Tag: Tiago Splitter

Splitter to play in Spain during NBA’s lockout

Spurs center Tiago Splitter is headed overseas because of the lockout, and guard is being recruited like a blue-chip prep prospect.

One season removed from being Most Valuable Player of the , the website of ACB team Valencia BC reported Wednesday that Splitter has agreed to join the team. His contract will have an out clause allowing his return to the Spurs should the lockout end in time for the 2011-12 NBA season to commence.

Though Ginobili, the All-Star guard, has said he would not consider playing overseas unless, and until, the entire NBA season is canceled, he has gotten offers from European teams on a daily basis, according to his agent.

“Nothing is imminent,” , Ginobili’s Chicago-based agent reported, via text message, “although we field inquiries from European teams every day.”

Ginobili offered Splitter congratulations for his signing in Valencia via a Twitter posting.

Splitter averaged 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 61 games as a Spurs rookie. At the FIBA Americas tournament in Argentina in September, he helped Brazil capture the silver medal and a berth in the 2012 Olympic tournament.

He will join 2009 Spurs draftee Nando de Colo on the Valencia roster.

Splitter will be the fifth Spurs player venturing overseas during the lockout, now 140 days old and awash in litigation after the disbanding of the players union on Monday. Three-time All-Star point guard is the most prominent Spur playing in Europe, leading ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne in France. Parker is part-owner of the team.

Forward DeJuan Blair signed with Krasnye Krylya, in Samara, Russia, but was released by the team in mid-October.

Also playing overseas are swingman in Slovenia and point guard Chris Quinn for Khimki Moscow.

Attorneys who represent the trade association that has replaced the in dealings with the NBA on Tuesday filed an antitrust suit against the league in federal court in San Francisco. A second, similar suit was filed in federal court in Minnesota.

Player representatives from 27 of the 30 NBA teams met Monday in New York and voted unanimously to reject a proposal from the league for a new collective bargaining agreement. They then voted to disclaim interest in bargaining, disbanding as a union and becoming a trade association.

Blog brother thinks Nash for Tiago, TP is workable deal

Even with the lockout, there’s still a few interesting stories found on the internet if you look hard enough.

ESPN.com “insider” Tom Haberstroh spells out a variety of scenarios that might be available for the Phoenix Suns if they .

Among the possible trades that Haberstroh considers is one where Nash would be dealt traded to the Spurs for a package including  Tony Parker and Tiago Splitter.

Haberstroh also mentions Oklahoma City and New York as possible locations for Nash.

Here’s what he had to say about a Nash-to-the-Spurs scenario on his password-protected report.

“Who else should the Suns call? The San Antonio  have a shutting title window, but it’s still open as long as Tim Duncan’s around. The Spurs might feel pressure to shake things up after their core was blindsided by the Grizzlies last season. The money works for a Nash-for-Tony Parker deal, but the Suns may be reluctant to absorb Parker’s long-term deal unless they receive Tiago Splitter in there, too.

One problem with Haberstroh’s analysis. Even with Parker’s iffy contract status, I can’t see Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford willingly trading him and Splitter for Nash. Parker is more than 8 years younger than Nash. While Nash ranks among the greatest point guards in NBA history, I think that age difference effectively kills any interest the Spurs might have.

Here are a few other Spurs-related stories from across the web. Enjoy them. 

  • Oregonian columnist John Canzano says that Spurs assistant general manager Dennis Lindseyfor the vacant Portland general manager position.   
  • Project Spurs.com’s Michael De Leon liked what he saw when by scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to help beat the former BYU All-American’s team.
  • Andrew McNeill of 48 Minutes of Hell.com describes how a the Spurs annual Rodeo Road Trip. And McNeill isn’t excited about Duncan , despite new Spurs strength coach Matt Herring’s aim to preserve his career for a few more years.
  • Humberto Cervera of Project Spurs.com writes that  for the NBA season to start.
  • Associated Press Indianapolis-based reporter Cliff  Brunt when the lockout ends.
  • The Sacramento Bee’s Ailene Voisin notes that the Kings’ home exhibition opener against the Spurs is among the .
  • an interview with Toronto radio station CJCL.
  • Among current and former Spurs, Duncan ranks as the  on the Bleacher Report.com’s Kelly Scaletta’s list of top players in NBA history. , , and . Michael Jordan is the.
  • CBS Sports.com’s Jeff Goodman describes the to former Oklahoma coach and current Houston top assistant Kelvin Sampson.
  • KXAN television in Austin notes that the Spurs and Rockets are the only professional teams to have .
  • Parker’s wedding band tattoo when he married Eva Longoria is ranked as one of the by Miss Abigail’s Guide.com.

Ginobili’s heart in FIBAs, mind on lockout

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — As Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has helped his Argentine national team qualify for the semifinals of the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament, he has kept track of two situations thousands of miles from here: the NBA lockout and teammate Tony Parker’s pursuit of an Olympic berth for his French team.

Thus far, it has been much more enjoyable for Ginobili to read about Parker’s exploits for France in the Eurobasket tournament in Lithuania than to follow the progress, or lack of, in the labor talks..

The unquestioned leader of one of the best international teams of the past dozen years, Ginobili and four of his NBA colleagues have remained focused on the competition at Malvinas Argentinas Arena while receiving details on the state of negotiations for the lockout imposed by the league on July 1.

As important as the tournament is to Ginobili, Luis Scola (Houston Rockets), Andres Nocioni (Philadelphia 76ers), Carlos Delfino (Milwaukee Bucks) and Fabricio Oberto, the lockout never is far from their thoughts in this resort town on the Atlantic coast, some 300 miles northeast of Ginobili’s hometown of Bahia Blanca.

“Of course we all pay attention to what is happening with the lockout,” Ginobili said. “We get updates. We talk about it. We are all worried. We don’t want this to happen, but we know every decade there is a chance this can happen.

“We understand it is a huge business and everyone wants to take care of their part. So we are just here now thinking about this (tournament), and once it is over, we will start to be more concerned about what is going on in the NBA.”

Ginobili expressed regret that the lockout has the potential to interrupt the love affair between San Antonians and the Spurs.

“I think it is a pity,” he said. “I am with such a wonderful organization with an amazing fan base. I’d really love to go back and start training camp and be with all the guys. Hopefully, it is a one-time thing and is not going to happen again in a few years.

“Hopefully it is just once in a blue moon. I’m just hoping for a fair solution.”

Ginobili spends some of his time between games keeping tabs on what is happening at Eurobasket, where Parker has been one of the leading scorers and has yet to suffer a loss with the French national team.

“I haven’t been able to watch the games, but I follow the stats, and I know (France) is undefeated,” Ginobili said before Argentina fell to Spurs teammate Tiago Splitter and Brazil 73-71 on Wednesday. “I know they beat Serbia in the last second. Tony is rolling.

“Good to see that France is doing what they are capable of doing. In the past, they were always a threat, but they were never able to finish it. Hopefully, this year they do.”

Ginobili for several years has touted the Olympic experience to his Spurs teammate.

“I’d really love for Tony to get to play the Olympic Games,” Ginobili said. “He’s a good friend, and any athlete of a high level should learn what it is to be in the Olympics. I told T.P. this a million times, and I think he’s really focused and wants to be there.”