Seems the regular season is not completely over for Tony Parker. After suffering a broken right hand which has forced him to miss the past 10 games, Parker seems to be recovering faster than expected.  In fact, Coach Pop is saying Parker will be back on the court immediately once he is cleared to play. 

Here are Pop's comments (via the San Antonio Express News) on Parker and his possible early return to action prior to last night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

“He can shoot free throws now,” Popovich said before Wednesday's game. “He can't catch or dribble. But somewhere around two or three games before the end of the regular season to a couple of games into the playoffs, somewhere in that span, he will get cleared.

“He is healing quickly, according to the docs, so if he gets cleared to play and it's still the regular season, he will play.”

Personally I say no unless it's a few games to get him back into game shape. Plus, he has been injury-prone this season, why risk more injury before the playoffs? Also, George Hill has been showing he can fill in nicely at the starting point-guard position.

The long-term benefits outweigh the short-term benefits. A fully healthy Parker is more important heading into the playoffs.

On this week's episode of the Spurscast, which was live after last night's game, Michael and Jeff discuss yet another loss to a quality team.

After breaking down the game quarter-by-quarter, which was truly a game of two halves, we discussed the final stats, gave out a shiny and rusty spur, put an unexpected player on the hot seat for Friday's game against the Cavs.

We also took your calls and were lucky enough to bring in Daniel Artestand Rey Moralde of The No Look Pass for interviews.

Our next live show will be next week, celebrating our 200th show and you won't want to miss that. And don't forget, we'll provide plenty of coverage from Boston and New Jersey this weekend.

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The Spurs announced today that they've signed point guard Curtis Jerrells, calling him up from the Austin Toros.

Spurs fans and Project Spurs readers should be familiar with Jerrells. The Baylor grad was signed to the training camp roster and was one of the final cuts prior to the start of the regular season.

While he impressed in training camp and in preseason action, the Spurs only had so many spots open.

When Cedric Jackson and Garrett Temple were signed recently, some questioned why the Spurs didn't go into their own backyard to sign Jerrells, who's been a two-time D-League performer of the week with the Toros.

Jerrells has averaged 20.7 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds on a very talented Toros team.

"Jerrells was quick, attacked the basket and would have been a better fit if the Spurs decided to keep a third string point guard," I wrote when Jerrells was waived in late October. "But whether Williams was here or not, Jerrells didn't have much of a chance to make the roster after the Spurs signed Keith Bogans before training camp."

Earlier today, Sham Sports wrote about Jerrels in a "Where Are They Now" post.

Jerrells never really had much of a chance of making the Spurs roster, which therefore meant that they spent $150,000 (after tax) on a player that they knew wouldn't play for them. The reason for this is obvious; it is not in any way coincidental that Jerrells later signed with the D-League and was immediately assigned to the Spurs affiliate (which they own), the Austin Toros. Essentially, they kept him in house and expanded their roster. They technically had no claim to him, but they had him where they wanted him, and where they had the inside track on his progress and abilities. And that's surely the aim of signing anyone. It's not illicit; it's shrewd. 

However, when the Spurs needed some ten day contract guard help midseason, they instead opted to sign Cedric Jackson and Garrett Temple, not Jerrells. This was a genuine eye opener. All that manipulation of the system to get the player where you wanted for when you wanted, and then you didn't want him. Bizarre.

So what does this signing mean for the Spurs? Likely that Jerrells will end up being sent back down to Austin.

Scott Schroeder from Ridiculous Upside seems to agree.

My assumption is that another NBA team decided they wanted Jerrells, but the Spurs didn't want to lose him, so this whole "we'll pay you a lot more than we have been to keep playing for our D-League team and learning our system" thing occurred.

So Spurs fans, don't expect to see Jerrells in a Spurs jersey for tonight's game, or anytime soon.

For more information on Jerrells, be sure to read his Project Spurs Training Camp Profile, Spurscast #172: Curtis Who, and Schroeder's thoughts on his game with the Toros last night.

Yesterday, it was reported that Real Madrid was to enter the bidding war for Manu Ginobili's services after this season when his current contract with the Spurs is up.

However, just when Spurs fans were thinking the worst and starting to believe Ginobili's chances of resigning with the team were continuing to diminish, comes this good news from Ginobili's agent, Herb Rudoy, via the San Antonio Express News:

Of course, whether Real Madrid is really prepared to make such an offer is also irrelevant. Ginobili's agent, Herb Rudoy, has said that his client has no interest whatsoever in playing anywhere but the NBA next season. Not for all the euros in Europe.

At least Spurs fans do not have to worry about Real Madrid but there is still the issue of whether the team will resign him. Question is for how much and for how long? 

Ginobili has been playing better of late and if you are another NBA team with the cap-space to use this summer, then he is looking well worth any contract offer.

Spurs fan favorite Roger Mason Jr. turned Spurs nation upside down last month when word got out that he requested a trade.

Citing lack of playing time as the reason he wanted to be traded, the Spurs worked with Mason's agent, Mark Bartelstein, to try to trade Mason before the trade deadline. While there was reportedly a lot of interest in Mason, and several rumors involving him going to Chicago, Philadelphia, Memphis and Miami, the trade deadline came and went, and Mason remained in the silver & black.

So how has Mason done since the trade deadline?

While Mason averaged 19 minutes a game before the trade deadline, he has only averaged 17 a game ever since, to go with 4.4 points per game.

While Mason didn't immediately get the minutes he asked for, he has been on the floor for over 20 minutes six times since the deadline, even breaking 30 minutes per in three games.

But have those minutes translated into points?

On February 21 against the Pistons, Mason was on the floor for 31 minutes, but only scored two points. On February 26 against the Rockets, he also played 31 minutes. That time he scored 12 points, but it was on four of 13 from the field and three of nine on three-point attempts. Both games also resulted in losses.

His best game this month came Monday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 33 minutes, he scored 13 points on five of 11 shooting from the field. He also connected on three of seven three-pointers.

If "Minutes" Mason wants to get back in the good graces of Spurs fans, he'll have more games like he did on Monday night. A good start would be tonight, when the Spurs draw Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, a team he is very familiar with. It was only a season ago when Kobe Bryant celebrated a little too early and had to see Mason hit the game winner.

If Mason contributes to a Spurs win tonight, San Antonio will celebrate "Money" Mase, and be closer to forgetting about "Minutes" Mason.

OKLAHOMA CITY - No Tony Parker? No problem, say the San Antonio Spurs.

By the looks of the aggressive scoring battle that took place Monday night at the Ford Center, someone might think the Spurs (42-27) and Oklahoma City Thunder (42-27) were fighting for first place, rather than the actual sixth place standing in the Western Conference.

With the Spurs’ fall to the Atlanta Hawks and the Thunder’s loss to the Indiana Pacers, both teams were feeling the effects of a tough loss on the road just the day before.

Starting for San Antonio were Antonio McDyess, Richard Jefferson, George Hill, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan, with the team’s first points scored by Duncan just seconds into the first quarter. The need for either team to win was evident over the first six minutes of play as San Antonio answered each Oklahoma City basket until Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka teamed up to land the Spurs in hot water.

Ginobili helped to keep the Spurs moving, including a three-pointer at the top of the arc to give the Spurs their last lead of the first quarter, but Durant continued his own scoring spree to drive the Thunder’s numbers. Contributions by DeJuan Blair, Matt Bonner and George Hill rounded out the first 12 minutes of play which ended Thunder 34, Spurs 25.

Errors by the Spurs led to foul trouble in the second quarter, as Green and Ibaka were sent to line for a combined six (completed) free throws, giving Oklahoma City a 13-point lead with 8:21 left. Two baskets apiece by Roger Mason Jr. and Antonio McDyess paired with an effortless three-point shot by Ginobili in nearly three minutes brought San Antonio back to life.

Mason proved his worth by scored three - count ‘em, three - much-needed three-pointers in the last three minutes of the half to move San Antonio back within four points of tying the game. On a last minute shooting foul by Durant, Hill was sent to the free-throw line for three shots. A hot hand from Hill narrowed Oklahoma City’s lead to three at the half; Thunder 59, Spurs 56.

The Spurs’ halftime stats weren’t exactly spectacular, proving that shooting is still one of the team’s weakest spots; San Antonio shot 21-of-42 FG, 9-of-15 FT and 5-of-13 3-point FG. With 16 rebounds, 16 points in the paint and 20 bench points, the Spurs had their work cut out for them to overcome the Thunder in the second half.

Project Spurs' own Jeff Garcia's "favorite" quarter always seems to be the third, and this one wasn’t lacking in entertainment value. Ginobili, Duncan and Hill, who shined the entire game, brought the lead back to San Antonio straight out of the gate - the team’s first in nearly 20 minutes of play. After a quick comeback from Oklahoma City led by wunderkind Durant, a three-point shot from Hill tied the game yet again. Richard Jefferson’s big three-point shot oozed potential but ended up being a total bust, simply highlighting his struggles on the court.

Hill’s hot streak kicked back in just in time, as his back-to-back reverse layup and floater shots were able to put the Spurs back on top while Matt Bonner made his own three-point play contribution to give San Antonio its biggest lead of the game at seven points with less than two minutes left in the third. Durant proved yet again that he is a force to be reckoned with, sinking a basket to narrow San Antonio’s lead to five just before the buzzer; Spurs 81, Thunder 76.

San Antonio continued to maintain the lead throughout the fourth, but Oklahoma City refused to go down without a fight. Bonner and Blair combined back-to-back plays for five points to put the Spurs back on the board, but Jeff Green came back to score four points for the Thunder.

Offensive work by San Antonio shined in the middle of the fourth, as Mason gained possession and passed to Ginobili, who in turned passed off to Duncan. Seeing nowhere to go, Duncan got the ball to Bonner, who sent it right back to Ginobili. The shot clock was ticking, so Ginobili passed back to Mason, who decided to put the ball in Hill’s hands - an excellent decision as Hill fired off a three-pointer to put the Spurs back in a seven-point lead.

Another two-point floater from Hill gave the second-year veteran out of IUPUI (first reference by Bill Land and Sean Elliott; amazing that it took until the fourth) his newest career high of 27 points in a single game; his previous record of 26 points had been against Houston.

With less than four minutes left in the game, Ginobili’s big steal from Green became instant highlight reel material as he crossed the court and scored on a two-point dunk. Two baskets later, Durant reached his own career high of 45 points, but Ginobili responded by three-of-four free throws, the final points of the game.  Not even the overwhelming noise from the Oklahoma City fans could stop the Spurs, who won 99-96.

Hill led the team in scoring, followed by Ginobili‘s 21-point contribution, and Duncan and Mason with 14 and 13 points respectively. Duncan and McDyess each had 7 rebounds, while Ginobili and Hill each had five; the team had a total of 38 rebounds. The team finished with 32 points in the paint and had 43.5 percent shooting, completing 8-of-25 three-point attempts.

While the win gives the Spurs the season series win over Oklahoma City and a current sixth-place spot in the Western Conference, San Antonio faces a serious schedule the rest of the week - it all begins with the showdown versus top-of-the-Western-Conference Los Angeles Lakers in the AT&T Center at 8:30 p.m. The Spurs will face the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Eastern-Conference leaders, on Friday evening and the  Boston Celtics this Sunday.

Arianné Villanueva and I 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 games against the Lakers.

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.

Arianné Villanueva 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 Lakers de Los Angeles.

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.

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If the Spurs thought they only had to compete with other NBA teams for the services of Manu Ginobili this offseason, it appears they may have been mistaken.

According to Ramón Trecet of Marca.com (via SLAMonline), Spanish basketball club Real Madrid is interested in Ginobili and will likely be wooing him this summer with more money than he'll likely get offered in the NBA.

The 32-year-old played for Ettore Messina, now Real Madrid’s head coach, during his stint with Virtus Bologna from 2000-2002. It’s rumored the club may offer Ginobili $10 million Euros, or roughly $13.5 million US dollars — much more than the $10.7 million the Spurs are paying him this season.

While Manu has been averaging 15.4 points, 4.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game this season, he's really been on a different level lately. He's scored in double figures in 12 of his last 13 games and has scored 38 points twice this month.

While I doubt Manu would choose money over competing for a championship in the NBA, the Spurs would probably prefer if Manu were in Spain over Los Angeles.