• Did the Boston Celtics make their trades today to matchup with the San Antonio Spurs should they 
meet in the NBA Finals?
They’ll never say so in so many words, but actions speak much louder. And today’s actions said that when playoff time rolls around, Boston thinks it will need perimeter depth, floor spacing and the ability to play smaller a lot more than it’ll need quality low-post defenders.
Translation: Miami is the threat here, not Orlando. And if the Celtics survive, it’s San Antonio, not the Lakers, whom they now match up better against. (Project Spurs’ Mike De Leon’s espn.com Insider subscription)
• With Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Terry having the Spurs on his mind, Mavericks’ Tyson Chandler took the high road and said this about chasing the Spurs:
“I think rather than worry about chasing them, we’re focused on ourselves game by game,” center Tyson Chandler said. “And then the last couple of games, see where we’re at.” (sportsblogs.star-telegram.com)
• Chandler also had this to say about losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs when he was with the New Orleans Hornets:
“It’s not the same as the opportunity to win. Sometimes you get your heart broken. It’s just the fact you had the opportunity. I loved the Game 7 loss I had to San Antonio a few years back when I was with New Orleans. It was one of the special moments of my career. Just because I was there and felt what it was like. It mattered.” (star-telegram.com)
• In last night’s win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Spurs’ Tony Parker took a hard foul from Thunder’s Nick Collison. Here is what he had to say about the physicality in last night’s game:
• Speaking of the Parker-Collison incident, it is me or do you like seeing Antonio McDyess come in and defend Parker? Check out the video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk4havInDTM&w=353&h=243]• Spurs’ Gary Neal and head coach Gregg Popovich talk about Neal’s shot selection against the Thunder:
Hit the jump to read how the Spurs win the right way, shift of power in the NBA, Tim Duncan shows off his football knowledge, Neal on the Rookie Ladder, and more.
• NBA.com talks about the balance of power shifting from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference with the recent trade activity:
This is not to suggest the West is a wasteland of broken down teams on blocks in someone’s yard. San Antonio and the Mavericks own the best two records in the league. The Los Angeles Lakers are the two-time defending champs. Northwest Division-leading Oklahoma City fields the best young roster in the league.
“As I’m in the West, the West is still stacked, still good teams,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “There are teams that are always going to be there. The Lakers and the Spurs are still staples. In the West, I still think there are very good teams.”
• The Vancouver Sun says the Spurs create a winning franchise the right way:
Rewards are intended for visionary franchises creative and savvy enough to manage themselves upward. Draft wisely, get lucky with an occasional ping-pong ball and trade rarely but shrewdly. Identify the core, commit to it and build around it.
That’s what San Antonio has done for years.
• Express News’ Tim Griffin shares his notes from last night’s Spurs-Thunder game.
• Gary Neal fell a bit in the NBA.com Rookie Ladder.
• Spurs’ Tim Duncan shows off his football history knowledge:
• Former Spur Jaren Jackson will be a speaker at the Final 8 at the University of New Brunswick Saint John.
• Spurs.com talks about how the Spurs players use social media to stay connected to their fans.
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