First Lakers' coach Phil Jackson admitted he is worried about the Spurs and now Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich reciprocates the feeling.

In the ESPN - Daily Dime, Pop openly admits he is trying to avoid the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

"The ones that say 'We don't care who we play,' they're full of baloney too, because we're all trying to hide from the Lakers," Popovich said. "I mean, really. 'Who do you want to play in the first round?' 'Oh, the Lakers'. What an idiot."

As I stated earlier today, I have to agree with Pop. Lakers pose a huge challenge for the Spurs mainly becuase of the Lakers' bigger front court and since the Spurs do not have a reliable perimeter defender to guard Kobe Bryant as in seasons past with Bruce Bowen.

Should the Spurs and Lakers meet in the first-round, the Spurs bench and the back-court of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and George Hill, will have to play at a high level in a 7-game series to have a shot at upsetting the Lakers.

Speaking of Parker, Pop also mentioned he should be returning to the Spurs for the last two games of the regular season and gave a status on the recently injured George Hill. 

Popovich says the broken bone in Parker's right hand should be healed enough for him to return between the final two games of the regular season and the first two games of the playoffs, with the April 12 game against Minnesota as the target. He said Hill, who will have further tests on the ankle Monday, "is probably going to be out a while."

Lakers' coach Phil Jackson on the refs and Ginobili in the loss to the Spurs

In yesterday's game against the Lakers, Spurs' Manu Ginobili and Lakers' Ron Artest got tangled up a bit which led to both of them receiving technicals. Of course, this didn't sit well with Phil and he had the following to say on the refs, and Ginobili:

"Tonight they wouldn't let Ron play the way he played prior to [the technical-foul call]," Jackson said. "[Ginobili] could hook Ron; [Artest] didn't get what was going on and ended up getting too many fouls on him."

"The way we ended up the half I think turned the referees against us, and when you do that, that's an unfortunate thing," Jackson said. "Ron didn't back off and didn't read that official well enough to know you got to back off, you got to lighten the load, he's not going to take any more of that. Ginobili forced the issue and got the calls."

"On both the replays that we looked at, Ginobili hooks him," Jackson said. "He does the up-and-under move with the hook. Obviously the referees just didn't want the contact at that time. I told Ron at halftime, 'You got to back off when it's time to back off.' You just can't keep being persistent about that because they sent you a warning signal, and that signal was, 'Back off.' We ended up giving them some momentum at the half and probably got the referees on the back end of our game."

Nice job Phil! No it wasn't anything the Spurs did.  It wasn't the fact the Spurs bench outscored your bench 20-4. I am sure the Lakers' loss to the Spurs had nothing to do with getting out rebounded by the Spurs 41-34, Ginobili scoring 32 points, or the Spurs outscoring the Lakers in the paint, 48-40.  It was all because of the refs!

In a recent interview with Dan Patrick of Sports Illustrated, Phil Jackson, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, was asked about the Spurs heading into the playoffs.

DP: It seems like [San Antonio coach Gregg] Popovich is at his best this time of the year, when we're getting near the postseason. Is that the team you see in your rearview mirror and worry about?

PJ: Without a doubt.

First. I am caught off guard by this "respectful" comment from Phillip. Especially since Phil does not have such a glowing track record when it comes to shutting his mouth on his views on the Spurs. Spurs fans still hate the whole "asterisk" comment back in 1999.

Second. Is this more "mind games" with the Spurs? Spurs went 2-2 against the Lakers this season. In one game the Spurs lost a game despite Andrew Bynum not playing and a hurt Kobe Bryant. Blew a lead in the March 25th matchup in San Antonio where the Spurs couldn't buy a basket in the second half.

However, in the most recent win over the Lakers, the Spurs beat the Lakers 100-81. In that game the Spurs lost George Hill to an ankle injury in the second quarter and were still not playing without Tony Parker and still got the win.

In the end, should the Spurs face the Lakers in the first round, I am more than sure Phil is comfortable playing the Spurs in the first round. With Bynum in the lineup, and not to mention Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, the Lakers are too big in the front court for the Spurs. This could be the undoing for the Spurs in the end.

After defeating the Orlando Magic, the Spurs next faced the Western Conference leading Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles.

With the Spurs regular season history of losing to the elite Western Conference teams, coming into this game against, it would have seemed the Spurs were in for a loss.

To recap the the game, I turned to three huge Spurs fans and fans of Project Spurs to help recap today's game against the Lakers via Twitter. So without further adieu, here is Conner, Carlos and Rita to breakdown the Spurs game Twitter style!

First Quarter recap by Conner aka spurtd21

At the end of the first quarter it was Lakers 24, Spurs 22.

Second Quarter recap by Carlos aka carlos_vnzla

At the half the Spurs were leading the Lakers, 48-40.

Third Quarter recap by Rita aka rita202109

After three quarters, the Spurs were leading the Lakers 67-59.

Fourth Quarter recap by Rita aka rita202109

Spurs win and seal a playoff birth for the 13th consecutive time! Final from Los Angeles, 100-81.

Notes:

• Bad news for the Spurs as George Hill injured his ankle in the second quarter after stepping on the foot of Lakers' Derek Fisher.  He did not play the rest of the game. X-Rays were negative but he did suffer a sprained ankle.
• Manu Ginobili scored 32 points in the victory against the Lakers.  He also picked up a technical foul when he and Ron Artest got tangled up on an in bound play.
• Tim Duncan scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Richard Jefferson scored 14 points.
• Spurs opened the second half of the game on an 11-4 run.
• Spurs shot 48.7% from the field, 38.9% from the three-point line, 79.2% from the free-throw line.
• Spurs committed 13 turnovers, outscored the Lakers 48-40 in the paint, and their largest lead was 19 points.
• Spurs bench outperformed the Lakers bench scoring 20 points while the Lakers bench scored four points.
• Spurs grabbed 41 rebounds while the Lakers grabbed 34.
• With the win, the Spurs record is now 47-29 and remain in the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoff standings.
• The Spurs have beaten the Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Oklahoma City Thunder. All playoff bound teams.
• The Spurs will next face the Sacramento Kings Tuesday in Sacramento.

The NBA pays these players a substantial amount of money to play at their healthiest and highest level of performance. Now it is on their own will to play in the summer for their country. I am including ALL NBA players, international or U.S. I am not against supporting your country, but should they start to add stipulations to their contracts if these players go off in the summer and get hurt? These franchises put out millions of dollars on these players and if they get hurt, why should they get paid for that season if they don' play? I know it is a sticky question, and my family and I have had many conversations over this, but I just wanted to get your opinion. - Becca

I've actually thought about this for quite some time. When Manu was injured and sat out a considerable amount of games a few years back, then decided to play internationally the next summer, a lot of people in and around San Antonio had a big problem with it.

For international players, the ultimate goal has always been winning Olympic gold for your country. Even now with many international players playing in the league, I'd guess plenty would say they'd pick an Olympic Gold Medal over an NBA Championship.

With Manu, I felt empathetic because you have to realize that he has a great amount of pride in his home country of Argentina, but at some point NBA Teams have to think of their own interests and how international play could affect their success.

Yao Ming is likely one of the better centers in the NBA, when he's playing. How right is it that he's available to play for the Chinese National Team while he's sat out most of the last two seasons with the Rockets while earning nearly $17 million per season.

So I really do think it's time the NBA and owners have stipulations for their players who choose to play internationally. Would Yao Ming be playing summers if that cushy $17 million were pro-rated. Whether or not the Player's Association would ever even consider it is another issue.

Have a question for the mailbag? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or click "contact" above and one of our writers will be sure to discuss it in a future mailbag.

Hola amigos fanáticos de los Spurs y bienvenidos a nuestra página de Project Spurs donde siempre encontraran la información mas actualizada sobre su equipo favorito de baloncesto.
Hoy estaré repasando los juegos de los Spurs de la semana pasada.

Antes de comenzar me gustaría informarles sobre una buena noticia para los fanáticos de Manu Ginobili. De acuerdo a un artículo que nuestro escritor Jeff García anuncio ayer en nuestra página de Project Spurs, Manu Ginobili de los San Antonio Spurs fue nombrado ayer el jugador de la Conferencia Oeste de la semana basado en los juegos de la semana reciente comenzando del 22 de marzo al 28. Ginobili tuvo un promedio de 25.8 puntos, 5 asistencias, y 4.5 rebotes. El anoto 20 puntos o más en cada juego incluyendo 30 puntos en una ganancia que vivimos en contra de los Cavaliers de Cleveland el pasado viernes 26 de marzo.

Bueno y de esta noticia continuamos con el repaso de los juegos. Comenzamos con el triunfo que vivieron los Spurs el pasado lunes 22 de marzo en el Ford Center en Oklahoma City en contra de los Thunder.  Para esta victoria Manu Ginobili ayudo aportando 21 puntos, Tim Duncan con 14, y  aunque Mason no anoto una solo canasta durante el primer cuarto del juego término aportando 13 puntos ayudando a que los Spurs llevaran la delantera 59-56 durante medio tiempo. Para este juego Ginobili fue elemental ya que el contribuyo con los puntos ganadores desde la línea de tiro libre ayudando así a que los Spurs derrotaron a los Thunder 99 a 96.

Y desafortunadamente los Spurs no contaron con la misma suerte la noche del miércoles pasado 24 de marzo, donde se enfrentaron a su equipo rival los Lakers de Los Angeles en el AT&T center. Para este juego Ginobili fue el mayor contribuyente anotando un total de 24 puntos mientras George Hill 21. Aunque en este juego el puntuaje de los Spurs incrementaba en cada cuarto por la primera mitad del juego, no fue hasta el tercer cuarto que los Lakers de Los Angeles decidieron tomar control logrando así derrotar a los Spurs 92 a 83.

Y seguimos con la emocionante noche que vivió Ginobli junto a sus fanáticos durante el enfrentamiento de los Spurs contra los Cavaliers de Cleveland. Esa noche Manu se lucio anotando un total de 30 puntos ayudando así a su equipo vencer a los Cavaliers 102 a 97. Este triunfo de los Spurs ayudo a romper el patrón de 8 juegos consecutivos ganados que llevaban los Cavaliers de Cleveland. Para esta victoria ambos Duncan y Jefferson contribuyeron con 16 puntos, y Hill con 14.

No obstante los Spurs de San Antonio se lucieron una vez más en el siguiente juego enfrentándose y derrotando a los Celtics de Boston el domingo pasado 28 de marzo donde Manu Ginobili de nuevo llevo la delantera en puntos sobre su equipo. Esa noche Manu contribuyo con 24 puntos, Jefferson con 16, y George Hill con 15.

Desgraciadamente para los Spurs y sus fanáticos  no todo fue color de rosa ya que justo al siguiente día fueron derrotados por uno de los peores equipos de la NBA. Asombrosamente los New Jersey Nets vencieron a los Spurs la noche del lunes 29 de marzo en el IZOD Center.  No cabe duda que definitivamente nos falto Manu Ginobili esta noche ya que el esencial jugador falto al juego debido a un dolor a su espalda. Roger Mason también abandono el juego durante la primera mitad debido a una torcedura al nudillo de uno de sus meñiques. El mayor contribuyente a este juego fue George Hill con 19 puntos, de ahí le siguieron Richard Jefferson con 16, y Tim Duncan con 13.

Actualmente los Spurs sostienen el septimo lugar en la división de la conferencia oeste.

Bueno amigos y fieles seguidores de los San Antonio Spurs fue un placer compartir con ustedes el día de hoy. Les recuerdo que visiten con frecuencia nuestra pagina de Project Spurs para mantenerse actualizados e informados en el mejor sitio de blog. no comments

Tony Parker has the life us guys would love to have. He is a professional athelete, a three-time NBA Champion, an NBA Finals MVP, a two-time NBA All-Star, and perhaps what I like to call the "cherry on top," is married to Eva Longoria.

But being married and playing basketball has a price to pay. Seeing how he cannot wear a wedding band during games, and apparently due to a lack of memory about wearing it, his wife decided to MAKE him get a tattoo of a wedding band.

But you know what? If I was married to Eva Longoria and she asked me to get a tattoo, cut off a limb, drink battery acid, I'd probably do it.

Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

Arianné and Jeff are back for the latest Spanish edition of the Spurscast. In this episode, Arianne recaps the last games for the Spurs, and we discuss the Spurs loss against the Nets and Manu Ginobili.

Remember, Project Spurs was the first Spurs blog to have a Spurs podcast and the first to have a Spanish podcast for Spanish-speaking fans.

Jeff y yo estamos de regreso con el Spurscast en Español mas reciente.  En este episodio Arianné repasa los juegos de los Spurs y discutimos los Spurs contra los Nets de Nueva Jersey y Manu Ginobili.

Y recuerden que Project Spurs fue la primera página de Internet en tener un podcast de Los Spurs y la primera en tener un podcast en español para los fanáticos de habla hispana.

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.

no comments

With the Spurs facing the Houston Rockets tonight, here is an injury update on Manu Ginobili and Roger Mason via the San Antonio Express News.

Ginobili who suffered back spasms after the win in Boston over the Celtics and sat out against the Spurs loss to the Nets.

On the recent Project Spurs road trip with the Spurs, our first stop was in Boston at the TD Garden as the Spurs took on the Celtics.  During pre-game warmups, Project Spurs was able to see Tim Duncan warm-up prior to the game.

After four NBA titles, back-to-back NBA MVP trophies, three NBA Finals MVP trophies, numerous All-Star appearances, and countless other accolades, Duncan still practices the basics. To see this in person, one can really appreciate Duncan's commitment to the basics and the example he sets for younger players.