Nando de Colo and Robertas Javtokas' teams were pitted against each other today in a battle of two unbeaten Group D teams.

de Colo clearly had the better game of the two as he contributed to a balanced scoring attack for Les Blues. He finished the game with nine points, three rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes. Though he had some trouble finding his shot in his last game, he had no problems today, connecting on four of five shots from the field and was one for two on three-point attempts in 26 minutes.

While de Colo had a better showing compared to game three, he continues to look more like a shooting guard and less like a pure point guard. His shot is the best part of his game, but he still has plenty of room to improve, especially when it comes to consistency.

While De Colo had the better game, Javtokas' Lithuania team won the game, handing France its first defeat and also clinching the lead in Group D.

While I originally expected Javtokas to play in a bigger role against France, he played limited minutes and wasn't much of a factor.

In 11 minutes, Javtokas had two points and five rebounds. Lithuania will take on Lebanon tomorrow. France will play New Zealand.

Look for a report by Jason Rogers on Tiago Splitter's performance against Slovenia coming soon.

For those not watching the FIBA World Championships, Jeff and I gave an update on Tiago Splitter, Nando De Colo and Robertas Javtokas.

So far, Javtokas has not played much, due to a foot injury, but his minutes and rebounds increased in Lithuania's game against Spain. De Colo has been inconsistent and has one standout game so far, while Splitter has been pretty consistent through all three games. Jeff and I didn't see a lot we didn't like in his game against the United States.

After a break, we talked about some recent Spurs news including Malik Hairston being waived by his Italian team. We also mentioned that Thomas Gardner and Jawad Williams worked out for the Spurs and in some late news, found out Darius Miles will be working out for the Spurs.

To end the show, Jeff interviewed our friend John Karalis of Red's Army about being torched by Richard Jefferson. Video game Richard Jefferson that is.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download | Subscribe

Intro Music: Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart by Stone Temple Pilots.

During the offseason I've given much attention on the San Antonio Spurs' offseason moves. From grading the moves to having a few suggestions on which players the team should consider adding to the roster as the new season approaches.

In July, my friend and colleague, Michael De Leon, wrote a great article about the Spurs' projected starting lineup. He mentioned the Spurs starting five for next season could be Tim Duncan, Tiago Splitter, Richard Jefferson, Tony Parker and George Hill. Assuming he was right, another interesting topic comes to mind -- the Spurs' bench.

Let's break it down.

Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair

Last season McDyess was the team's starting center and Blair was the backup power forward, though he did start 21 regular season games at center last year.

This upcoming season, with the addition of Splitter, the Spurs' frontline got deeper. If Splitter becomes the team's starting center, McDyess and Blair will split time as the team's backup center with Blair probably playing some time at power forward as well.

Assessment:

If last year's first round playoffs performance against the Dallas Mavericks was any indication, then McDyess still has a lot of game left in him. With fewer minutes, he could be more effective for the Spurs in the playoffs. Rest is good for his veteran legs but he certainly knows how to play. He will provide an instant boost from the Spurs' bench especially on the defensive end of the floor.

As for Blair, his per minute numbers, especially rebounding, last year were amazing. Giving him more minutes at the four and five spots will help him develop his game more, gain more experience and improve. He will continue to provide the hustle and grit that the team needed.

Matt Bonner

Last season Bonner was a backup at the power forward and center position but when he got hurt, the Spurs' big man rotation became thinner. This upcoming season with McDyess sliding as the team's backup center, expect Bonner and Blair to share more minutes at the power forward position.

Assessment:

James Anderson and Alonzo Gee

Last season Keith Bogans was the primary backup at the small forward spot, sharing some time with Michael Finley (before he went to the Boston Celtics) and Malik Hairston.

This upcoming season, assuming Gee makes the team, he could be Jefferson's primary backup because he is a natural player at the three spot. Rookie Anderson could play some small forward because he has good size and is a good shooter. Something the Spurs need from a wingman. Though recently the Spurs have been working out Jawad Williams and Darius Miles for the small forward position.

Assessment:

With Gee and Anderson, the Spurs' rotation at the small forward spot became younger and more athletic. Anderson was a proven scorer in college while Gee averaged 7.4 points on 77.8% three-point shooting in 11 games for the Washington Wizards last season. If that trend continues, the Spurs' small forward rotation could be deeper than most people think.

Manu Ginobili and Gary Neal

Assessment:

Garrett Temple

Temple was a late season addition when Hill went down with an injury and made an immediate impact.

With Temple, the team is deep at the backup point guard. He will get some help from Ginobili who is very capable at handling the basketball and also Neal who had some experience at manning the point during his time in Italy could be brought on to handle the ball should the need arises.

Assessment:

Temple has proven he can run the point. Temple averaged 5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 27 games for the Spurs last year. His size (6'6") will give opposing point guards problems when orchestrating their plays.

The Spurs added athleticism and younger legs to their rotation. With Mason, Bogans, Ian Mahimni and Hairston gone, the Spurs did a tremendous job replacing those guys with Neal, Anderson and Splitter. On paper, the bench looks better than a year ago.

What are your thoughts? Did the Spurs' bench get better? Leave us a comment.

San Antonio Spurs' rookie James Anderson continues to nurse a hamstring injury which has him continuing rehab before the joins his new teammates:

"I think I'm getting back to 100 percent," Anderson said Tuesday. "I'm about 95 percent right now. Just working my way back up."

"I think I'll be on the court soon," Anderson said. (source Express News)

The injury has forced Anderson to sit out the Las Vegas Summer League but it seems the Spurs and Anderson rather be safe and not risk further injury.

According to the San Antonio Express News (via probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com) the San Antonio Spurs are to workout forward Darius Miles.

Miles has dealt with numerous microfracture knee surgeries since coming to the NBA. He has had stints with the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and the Memphis Grizzlies. He last played in the NBA in the 2008-2009 season with the Grizzlies.

He is not a typical "Spurs player" in the sense of handling himself well on and off the court. He was suspended by the NBA for violating the league's substance abuse policy and had confrontations with former Blazers' coach Maurice Cheeks.

For his career he has averaged 10.1 points, 1.9 assists, 4.9 rebounds and shot 47% from the field.

Two of the best big men of recent years San Antonio Spurs' forward Tim Duncan and Boston Celtics' center Shaquille O'Neal both have four championship rings. Duncan has four with the Spurs and O'Neal has three with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Miami Heat. But if Duncan were to get a fifth before O'Neal, seems he will have an issue with that. (source blacksportsonline.com)

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

It's day four of the 2010 FIBA World Championship and for San Antonio Spurs fans it meant another look at Nando de Colo and Robertas Javtokas -- two players who have been drafted by the Spurs.

de Colo:

In his last game against Lebanon, de Colo finished the game with 14 points, shot 44% from the field, 33% from the three-point line, went 4-4 from the free-throw line, had two assists and two turnovers in 23 minutes of play.

In today's game against Canada, de Colo didn't look as good as he did in the previous game but there were some bright spots from his performance.

He started the game for France and did not look comfortable setting up the offense. It got to a point where the French coach had to have a few words with him. After he settled down a bit, he displayed nice ball handling skills and was able to get in the lane.

In the second quarter he was moved to the shooting guard position where he looked much more comfortable. He was finding players in the lane and in one play he found former Spur Ian Mahinmi which led to a dunk. He scored his first points in the game when he was aggressive driving into the lane and got a shot to fall.

He did not play in the third quarter but de Colo got major minutes in the crucial fourth quarter as the game was close. Again he played at the shooting-guard position and continued to find the open player, recognized mismatches and knocked down an important three-point shot as Canada was trying to take the lead. He still needs to work on defense when on one play he let a Canadian player just go right past him to the basket.

He ended up fouling out of the game late in the fourth quarter and finished the game with five points, 40% shooting from the field, 33% from the three-point line, one rebound, four assists, one turnover and three steal in 23 minutes.

France remains undefeated at 3-0 beating Canada, 68-63.

Javtokas:

Lithuania won their third straight game, this time in a thriller over Spain. Lithuania came back from an 18-point second half deficit to beat Spain 76-73.

Javtokas, who is Lithuania's captain, has not played much, due to a lingering foot injury. He played three minutes against Canada, but was on the court for considerably more minutes today. While he struggled at times with Spain's big men, including Marc Gasol, Javtokas found a way to contribute, especially on the glass.

In 23 minutes, Javtokas scored four points on 25 percent shooting from the field, but pulled down eight rebounds, which led his team in that category.

Lithuania is now second in Group D behind France, who they will play at 1 p.m. CST tomorrow. Javtokas will likely play as many or more minutes tomorrow and I expect he'll have a bigger role against France's inferior big men.

Michael De Leon contributed to this post.

The Austin Toros recently released their upcoming schedule and if you are a fan like myself, then here are a few key dates to look for in the upcoming season.

Last year the Toros made it to the Western Conference Finals, before losing to the eventual champions Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Though they did not go out without a fight.

They pushed the Vipers to the third and final game of the series and even held a lead late in the game. Turnovers would end up being their demise. So lets begin where the Toros season ended, with the Vipers.

The Toros play the defending champion Vipers a total of nine times during the regular season which amounts to almost 20% of their games. That's plenty of opportunities to rid themselves of the taste of defeat still left in the mouths of players like Curtis Jerrells and Alonzo Gee. Their first and second home games will be against the Vipers on November 27 and 28. A great opportunity for Spurs fans to get a view of potential players hoping to one day be called up by Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich and GM R.C. Buford.

Other dates that include the Toros-Viper match ups are January 7 and 8 (away), February 10 and 12 (home), February 16 (away) and March 18 and 19 (away).

Another match up to watch during the Toros season will be against the Texas Legends. A team the Dallas Mavericks just purchased and became affiliated with. Needless to say this has the potential to become a budding rivalry. Both Toros and Spurs fans should be excited for this series as it creates a whole new element to the Spurs-Mavericks rivalry. Five games into the season we will get our first look at this match up on November 30 when the Toros travel to Frisco, Texas. Other dates that feature this match up are February 21 (away), March 2, 3, 31 and April 1 (home).

The NBA D-League makes its debut in SouthPadre Island this year featuring the Toros in two of its annual "Showcase" games in mid-January. Every team will be featured in games during the showcase which runs from January 10-13. The Toros will play against the Dakota Wizards on January 12 and against the Bakersfield Jam on the 13.

I have attended Toros games in the past and will admit the team knows how to treat its fans. There are plenty of give aways, fan interaction and for the price you just can't go wrong. For ticket information visit www.austintoros.com

Amid rumors of being traded to the New York Knicks and this possibly being his last year in San Antonio, San Antonio Spurs' guard Tony Parker has been working hard to improve his game as the new NBA season approaches.

Parker has been working on his shot, training with new Spurs' assistant coach Jacque Vaughn and much more.

How is your preparation?
I'm in Los Angeles since August 1. I train 3 hours per day according to the letter the program Spurs. From 9 to 10:30, I work on my shot with Chip Engelland. He brought a player of 2m10 to force me to pull bell. Chip is away this week and is replaced by Jacque Vaughn. Jacque joined the staff of the Spurs this summer. It will be nice working with my former teammate. In any case, during the month, I had the chance to play with different players. There was Mike Dunleavy Jr., DeJuan Blair or Brent Barry. It was very rewarding.

After one month of work, did you feel to have progressed?
When you shoot several hundred times a day for a month, there must be an improvement. At least that's the feeling it gives me. Besides basketball, there is the physical 10:30 to 12:00. The Spurs fitness coach makes me work all body parts. It's a job that pumps a lot of energy but very pleasant. This is the first time since my arrival in the NBA that I work as a summer. The NBA players who want to progress and come back even stronger next season, all pass through here. (source fr.tp9.net)

Last season Parker's numbers were down across the board so for Spurs fans this is great to see him working hard to come back strong for the new season beginning in a few months.

In one of the most competitive games yet in the FIBA World Championships, the U.S. edged out Brazil 70-68 and remain undefeated in group play.  Spurs fans had a unique reason to take an interest in this one: it was Tiago Splitter's first action against NBA competition.  And it all started off on the right foot.

He won the jump ball over Lamar Odom.

All joking aside, Spurs fans should be quite pleased with Splitter's performance today.  Against what amounts to an NBA All-Star team, he managed 13 points on 6 of 12 shooting in 30 minutes of play.  All of his scoring came from deep inside as he played a post and kick role for Brazil, even picking up three assists on kick out passes to Barbosa among others.  More impressively, he pulled down a game high 10 rebounds, including 4 offensive boards.

On the downside, Tiago did struggle to take care of the basketball.  He committed a total of 5 turnovers, most of which were simply bad passing decisions - a couple of which came at crucial points in the game for his team (one in particular off of a Splitter steal in which he threw away the outlet pass).

He also picked up a lot of fouls, mostly due to coach Ruben Magnano keeping him in even after he picked up two early fouls, then his his third and fourth in the second half.

Defensively, Splitter spent a lot of time contending with Lamar Odom, a match-up he will repeat many times in a career with the Spurs.  He handled it well, holding Odom to only 8 points on 4 of 10 from the field.

It is encouraging to see Splitter, a big part of the Spurs' plan for the future, playing on one of the biggest international stages, against the world's best, and rising to the occasion.  Hopefully this is just the beginning.