San Antonio Spurs

[orionpax]

Spurs flying under the radar as usual. Hope Manu comes back soon

[Jon Don]

Fuc what you heard. Spurs at full strength is a tough out in a 7-game series, even against GSW.

[silipmanok]

Spurs team deserve respect. Team play talaga. Proven and tested. Not sure lang kung kaya pa nila makalusot sa west dahil sobrang ganda ng laro ng warriors but come playoff time sana healthy lahat ng players para maganda laban.

[BoySungkit]

Spurs team deserve respect. Team play talaga. Proven and tested. Not sure lang kung kaya pa nila makalusot sa west dahil sobrang ganda ng laro ng warriors but come playoff time sana healthy lahat ng players para maganda laban.

 

Looking forward to it... Lalo na dating kasama ni Pop si Steve Kerr diba?

[silipmanok]

Yup I also think steve kerr was a big part of the improvement ng warriors. Dami nya rin siguro natutunan kay popo.

 

And confidence na rin cguro ng mga players kaya significant improvement ng players specially curry.

 

I think spurs and warriors are both undefeated in their homecourt this season. Looking forward sa laban nila homecourt naman ng spurs.

[BoySungkit]

Yup I also think steve kerr was a big part of the improvement ng warriors. Dami nya rin siguro natutunan kay popo.

 

And confidence na rin cguro ng mga players kaya significant improvement ng players specially curry.

 

I think spurs and warriors are both undefeated in their homecourt this season. Looking forward sa laban nila homecourt naman ng spurs.

 

Yup... Yun din + yung next na labang sa OKC.

[ppdd]

Kawhi Leonard game winner over Aaron Gordon.

 

nice shot by Kawhi!

[incregobil]

go spurs go!

[Labuyo]

Sending positive vibes towards Manu recovering well from his injury/surgery.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Labuyo

[Nel Horan]

nag-iisang legitimate threat sa GSW..

[ppdd]

last game between Kobe and Timmy.. :'(

[HarryPotter25]

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NEW YORK (AP) — The Brooklyn Nets have hired Sean Marks of the San Antonio Spurs as their general manager.

Marks has spent the last five years with the Spurs, including the last two as assistant general manager. He was an assistant coach when they won the 2014 NBA title.

He is leaving one of the NBA's most consistently successful franchises to join a team that is 14-40 and has the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference. Marks replaces general manager Billy King, who was reassigned Jan. 10, the same day coach Lionel Hollins was fired.

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov on Thursday lauded Marks for his coaching and management experience, saying it "gives him a 360-degree view of the job at hand."

Marks played 12 years in NBA with six teams, including the Spurs.

[HarryPotter25]

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The San Antonio Spurs are known for their ability to find diamonds in the rough, and that’s often been the case while the team has had late-first-round picks after successful postseason runs. Arguably nobody has managed their roster better from a front office standpoint than the Spurs. With the veteran, future Hall of Fame Spurs leading the way, San Antonio’s front office has used its D-League to develop players into rotational pieces while making smart trades and picking the right free agents who fit into what they do. The Spurs have obviously had a lot of success, but just how exactly have they set up their future with the draft?

The Spurs’ 2011 draft was the key to everything. First, San Antonio traded its 2008 first-round pick and backup point guard George Hill to the Indiana Pacers for the 15th overall pick. San Antonio selected last year’s Defensive Player of the Year and 2014 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard with that selection. This year, Leonard has turned into an offensive force as well as the defensive dynamo he was last year, and he’s going to be the face of their franchise alongside LaMarcus Aldridge for years to come.

Then, San Antonio opted for point guard Cory Joseph at 29th overall, and after a few stints in the D-League, Joseph turned himself into a valuable depth piece as a third point guard. Joseph showed promise during his time with the Spurs, and after becoming a free agent this past summer, he signed a four-year, $30-million contract with the Toronto Raptors.

With their second-round pick, San Antonio went with international combo guard Adam Hanga at pick 59. Hanga has been playing overseas for the last four years, and it appears unlikely he’ll ever make his way to the NBA.

One of San Antonio’s biggest regrets (and they still probably don’t regret it all that much) in the draft during the past five years must have come in the 2012 draft. After trading with the Golden State Warriors for swingman Stephen Jackson, the Spurs gave up Richard Jefferson, T.J. Ford and their 2012 first-round pick.

That first rounder turned into center Festus Ezeli, who’s proved to be an impact NBA player and someone who might be a part of Golden State’s future. San Antonio’s second-rounder was used on combo guard Marcus Denmon, but he signed to play overseas in France and continues to play there today.

The Spurs had another late pick in 2013 and they selected French combo forward Livio Jean-Charles at 28th overall. Jean-Charles showed flashes of defensive ability while on the Spurs’ Summer League team, but is still far too raw of a talent to make an impact in the NBA.

The team opted for another offensive-minded combo forward in the second round with Deshaun Thomas. Thomas played overseas for a bit before making his way to the Austin Spurs, where he currently continues to develop in their D-League system.

After winning the title in 2014, San Antonio had the last pick of the draft. The team opted to go with Boris Diaw-lite in Kyle Anderson. Anderson had multiple assignments to the D-League during his rookie campaign, and performed pretty well. He’s currently a part of the team’s 15-man roster and has played in 52 of the their 56 games.

San Antonio traded away Curtis Jerrells to the Hornets in October 2010 to receive another late second-round 2014 pick. The Spurs traded the 58th and 60th picks for Serbian small forward Nemanja Dangubic. It’s unclear if Dangubic will ever come overseas after signing a three-year deal in July 2014, although there’s an opt-out clause after each year.

San Antonio had its earliest of first-round picks in 2015 at 26th overall, and the team opted for international 7-footer Nikola Milutinov. However, Milutinov signed a three-year deal with Greek club Olympiacos this past July, so it might be some time before he makes an appearance in the NBA.

At 55th overall, the Spurs opted for a raw center in Cady Lalanne. Lalanne is just 6-10, but his 7-5 wingspan gives him some intrigue as a second rounder. Lalanne is currently on the Austin Spurs.

Grade: A

The Spurs’ 2011 draft set up their future success and stabilized everything during the 2014 championship run. The fact that they won a title during this span helps their grade as well, and the front office has done a wonderful job adding the right free-agent pieces and finding the right undrafted free agents to develop into NBA players. Obviously the older core of players have aided San Antonio’s success, but Leonard and Aldridge should help push this team into perennial title contention in the future.

[HarryPotter25]

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First, he was a youngster learning his way with one of the league's most veteran teams.

Then, he became one of the league's best players and the Most Valuable Player of the 2007 NBA Finals.

Now, Tony Parker jokes that his role as a veteran role player has taken him to his "third career" with the Spurs.

My first career I was behind Timmy and Manu [Ginobili] as the third option," Parker, 33, said. "I was trying to get better as a player and a point guard. Then Pop gave me the key in 2011, and it was my team for four or five years. And now I'm back to being a third option [offensively], more of a distributor and more of a defender.

"It's like a third career for me, but it is great. I love my role. As long as we win. You know on our team, ego, we don't care about that. We just want to win a championship. If that's what I have to do to win a championship, that's what I do. I want to win the ring. Individually, I have plenty of accolades with All-Stars and All-NBA and stuff like that. It doesn't really bother me because at the end of my career, what people will remember is how many rings I got."

Parker is averaging fewer points than in any since his rookie season as a 19-year-old rookie in 2001-02. But in the article, he sounds comfortable with his new position with his team.

Before the season, Parker told Yahoo he had an "easy conversation" with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich about deferring to Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge.

"Now it's their team. They have to go, and 'The Big Three' (

Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Parker), we take a back seat," Parker said.

Parker spoke in the story of the historic nature of the Spurs' season. San Antonio is off to the fastest start in franchise history, but it's not receiving much national attention because of Golden State's even faster beginning.

And interestingly enough, Parker admits to a more-than-passing interest in the Spurs' three remaining games with the Warriors. The next game approaches on March 19.

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The San Antonio Spurs have the best record in franchise history at this point in a season. Coach Gregg Popovich, however, isn't happy with their recent efforts without Kawhi Leonard.

With Leonard potentially out for a fourth straight game, the Spurs will try to tighten things up defensively and continue their domination of theSacramento Kings on Wednesday night.

San Antonio (47-9) trails only Golden State's 50-5 record for the best in the NBA, and the Spurs have returned from the All-Star break to win two of three. However, they've allowed an average of 109.7 points over that stretch, a far cry from their league-low 92.7 on the season.

The defensive issues, which were on display in Sunday's 118-111 win at lowly Phoenix, have come without Leonard - the reigning defensive player of the year. He's also the team's top scorer at 20.2 points per game, and the league's top 3-point shooter at 48.2 percent.

"I'm concerned. It's terrible," Popovich said. "We stink on D right now. We'll see if we can get better."

If Leonard is unable to play, Kyle Anderson is expected to start in his place again. Anderson has averaged 9.0 points on 54.2 percent shooting in three games in Leonard's spot.

Tony Parker has helped compensate for Leonard's absence, averaging 20.3 points during that span after scoring 22 against the Suns. Patty Mills is also picking up the slack with 36 points over the last two games, matching his career best with six 3s Sunday.

Parker - unlike Popovich - isn't too worried about the recent defensive woes, which include allowing teams to shoot 48.4 percent from the field and 43.7 from long range.

"We know we're not going to beat everyone by 20 or even win every game," Parker said, "but it's definitely good to go through this experience and learn from it."

The Spurs rarely have problems with the Kings (24-31), winning 34 of the past 38 matchups, including 17 of 19 in Sacramento.

They extended their overall winning streak in the series to four with a 106-88 victory at Sleep Train Arena on Nov. 9.

The Kings have followed a 1-8 stretch with a three-game winning streak, averaging 114.7 points.

DeMarcus Cousins is scoring 34.7 points per game over that stretch, hitting 54.8 percent from the floor. The All-Star poured in 39 points in a 114-110 victory at Denver on Tuesday, sweeping the home-and-home set coming out of the break.

"I'm just playing my game," said Cousins. "That's the best way to put it."

He's also fourth in the league with a career-high 27.3 points per game, and has scored 42.8 on 59.6 shooting in his past four home contests.

Cousins scored 21 against the Spurs in November but missed 15 of 20 from the field. His career 16.6 scoring average against San Antonio is his second-lowest against any opponent after Memphis (15.6).

Rudy Gay was limited to 10 points in that meeting, but he's averaging 20.7 points and made 7 of 14 3-pointers over the last three games. He had 16 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks Tuesday.

The Spurs are 4-1 on this stretch of eight straight road games caused by the annual rodeo at AT&T Center.

[pacanton]

Spurs are the epitome of teamwork mixed with overall stability in terms of front office and players. Doesnt hurt that Pop is their Team president and coach