In an interview with esporte.ig.com.br, San Antonio Spurs' center, Tiago Splitter, was asked about finally joining the Spurs, and much more:

P - Only after three years of his employment that you decided to go to the NBA. Why? 

R - I had a contract in Europe that had to comply. But thinking about basketball, I matured a lot [in Europe], I could improve my game, I managed to win both individual and collective titles. I was very happy to have been these three years in Europe and improved my game.  

Q - What are the difficulties you expect to find in his first season in the NBA?

R - Obviously I need some time to adapt. It is normal after so many years playing in Europe. Moving to the North American league, where there is this difference. When you can adapt myself, I will not have any problem because I have total support of technicians and leaders of San Antonion. As for the game in the NBA he is much faster in transition. Some rules may, in Spain, in Europe, is allowed much more contact. In the NBA, the defense that is very different, is no longer any contact. So I have to learn to defend, to do the locks on the attack because they are very different in the NBA.

 Q - How are you imagining your start? Will leave the bank or will be one of the holders of the team?

R - To tell the truth, I'm not thinking about that yet. First I have to work, I have to train. I need to play well to get my minutes. This is normal, it will be my first year there. The same illusion that I had when I was 15 and went to Europe I am now, waiting, eager to begin training.

The one thing which stands out for me is how Splitter acknowledges he is starting over and is humbled enough to know there is an established leadership core with the Spurs. He recognizes he has to work to earn minutes on the court and nothing will be handed to him. Very impressive from the MVP and champion from Caja Laboral.

Click HERE for the complete interview.

LAS VEGAS -- While I was at the 2010 Summer League, most of the buzz focused on which players were making an impression on the court. From Jeremy Lin who impressed many with his performance against Washington Wizard's John Wall to John Wall himself who showed why he was drafted number one in the 2010 NBA Draft.

However, another player who was also mentioned among the buzz was Alonzo Gee of the San Antonio Spurs.

Gee impressed many in the stands including fellow media members sitting in press row. One stated he could be starting for the Spurs in a few years. He displayed a great all around game. Offensively he was getting to the rim and hitting his outside shot as in the game against the Atlanta Hawks where he scored 24 points. On the defensive end he showed a knack for steals including four against the Hawks and three in the last game of the Summer League against the Memphis Grizzlies.

He even impressed Spurs forward, DeJuan Blair, "He has been playing excellent. I think that's our team MVP right now. I can say a lot about him."

Still, he knows he has further development to become an impact player for the Spurs, "The defensive end and keep rebounding and make my open shots. That's what they (Spurs) want me to do," said Gee when I asked him about the areas he still needs to develop.

It is refreshing to see a young player embrace the fact development is still needed but it's not just what Gee has to do on the court. He is fully aware of a great opportunity he has playing for the Spurs and knows not to squander it including taking advantage of the veterans on the Spurs roster, "I talk to everybody. You can get information or whatever you need from all the guys. They are all helpful."

Last season, when Gee was signed by the Washington Wizards, many Spurs fans felt as if another solid young player just slipped away. Perhaps the Spurs organization felt the same. Just as soon as he was signed by Washington, they released him and the Spurs swooped and signed him to a contract. Gee recognized this, "I was in Washington, then got to be with the Spurs and be with them in the playoffs. It's just a great opportunity to be with the organization."

Last season he did not get much time on the court with the Spurs but after his impressive play in the Summer League (averaged 14.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.8 assists) it wouldn't be a stretch to see him get a new opportunity with the Spurs and that's minutes on the court as a major contributor.

We were live for the first time this summer yesterday, and while you may have missed on an excellent opportunity to ask a question to one of the players live, we do have the archived audio file for you.

Shortly after the Spurs' route of the Memphis Grizzlies to go a perfect 5-0 in Summer League, we reviewed the game and a few players and then brought on our own Jeff Garcia, who was representing Project Spurs at the Thomas and Mack Center at UNLV for the last two games.

Jeff gave us some great insight and answered our questions having been up close and personal and have access to all of the summer league players. We discussed several players, especially Alonzo Gee and Gary Neal.

We also talked to Garrett Temple and got his thoughts on how his team played without him, how his ankle injury is healing and if he was looking forward to training camp.

If you get a chance, thank Jeff for flying out to Vegas on his own dime to cover this for us and bringing all Spurs fans exclusive interviews.

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It has been a crazy offseason for most teams in the Eastern Conference. The Miami Heat hit the jackpot after landing Chris Bosh and Lebron James, the New York Knicks were able to sign Amar'e Stoudemire, the Chicago Bulls now have a legitimate threat in post with Carlos Boozer and added sharpshooter Kyle Korver to their roster.

While in the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks pushed hard to get Tyson Chandler from the Charlotte Bobcats, the Utah Jazz added Al Jefferson and Raja Bell, and the Phoenix Suns essentially replaced Amar'e Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa with Hedo Turkoglu and Josh Childress. The list just goes on and on.

The San Antonio Spurs? Their offseason moves might not be as celebrated as the other teams, but they are quietly doing their job. They drafted scoring guard James Anderson and Euro big man Ryan Richards, re-signed Matt Bonner and finally convinced Tiago Splitter to make San Antonio his new home.

However, they are not yet done reshaping their roster. Richard Jefferson likely will be back with a more reasonable contract and they need to add more depth at their wing position. Maybe they can get either Rasual Butler, Bobby Simmons or Damien Wilkins by using the bi-annual exception (worth $2 million) or $2.36 million leftover from the MLE.

Matt Barnes will probably ask for more money. Also, even with Splitter coming over, adding another serviceable big man won't hurt. Former Spur Fabricio Oberto and Francisco Elson remain available in the market plus the team also have two bigs Dwyane Mitchell and Darryl Watkins playing in the Summer League that may have a shot at making the roster.

As currently structured, the Spurs still pale in comparison to the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers. Splitter is expected to provide a major boost on the teams' aging frontline and Anderson could be another offensive threat because he is a proven scorer in college but both of them are still question marks. They have to prove that they can bring their game into the NBA-level.

Nonetheless, Splitter's decision to join the Spurs this season gives greater implications in the long run. If he can play effectively for 20-25 minutes and DeJuan Blair playing more time at the four. Tim Duncan could get more rest during the regular season and that will come in handy come playoff time.

Anderson will give added depth on the Spurs' guard rotation which already includes Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, George Hill and probably Garrett Temple. The team also have guys who can play the three-position should they decide to bring back Malik Hairston and keep Summer League sensation Alonzo Gee.

With a lot of big name free agents moving to the East, the power may have shifted there which means the Spurs' road to the playoffs might be easier than it was a year ago.

However, the West still has the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers which solidified their point guard spot by adding Steve Blake. They still are the team to beat.

But don't count out the Spurs just yet. A couple of solid moves more this offseason and this team can be serious title contenders in the upcoming season.

What are your thoughts? Is bringing back Jefferson, adding more perimeter depth and inside help enough to make the Spurs title contenders? Tell us what you think.

Las Vegas -- As the San Antonio Spurs finished their 2010 Las Vegas Summer League, I had a chance to speak with Eric Dawson and get his thoughts on the Spurs finishing undefeated (5-0) and his summer league experience with the Spurs.

Jeff: How would you assess your performance here in Vegas?

Eric: It was great. Played team ball. Before we came out here, we wanted to not worry about winning but play as a unit. When you play together, the results are good and we go 5-0.

Was finishing in the Summer League undefeated still in the back of your mind?

We wanted to take it. We wanted to go 5-0 and we wanted to sweep everybody.

Going 5-0 is actually a testament to this Spurs summer league team playing with out DeJuan Blair, and other key players. This has to tell you a lot about this squad.

We had our mind set to just take it to whoever and play as a team and play hard. The number one thing was to play defense.

How was it going up against Hasheem Thabeet?

It was my first time playing against him and I wanted to prove to everybody that I can take it to him. I had fun playing against him. Coach Bud told me to be physical, by aggressive and that's what I did.

So what is next for you?

My options are open. Just waiting for anything to come around. Obviously I want to be in the NBA but if I don't, I played in Japan last year they wanted me back but I am going to see what the NBA will do for me first.

Dawson finished with 14 points, had three steals, perfect from the free-throw line (6/6) and had two rebounds against the Memphis Grizzlies in the final game of the Summer League.

Las Vegas -- The San Antonio entered their last summer league game 4-0 and hoped to leave Las Vegas with a perfect record as they took on the Memphis Grizzlies.

The first quarter started off great for the Spurs' Gary Neal who hit a three-point shot and got fouled for the "and 1." Neal continued his hot shooting hitting four, three-point shots for the Spurs. Tyler Wilkerson got in the action with a dunk which brought the fans in the stands up on their feet.

The three-point barrage continued for the Spurs when Sean Dennison hit a three-pointer right after checking in the game and Neal hit his fifth three-point shot for the Spurs in the first quarter.

After the first quarter it was the Spurs 29, Grizzlies 12. Neal led the Spurs with 16 points, including five three-point shots made.

In the second quarter, the Spurs started to commit fouls, miss their shots and turn the ball over. Lucky for them the Grizzlies were not hitting their shots allowing the Spurs to maintain their lead over Memphis.

Spurs' Alonzo Gee displayed not only can he get the job done on the offensive end, his defense as he got a steal which led to an easy score for Neal. Spurs' Darryl Watkins showed impressive aggressiveness on both ends of the court. He was going for rebounds and was displaying great low-post moves.

Neal continued his hot shooting for the Spurs hitting his sixth three-point shot as the shot clock for the Spurs was expiring.

At the end of the first half, it was the Spurs 47, Grizzlies 25. Neal led the Spurs with 23 points in the first half and the Spurs biggest lead over Memphis was 24 points.

The third quarter started off slow for the Spurs but the Spurs still kept the Grizzlies at bay. Spurs' Dwyane Mitchell had a nice dunk from an alley-oop pass from Gee which got the crowd in the game.

The Spurs simply maintained their lead over the Grizzlies despite Memphis outscoring the Spurs 23-16 in the third. At the end of the third it was Spurs 63, Grizzlies 48. The Spurs were shooting 40.4% from the field.

Memphis came into the fourth quarter aggressive while the Spurs continued to miss shots. Memphis cut the Spurs lead to nine points but after a sluggish game through three quarters, Gee started to get make his presence known. Offensively he knocked down some shots and defensively was getting steals leading to easy scoring opportunities for the Spurs.

The Spurs beat the Grizzlies, 78 to 64, to finish the NBA Summer League undefeated at 5-0.

Game Notes:

• Neal finished with 25 points and made six three-point shots.
• Eric Dawson finished with 14 points and was perfect from the free-throw line going 6-6.
• Spurs shot 42.6% from the field, 47.4% from the three-point line, 89.5% from the free-throw line and committed 19 turnovers.
• DeJuan Blair, Garrett Temple, and James Gist did not play.
  

Join us at 5:30 p.m. as we review the Spurs' five summer league games.

Our own Jeff Garcia will be calling in live from Las Vegas about the last games to talk about his insights, interviews and more.

We'll be talking about Alonzo Gee's emergence and chances to make the roster, and Gary Neal, who turned some heads, as well as the rest of the summer league roster.

Make sure to call in to give us your thoughts or questions at (718) 664-9621 and make sure to push play right at 5:30 p.m. CST. We'll also have a live chat going where you can get your questions in if you can't call in.

This is our first time experimenting with the live Blog Talk Radio player. If for whatever reason it does not work, you can also listen live here.

The San Antonio Spurs are undefeated (4-0) in the 2010 NBA Summer League and one player who has been standing out for the team has been Alonzo Gee. Gee has been averaging 15.3 points, six rebounds and 2.7 steals through three games.

After the win against the Los Angeles Clippers, I had a chance to catch up with Spurs' forward, DeJuan Blair, and I got his thoughts on Gee, "He has been playing excellent. I think that's our team MVP right now. I can say a lot about him."

When I asked him about his recent remarks about becoming the NBA MVP he had this to say, "It's just something I got to go for myself in a couple of years from now."

Got to appreciate Blair's desire and I am sure Spurs fans will love to see Blair hoisting the 2012 NBA MVP trophy in the AT&T Center.

Blair went on to say his recent injury is fine and he credits defense for the team remaining undefeated in the Summer League.

Las Vegas -- The San Antonio Spurs came into this game against the Los Angeles Clippers undefeated going 3-0 in the 2010 NBA Summer League.  The Spurs have been led by Gary Neal who has been averaging 15.7 points. The Clippers came into the game 1-2 in the Summer league led by rookie Al-Farouq Aminu who has been averaging 12.3 points.

The first quarter started off with a quick timeout for the Spurs. After seeing how poorly the team got on offense, coach Budenholzer wanted to "discuss" things with Curtis Jerrells. Alonzo Gee got things started for the Spurs with back-to-back dunks for the Spurs. The Spurs continued to get to the rim for high-percentage shots but their outside shots were not falling early in the first quarter.

The Clippers were staying in the game led by Aminu who threw down a dunk for an "and-1" to take the lead from the Spurs. The Clippers started to knock shots down to keep their lead on the Spurs.

At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers were leading 18-12. The Spurs shot 26.3% from the field while the Clippers shot 53.8% from the floor.

The second quarter the Spurs came out attacking the basket to take the lead from the Clippers. Sean Dennision hit a lay-up and a three-point shot to maintain the Spurs slim lead on the Clippers.

The Spurs started to turn the ball over allowing the Clippers to stay in the game. Darryl Watkins then got to the rim for a dunk to keep the Spurs' lead. Gee continued his hot shooting hitting a three-pointer and scoring at the rim for the Spurs.

At the half the Spurs led 39 to 26. They were led by Gee with 15 points, shot 41% from the floor (16/39), grabbed 15 rebounds, and had 22 points in the paint.

The third quarter started just like the first half with the Spurs missing shots. Jerrells showed some hustle on the defensive-end diving for loose balls and keeping Clippers' Eric Bledsoe on his heels.

Gee continued to put his stamp on the game displaying his inside and outside game as the Spurs stretched the lead to 15 points. At the end of the third quarter, it was the Spurs 56, Clippers 41.

Spurs' Dwyane Mitchell started things off for the Spurs in the fourth getting the "and 1." Mitchell also showed he can create with a nice assist to Tyler Wilkerson for the dunk and on the defensive end with a steal.

The Spurs were getting it done on the defensive end. Watkins had an emphatic block on Aminu and the Spurs were displaying solid team defense. The Clippers did fight back a bit with Aminu leading the way but in the end it was not enough.

The Spurs remain undefeated in the Summer League beating the Clippers 77 to 62. They will next face the Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow and hope to have a perfect record to end the 2010 Summer League.

Game Notes:

• Spurs were led by Gee with 20 points, 7/12 from the field, 2/3 from the three-point line, six rebounds and one steal.
  
• Spurs scored 42 points in the paint, had 16 fast break points and nine second chance points.
• Spurs committed 19 turnovers leading to 16 points for the Clippers.
• Spurs out-rebounded the Clippers 34-30.
• Spurs shot 42% from the field, 29.4% from the three-point line and 77.8% from the free-throw line.

The 2010 Las Vegas Summer League is winding down and the San Antonio Spurs have two more games before it's over and the doldrums of the NBA begins.

As I was sitting on press row, waiting for the Spurs versus Los Angeles Clippers game, I had a chance to chat with Darryl Watkins and ask him a few quick questions about the Summer League, defense, his goals and more.

Jeff: How has your experience been playing in the Vegas Summer League?

Darryl: It's real tough coming out against new competition that's going to be coming out this new season.

Tell me about the intensity out on the floor with everyone trying to secure a spot on a team.

It's real intense because everyone out here is trying to do the same thing you are trying to do. That's making an NBA roster spot.

The San Antonio Spurs are notorious for preaching defense. On the defensive end, what can you bring to this team?

Basically block shots, rebounds and making sure I'm there for help defense.

What drives you?

Basically to support my family and the love for the game. I want to keep getting better from the last game. I have a certain amount of goals and keep climbing to higher heights. Show that my game has developed a little bit more. I can score, rebound, and also be a team player.

Jacque Vaughn, a former player himself, and now coaching the summer league team. From someone who has played the game and now coaching you, how valuable it that for you?

That's great value. You have someone that used to be a player and when I was with the Spurs before, he was a teammate, and he knows the game.

Is it a little weird seeing him as a coach?

(laughs) It's real weird. From seeing him go from teammate to coach Vaughn!

Watkins has been averaging 7.3 points and 7 rebounds in 23 minutes per game for the Spurs in the summer league.