needed on the offensive end to fully capitalize. At one point the Spurs got seven consecutive stops but only produced two points off of them. Two points off of seven straight stops is not going to get it done, especially when it is in the fourth quarter, the most crucial time of the game.

With 3:26 to go in the game the Spurs trailed 100-94, an illegal defense free-throw from Ginobili, a pair of free-throws and a put back from Tim Duncan put them within one with 2:30 to go. The Grizzlies kept their composure and answered with a Mike Conley jump-shot and the Spurs started to get desperate.

In the remaining minutes of the game the Spurs decided to start shooting up three-pointers with no luck. Roger Mason, Bonner, Temple, Ginobili and even Duncan all missed three pointers. In the last 2:30 of the game it was the Spurs who went scoreless to end the quarter, while the Grizzlies scored the last eight points to take the game 107-99.

The Spurs shot 32% from the three-point line while the Grizzlies shot 44%, and with Memphis shooting nearly 50% from the 3 point line, it’s hard to win. Another tough loss for the Spurs as the roller-coaster regular season comes closer to the end.

Game Notes:

• Garrett Temple got his third straight start since Tony Parker is working his way back in the line up from a broken hand and George Hill nursing a sprained ankle. Temple had eight points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and was 3 of 7 from the field on 26 minutes of playing time.
• George Hill has still not participated in practices and his timetable for a return is unknown. With Parker's minutes increasing as the games come along, look for him to start come playoff time.
• The Spurs were outrebounded 48-39 with Zach Randolph grabbing 15 for the Grizzlies. Duncan recorded his 37th double double while Zach Randolph recorded his 55th, putting him in second for the season trailing only Dwight Howard.
• The Spurs are in the eighth spot at 48-31 in the Western Conference playoff race which currently pits them against the Los Angeles Lakers. A team the Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich admitted wanting to avoid.
• The Spurs will next play the Denver Nuggets in Denver.

In a Q&A session  with the media today after a team practice, Manu Ginobili stated he went through a lot of emotions during contract negotiations with the San Antonio Spurs. In the end, I am sure fans are happy he will be with the team for another three years and even said he is willing to pick up the tab for season ticket holders. Of course he was kidding.

"I was a little upset, then understanding, and then I just let it go," Ginobili said. "I went through all the moods possible, and now it's gone. We are good friends again. We love each other again."

Ginobili on whether he will pay the season tickets for those season ticket holders who would not renew if he wasn't a part of the team next season: 

Q: Does this mean you're going to pay for their tickets next year?
A: (Laughing again) "It's on me. It's on my tab."

Ginobili on whether he will play beyond the contract well into his late 30's:

Q: Does this contract mean you'll end your career with the Spurs?
A: "No idea. There are a lot of players who play over 35 years old. I don't know how I'm going to feel, so I'll take it year-by-year. Well, not year-by-year (laughing) but three years by three years. When this contract ends in three years, I'll figure it out."

Now Manu, about you picking up the tab for season ticket holders?

Click HERE to read the complete Q&A session.

Now that it is official that the San Antonio Spurs and Manu Ginobili have agreed on a $38.9 million contract extension for three years, Spurs nation could not be any more excited.

The break down is as follows:
2010-2011 -- $11, 854, 584.00  
2011-2012 -- $12, 981, 038.00
2012-2013 -- $14, 107, 492.00

But what will be the impact on the Spurs in retaining Ginobili? Is this a good or bad thing? Here are some pros and cons for you to look at now that the deal is official. Oh and I am not good at math so forgive me.

Pros:

• Ginobili retires a Spur as he should.
• No other elite Western Conference team picks him up. Imagine him in a Dallas Mavericks or Phoenix Suns uniform? The horror!
• The reported deal is short term at three years.
• Spurs will be retaining a player with more overall value to the team than any other player brought in through free-agency.
• His final contract year might be a good bargaining piece to get a younger player.
• The "Big Three" stay intact at least through the 2010-2011 season.
• The "worst" season, financially, will just be the 2010-2011 season.
• The Spurs will not face a fan backlash if Ginobili walked away to another team.

Cons:

• $38.9 million is a lot for a player at this stage of his career. Do the Spurs risk the chance he gets injured again?
• The Spurs will be at $54,135,160.00 in guaranteed contracts next season, not including Ginobili's deal.  Add the $11.8 million due to Manu next season, that pushes the Spurs to $65, 989, 744.00 in guaranteed contracts. With the salary-cap lowering to what is being speculated to be around $50.4-$53.6 million dollars. That puts the Spurs way over the cap.
• If you take the lower speculated figure of $50.4 million, that puts the Spurs at $15, 589, 744.00 million over the cap.
• The NBA luxury tax is speculated to be at $61.2 million dollars. After the math is done the Spurs will be paying $15.5 million for being over the cap and an additional $9.4 million in luxury taxes. Spurs will be $4.7 million over the luxury-tax and an NBA team pays dollar-for-dollar over the luxury-tax line.
• Grand total for the Spurs will be paying $24.9 million for being over the salary-cap and into the luxury-tax.
• This will hamper the Spurs in retaining key role players such as Matt Bonner, or offer Tiago Splitter more than just the mid-level exception not to mention attracting a quality free-agent this summer to play for the team next season.
• It will be doubtful the Spurs can keep soon-to-be free-agents Roger Mason, Ian Mahinmi, Keith Bogans, Garrett Temple, Alzono Gee and Matt Bonner.
• What about Malik Hairston and Alonzo Gee? The Spurs have the team option whether or not to pick up their last year of their contract.
• Richard Jefferson will STILL be making more than Ginobili next season at $15 million. Where is the justice?

Of course there are so many outside factors affecting the Spurs including a possible NBA lock-out, the "Bird rights" option, but for now, do the cons outweigh the pros? 

If we take a step back, keeping the "Big Three" together is expensive. Is it worth going over the salary and luxury-tax threshold on a 32 year-old player, who has been injury prone, and plays in the summer for his home country of Argentina? Will the Spurs fans pay the increased ticket prices to see the Spurs in action?

Again, with the NBA salary-cap speculated to go lower, this will be a deterrent for the Spurs to spend in free-agency because of the dollar-for-dollar penalty.

Or is this a situation of "who cares about the money" and Ginobili deserves every penny for what he has brought to the team, including helping win three of four NBA titles for the city of San Antonio?