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Pop says Spurs will miss McDyess - It was a little empty for the Spurs Monday as they scrimmaged without veteran power forward Antonio McDyess. Because of the structure of McDyess’ contract, the team placed him on waivers earlier in the day, ending his 15-season NBA career. The team chose not to guarantee McDyess’ $5.2 million contract, giving them the ability to remove $2.6 million, the non-guaranteed portion of his contract, off its player payroll for the upcoming season. McDyess had announced plans to retire at the end of the 2010-11 season, shortly after the Spurs’ first-round playoff loss to Memphis.  READ MORE
Spurs waive Novak, reportedly to sign with Knicks - The San Antonio Spurs have announced they have waived forward Steve Novak after just four days after he was re-signed on December 15. Against the Houston Rockets in preseason action, Novak scored two points, and grabbed two rebounds. Last season with San Antonio, he averaged 4 points in 23 games.  READ MORE
Rockets Will Host Annual Open Practice on Tuesday, December 20 - Presented by BBVA Compass, benefiting Casa De Esperanza. WHAT: The Houston Rockets will host their 2011 Open Practice presented by BBVA Compass. WHEN: Tuesday, December 20th beginning at 12:00 pm / Doors will open at 11:30 am. WHERE: Toyota Center / Free parking in the Tundra Garage. COST: Free to the public (see note below about toy donation for autograph pass).  READ MORE
It May Come As A Shock, But Chuck Hayes' Departure Leaves Questions On Offense - I don't think the Rockets ever meant to lose Chuck Hayes. Of course, every bit of Houston's plan for the next five years revolved around the now-defunct Trade That Shall Not Be Named. If reports are true, Hayes was certainly a part of that plan. The most glorious supplement of the trade was cap space, enough to sign both Nene and the Chuckwagon. Let's not forget how important Hayes was to this team in all facets of the game. On defense, sure, Hayes was Houston's premier post-stopper. He created turnovers and did plenty to irritate opposing post players without fouling to the moon. But we know this quite well. "Ol' Chuck On The Block" is Hayes' eternal image.  READ MORE
Will Kidd-Carter backcourt work? - When JJ Barea played in the backcourt with Jason Kidd last season, they kind of played off each other. One minute Kidd would run the offense, and the next minute Barea would be the playmaker. The same held true at the defensive end of the court as -- if they found themselves in a switchable situation -- each player guard the other team’s guard. Whether that will be the case this season between Vince Carter and Kidd remains to be seen. Kidd, though, believes he and Carter can also be interchangeable. “We’re both big guards, so we’re not going to be able to maybe guard the guy that’s extremely fast,’’ Kidd said. “But we’ve got to make them shoot jump shots.’’ Kidd noted that Carter can also play small forward and power forward, which could allow the Mavs to put quicker guards Rodrigue Beaubois, Jason Terry or Dominique Jones in the backcourt with Kidd.  READ MORE
Mavs want to limit Nowitzki's minute - Once again, the Dallas Mavericks will try to keep Dirk Nowitzki’s minutes in-check. Last year Nowitzki averaged 34.3 minutes per game, which was his lowest output since he averaged 20.4 minutes during his lockout-shorten rookie year in the 1998-’99 season. And with newcomers Lamar Odom and Vince Carter on hand as capable backups, the Mavs are confident they can rest Nowitzki without losing much at the offensive end of the floor. “We would like to keep Dirk’s minutes reasonable again this year,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “And having Lamar and (Shawn) Marion, and Carter to some degree, helps that.  READ MORE
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Rangers win rights to negotiate with Darvish - The offseason got a lot better for the Texas Rangers on Monday night. The Rangers won the right to negotiate with Japanese superstar Yu Darvish by submitting a bid for the rights for a reported record of $51.7 million. "The Texas Rangers are pleased and excited to have acquired the rights to negotiate with Yu Darvish," Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said in a statement. "Our organization has scouted Mr. Darvish for the last several years and has been very impressed with his abilities and accomplishments. We believe he would be a great addition to the Texas Rangers pitching staff." The previous record for a posting fee was for pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Red Sox paid $51.1 million for the rights to negotiate with him in 2006. Now the Rangers have 30 days to try to sign Darvish to a contract. If the Rangers are unable to do that, they will get their posting money back, and Darvish will return to Japan. While the negotiating rights and money it will take to sign Darvish will end up costing the Rangers more than C.J. Wilson got from the Los Angeles Angels in free agency, Darvish may be worth it.  READ MORE
Statement from the Rangers on Darvish - Here's a quick statement released by the Rangers on Yu Darvish: The Texas Rangers are pleased and excited to have acquired the rights to negotiate with Yu Darvish. Our organization has scouted Mr. Darvish for the last several years and has been very impressed with his abilities and accomplishments. We believe he would be a great addition to the Texas Rangers pitching staff.  READ MORE
Astro Fans Chat With General Manager Jeff Luhnow - The Astros new General Manager Jeff Luhnow just wrapped up his first ever web chat with fans on Astros.com. Yes we the fans got to ask questions and interact with the Astros GM. The full transcript of the chat is after the jump. Luhnow spent almost 40 minutes fielding questions from the Astros fan base, some of which you'll want to role your eyes and others you'll want to applaud. Overall I was very impressed with the quality of questions. The first "free agent signing" questions didn't appear until 30 minutes into the chat. And there were some real good ones that involved scouting, player development and favorite blogs.  READ MORE
Pence teaches youths right way to play game as host of 2011 All-Star camp - Two-time NL All-Star right fielder Hunter Pence, a fan favorite in Houston, hosted the "2011 Hunter Pence All-Star Camp" over a two-day period (Saturday and Sunday) at Baseball USA. It marked the third straight year in which the event took place. Campers received an official Reebok Hunter Pence All-Star Camp t-shirt, an official Reebok Hunter Pence All-Star Camp backpack, a 2011 camp program, an EFX balance bracelet, an 8x10 autographed picture of Pence and a personalized, exclusive photo alongside Pence (courtesy of Juan DeLeon Studio). Also, Pence game-used autographed bats, spikes, hats and batting gloves were given away as specialty items as part of a raffle.  READ MORE
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Keith Brooking: Eagles pose problems - Cowboys LB Keith Brooking is focused on beating the Eagles and avenging the worst loss of the Jason Garrett era. On avenging the last loss against the Eagles: That was a humbling experience, there's no doubt. We watched that film a lot this week. We know the problems they pose for us defensively. They have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball. We got to do our homework, we got to have our best week, no doubt. They're hot right now, I mean it's amazing ... the NFC East this year, how [they're] dead in the water a few weeks ago and now they're back in the picture. You know, last week they're crowning the Giants NFC East champions then they had the let down this week against Washington.  READ MORE
Jerry Jones not confident against Philly - Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was so angered by his team's December 11 loss to the New York Giants that he didn't take questions from reporters following the game, almost unheard of for the outspoken man that has owned the franchise since 1989. Jones was in a different mood after the Cowboys had their way with Tampa Bay Saturday night. He took several questions from reporters and bragged about how proud he was of the 31-15 victory. But he was also cautious when it came to discussing the Cowboys' next opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that embarrassed Dallas, 34-7, in late October. As confident as Tony Romo and company looked against the struggling 4-10 Buccaneers, Jones said there's no confidence when it comes to playing their division rival Saturday at Cowboys Stadium.  READ MORE
Houston Texans Humbled By Underestimated Carolina Panthers - They ran trick plays, they ran screen plays, they ran passing plays, and they ran all over the Houston Texans. Nobody really expected the visiting Carolina Panthers to manhandle the Texans the way that they did. Sure, the game would be a tough one but having the advantage of the “12th Man” combined with the leagues top defense was supposed to be enough for the Texans to overcome the struggling Panthers…but it was not.  READ MORE
Mistakes catch up to Houston Texans - Houston coach Gary Kubiak saw this one coming. The Texans (10-4) were still winning, even as the injuries mounted, but something wasn't right. The offense had lost some sharpness from earlier in the season, and the mistakes were piling up. The shoddy play finally caught up to Houston in a 28-13 loss to Carolina on Sunday. The Panthers converted two of the Texans' three turnovers into touchdowns, led from start to finish and snapped Houston's seven-game winning streak. "We've been sloppy with it and we have to get it fixed," Kubiak said. "That's what happens to you when you get that way." The Texans play at Indianapolis (1-13) on Thursday night, and Kubiak is glad another game is coming so soon.  READ MORE
Postgame quotes - Here are some quotes following the Dallas Stars' 5-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks Monday night at American Airlines Center. Stars captain Brenden Morrow on bouncing back after blowing a 3-0 lead "That's hockey. If you aren't mentally tough enough to come back from that then you are in the wrong league. We've been on the other side of it and we've been able to grind it out and pull it out. We've been in that position before. You just keep plugging away and believing in what you are doing is going to pay off. There are 60 minutes for a reason and the third period has usually been our best. We knew that and we're confident in it."  READ MORE
Stars get 5-3 victory over Ducks - Michael Ryder scored the go-ahead goal at 6:42 of the third period after Dallas had wasted a three-goal lead, and the Stars went on to 5-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night. With the game even at 3, Ryder skated up the middle and converted Loui Eriksson's setup for Ryder's 11th of the season. Eric Nystrom added an insurance goal for Dallas at 14:19 of the third. Dallas' Alex Goligoski and Mike Ribeiro scored power-play goals over a 24-second span in the second period. Brenden Morrow also connected for the Stars. Anaheim's Teemu Selanne registered his 648th career goal on the power play, and teammate Lubomir Visnovsky added a man-advantage goal. The Ducks fell to 0-9-3 in their last 12 on the road, 1-5-0 in their last six overall.  READ MORE
---Staff and Wire Reports contributed to this story
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