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Spurs exercise George Hill option

Spurs exercise George Hill option

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have picked up the fourth year contract option on guard George Hill.  He is now signed through the 2011-12 season.

An early entry candidate, out of IUPUI, in the 2008 NBA Draft, Hill was selected by the Spurs in the first round with the 26th overall pick.  Last season Hill enjoyed a breakout year finishing second in Most Improved Player voting.  He appeared in 78 games, including 43 starts, averaging 12.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 29.2 minutes while shooting .478 (353-738) from the floor, .399 (75-188) from the three-point line and .772 (183-237) from the free throw line.  As a starter Hill averaged 15.8 points, 3.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 35.2 minutes. During his rookie season, Hill averaged 5.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 16.5 minutes in 77 games.  He shot .403 (150-372) from the field, .329 (24-73) from three-point land and .781 (114-146) from the line.

For his NBA career Hill has appeared in 155 games, averaging 9.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 22.9 minutes.  He has seen action in 10 playoff games, averaging 11.2 points and 2.8 rebounds in 30.0 minutes.

Hill is the first player out of IUPUI to be selected in an NBA Draft and to appear in an NBA game.  As a junior he was named the Summit League Player of the Year and earned All-American Honorable Mention honors by the Associated Press.   He finished fourth in school history in scoring with 1,619 career points.

Spurs waive James Gist

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have waived forward James Gist.  Gist was originally selected by the Spurs in 2008 NBA Draft with the 57th overall pick.  He spent the past two seasons playing overseas before being signed by San Antonio on September 27.  Gist appeared in four preseason games, averaging 3.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 10.8 minutes.

The Spurs roster now stands at 15.

Spurs trade Curtis Jerrells to Hornets

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have traded Curtis Jerrells to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for a conditional second round draft pick.

Jerrells (6-1, 195), was undrafted in the 2009 NBA Draft out of Baylor University. In five preseason games this season for the Spurs, Jerrells has averaged 6.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 15.8 minutes.

The Austin native appeared in five preseason games with the Spurs during the 2009-10 season, averaging 3.6 points and 1.8 assists in 14.8 minutes before being released.  He appeared in 50 games (all starts) for the Austin Toros of the NBA D-League last season, averaging 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals in 40.2 minutes. He was named to the All-NBA D-League Third Team and was selected as the D-League Performer of the Week twice. In six playoff games for Austin, Jerrells averaged 27.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists. He was signed by the Spurs on March 24, but did not see any action during the regular season or the playoffs.

Jerrells played four seasons at Baylor, becoming the first player in school history to lead the team in scoring, assists and minutes played in each of his four seasons. He appeared in 119 career games (all starts), averaging 15.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists for the Bears. He was named to All-Big 12 teams in each of his four seasons and is the only player in Baylor history to have more than 1,000 points, 400 assists and 400 steals.

DeJuan Blair, Spurs in great shape

Mike Monroe of the  San Antonio Express-News reports:

DeJuan Blair, Spurs in great shape

The dramatic reduction in DeJuan Blair’s body fat — the Spurs’ big man went from 14 percent to 8 percent over the summer — has made him Exhibit A in strength and conditioning coach Mike Brungardt’s “thin is in” summer workout program.

Blair, though, is but one of the summer-success stories for Brungardt and assistant strength coach Chris White.

Brungardt declared the Spurs, as a team, reported to training camp in better shape than at any time in the past seven seasons. His annual body-fat measurement revealed lower percentages for most players, with Blair making the most dramatic drop.

Brungardt and White continue to put the Spurs through a daily regimen of conditioning drills that look like a cross between schoolyard recess and NFL draft combine workouts.

NBA GMs drop Tim Duncan in player rankings

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

tim duncan drops in rankings

For the first time since NBA.com has been conducting a preseason survey of the league’s general managers about the best of everything, Spurs captain Tim Duncan was not named the best of the league’s power forwards.

The GMs first were polled in 2002, after Duncan won his first Most Valuable Player award. He was an overwhelming choice as top power forward then and followed with seven more preseason designations as the league’s best.

This season, however, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki and the Lakers’ Pau Gasol tied as the top power forward, according to the GMs, each getting 28.6 percent of the vote. Duncan finished third, with 21.4 percent.

The GMs also picked Duncan the second-best center in the league, behind Orlando’s Dwight Howard.

Charlotte Bobcats name Chris Whitney Director of Player Development

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has named 11-year NBA veteran Chris Whitney Director of Player Development.

“Chris Whitney was the consummate professional as a player, both on and off the court, during his NBA career. He always carried himself in a first-class manner and set a great example as a team leader,” said Higgins.  “His experience and the great respect that players around the league have for him makes Chris the ideal person to help our players continue to be positive contributors in our community.”

In his new role with the organization, Whitney will cultivate one-on-one relationships with Bobcats players, provide guidance to help them develop life skills, both professionally and socially, and assist in planning for life after basketball.

The NBA’s Player Development Program was designed to aide players with life skills training and development, player counseling and assistance, and education and career transition. The program’s overall mission is to help NBA players realize their potential both on and off the court through comprehensive educational programming and critical support services and mentoring.

Whitney, who was initially selected by San Antonio with the 47th overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, played in 579 career NBA games for San Antonio, Washington, Denver and Orlando, averaging 6.5 points, 2.8 assists and 1.4 rebounds.  Eight of his 11 seasons came with the Bullets/Wizards, where he remains the team’s all-time career leader in free-throw percentage (.885) and ranks third all-time in three-point field goals (481).

No stranger the Carolinas region, Whitney played collegiately at Clemson University from 1991-93, following two seasons at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Illinois, where he was named First Team NJCAA All-American in 1991.  He remains the Tigers’ career leader in three-point field goals per game (2.88), while ranking second in steals per game (1.97), second in assists per game (6.10) and fifth in three-point percentage (.413).  Despite playing only two seasons, Whitney ranks seventh among the school’s career leaders in three-point field goals (167) and ninth in career assists (354).  He holds two of Clemson’s top nine single-season three-point field goal totals and is one of just four players in school history with consecutive seasons of 80 or more three-point field goals.

While playing with the Wizards, Whitney created the C-WHIT (Children with Hope in Tomorrow) Foundation to assist programs dedicated to helping children in Washington, DC, and his hometown of Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  He was the runner-up for the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award in 2000-01.

The Charlotte Bobcats, who became the NBA’s 30th team when they joined the league in 2004-05, finished the 2009-10 season with a franchise-best 44-38 overall record (31-10 at home) and first-ever playoff appearance.

Spurs hire Jacque Vaughn as assistant coach

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that Jacque Vaughn has been added to the team’s coaching staff. He will join the Spurs as an assistant coach.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jacque back to the Spurs family,” said Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich. “The same attributes that made him the ultimate pro as a player will make him an outstanding coach. He has a great work ethic, is very intelligent and has an extremely high basketball IQ. He’ll be a wonderful addition to our coaching staff.”

Vaughn played 12 seasons in the NBA, retiring after the 2008-09 campaign.

After an outstanding collegiate career, Vaughn was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 1997 NBA Draft, with the 27th overall pick.  During each of his four seasons at Kansas he led the Jayhawks in assists.  He was named a Second Team All-American in both his junior and senior seasons.  Vaughn was named the 1996 Big Eight Player of the Year as a junior and he was the 1997 GTE Academic All-American of the Year (thanks to a 3.72 GPA).  He ranks second on KU’s all-time list in career assists, handing out 804 in his four seasons with Kansas.

Vaughn spent his first four NBA seasons with the Jazz. He then enjoyed stints with Atlanta, Orlando and New Jersey before signing with the Spurs on July 12, 2006. He played his final three seasons with the Spurs and was the back-up point guard on the Spurs 2007 NBA Championship team. In his 12-year NBA career he averaged 4.5 points and 2.5 assists in 776 games.

Vaughn and his wife, Laura, have two sons, Jalen and Jeremiah.

Popovich says Tim Duncan in great shape

The AP reports:

Popovich says Tim Duncan in great shape

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Thursday that Duncan returned this summer for his 14th season perhaps in even better shape than a year ago, when the perennial All-Star reported to training camp 15 pounds lighter.

“He’s trim and slim. I think he’s even slimmer than he was last year,” Popovich said. “He’s really serious about this. He knows his responsibilities. He wants to win again.”

Popovich met with reporters in San Antonio for the first time since Phoenix swept the Spurs from the Western Conference semifinals in May. He’ll open training camp Sept. 27 with Duncan, who turns 35 this season, leading what is a mostly unchanged Spurs roster.


San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan (L) collides with Phoenix Suns' Channing Frye (R) as he drives to the basket in the second half during Game 1 of their NBA Western Conference semi-final playoff series in Phoenix May 3, 2010. REUTERS/Joshua Lott (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)