SAN ANTONIO -- Family vacations, scouting, free agency, rest

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SAN ANTONIO -- Family vacations, scouting, free agency, rest and relaxation, playing in the European Championships. NCAA Jerseys China . The staff and players of the San Antonio Spurs had a hectic off-season, but not even the busiest day this summer could make them forget what might have been just three months ago. San Antonio was five seconds away from winning its fifth NBA title only to watch the Miami Heat rally for an improbable 103-100 overtime victory in Game 6. Almost as heartbreaking was a 95-88 loss in Game 7 that gave the Heat their second consecutive title and handed the Spurs their first series loss in the NBA Finals. "Suffice to say Ive thought about it every day," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Im wondering if it will go away, Im anxious for it to happen, but it hasnt happened yet." Returning to the court as a team should help ease the pain. Thats what the players and coaches are hoping for. The Spurs open a four-day training camp in Tuesday at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colo. "As time goes on, as we all know in our lives, you get back to the day-to-day stuff pretty easily, because its the nature of life," Popovich said. "Basketball might be like the 11th- or 12th-most important thing on your list. So, its time to get over it." Thats the mentality the veteran Spurs take into their 18th season under Popovich, but its one that will be different in a number of ways. San Antonios Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili return to a roster basically unchanged from last season. Still, the bench is going to look vastly different after assistants Mike Budenholzer and Brett Brown left to become head coaches at Atlanta and Philadelphia, respectively. "We really dont know yet (what impact the departures will have)," Ginobili said. "But, for sure, were going to miss them. If any of us had a doubt during the game we would go bother Brett probably before Pop because Pop is doing so many things and controlling other stuff that if you have a question you go to them because you knew they were going to think the same as Pop." Jim Boylen, formerly of the Pacers, was added to the coaching staff along with former Spurs player Sean Marks. Popovich joked he may turn over player instruction during training camp to his Big Three because he will be too busy "coaching the coaches." The Spurs have added Marco Belinelli, Corey Maggette, Sam Young and Jeff Ayres, who changed his surname from Pendergraph in the off-season, through free agency. Maggette and Young will compete to spell Kawhi Leonard, the talented third-year forward who is expected to take on a bigger role in the teams offence after a breakout campaign last year. Leonard averaged 11.9 points and 6.0 rebounds last season and had a career playoff-high 22 points as well as 11 rebounds and three steals in Game 6 against Miami. "I think Kawhi is the new Parker, Ginobili and Duncan kind of guy," Popovich said. "Hes going to take over as the star of the show as time goes on. Hes been phenomenal. Hes improved more quickly than any other player weve ever had because his mindset is such that he wants to be great and he has all the reasons to be so we have to put him in position where he can be a great player." Leonards development will be needed on a veteran team that many thought was too old to make it past the first round let alone to fall in a heartbreaking defeat in the Finals. Can San Antonio overcome that disappointment for another improbable run? The Spurs can look to their French teammates to see a rebirth is possible. Parker, Boris Diaw and Nando De Colo took some of the sting out of their Finals loss by defeating Lithuania on Sept. 22 to claim Frances first title in the European Championships. "I had a great summer," Parker said. "Obviously it was worth it. Big win for France, first win in history. That last week it was an experience that you only live once in a lifetime; it was crazy in France." Popovich was proud of his players, but jokingly said he wasnt going to take it easy on Parker during training camp even though his All-Star point guard spent most of the off-season playing for Frances national team. "No, what does he make, like $200 million a year?" Popovich said with a wry smile. Still, the jovial mood didnt quite hide the disappointment he said he continues to feel. A former player and assistant coach with the Air Force Academy, Popovich said holding training camp in a new environment should quicken the team bonding. "Its going to be a lot of fun, just to do something different," Popovich said. "Take them to altitude, take them to mountains; get them away from everything. It will help the coaches. And look at the players that have been her for a while, it will be good for them to meet the new coaches. Weve got some new players in camp, so its a good camaraderie thing." Cheap College Basketball Jerseys . Philippe Desrosiers stopped 42 shots through overtime and three more in the shootout to pick up his third shutout of the season for Rimouski (31-15-7). Zachary Fucale made 28 saves for Halifax (34-17-3) in the loss. Wholesale NCAA Football Jerseys . He never mentioned anything about his hitting. The 33-year-old right-hander had success with both Sunday, pitching six solid innings and helping the offence-starved Mets with an RBI single as New York salvaged a doubleheader split with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. http://www.jerseysncaacheap.com/ . Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens. SAN ANTONIO -- Unable to comfortably separate from the young Toronto Raptors, the San Antonio Spurs turned to a proven finishing formula - Tony Parker driving for layups when he wasnt kicking the ball to open teammates on the perimeter. Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. And we made some 3s in the fourth quarter. Those are the two reasons we won the game." Parker had eight points and three assists in the final quarter, committing just one turnover in 9 minutes. "A win is a win," Parker said. "Theyve been playing well, the Raptors. They had a big win in (Oklahoma City) and they made it hard on us." Coming off a 104-98 victory over the Thunder on Sunday, the Raptors got within three or less on numerous occasions in the second half, but couldnt complete the rallies against the Spurs. "It was a superior team, I think, first of all," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "You talk about one of the top teams in the West. Talking to the Oklahoma City coach, they feel the same way about how tough San Antonio is." Toronto trailed 57-56 after DeMar DeRozans 3 with 9:22 left in the third quarter, but Parker and Tim Duncan combined for eight points to rebuilding San Antonios lead to 67-59. In his second game off the bench after starting the Spurs first 26 games, Danny Green hit a pair of 3s to put San Antonio up 90-80 with just under 8 minutes remaining. Green was 4 for 6 on 3-pointers in scoring 14 points for the Spurs (21-7). "I didnt bench him because he wasnt making shots," Popovich said. "You dont bench people because theyre not making shots. We changed the look and changed the rotation a little bit. It could change again." The change helped San Antonio overcome a Toronto team that had gone 4-2 since trading leading scorer Rudy Gay to Sacramento on Dec. 9. Kyle Lowry and Terrence&nnbsp;Ross had 23 points each and DeRozan added 13 points for the Raptors (11-15). Wholesale NCAA Jerseys. Ross was 3 for 6 on 3s and 10 for 16 overall. Toronto kept pace despite giving up 16 offensive rebounds, being outscored 52-36 in the paint and allowing San Antonio to score a season-high 24 second-chance points. The Raptors also had 13 turnovers. "That was the kicker," Casey said. "That was difference in the game, our turnovers and the defensive glass. We didnt do a good job of turning and finding the body and thats mental fatigue. We had been doing a good job of keeping people off the glass and attacking the basket, but youre not talking about chopped liver in San Antonio. They are going to be in the money at the end of the season." The bench again provided San Antonio a lift, with Ginobili and Patty Mills each hitting a 3 as the reserves outscored their peers 18-2 in the second quarter. Ginobilis 3 gave the Spurs their largest lead at 52-43 with 2:20 remaining in the half. Still, Toronto closed a three-game road trip with victories over Oklahoma City and the Dallas Mavericks. "Were happy with it, we wanted to be greedy and get 3-0, but 2-1 against these three teams is pretty good, well take it," Lowry said. NOTES: DeRozan was assessed a technical foul with 4:33 remaining in the first quarter for continuing to argue a continuation call against him after official Lauren Holtkamp warned him, "Thats enough." . The Spurs recalled G Nando De Colo and F Malcolm Thomas from their developmental team in Austin. De Colo had 31 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals in a 131-94 victory over the Delaware 87ers on Saturday. . Former Spurs C David Robinson received a loud ovation, including applause from officials Holtkamp, Danny Crawford and Tony Brown, when he appeared on the big screen at midcourt to acknowledge his military service. . Steve Novaks streak of turnover-free play ended at 202 minutes after entering with 3 minutes left in the game. It was the longest active streak in the league. ' ' '