• WOAI.com discusses San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich as the 2011 NBA Coach of the Year:
• The Spurs get a “thumbs up” from Sun Media:
Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is up to the San Antonio Spurs, who bring real meaning to the word team. The Spurs lead the NBA with 61 wins and don’t have a single scorer in the top 25 in the league. They don’t have a single rebounder in the top 15. Their one-time franchise player, Tim Duncan, is having career lows in virtually every category. The Spurs don’t have an owner that anyone could recognize. They have a general manager named Buford who nobody could pick out of a lineup. But they have a coach, Gregg Popovich, and more importantly they have a collection of 12 players who together all contribute something to this remarkable NBA franchise. (tsn.ca)
• Express News’ Tim Griffin shares the quotes the Spurs’ media services hand out after the win over the Utah Jazz.
• Former Spur and now former Austin Toros’ Marcus Cousin has been signed with the Houston Rockets. Check out the details at Toros Nation.
• Former Spur Bobby Simmons talks about what drives him to make it back into the NBA:
“I still have the passion for the game,” Simmons says matter-of-factly, his shirt drenched in sweat and ice packs on both knees following a recent Reno Bighorns practice. “I got tired of watching other people play basketball. I think that was the main thing: I was never done playing. I still had the drive and motivation to get out there and just play.” (rgj.com)
• For those old enough to remember, check out what former 1975 Spurs’ radio voice Greg Lucas has been up to.
• Former Austin Toros player Kyle Weaver hopes to stay on with the Utah Jazz:
The D-League call-up’s 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz expired Saturday, so he packed everything he brought with him from Austin to be ready for either scenario. (deseretnews.com)
“I don’t want this to happen (be cut),” he said at Saturday morning’s shootaround. “But you’ve got to expect the worst and hope for the best and prepare for what happens.”
•The D-Leagues’ Erie Bayhawks head coach Jay Larranga had some ties with former Spurs front office man Lance Blanks:
During that time, Lance Blanks noticed something special about the younger Larranaga, too.
“He’s always had a lot of energy,” Blanks, the general manager of the Phoenix Suns, said with a laugh. “A boundless amount of energy from remembering him when he was young.”
Jim Larranaga, 61, remembers talking to Blanks when Blanks was an analyst for the San Antonio Spurs in 2004-05.
“When he became more of a director of player personnel, I’d see him on the road,” Larranaga said. “We continued the relationship, and it just got better and better and stronger and stronger as the years have gone by.” (goerie.com)
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