• The San Antonio Spurs will conclude their Rodeo Road Trip in Chicago when they face the Bulls this Thursday night. The Bulls have been without star Joakim Noah due to injury but could he be returning to action versus the Spurs?
Asked if he will lobby the Bulls to come back Thursday when they host San Antonio for the last game before the break, Noah paused for a few seconds, then chose his words carefully.
“We’ll see how it feels,” he said. “I’m just taking it day by day. I’m just trying to get better and improve.” (dailyherald.com)
• Last night the Spurs defeated the New Jersey Nets and Spurs’ Richard Jefferson, who used to play for the Nets, had this to say about his former team:
“One of the things with the group that I came with, we took a lot of pride in turning around the franchise,” the Spurs forward said before the Spurs 102-85 victory at the Prudential Center. “Even it was a defensive championship or making the playoffs every year, we all took that as a step in the right direction of making this an elite franchise.
“So, obviously, their struggles hurt.” (nydailynews.com)
• Check out this chart-of-the-day from Business Insider on the Spurs and their chances at reaching 70 wins this season:
Currently, the Spurs are just one game off the pace to finish 70-12 (below). In order to reach 70 wins, they will need to go 24-3 over the final 27 games. The Spurs did start the season 25-3, so they are capable. But with a 7.5-game lead in the Western Conference, you can be certain that Gregg Popovich will get his star players rest down the stretch. Still, if the Spurs are in reach the final week, history may be too tempting.
• Hoopism.com gives the greatest shots in NBA history and their location on the court. Find out which Spurs made the list.
Hit the jump to read what former Spurs’ players George Gervin and Danny Ferry had to say about traveling on the road, Popovich on the Spurs’ record, Tony Parker hosting a party in Las Vegas, how to win free tickets to the Spurs-Oklahoma City Thunder game this month, and more.
• NBA players and the team owners will meet in Los Angeles during the All-Star game to get discussions on a new collective bargaining agreement. This time Spurs’ owner Peter Holt won’t be representing the owners:
This time, however, the owners won’t be represented only by the labor relations committee, headed by San Antonio Spurs chairmen Peter Holt. The league has invited other principal owners to take part and contribute to the dialogue. (nba.com)
• Express News’ Tim Griffin on the Spurs remaining on top of most NBA Power Rankings.
• With the Spurs on the road, Spurs.com speaks with former players George Gervin and Danny Ferry about travels on the road:
George Gervin: It was a lot different, we didn’t always stay in a hotel. We stayed in some motels. It was still comfortable and it was fun, all us guys pretty much hung out together. Since we didn’t leave after the game, like they do now with the private planes, we stayed overnight so we’d go out together and do a lot of things as a group.
• Austin Toros’ player Michael Joiner published his debut post on life on the road with the Toros at Toros Nation.
• Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich had this to say about the Spurs’ record:
“I just assumed it probably wouldn’t last — the record was too good, and a lot of teams were injured, and we’ve been lucky that way, we haven’t had any super (serious) injuries or anything,” the coach said. “But now we’re X games beyond that — maybe close to two-thirds through — and we still have a pretty good record.
“I keep waiting for the hammer to fall — somebody get injured, and we lose five of seven or something like that. But so far that hasn’t happened.” (nj.com)
• Spurs’ Tony Parker will be hosting the Baller’s Ball in Las Vegas, February 19.
• Follow @projectspurstiq on Twitter for a chance to win a pair of tickets for the Spurs-Thunder game in San Antonio later this month.
