Category: San Antonio Spurs Blog

Spurs Sports & Entertainment announced today that its Austin-based NBA Development League team has been renamed the Austin Spurs.

Formerly the Austin Toros, the NBA D-League affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs will share the nickname of its parent club.

“The rebranding of the Austin franchise is a terrific opportunity to capitalize on the substantial equity of the Spurs brand,” said Rick Pych, Spurs Sports & Entertainment President of Business Operations. “The name change creates an instantly recognizable link between the two franchises and is a natural progression based on the important role the Austin team plays in the development of young players, general managers and coaches who are on their way to reaching their dream of making it to the NBA.”

The new Austin Spurs primary logo resembles a western-themed belt buckle and prominently features the iconic Spur in the center. It also combines the familiar silver, black and white color palate utilized by the entire Spurs Sports & Entertainment family of teams.

The Austin Spurs will celebrate their 10th anniversary when the 2014-15 season opens next month. In that span, the franchise has a history of developing NBA talent on the court and in the front office. Twenty Austin Spurs players have earned Gatorade Call-Ups to the NBA. Three head coaches have been promoted to NBA coaching positions (Quin Snyder, Brad Jones, Taylor Jenkins) and four previous assistant coaches are currently in other NBA coaching or staff roles (Bryan Gates, Dale Osbourne, Roy Rogers, and Alex Lloyd). Three former general managers (Dell Demps, Danny Ferry, Sean Marks) and two athletic trainers (Dice Yamaguchi, Nixon Dorvilien) have also been elevated to NBA positions. The Austin Spurs have advanced to postseason play five of nine seasons in Austin, winning three division championships and the 2012 NBA D-League title.

Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich are two of the best at their respective NBA jobs, and it’s a pleasure seeing them operate. Getting Popovich to explain himself in press conferences isn’t quite as enjoyable, but of course that takes nothing away from his coaching. Here’s the San Antonio Express-News blog with more as the 2014-15 NBA season approaches:

They first joined forces in 1997, Tim Duncan as the fresh-faced franchise savior, Gregg Popovich as the not-so-fresh-faced usurper still trying to prove his worth as an NBA head coach.

Seventeen seasons and five championships later, they’re still going strong, both bound for the Hall of Fame and eager to embark on what could be, with Duncan’s contract set to expire next summer, their final campaign together. The sheer weight of that partnership gave Popovich pause as the Spurs opened training camp on Saturday, the first official day of their championship defense.

“I asked Timmy before (practice), what camp is this?” he said. “He said, ‘This is the 18th camp in a row.’ I said, ‘My gosh. What do you think the first drill is going to be?’ He said, ‘Is it going to be the same stupid one we do every year?’ I said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to start at the beginning.’”

“So some of this stuff is boring. But it’s all about starting at the beginning every year, not skipping steps. You’ve heard me say it a million times, but it really is true. You have to build it all over again. You can’t assume you’re going to start where you left off. Luckily, I have a group that understands that.”

The San Antonio Spurs have been great for years now at finding hidden basketball gems and working them into the mix. So even if players have very little chance of actually making the regular season roster, it’s always noteworthy seeing which guys get invited to their training camp.

Here’s info on the latest Spurs camp additions:

http://www.insidehoops.com/spurs-davis-holland-092614.shtml

The San Antonio Spurs today announced multiple promotions and additions to the basketball operations staff. Sean Marks returns to the front office as an assistant general manager and Brandon James has been promoted to director of basketball administration and legal affairs. Phil Coles has been hired as director of medical services and Marilyn Adams as director of rehabilitation. In addition, Xavi Schelling joins the Spurs as applied sports scientist and Paul West has been named assistant athletic trainer.

Marks makes the move back to the front office after spending last season on the Spurs bench as an assistant coach. The Auckland, New Zealand native completed a 12-year NBA career before joining the Silver and Black in 2011 as a basketball operations assistant. He was then promoted to director of basketball operations in September of 2012 before moving to the sidelines for the 2013-14 season.

James enters his third season in the Spurs front office, having spent the last two years as the manager of basketball administration. Prior to joining the Silver and Black, the University of Georgia graduate spent four years with IMG.

Coles comes to San Antonio from the Newcastle Knights, a professional rugby league team in Australia where he was the head of physiotherapy for the last two seasons. Prior to joining the Knights, the University of Sydney graduate served as the head of physical therapy for Liverpool Football Club from 2010-12 and as the head physiotherapist for the Australia National Soccer Team from 2007-10.

Adams has signed on with the Spurs after working independently with various elite athletes and serving as the team physiotherapist for Triathlon Canada at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London. In addition, the University of Alberta graduate spent 2009-14 on the FIS Snowboard World Cup Tour with the Canada Snowboard Team.

Schelling previously served as the director of athletic performance for Bàsquet Manresa, a first-division ACB team in Spain from 2006-14. The University of Barcelona grad also spent the summer of 2014 as the strength and conditioning coach for the Spanish National Basketball Team at the U20 European Championships.

West joins the Silver and Black training staff after earning his Master’s degree in Kinesiology in 2014 from San Diego State University. The Maryland native previously interned with the Spurs during the 2012-13 season.

The San Antonio Spurs finished the regular season with a 62-20 record. And then they won the 2014 NBA championship. Enjoy this video showcasing some of their best plays from an amazing season:

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that Becky Hammon has been hired as an assistant coach.

Hammon, who is currently in her 16th WNBA season, announced on July 23 that she would retire as a player at the conclusion of the 2014 season. Named one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All-Time in July of 2011, Hammon ranks seventh in WNBA history in points (with 5,809), fourth in assists (1,687) and sixth in games (445).

“I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff,” said Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich. “Having observed her working with our team this past season, I’m confident her basketball IQ, work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs.”

A six-time WNBA All-Star, Hammon has spent the last eight seasons with the San Antonio Stars. She is the Stars all-time leader in assists (1,112) and three-point field goals made (493) while ranking second in franchise history in points (3,442) and games (218). In 2012 Hammon was the top vote getter for the Stars All-Decade Team.

In her WNBA career Hammon has appeared in 445 regular season games, averaging 13.1 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 28.0 minutes. She has earned All-WNBA First Team honors twice (in 2007 and 2009) and was named to the All-WNBA Second Team in 2005 and 2008.

A three-time All-American at Colorado State, Hammon went unpicked in the 1999 WNBA Draft. She signed with the New York Liberty in May of 1999 and spent eight seasons with the Liberty before being traded to the Stars in a draft night deal in 2007.

The San Antonio Spurs today announced guard Tony Parker has signed a multi-year contract extension. According to Yahoo Sports, it is a three year, $43.3 million extension

Parker has spent his entire 13-year NBA career with the Spurs after being selected by San Antonio with the 28th overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. The 32-year-old Parker is one of the most decorated players in Spurs history, being named to four All-NBA Teams (second team in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and third team in 2009) while earning six All-Star appearances (2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014). The Spurs have captured four NBA Championships during Parker’s tenure in San Antonio.

During the 2013-14 season Parker averaged 16.7 points, 5.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 29.4 minutes. It marked the fourth consecutive season that Parker has led the Spurs in scoring. He earned All-NBA Second Team honors and was the Spurs lone representative in the 2014 NBA All-Star Game.

In his career, Parker has appeared in 940 regular season games averaging 17.1 points, 6.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 32.6 minutes. He has seen action in 196 playoff games averaging 18.9 points, 5.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 35.7 minutes.

Only two active NBA players, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, have appeared in more postseason games than Parker. Among all-time NBA Playoff career leaders he ranks 12th in points (with 3,705), eighth in assists (1,034) and eighth in games (196).

Parker, who was the MVP of the 2007 NBA Finals, is the Spurs all-time NBA career leader in assists in both regular season and playoff action.