By Robby Lim, Staff Writer Project Spurs

The trade deadline has passed and some teams made moves that will probably make them better. The Spurs opted to dump salary by sending Theo Ratliff to the Charlotte Bobcats for future considerations.

The move may not affect the Spurs current rotation, mainly because Ratliff hardly played, but the Spurs lost a player that can provide some defensive presence on the floor. Yes, Ratliff is an aging veteran, but he can still block some shots and his defensive ability could have been useful for short stretches.

With that being said, the Spurs' defensive inconsistency continues to be a major concern.

However, with Ratliff's departure along with Marcus Haislip back overseas, this has left roster spots open for the Spurs.

The Spurs could very well carry on with the current lineup, but it could be a hint of things to come. For example, last season the Spurs made a move by signing Drew Gooden to bolster their frontcourt.

This year, if they can find a player that is good enough to...

By Michael De Leon, Founder Project Spurs

According to James Munoz of KENS 5 in San Antonio, former Spurs great Alvin Robertson is wanted in a probe of a child sex trafficking ring.

"A former San Antonio Spurs player is wanted on charges of sexual performance of a child, trafficking of persons under 18 for prostitution and sexual assault of a child. Alvin Robertson is wanted and has not been arrested. He is one of seven people allegedly involved in a child sex trafficking ring."

This isn't the first time Robertson, who is one of only four NBA players to ever record a quadruple-double, has been in trouble with the law.

He's had multiple charges including assault bodily injury, evading and resisting arrest, criminal mischief, burglary, violating a protective order and the list goes on and on.

Robertson had a great NBA career with the Spurs, Bucks Pistons and Raptors, averaging 14 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. On top of that, he was a two-time Olympic gold medal-winner and held the NBA...

By Jeff Garcia, Co-Founder Project Spurs

Spurs fans are very knowledgeable about the Spurs. They know Tim Duncan likes to hug the ball before tip-off, Coach Pop's love of wine, or Tony Parker's "rapping career."

But did you know these tid-bits about Duncan and DeJuan Blair?

Friend of Project Spurs, Humberto Cervera, of News 4 WOAI TV in San Antonio, recently wrote about Duncan's other pre-game ritual. Did you know he hangs on the back of the rim?

Everyone knows about Tim Duncan's pregame ritual of hugging the ball, but that's not the most interesting one he has on the court. Before the teams are announced the Spurs will turnout the lights in the arena and show a video on the Jumbotron. During that time, Tim will jump up and hang on the back of the rim facing the other side of the court. He swings there for a few seconds, and then gets back to the line for his name to be announced.

What about Blair? Talk about a workhorse. This is his PRE-GAME workout.

Click HERE to read the complete article at Project Spurs....

By Lance Fell, Staff Writer Project Spurs

The second round has been good to the San Antonio Spurs. In 1999 the Spurs drafted an unknown Argentinian with the 57th pick in the second round. You could say the rest is history.

It seems that a decade later the Spurs have done it again. Taken with the 37th pick of the 2009 draft, DeJuan Blair came to San Antonio with no ACLs and high expectations, and so far the 20-year-old Pittsburgh native has not disappointed.

In his first pre-season game, Blair finished with 16 points and a ridiculous 19 boards against the Houston Rockets. Granted, it was only preseason, but in his first professional game, and probably with butterflies in his stomach, Blair showed his God given ability for rebounding. And as we Spurs fans know, it takes defense and rebounding to win championships.

Blair kicked off his first professional season with a bang, and his first ever double-double, scoring 14 points on 7 of 10 from the field. My math could be a little off, but I'm pretty sure that's 70...

I reluctantly went to see Valentine’s Day on opening weekend contributing to its approximate $67 million during opening weekend, according to Entertainment Weekly Web site.  While not looking forward to seeing the movie and knowing some of the reviews it had received my mind was already made up that it was not going to be on my list of good movies. This Garry Marshall directed movie (who also directed Pretty Woman, Georgia Rule, The Other Sister) was a film with over a dozen big name celebrities and somehow was able to keep it under a $50 million budget.  

My expectations with the movie were low and after watching a few minutes the movie became a bit predictable. It was quite easy to see how the end was going to play out, however it took the movie an hour and half to show it. I did found myself unwillingly laugh during parts of the movie not wanting to admit to my wife that I found the movie humorous.

The movie plays out with five or more different couples or friendships, although while independent from...

When: Tuesday, February 23rd   

8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Where: Mission Verde Center at Cooper

1700 Tampico St. (Map)

Speakers: Thomas Henkel, Ph.D,

Keith (Bud) Leavell - Yazaki Energy Systems Inc.

Andrew I. Lowenstein, Ph.D - President, AIL Research, Inc

Jeremy Osborne, Solar San Antonio

Click here for agenda & full bios

Cost: $20 for Solar San Antonio members, $30 General admission

Click here to register online

Solar Cooling can provide a solution to the many problems associated with conventional methods of cooling buildings. It can reduce the peak electricity loads on the network and the total energy consumption required by conventional air conditioning. It also has environmentally friendly refrigerants that are neither GHGs nor ozone-depleting. To help answer the challenge of reducing energy consumption for air conditioning, we are offering a workshop to learn, share, collaborate and to begin developing solar cooling into a thriving industry in Texas.

There is a strong relation between the...

By Jeff Garcia, Co-Founder Project Spurs

After being introduced to some cheers and some boos in Dallas, 12 time All-Star Tim Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty ImagesDuncan looked ready to represent the Spurs in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game.

With big men for the West starting such as Amar'e and Dirk, it would be tough for Duncan to get touches. Plus during pre-game interviews with some of the West guards, they all said they would like for Dirk to receive MVP honors.

So how did it go for Duncan? This is how it went down in Dallas for him.

In the first quarter, Tim Duncan lined up for the West team for the tip-off and won the tip over Dwight Howard. He grabbed a couple of rebounds and on one play, he got the step on Kevin Garnett but had his reverse lay-up blocked by Garnett. Duncan then took it outside of the paint and hit a jump shot for the West.

It was reported Duncan did not want to play heavy minutes in the game but did tell West coach George Karl he wanted to be out on the court when he went to a four point-...

By Michael De Leon, Founder Project Spurs

If Becky Hammon and Robert Horry in the celebrity game weren't enough San Antonio representation in Dallas for the opening night's festivities of All-Star Weekend 2010, DeJuan Blair was destined to change that.

Being overlooked is nothing new for the 6-7 Blair, who watched as 29 other NBA GMs passed on him on draft night.

A pregame poll on NBA.com asked which rookie would have the biggest impact on the game. Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings all made the list, but Blair was nowhere to be found.

But you didn't have to search for him once the game started. His presence was felt early with hustle points and rebounds. Of course that's no to Spurs fans, who see him do the same thing on a nightly basis.

The highlights wouldn't elude him though as he picked off a pass and ran the length of a court. He was rewarded with a pass on the other end and with no one else in front of him, he threw the ball off the glass and slammed it through on the rebound....

Consider the word 'love.' Roll it around on your tongue like a piece of fine chocolate. Feel its velvety smoothness on your skin. Think how love makes you feel--tingly, excited, passionate, euphoric… Sometimes love feels comfortable like your favorite cozy chair or safe like a parent's sheltering embrace. When love goes bad, it can feel like an 'achy-breaky' heart.

Love is a ubiquitous human condition. Love permeates our entire existence from birth to death. It expresses itself in our literature, art, film, music, and religion. Love built the Taj Mahal and destroyed cities. Studies have shown teenage boys think of 'love' every 14 seconds or something like that.

Did you ever wonder how love and the heart became conjoined? Here are a few facts I found on Wikipedia: The heart was once widely believed to be the seat of the human mind.  Ancient Egyptians and Greeks and throughout the Bible, the heart was used poetically to refer to the soul. In the 15th century Europeans began stylizing the heart with its current...

By Michael De Leon, Founder Project Spurs

In just a few short days, the NBA All-Star game makes its return back to Texas. But 14 years ago, the NBA made San Antonio its stage.

I was a senior at Fox Tech High School in Downtown San Antonio at the time and it was as if my dreams came true.

Since I was about 10 years old, it's been my yearly ritual to set aside my entire weekend for All-Star Weekend. It's one of my favorite times of the year and it also usually lands around my birthday so I was always able to get away with being a couch potato for the entire weekend.

I always got home from school on Friday with plenty of time to carve my spot out on our living room couch and hopefully before everyone else so I could take control of the tv and remote for that night. I watched whatever All-Star programming the NBA had for me, whether it was the rookie game, legends game, celebrity game. It didn't matter, I was watching it.

On Saturdays, I woke up early to watch Inside Stuff and the NBA Jam Session and prepared for...

(Feb. 11, 2010) … The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) invites the regional scientific community to attend “New Technologies in Using Recombinant Attenuated Salmonella Vaccine Vectors,” a technical seminar featuring National Academy of Sciences member Roy Curtiss III.  The free seminar, hosted by UTSA’s South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Cellular and Molecular Biology doctoral students, will be held at 9 a.m., Feb. 12 in the Biotechnology, Sciences and Engineering Building’s Multifunction Room (BSE 2.102) on the UTSA Main Campus.

A complimentary continental breakfast and networking session with Curtiss, hosted by the Office of the Vice President for Research, is open to the public and will precede the seminar at 8:15 a.m. in the BSE Atrium.

Curtiss, an expert in bacterial infections and prevention, is an Arizona State University professor and the director of its Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology.  Currently, his laboratory is engaged in developing vaccines...

(Feb. 9, 2010) … The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Steel Bridge Team placed second overall at the Texas/Mexico regional qualifier of the 2010 National Student Steel Bridge Competition, held recently at the UTSA Main Campus.  The second place win allows UTSA to compete at the national level at Purdue University on May 28-29.

In addition, UTSA earned first place in three of the regional competition’s six individual categories – Aesthetics, Construction Speed and Construction Economy – trumping teams from UT Austin and Texas A&M.

The National Student Steel Bridge Competition tests each team’s ability to design, fabricate and construct a 1:10 scale bridge while emphasizing economy and maximizing bridge strength.  Judges score the teams on their bridge’s construction speed, weight, deflection, economy, structural efficiency and overall presentation.

The Texas/Mexico regional competition held recently was one of 18 regional competitions taking place around the country to determine which teams will proceed...

Institute will promote educational and cultural exchange between South Texas and China

(Feb. 9, 2010) … Tomorrow, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will celebrate the grand opening of its new Confucius Institute.  The Institute, one of more than 300 located worldwide, will promote an awareness of Chinese culture, history and society in South Texas through Chinese language instruction and educational exchanges in partnership with Beijing, China-based University of International Business and Economics (UIBE).

“China is a global economic and political power,” said Don Lien, director of UTSA’s East Asia Institute and Confucius Institute.  “By adopting an awareness of China’s culture, history, society and economy, we are equipping our students with the tools they need to establish strong and successful business partnerships once they graduate.”

The opening celebration for UTSA’s Confucius Institute will begin when a delegation from the UIBE, led by the Chair of its University Council, Wang Ling,...

By Robby Lim, Staff Writer Project Spurs

More than halfway into the season and the Spurs continues to struggle. They can't seem to find a rhythm. They are in the midst of a slump, losing five of their last seven games, including 3 straight home losses. As it is, the Spurs have fallen into fifth place in the Western Conference with a 26-18 record and are just 1 1/2 game ahead of 9th placed New Orleans.

The Spurs are probably playing their worst basketball in recent memory and are in a rough stretch. To give an idea on how bad the Spurs are playing, consider these stats. The Spurs are just 4-13 in games decided by 7 points or less, 4-5 against top 8 teams in the East, 2-11 against top 8 teams in the West, 9-15 against teams above .500 and 6-16 against playoff caliber teams.

The Spurs' last five games (prior to the game against Atlanta) have been frustrating and their defense seems to be a step behind, allowing opponents to shoot 48.9% from the field while making just 41.3% of their shots.

Their assists went down...

By Robby Lim, Staff Writer Project Spurs

After last season's early exit in the playoffs, the Spurs felt for them to be able to continue to compete at a high level and take advantage of the waning years of Duncan as a Spur, a change was needed.

It was for this reason why they went all out during the offseason and made some drastic moves to hopefully build a team that would allow them to compete for another NBA title. One of the roster moves they made was getting Richard Jefferson from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas.

At the time, people believed that Jefferson will make a big difference for the Spurs because he brings in some youth, athleticism and offensive fire power at the Small Forward position, something the Spurs didn't have in the past.

Now after 43 games as a Spur, Jefferson is averaging 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assist in 31 minutes of action. As the team's third or fourth wheel on offense, these numbers look acceptable but it's important to note...

San Antonio … Engineering professor C. L. Philip Chen has been awarded the distinction of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow.  Through December and at the time of the award, Chen was a professor and the chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio, where he also served as an associate dean.

As part of the AAAS Section on Engineering, Chen was elected to be an AAAS fellow “for distinguished contributions to research on integrated automated systems design and planning, and for leadership and service to professional organizations and engineering education.”

Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.  UTSA Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mo Jamshidi, who is a Fellow in six professional organizations, served as Chen’s nominator and a reference for the AAAS distinction.

When I joined UTSA in 2005, one of my objectives was to promote my colleagues.  When an institution...

San Antonio … The UTSA Graduation Initiative’s Late Intervention Program has been honored by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) with a 2009 Star Award.  The program was one of six honored by the Coordinating Board, from an initial pool of 51 nominations and 13 finalists.

Conceived and implemented by UTSA’s Graduation Initiative, the Late Intervention Program targets students who have exceeded their four-year graduation time in an attempt to help them solve any barriers to earning their bachelor’s degree within a five or six-year time frame.  The program directly supports the university and the state’s “Closing the Gap” goals, aimed at improving the overall graduation rate of Texas undergraduates.

“At UTSA, we want our students to succeed.  We want them to graduate and transition into the profession of their choice.  That’s why we’ve developed a number of programs to facilitate graduation and retention,” said Clinton Rodenfels, director of UTSA’s Graduation Initiative. ...