Slovenia's Erazem Lorbek's rights were traded to the San Antonio Spurs on draft night, and aside from knowing he has a striking resemblance to Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, not many Spurs fans have seen Lorbek in action.
The following video is from Monday's game against Montenegro in the 2011 Adecco Cup.
Watch as Lorbek leads his team to a 86-79 win, while posting a team-high 14 points. Lorbek and Slovenia went on to beat Bosnia in the third place game. Next up for Lorbek is EuroBasket, where his team will look to qualify for a spot in the London games next summer.
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As teams gear up for the 2011 FIBA Eurobasket pre-Olympic qualifier later this month, many of them have already begun exhibition matchups in preparation for the event.
That being said, today's matchups provided a glimpse for Spurs fans of what some future San Antonio Spurs players might give the silver and black and also allowed them watch a current Spur in action.
France, with Spurs' Tony Parker and draftee Nando De Colo, lost 76 to 53 today at the hands of the Gasol brothers and Spain. 2011 Spurs draftee Adam Hanga and Hungary lost 71 to 66 against Portugal.
Who was the only winner? Spurs draftee Ryan Richards and Great Britain won as they defeated Nigeria 95 to 80.
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Whether there is going to be a next season or not doesn't really matter to the Memphis Grizzlies as 
the team has announced their ticket packages for fans and the San Antonio Spurs are featured in the "Grind Pack."
Another 10-game deal is known as the "Grind Pack" and features several contests against the NBA's elite, including the defending champion Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 16 along with the Boston Celtics (Dec. 27), New York Knicks (Jan. 12), San Antonio Spurs (Feb. 14), Lakers (March 13) and Orlando Magic (March 17).
First, you know Grizzlies fans will show up to that game versus the Spurs, especially after their stunning first-round upset over San Antonio. So Spurs fans in attendance at the FedEx Forum, be ready for some trash talk and expect no love on that Valentine's Day matchup.
Second, since when did the Knicks become one of the NBA's elite? I get the Spurs, Lakers, Mavericks, Celtics, and Magic as NBA elite but the Knicks?
He's one of the most vocal NBA players on Twitter, and last week Phoenix Suns forward Jared "JMZ" Dudley took some time to talk about the pick up games he's been playing with San Antonio Spurs guard James Anderson. Dudley tweeted:
"Great 1st day of Workouts.. Work out with Spurs Rookie James Anderson, great young prospect..Played picked up and I'll I do is Win!!! Lol".
A few things pop out about this. First, Dudley clearly chooses his teammates well, because he apparently never loses at pick up games, so nice work JMZ. Second, Anderson has been a work out fiend this off season. He's been working out with both the young Spurs like Danny Green as well as guys like Dudley. This is critical because Anderson wasn't in the best game shape coming back from his foot injury last spring.
With George Hill jettisoned to Indiana and Gary Neal focusing more on being a backup point guard, Anderson looks to be Manu's primary backup at shooting guard this season, so working with other players like Dudley will only increase his confidence for the coming season.
no commentsSan Antonio Spurs' Danny Green took part in the Malone Mulhall Benefit Game at St. John's University in New York City. It was a fun-filled afternoon and prior to the game itself, Green took part in a dunk contest and as you will see, he didn't do so well.
Regardless, kudos to Green for being a good sport and taking time out to participate in this worthy cause. Also, if you missed any of Project Spurs' interview with him where he talks about the Spurs, training with the younger Spurs, the loss to the Grizzlies and much more, click HERE to read part one and HERE for part two.So Spurs fans, from 1-10, what score did you give Green for his dunks? no comments
The San Antonio Spurs are no stranger to their players stepping in front of the mic. Former Spur Terry Cummings produced and belted out a few songs, and of course there was Tony Parker's venture into a rap career accompanied with those glorious videos.
And then there is DeJuan Blair.
By now everyone has heard his auto-tuned cameo performance in "2 Hard Living" well in case you missed it, take a listen to Blair getting in touch with his sensitive side, singing "Don't Take Ya Love Away."
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As we announced last month, Erazem Lorbek of Slovenia was selected to play for the Slovenian National team which is set to take part in the 2011 FIBA Eurobasket Olympic Qualifier. Lorbek and Slovenia have begun exhibition play as they defeated (via Eurobasket.com) Montenegro 86 to 79 on Monday in the Adecco Cup EX-YU.
Lorbek led Slovenia with 14 points while Houston Rockets' and former San Antonio Spurs draftee Goran Dragic had 12 points and former Spur Beno Udrih's brother, Samo Udrih, had 11 points for Slovenia.
Lorbek's draft rights were traded from the Indiana Pacers to the San Antonio Spurs in a draft night trade for guard George Hill. Lorbek is a 6'11 power forward/center who is close to signing a two year extension with his current Spanish ball club, F.C. Barcelona. This is much to the chagrin to Spurs fans who still feel this current roster still needs size and Lorbek could have possibly filled this role for San Antonio.
Slovenia will play Croatia today in the Adecco Cup EX-YU.
(Photo: rtvslo.si)
Former San Antonio Spurs player James Gist took part in the famed Goodman League and decided to obliterate some poor sap who attempted to block his shot with one mean dunk. "Mean" doesn't even describe this dunk. It was flat out nasty, sick, insane, and soul-crushing!
My favorite part of the clip - aside from the devastating dunk - is the crowd and announcer's reaction. Take it away Gist!
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According to Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times, Steve Novak will likely accept an offer to play in Spain or Russia.
Novak spent last season with the San Antonio Spurs and appeared in 30 games. He averaged 3.5 points, shot 56% from the three-point line, and shot 52% from the field in 7.2 minutes per game. He was signed to a 10-day contract with the Spurs in February and then was signed for the rest of the season in March.
The shooting ace should get significant minutes overseas and with the NBA lockout in full swing, he will be able to generate income as well.
If there's one thing the lockout has provided, it's time to look at useless but very fun arguments like who would win if I loaded the 2010-2011 San Antonio Spurs and 1999 NBA Champion Spurs into NBA 2k12 and played a game. This is a fun exercise because of how different the styles of play are between the two teams.
The first Spurs title team was the foundation on which the Gregg Popovich era was built. Defense first, pound it inside to the big men and let them control the game on both sides of the court. They had the number one rated defense, 11th best offense and played at the tenth slowest pace in the league. They only had three players, Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Sean Elliott, average double figures in points. Duncan and Robinson combined for five blocks per game and close to 22 rebounds per game. They also went to the free throw line an ungodly 14.5 times per game, which crippled other team's bigs' ability to stay on the floor. Basically this team didn't make a ton if mistakes (bottom half of the league in turnovers) and punishing teams inside. They were nearly unstoppable in the postseason, losing only two games and sweeping both the L.A. Lakers and Portland Trailblazers, who were arguably the next two best teams in the league.
On the other hand, the 2010-2011 team won using offense, offense, offense. They were undersized, had the second best offense in the league and the 11th ranked defense. Instead of two seven footers, the Spurs starting center was either 6'9" or 6'7". They were number one in 3-point shooting percentage, eighth in assists and middle of the pack in every defensive category. They were powered by Tony Parker and Manu Giniobili both averaging 17 points per game, as well as three other players in double figures and Gary Neal just missing out at 9.8 ppg. They flamed out in the first round in the playoffs thanks in part to a Ginobili broken arm, Zack Randolph playing outside his mind and Parker wetting the bed against Mike Conley.
So who wins? Well let's break it down in categories: no comments
