In The News | SAN ANTONIO SPURS TICKETS

Could you accept the Spurs as walking billboards?

NBA owners will meet later this month to discuss a proposal to allow small advertisements to appear on player jerseys.

It’s not unusual in professional sports. Some WNBA teams have already pioneered this trend. And it’s been happening for many years in Europe where soccer players, basketball players and others have appeard with advertisements splashed across their jerseys. NFL teams have dabbled in this revenue source on practice wear, but not on game uniforms.

Obviously, it would be a huge additional revenue source for NBA owners. And players, no doubt, would want a cut of any money that might accrue from this source.

NBA commissioner David Stern said during last year’s work stoppage that the league has been losing more than $300 million each year, with 73 percent of teams losing money (22 of 30).

Business Week.com reports that a study by Horizon Media last year put the of the space across an NBA jersey’s chest in a range from $4.1 million for the Los Angeles Lakers to $300,000 for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“When you look at the revenue streams left available, jersey branding is the most significant that hasn’t been exploited,” David Abrutyn, head of global consulting at sports marketing firm IMG Worldwide, told Business Week.com.

So what kind of businesses would work best with the Spurs?

Would it be a local business giant like USAA that has a large existing sponsorship with the team work best? Or could we see Peter Holt slap a logo of a farm-implement company that works closely with his company?

What business do you think would work best as a jersey sponsor for the Spurs? And what are some other choices around the league for specific teams?

How about French-based Maille Dijon mustard, in honor of Tony Parker and Boris Diaw. Or Vise-Grip pliers in honor of Kawhi Leonard’s lockdown defense? Or Geritol for Tim Duncan’s renaissance this season at the age of 35? Or Whataburger to extoll the virtues of DeJuan Blair, who occasionally can be one of their best customers?

As always, I’m interested in your responses.

Spurs owe success to roster full of contributors

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich started this condensed 66-game NBA schedule with the notion that his starters, some of them a bit old, would need rest and they would need it often.

“It’s probably mandatory,” Popovich said in December.

As a whole, the veterans are playing fewer minutes, as Manu Ginobili has battled a few injuries and Popovich has found opportune times for Tim Duncan and Tony Parker to join the inactive portion of the box score.

Thanks to the deepest bench in the team’s championship era and likely ever, the Spurs have the best record in the West and second best in the NBA. And recent additions have made the bench strong enough to make some think the Spurs are primed for a run at championship No. 5.

It’s been especially noticeable as the Spurs built their recent 10-game win streak. After scoring 82 points in Friday’s win over New Orleans, the most by an NBA bench since 1990, the reserves have outscored the opposing bench 245-135 in the past four games.

Express-News staff writer Tim Griffin examines how much the bench aided the Spurs’ first four titles and this season’s Spurs. See Page C6 for a statistical breakdown of the starters and reserves from these five Spurs teams and some key moments off the bench in the title runs:

1999
Veterans Jaren Jackson, 31, Steve Kerr, 33, Jerome Kersey, 36, and Will Perdue, 33, were key contributors. No reserve averaged more than 6.4 points or 18.3 minutes as Popovich stuck with his starters more than any of his other title teams.

2003
Malik Rose (10.4 ppg, 24.5 mpg) and 25-year-old rookie Manu Ginobili (7.6 ppg, 20.7 mpg) were the most important, but vets Steve Smith, Danny Ferry, Kevin Willis, Speedy Claxton and Kerr had their moments.

2005
Robert Horry hit the big shots, but Nazr Mohammed, Brent Barry, 22-year-old rookie point guard Beno Udrih and late-season acquisition Glenn Robinson all played regularly by playoff time.

2007
Ginobili was a reserve most of the season, providing 16.5 ppg as the third-leading scorer. Michael Finley and Barry also averaged more than 20 minutes a game, and Fabricio Oberto and Udrih complimented them.

2012
Three moves bolstered a strong bench with late acquisitions of Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw and Patty Mills. Four bench players average at least 20 minutes a game and two others are close to that. With Tiago Splitter, Gary Neal, Matt Bonner and Ginobili playing well, Popovich has leaned on his bench more than any of his other teams.

TITLE MOMENTS OFF THE BENCH

The Spurs’ bench has come up with key performances that have helped produce pivotal moments in the team’s previous four championship seasons. Here is a key bench contribution in each of those seasons:

1999: Jaren Jackson goes for 22 points and 20 points in the final two games of the series helping to finish off road victories in a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the playoffs.

2003: After playing only 13 minutes in the playoffs up to then, Steve Kerr comes off the bench to hit four clutch 3-pointers that fuels a series-clinching victory over Dallas in the Western Conference finals.

2005: The legend of “Big Shot Rob” continues as Robert Horry sinks a game-winning 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds in overtime to boost the Spurs to a series-turning Game 5 victory at Detroit in the NBA Finals.

2007: Manu Ginobili erupts for monster scoring games of 26 points in a Game 5 victory and 33 in the series-clinching Game 6 triumph to help finish off Phoenix in the Western Conference semifinals. The series turns when Horry’s hip-check of Phoenix’s Steve Nash, sending Nash into the scorer’s table, sparks a rumble.

– Tim Griffin

Game rewind: Why Boris was ready for work as soon as he arrived

Boris Diaw had played only 24 minutes in two meaningless games with Charlotte over the last 2½ weeks.

For a competitor like Diaw, playing with the struggling Bobcats had gotten old very fast.

So when he started weighing different playing options around the league, San Antonio was attractive for reasons other than his friendship with childhood friend Tony Parker.

Even if it meant starting his Spurs career with three games in his first three nights with the team.

“Yeah, I looked at the schedule and I said OK,” Diaw said. “They tell me when to come and I came.”

Leaving the league’s worst team for one of the best will make a player take some drastic steps sometimes.

Diaw played 16 mintues against Dallas barely 24 hours after arriving in San Antonio Friday night. He played 11 more minutes in New Orleans Saturday before topping it with 27 minutes in the Spurs’ 93-76 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday.

“I’m learning to play with them and I didn’t get a chance to practice. And I played right away with three games in a row,” Diaw said. “But that’s the NBA. We know that and I’m just glad we took care of these three games.”

With all of the Spurs’ shooting threats around him, Diaw doesn’t need the ball to be happy. He does the little things and had a box score chocked full of them Sunday night. Diaw took only three shots and scored two points. But he grabbed seven rebounds, had two assists and three steals.

He’ll be a handy piece for the Spurs during the rest of the season.

And he seems to be happy playing with the Silver and Black — even if it meant starting with one of those hated back-to-back-to-backs.

The Spurs claimed their seventh victory in their last eight games Sunday night with Diaw being a big part of it.

Here’s how they did it.

The game, simply stated: Despite playing in the final game of the dreaded back-to-back-to-back, the Spurs played lockdown defense again in the second half to cruise to an impressive victory against a playoff-quality foe in the Atlantic Division-leading Sixers.

Where the game was won: After Thaddeus Young’s layup pulled the Sixers within 68-63 with 3:33 left, the Spurs hit them with a 20-4 spurt over the next 10 minutes to blow the game open. DeJuan Blair kick-started the surge with six of the points in an 8-2 run that closed the third quarter. And they put it away with a 12-2 blitz at the start of the fourth quarter with all of the points coming in the paint. Philadelphia was limited to one field goal during a span of 7:04 as the Spurs’ defense kicked in.

Philly’s early jump: The Sixers jumped into control with a run of 16 consecutive points late in the first quarter and into the start of the second quarter. The biggest reason was strong Philadelphia defense that caused the Spurs to miss eight straight shots and commit seven turnovers during a period of 5:06.

Weren’t they supposed to be tired?: The Spurs jumped on Philadelphia late in the first half with an 11-2 run capped by a driving layup by Ginobili that gave them a 29-18 lead with 1:28 left in the first quarter. Highlights included a 3-pointer by Matt Bonner and an 18-foot pull-up jumper by Justin Dentmon.

Player of the game I: Tony Parker always seems to get up for the Sixers and Sunday night was no different. Parker produced game-high totals of 21 points and seven assists and limited Jrue Holiday to 10 points on 5-of-14 shooting.

Player of the game II: DeJuan Blair dominated inside for the second straight night as he produced 19 points and six rebounds and gummed up the passing lanes to provide three steals.

Player of the game III: Kawhi Leonard provided his usual defensive lift and notched 11 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. He was particularly active when the Spurs defense picked up in the second half, as well as scoring seven points and grabbing seven rebounds after the break.

Most unsung: Diaw only scored two points, but he showed continued growth in the offense with two assists, three steals and also provided seven rebounds.

Attendance: Military Appreciation Night brought out more than just the helicopters and USAA executives to the ATT Center Sunday night. Another sellout crowd of 18,581 attended. It was the Spurs’ 18th capacity crowd in 24 home games this season, including 15 of their last 17 home games and 11^th in a row. Their last non-capacity game came Feb. 2 against New Orleans.

Did you notice I: Ginobili said after the game that Popovich wasn’t too pleased with Duncan’s technical foul late in the second quarter. Maybe the Spurs’ coach had something to do with Duncan’s listing in the official NBA box score available online. It listed the reason for Duncan’s absence as “DND (did not dress) — OLD.”

Did you notice II: Newest addition Dentmon showed some offensive pop in his first game by draining an 18-foot jumper barely a minute into his playing time late in the first quarter. But he also committed a cardinal sin in the Spurs’ philosophy when he lost the ball out of bounds with an absent-minded play with 34.9 seconds left. The game was settled, but a player on a 10-day contract can’t ever take anything for granted.

Stat of the game I: The Spurs limited Philadelphia to 76 points. In each of the three games of the back-to-back-to-back, the Spurs held their opponents to less than 90 points.

Stat of the game II: After missing 13 consecutive 3-pointers Saturday at New Orleans, Matt Bonner snapped the streak with San Antonio’s first 3-point attempt with 8:53 left in the first quarter.

Stat of the game III: The Spurs are 24-1 at home against the Sixers since the start of the 1986-87 season, winning the last eight. The 76ers’ last win in San Antonio came on Jan. 3, 2004.

Stat of the game IV: Philadelphia was limited to a season-low 11 points in the fourth quarter on 19 percent field-goal shooting and six turnovers.

Stat of the game V: Spurs’ opponents have struggled shooting in the last three games. Dallas was limited to 31 percent shooting in the second half on Friday. New Orleans hit 38.5 percent in the second half, including 27.8 percent in the fourth quarter. And Philadelphia went 31.6 percent in the second half with 14 turnovers the Spurs turned into 19 points.

Stat of the game VI: The Spurs rang up a 54-46 edge in paint points. Since a loss against Denver on March 4, the Spurs have reached at least 50 paint points in eight of their last 10 games.

Stat of the game VII: San Antonio’s 15 steals were a season high. And the 21 turnovers by Philadelphia, who leads the league in fewest miscues, was a season high.

Stat of the game VIII: The Spurs are the fifth NBA team to sweep a back-to-back-to-back this season.

Weird stat of the night I: Tim Duncan was whistled for his third technical foul of the season, but his first in his career while wearing a sportscoat and slacks.

Weird stat of the night II: Bonner scored eight points in the first 8 ½ minutes of the game, but only two afterwards.

Weird stat of the night III: Philadelphia missed its first seven 3-pointers before Jodie Meeks hit one with 3:17 left in the game.

Weird stat of the night IV: The Spurs produced 15 steals and they were shared among eight different players. Only Parker and James Anderson failed to produce one.

Not a good sign: Maybe it’s tired legs, but the Spurs’ league-leading 3-point shooting has disappeared the last two games. Over those games, San Antonio is hitting 19.1 percent after hitting 9 of 47 behind the arc. It’s the Spurs’ second-worst two-game stretch this season after hitting 7 of 42 (16.7 percent) against Orlando and Sacramento on Jan. 18 and Jan. 20.

Best plus/minus scores: Bonner was plus-23, Parker was plus-21 and Blair and Green were both plus-16.

Worst plus/minus scores: Dentmon was minus-9, Anderson was minus-3 and Stephen Jackson was minus-2. They were the only Spurs with negative scores.

Quote of the game: “I don’t think people are talking enough about the Spurs as far as being a championship team,” Philadelphia coach Doug Collins, who said this before the game. The Spurs then notched a 17-point win over Collins’ team – permitting 11 points in the fourth quarter on the back end of a back-to-back-to-back with their two top centers out of the lineup.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs have approaching road games Tuesday at Phoenix and Wednesday at Sacramento before returning home Saturday against Indiana. The Sixers have games Tuesday against Cleveland and a back to back Friday at Washington and Saturday against Atlanta.

Injuries: Duncan (rest), Tiago Splitter (mid-back spasms) and Gary Neal (left mid-foot sprain) did not play. Philadelphia played without All-Star guard Andre Iguodala, who missed his first game of the season with left patella tendonitis.