Tag: Memphis

Spurs make it official: No McDyess

The Spurs had until the end of business Monday to guarantee the other half of veteran big man Antonio McDyess’ $5.2 million contract, but they won’t drag the process to the end of the day.

The teams acknowledged that McDyess won’t be back, and the club will get to remove $2.6 million, the non=guaranteed portion of his contract, off its player payroll for the 2011-12 season.

McDyess, a former All-Star and an Olympic gold medal winner i n 2000,  started all six playoff games last season.  After the Game 6 loss in Memphis that ended the playoff run of the No. 1 seeded team in the Western Conference he made it clear to the Express-News  that he intended to retire after 16 seasons.

“This was not at all how I wanted it to end, but signing here was one of the best things I did in my career,” he said then. “I wouldn’t trade these two years for the world, one of the greatest times of my whole career. I just wish we would have gone farther.”

The Spurs had hoped the shortened post-lockout season might enable them to talk McDyess into playing the final season on his contract, but officially gave up the quest on Monday afternoon.

Spurs take Monday off

After working twice on Sunday, the Spurs will rest today with no practices.

The veteran team has worked four times in the first three days since training camp began on Friday. Coach Gregg Popovich wants to give his team a chance to step back for a day before another surge this week.

With only two preseason games before the Dec. 26 season opener against Memphis, the Spurs will do the majority of their work at their practices. Their first preseason game is Saturday night at Houston.

It’s a good deal for the new players not to throw too much at them too quickly.

Tiago looking for continued growth in second season

It would be understandable if Tiago Splitter had some lingering bad memories remaining his rookie season.

Splitter played in 60 games, including 27 where he logged less than 10 minutes. He was benched during an eight-game stretch in February which set back his development.

Those early struggles led Splitter to rededicate himself over the summer. He first trained in San Antonio before accepting a contract with the Spanish club Valencia Basket before the lockout was settled.

That extensive work has Splitter confident approaching his second season.

“It was good. I was working here almost all summer, with TD (Tim Duncan) and the guys,” Splitter said. “I had the opportunity to play a few games over there. It was good for me to get in shape.”

Playing with the Spanish team enabled Splitter to jump-start his conditioning to prepare for a potentially larger role inside — particularly if Antonio McDyess sticks with his retirement plans.

“Over there, it was games, real games,” Splitter said.  “Over here, it was working out and running. The game stuff was better than just working out.”

Splitter failed to see action in the first three games of the playoffs before producing 10 points and nine rebounds in San Antonio’s Game 4 loss to Memphis. He appeared in the remaining games of the series, averaging 6.7 points and 4.7 rebounds.

“I want to grow my game,” Splitter said. “I know how to play, I just want to help the team win. Improve on offense, improve on defense, screens, whatever, rebounding to win games.”