The Spurs waited a few years for 25-year old shooting guard Nando De Colo (just like they did for center Tiago Splitter). They are taking things slow with him so far this year as he has played in 26 games (1 start) in which he is averaging 12.3 minutes, 3.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He is shooting 44.4% from the floor, 37.5% from three point range and 77.8% from the free throw line so far this year. De Colo looks like he has some game, so he likely is going to have a bright future for the Spurs.

63-year old head coach Gregg Popovich has his Spurs playing well again so far in 2012-13. The Spurs are 23-8 (74.2%) so far this year, which has them in first place in the Southwest Division of the NBA, 2.5 games ahead of the Grizzlies. The Spurs are now 870-407 in the regular season in Popovich’s first 17 years on the job. He is a 2-time NBA Coach of the Year and he has won Four NBA Titles with the Spurs. Popovich is a master of giving his older players time off, which keeps his bench very sharp.

30-year old Tony Parker seems to be getting better. He has played in 26 games (all starts) for the Spurs so far this year and he is averaging 32.7 minutes, 19.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game. He is shooting 50.7% from the floor, 36.7% from three point range and 82.6% from the free throw line so far this year, which is pretty impressive. 24-year old Patrick Mills provides a lot of offense off the bench for the Spurs. He has played in 23 games (2 starts) for the Spurs so far this year and he is averaging 12.1 minutes, 5.8 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.8 assists per game. He is shooting 49.1% from the floor, 44.8% from three point range but only 66.7% from the free throw line. Whenever Coach Popovich gives Parker a day off to rest, Mills replaces him as the starting point guard. 21-year old Cory Joseph has been shuttling between San Antonio and the D-League so far this year. He has played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Spurs so far this year and he is averaging 7.2 minutes, 2.1 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

The Spurs have waived 23-year old SG/SF James Anderson. Anderson played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Spurs last year and he averaged 9.4 minutes, 3.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He played in 87 games (4 starts) in his three years with the Spurs and he averaged 11.3 minutes, 3.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. The Spurs have a really deep bench, so they won’t miss Anderson too much the rest of the way in 2012-13.

Power forward Tim Duncan, point guard Tony Parker, shooting guard Manu Ginobili and PF/C Matt Bonner are moving up in the Spurs’ record books. Tim Duncan is already the Spurs’ team leader in games played (1,137), offensive rebounds (3,341), defensive rebounds (9,462) and total rebounds (12,083). He is also #4 in assists (3,493), #6 in steals (845), #2 in blocked shots (2,536) and he is #2 in points scored (23,016) in Spurs’ history. Tony Parker is already the Spurs’ all-time leader in assists with 4,931 of them. He is also #4 in games played (831), #7 in three pointers made (370), #10 in defensive rebounds (2,177), #8 in steals (802) and he is #4 in points scored (14,045) in Spurs’ history. Manu Ginobili is already the Spurs’ all-time leader in three pointers made with 1,046 of them. He is also #4 in games played (690), tied for 9th with Sean Elliott in defensive rebounds (2,190), #5 in assists (2,722), #5 in steals (1,012) and he is #5 in points scored (10,384) in Spurs’ history. Matt Bonner is #4 in three pointers made in Spurs’ history with 520 of them. I look for this quarter to keep moving up the charts for the Spurs.

The Spurs have one of the best and deepest benches in the NBA. Shooting guard Manu Ginobili is starting to slow down a bit, but he’s still a rock solid player. He is averaging 24.6 minutes, 12.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game so far this year. PG/SG Gary Neal has started 10 games so far this year, but he has also come off the bench for 10 games. No matter what the role he’s in, he is playing well. Neal is averaging 24.8 minutes, 12.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game so far this year. Center Tiago Splitter has been a beast off the bench so far this year as he is averaging 18.9 minutes, 9.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He is shooting 61.6% from the floor so far this year, which is outstanding. Forward Boris Diaw can play almost any position on the court for the Spurs. He has started 9 games for the Spurs so far this year, but he is coming off the bench now. He is averaging 23.6 minutes, 5.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game so far this year. Diaw is shooting a very impressive 57.6% from the floor and 40.6% from three point range so far this year, which is impressive. PF/C Matt Bonner has been solid in his limited P.T. He is averaging 12.7 minutes, 4.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Bonner is shooting an outstanding 48.3% from three point range so far this year. Point guard Patrick Mills has been solid this year when he gets a shot to play. Mills is averaging 12.1 minutes, 5.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game so far this year. Finally, SG/SF Nando De Colo is having a rough time shooting the ball so far this year (37.7%), but he has also been very active on the floor. He is averaging 12.2 minutes, 3.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game so far this year. The Spurs’ bench is one of the biggest reasons why they are still an elite team.

Until David Robinson and Tim Duncan came along, shooting guard George “The Ice Man” Gervin was the best player in Spurs’ history. Gervin played in 899 games in his 12 years with the Spurs and he averaged 34.6 minutes, 26.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Gervin is still the all-time leader in scoring for the Spurs with 23,602 points. He is also #3 in games played (899), #3 in rebounds (4,841), #6 in assists (2,523), #2 in steals (1,159) and #3 in blocked shots (938) in Spurs’ history. Gervin led the NBA in scoring four times in his 12 years with the Spurs. He was elected into Basketball’s Hall of Fame in 1996.

24-year old point guard Patrick Mills is going to be needed when Coach Popovich decides to give half the team off to rest them. Mills has played in 15 games (2 starts) for the Spurs so far this year and he is averaging 12.1 minutes, 4.9 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. In his 2 starts this year, Mills is averaging 23.7 minutes, 7.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. I think Mills will play better as the year goes on as this is the first time his roster spot has been secure in his NBA career.