Some say the San Antonio Spurs will go as far as their so-called Big three – Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili – will carry them this year.

That may be so, but the notion that they are an old team getting older may not be the case as some believe.

Without much fanfare, the Spurs have brought in some young blood and it was evident that some of those new and young players have improved enough to help the team. That was clear Monday night as the Spurs raced past the Memphis Grizzlies, 95-82 in the season’s opener.

As usual, the top two scorers were Ginobili with 24 and Parker with 15. A pleasant surprise was Richard Jefferson who chipped in 14, most of them coming in the second period. If Jefferson continues to contribute, then the trade that didn’t happen will be a good move for the Spurs.

The good news Monday night was that the Spurs used defense to hold back a team that manhandled them last year and eliminated them from the playoffs. Defense was the Spurs forte when they were winning NBA titles a few years ago but last year, the Spurs were slow on defense and that’s why many thought they were getting old and out of contention.

A lot of the Spurs defensive pressure Monday night came from Parker who had four steals and from Kawhi Leonard, a rookie who came to San Antonio after they traded away popular guard George Hill, a great defender in his own right.

Leonard showed good defense and his all-around hustle and speed seemed to feed off on the other Spurs who made the Grizzlies look like an ordinary team – especially in the third period when the Spurs outscored them 29-14.

Former Texas Longhorn guard TJ. Ford showed flashes of his Longhorn self with his ability to handle the ball and find the open man. He made some nifty passes that led to points and it looks like he’ll help the team.

Another pleasant surprise, as far as I’m concerned, was the play and improvement of Tiago Splitter, the 7-foot center from Brazil, who was a disappointment last year. Injuries had a lot to do with his slow start but I’m hopeful that he’ll turn into one of the league’s top big men and take pressure off Duncan who is the Spurs only dominant big man in the middle.

As long as the big three of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker stay healthy, the Spurs should be in the thick of the race for another title as we start the new year fresh.

Here’s wishing the Spurs much success in 2011 and to all of you a prosperous New Year.

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Published Saturday, December 24, 2011 8:22 PM

By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO — If this really is Tim Duncan’s final season, a perfect ending won’t come easy.

The four-time NBA champion has won just one playoff series in the last three years. Tony Parker himself called the San Antonio Spurs finished as contenders in May, before later walking back that blunt assessment of his own team.

The Spurs didn’t find an upgrade from Richard Jefferson after the lockout, and in a sign of how badly they need big men, couldn’t talk 37-year-old Antonio McDyess into playing another season.

That leaves Duncan, entering his 15th season and the end of his contract, making perhaps his last try for a fifth title with largely the same group that hasn’t come close lately.

“This is basically the same team,” Duncan said. “We have as good an opportunity as anyone else. We have that experience a lot of people are going to work for.”

Duncan arrived at training camp insisting he’s not yet thinking about retirement. He’ll be 36 when the playoffs roll around and will make $21 million this season, behind only Kobe Bryant ($25 million) and Rashard Lewis ($22 million).

The big payday is Duncan’s reward for making the Spurs the winningest franchise in major professional sports the past 14 years, surpassing even the New England Patriots or New York Yankees in winning percentage. Even last year, against all expectations, the Spurs won 61 games and reclaimed the Western Conference’s top seed.

It still wasn’t good enough.

It was easy to read into San Antonio’s first-round loss as more than an upset. The Memphis Grizzlies, quick and big, made the Spurs look slow and small.

Weeks after losing to Memphis in six games, Parker was in Paris telling French journalists that was the last chance for the aging Spurs, whose last title was in 2007. “We will always have a good team but can no longer say we’re playing for a championship,” he said.

Parker later backed away from those remarks, and returned to San Antonio this month with a cheerier outlook.

“A lot of young teams are coming up, so we just have to make sure we can keep up and be competitive,” Parker said. “You have to be positive and you have to believe in your team. I definitely believe in my team. Hopefully we can stay healthy and not have those little bumps like last year.”

If San Antonio does have another run left in them, it’ll be up to mostly the same cast. That includes Jefferson, who survived last week’s amnesty deadline after the Spurs had a chance to part ways with the underachieving swingman who is due $9.2 million this season.

The Spurs courted free agents Caron Butler and Josh Howard. Though after it became apparent Jefferson would make it to opening day, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich defended his starting small forward as an improving defender and reliable 3-point shooter.

“It’s kind of interesting. Everybody always asked about amnesty, and I always wondered why Richard, Richard, Richard,” Popovich said. “As if we didn’t advance in the playoffs because of Richard. I don’t think anybody played great.”

Be that as it may, the Spurs may have landed Jefferson’s eventual replacement in rookie Kawhi Leonard. Selected 15th overall by Indiana, the 6-foot-7 forward was dealt in a draft-day trade for guard George Hill, who was Parker’s backup and a budding star in the Popovich’s eyes.

Yet it was a price Popovich says he was willing to pay. The 20-year-old Leonard brings not only youth and size but a knack for defense, which Popovich is reprioritizing after the Spurs were — rather atypically — better known for outscoring teams than stopping them last season.

Parker (17.5 points per game) and 34-year-old Ginobili (17.4 points) will again drive San Antonio’s offense from the backcourt, and veteran T.J. Ford replaces Hill off the bench. The frontcourt is a larger concern: with McDyess gone, the big men left are 3-point marksman Matt Bonner, undersized 6-foot-7 center DeJuan Blair and 7-footer Tiago Splitter.

Then there’s Duncan. The two-time MVP, whose scoring and rebounding (13.4 and 8.9) were career lows last year, is the only Spurs player left from the 1999 team that won the franchise’s first championship in that lockout-shortened season.

Duncan draws no comparisons to then and now. He just knows the toll awaiting him in the compressed schedule ahead.

“It wasn’t a grind to me then,” Duncan recalled of 1999. “I was running like a deer up and down every day. I wanted to play. But this is going to feel different, I know it.”

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SAN ANTONIO (AP)—If this really is Tim Duncan’s final season, a perfect
ending won’t come easy.

The four-time NBA champion has won just one playoff series in the last three
years. Tony Parker himself called the San Antonio Spurs finished as contenders
in May, before later walking back that blunt assessment of his own team.

The Spurs didn’t find an upgrade from Richard Jefferson after the lockout,
and in a sign of how badly they need big men, couldn’t talk 37-year-old Antonio
McDyess into playing another season.

That leaves Duncan, entering his 15th season and the end of his contract,
making perhaps his last try for a fifth title with largely the same group that
hasn’t come close lately.

“This is basically the same team,” Duncan said. “We have as good an
opportunity as anyone else. We have that experience a lot of people are going to
work for.”

Duncan arrived at training camp insisting he’s not yet thinking about
retirement. He’ll be 36 when the playoffs roll around and will make $21 million
this season, behind only Kobe Bryant ($25 million) and Rashard Lewis ($22
million).

The big payday is Duncan’s reward for making the Spurs the winningest
franchise in major professional sports the past 14 years, surpassing even the
New England Patriots or New York Yankees in winning percentage. Even last year,
against all expectations, the Spurs won 61 games and reclaimed the Western
Conference’s top seed.

It still wasn’t good enough.

It was easy to read into San Antonio’s first-round loss as more than an
upset. The Memphis Grizzlies, quick and big, made the Spurs look slow and small.

Weeks after losing to Memphis in six games, Parker was in Paris telling
French journalists that was the last chance for the aging Spurs, whose last
title was in 2007. “We will always have a good team but can no longer say we’re
playing for a championship,” he said.

Parker later backed away from those remarks, and returned to San Antonio
this month with a cheerier outlook.

“A lot of young teams are coming up, so we just have to make sure we can
keep up and be competitive,” Parker said. “You have to be positive and you
have to believe in your team. I definitely believe in my team. Hopefully we can
stay healthy and not have those little bumps like last year.”

If San Antonio does have another run left in them, it’ll be up to mostly the
same cast. That includes Jefferson, who survived last week’s amnesty deadline
after the Spurs had a chance to part ways with the underachieving swingman who
is due $9.2 million this season.

The Spurs courted free agents Caron Butler and Josh Howard. Though after it
became apparent Jefferson would make it to opening day, Spurs coach Gregg
Popovich defended his starting small forward as an improving defender and
reliable 3-point shooter.

“It’s kind of interesting. Everybody always asked about amnesty, and I
always wondered why Richard, Richard, Richard,” Popovich said. “As if we
didn’t advance in the playoffs because of Richard. I don’t think anybody played
great.”

Be that as it may, the Spurs may have landed Jefferson’s eventual
replacement in rookie Kawhi Leonard. Selected 15th overall by Indiana, the
6-foot-7 forward was dealt in a draft-day trade for guard George Hill, who was
Parker’s backup and a budding star in the Popovich’s eyes.

Yet it was a price Popovich says he was willing to pay. The 20-year-old
Leonard brings not only youth and size but a knack for defense, which Popovich
is reprioritizing after the Spurs were—rather atypically—better known for
outscoring teams than stopping them last season.

Parker (17.5 points per game) and 34-year-old Ginobili (17.4 points) will
again drive San Antonio’s offense from the backcourt, and veteran T.J. Ford
replaces Hill off the bench. The frontcourt is a larger concern: with McDyess
gone, the big men left are 3-point marksman Matt Bonner, undersized 6-foot-7
center DeJuan Blair and 7-footer Tiago Splitter.

Then there’s Duncan. The two-time MVP, whose scoring and rebounding (13.4
and 8.9) were career lows last year, is the only Spurs player left from the 1999
team that won the franchise’s first championship in that lockout-shortened
season.

Duncan draws no comparisons to then and now. He just knows the toll awaiting
him in the compressed schedule ahead.

“It wasn’t a grind to me then,” Duncan recalled of 1999. “I was running
like a deer up and down every day. I wanted to play. But this is going to feel
different, I know it.”

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San Antonio Spurs guard, Tony Parker, has been pushing a new watch from Swiss watchmaker Tissot, fulfilling his position as one of nine brand ambassadors.

The NBA star loves the brand’s Touch collection, specifically the T-Touch II timepiece, which boasts a touch screen and offers a variety of features.

In this clip, Parker gives viewers an intimate walk-through of the new watch, which the company says is “perfect for adventurous spirits.”

It has 13 features — including an altimeter, backlight, perpetual calendar, two time zones, two alarms and more — and is available in solid stainless steel or titanium bracelet, or black rubber or orange silicone strap.

For more info on the T-Touch II and Tissot, visit Tissot.ch.

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Published: Oct. 7, 2011 at 12:24 PM

VILLEURBANNE, France, Oct. 7 (UPI) — San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker said he’s back in his native France to play for the Villeurbanne pro team during the NBA lockout.

The 29-year-old Parker announced Thursday he will spend three months playing for the French team and make just $2,013 per month, The Local in France reported Friday.

Parker is also connected to the French team as a shareholder, the report said.

“The reason I’m back is because I want to give something back for everything I’ve received from the club,” he said. “I will be at training, I’ll play in the European Cup and all the matches in France. And I’ll be taking the bus like everyone else.”

The NBA is in the midst of a lockout brought about by disputes over player salaries.

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Spurs guard Tony Parker has made his decision on where he’ll play this season during the NBA lockout.

The decision was not a tough one, considering he knows the boss of his new team.

On Wednesday, Parker tweeted: “Going to play in France !!! Let’s go ASVEL !!! De retour en France pour jouer avec I’ASVEL !!!”

In 2009, Parker bought a 20 percent stake in ASVEL and serves as the vice president of basketball operations for the club.

Parker told the sports daily L’Equipe that the decision is “logical,” telling the paper, “I’ll be playing nearly for free.  . . . If I play the entire season, we’ll go for the title.”

The San Antonio Express-News reports that Parker will make $1,995 per month and that the contract has an opt-out clause for Parker to return to the Spurs should the NBA lockout end.

This will be Parker’s second stint playing in the country. From 1999-2001, Parker played for Paris Basket Racing after passing up offers from UCLA and Georgia Tech to attend college in the states. He was selected as the 28th overall pick by the Spurs in the 2001 NBA Draft.

Parker’s first game with ASVEL is expected to be on Oct. 14.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Leave your comments on the news below.

Tony Parker(notes) has decided to play during the NBA’s lockout for a basketball club in France that he holds a 20 percent stake in. No shocker there, as Parker has hinted at this possibility for months. What’s surprising, though, is the San Antonio Spurs All-Star’s monthly salary. The 2007 NBA Finals MVP wants to play for just under $2,000 a month, which might make him the worst paid NBA transplant out there.

From the Associated Press:

“[Parker] will play with a French team during the NBA lockout, earning a mere $1,995 per month despite his star power on and off the basketball court.

ASVEL, which is based in Villeurbanne, near Lyon in southeast France, announced on Wednesday that Parker will play for them.

Parker told the sports daily L’Equipe that the decision is “logical.” He is vice president of the club and wants to help it advance.

The Frenchman says, “I’ll be playing nearly for free … If I play the entire season, we’ll go for the title.”

This is a pretty hefty “love of the game”-situation, and insurance issues (what if Tony has a bad fall? The Spurs could void his contract) aside, it makes perfect sense. Even if Parker was set to make $12.5 million this year with the Spurs.

These players are going to be working out during the lockout, even if the NBA decides to pass on having a season during 2011-12. At some point, tossing around the medicine ball and jumping rope (this is how NBA players work out, right?) just won’t suffice, and guys are bound to get together for a five-on-five game. And you might as well amp up the level of competition — say, to the arc of a professional league. And you might as well get paid, right? Two grand is too much? OK, call it $1,995.

Parker also holds the title of “vice president of basketball operations” for the club, but he apparently has no say in personnel matters. Though we suspect that ASVEL has no qualms with Parker signing himself to his own team.

We’ll let you add your own bon mot in the comments section.

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Related: Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs, NBA lockout, International hoops

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Read More: Tony Parker (G – SAN), Nicolas Batum (F – POR), San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker made his case to be the MVP of Eurobasket 2011 with a spectacular performance in France’s quarterfinal win over Greece on Thursday. After struggling in the first half, Parker took over in the second half to lead France to the 64-56 win.

Early on, Greece was in front. Led by Antonis Fostus, Greece jumped ahead 21-14 early in the second quarter and led by four points at halftime. Greece took a seven-point lead in the third quarter before Parker took over. The Spurs’ guard showed off his jump-shooting ability and eventually put France in front by six with four minutes to go. Greece closed to within two late, but Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum hit a key bucket late to hold them off. Parker finished with 18 points and Batum added 15.

France will next face the winner of the second game of the day, which pits Serbia against Russia.

There is the quick update of the day.

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Not too surprisingly, TP has plans to hoop in France (where he played professionally for 4 seasons prior to joining the San Antonio Spurs) during the NBA’s lockout. From BasketUSA (via SB Nation): “On the lockout, Parker said that it ‘is a problem of rich,’ apparently intimating that the owners are at fault despite his signing a four-year, $50 million extension with the Spurs last fall. This isn’t exactly a surprising stance, however, as there’s no reason for him to blame his fellow players for the problems keeping the NBA from playing next season. If the NBA doesn’t play next season, or at least if the lockout lasts into 2012, Parker plans to give a big boost to ASVEL — the team he part-owns and manages in France. ‘If in January-February, the NBA says the lockout will last until the end of the season, I will come to France, but the NBA season can start anytime — They will not say in October that the strike will last all year, it does not work like that,’ Parker said. ‘But if so, I’d head over to the ASVEL because I’m general manager and executive director.’”

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Read More: Tony Parker (G – SAN), San Antonio Spurs

Tony Parker played four seasons in France before being selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2001 NBA Draft. If the lockout lasts into January, and it seems like it might, Parker has recently said that he will resume his French basketball career.

Parker held a press conference recently in France, and according to French basketball website BasketUSA, the 29-year-old point guard had some interesting comments on the lockout and a possible return to France.

On the lockout, Parker said that it “is a problem of rich,” apparently intimating that the owners are at fault despite his signing a four-year, $50 million extension with the Spurs last fall. This isn’t exactly a surprising stance, however, as there’s no reason for him to blame his fellow players for the problems keeping the NBA from playing next season.

If the NBA doesn’t play next season, or at least if the lockout lasts into 2012, Parker plans to give a big boost to ASVEL — the team he part-owns and manages in France.

“If in January-February, the NBA says the lockout will last until the end of the season, I will come to France, but the NBA season can start anytime — They will not say in October that the strike will last all year, it does not work like that,” Parker said. “But if so, I’d head over to the ASVEL because I’m general manager and executive director.”

ASVEL has already signed three players with names familiar to NCAA basketball fans in Jamie Skeen, Kim Tillie and former NBA player Hilton Armstrong, but Parker would definitely be a nice addition. 

In fact, he might be able to be the first in the world to be named Most Valuable Player and Executive of the Year in the same season.

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by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

After the league-leading San Antonio Spurs were unceremoniously booted out of the Playoffs this year, point guard Tony Parker told the French media that his current team’s window to win a championship had been shut closed.

Parker, naturally, denied having said such a thing when the San Antonio press asked him about it.

But with the NBA Draft looming, and the Spurs clearly needing to shake things up, Tony Parker may soon find himself chasing a title in another city.

Yahoo! Sports reports:

The Spurs have talked to teams in the lottery, including the Toronto Raptors and Sacramento Kings, who hold the fifth and seventh picks, respectively. The Kings are determined to get a frontline point guard, and have also talked with the Denver Nuggets about Raymond Felton.

It’s unclear who the Spurs would prefer to take if they acquired a high lottery pick. If the Spurs were to trade [Tony] Parker, George Hill could become their starting point guard. League sources said Hill also has drawn trade interest from teams willing to give the Spurs a pick near the back end of the lottery.

The 29-year old Tony Parker — who signed a 4-year, $50 million extension last October — had a solid bounce-back season (17.5 points, 6.6 assists per game) following his injury-riddled 2009-’10 campaign, but struggled in the first round Playoff defeat at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies.

If they can’t get a quality floor general like Raymond Felton, one would think that San Antonio would want something better than the 5th or 7th pick in return for Parker, in what is generally considered a very weak NBA Draft this year.

Unless, of course, Tony was right in his assessment of the team all along, and it’s time for the Spurs to start slowly rebuilding.

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SAN ANTONIO — Spurs guard Tony Parker on Tuesday backed off comments made to French journalists last month that San Antonio can no longer likely contend for another championship.

“You know newspapers need stories and to talk about stuff, and I’m in a great situation to know what it is,” Parker said. “I love the Spurs. I love being a Spur. I re-signed four years so if I didn’t believe we can win a championship I would not have signed.”

The former All-Star, however, didn’t exactly go out of his way to try to clarify the remarks made last month in Paris, a few weeks after the 61-win Spurs were upset in the first round by eighth-seeded Memphis.

An article on FIBA’s website quoted Parker as saying, “We will always have a good team but can no longer say we’re playing for a championship.” He added that it would be tough for the Spurs to regenerate themselves with Tim Duncan turning 36 next spring and Manu Ginobili turning 34 next month.

Parker is speaking French in the interview. A video of the interview, credited to the French sports daily L’Equipe, quotes Parker in English subtitles as saying, “It was sort of our last chance this season.”

Back in San Antonio on Tuesday, Parker brushed off the quotes, offering a vague explanation of French reporters getting carried away.

“I don’t have to justify anything,” Parker said. “Me, bottom line, I love being a Spur and that’s why I signed four more years. I have nothing to justify to you. The only thing I care about is [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich], Timmy and Manu, and my teammates.”

Parker has spent his entire NBA career with the Spurs, arriving in San Antonio at the age of 19 and winning the starting job that season. He turned 29 last month and begins a four-year, $50 million extension next season.

Parker was equally candid about San Antonio’s diminishing title hopes in training camp last October. He said then that he felt the upcoming season was the last chance for the Spurs to win a fifth championship in the Duncan era, again pointing toward the team’s aging core.

If this season was the Spurs’ last chance, they mostly spent it playing that way. They carried the league’s best record for practically the entire season and entered the playoffs with the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. But the youthful Grizzlies beat the Spurs in six games, making San Antonio just the fourth No. 1 seed to fall in the first round.

Parker averaged 17.5 points and 6.6 assists last season. He said no one within the Spurs contacted him after the interview in France was published.

“They know me, they don’t need to contact me,” Parker said. “Pop doesn’t have time right now. He’s drinking wine and having fun.”

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