SAN ANTONIO -- The San Antonio Spurs responded to their most successful regular season in franchise history with the greatest turnover in Gregg Popovichs two decades with the team.Tim Duncans retirement played a large role in the reconstruction, but so did losing in six games to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference semifinals.Duncan is gone along with veterans Boris Diaw, Matt Bonner and late-season additions Andre Miller and Kevin Martin. While San Antonio added another veteran in Pau Gasol, they also brought in a lot of youth and athleticism as they prepared for life without Duncan, the power forward who led the franchise to five NBA titles in 19 seasons.Right now we dont know what were going to miss on the floor because we havent been through the season yet, Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard said. (But) just knowing hes not here, his personality isnt here. Jokes that he makes during practice, thats the things Im missing right now.Duncan will be with the team occasionally as an unofficial assistant coach, but San Antonio is placing the team squarely in Leonards hands. The 6-foot-7 forward finished second in MVP balloting after averaging a career-high 21.2 points and 6.8 rebounds last season. He also was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season.After spending his first five seasons adding a pull-up jumper and honing his 3-point shooting, Leonard spent this offseason working on something else: Just becoming a leader. Just making sure I know whats going on on the floor at every position. Just getting ready to get my mentality of just leading the group this year.Leonards evolution as a leader should be aided by Gasol. The 17-year veteran won two NBA championships while with the Los Angeles Lakers.One thing that makes me feel a little better with (Duncans) loss is Pau Gasol, Popovich said. He is a very intelligent man and he understands how to play and hes played for a lot of good people. Thats going to help us in that loss, but having said that, it will take time to get all the new guys to understanding exactly how we play and who goes with whom.Gasol averaged 16.5 points and 11.0 rebounds for Chicago last season while earning his sixth All-Star appearance. Duncan averaged 8.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in the final season of a Hall of Fame career.Gasols numbers will likely drop this season, though, as San Antonio will continue to develop around Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge.It starts with me and L.A. first, Leonard said. If we win a championship, its going to be up to us to lead the group.The duo earned All-Star berths last season while leading San Antonio to a franchise-record 67 victories. But the Spurs dropped four of five games to the Thunder in the West semifinals and San Antonio knew changes were needed. The Spurs drafted 6-foot-5 point guard Dejounte Murray and brought in 2011 second-round pick Davis Bertans at forward along with signing 7-foot center Dewayne Dedmon along with David Lee.Some other things to know about the Spurs, who open the season Tuesday night at Golden State:BACKGROUND NOISEAldridge struggled to fit into the teams offense in the first half of last season, but closed strongly to lead the team in rebounding and finish second in scoring. He said he was not bothered by reports San Antonio was willing to trade him.(Popovich is) a pretty direct person and this organization is first-class, so if that was the issue, I would have known way before the media knew, Aldridge said. So, I wasnt worried about it at all.BIG TWO?Point guard Tony Parker suffered a drop in scoring for his third straight season, which is a product of the teams evolution rather than any decline in his game. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 11.9 points last season, but he had a career-low 1.8 turnovers per game and shot 49 percent from the field. It was the third time in four seasons that Parker has shot 49 percent or better from the field. He also shot 42 percent on 3-pointers, marking the second straight season he has shot over 40 percent on 3s. Fellow veteran Manu Ginobili said he will not decide if this his last season until after its done.BOUNCING BERTANSAfter averaging 7.9 points and shooting 47 percent on 3-pointers in 15 games for Baskonia in the Euroleague last season, Bertans is averaging 5.4 points and shooting 31 percent on 3-pointers in five preseason games for the Spurs. He has astounded his teammates with his leaping ability especially after right ACL surgery twice in the past three years.I think in the second ACL they put something special in there, Bertans said.FOUL TROUBLEDedmon is expected to be one of the teams primary frontcourt reserves if he can stay on the court. The 7-footer has struggled with foul trouble in his career, averaging 2.1 fouls in just 13.1 minutes per game. He is averaging 3.2 fouls in five preseason games, including fouling out in 22 minutes in San Antonios preseason opener against Phoenix.STEPPING INGasol has stepping into Duncans spot in numerous ways, not just in the starting lineup. Gasol has taken Duncans spot standing next to Parker and Ginobili during the national anthem and is also handling tip-off duties. Nike Blazers Cheap Online . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. Cheap Nike Blazers China . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. http://www.cheapnikeblazer.net/ . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Nike Blazers Cheap Authentic . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Cheap Nike Blazers .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Vikings cornerback Captain Munnerlyn has a message for Panthers wide receiver Devin Funchess: Youre not that good.Munnerlyn said the Vikings concentrated on slowing down Carolinas No. 1 receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who came into the game with 13 catches for 199 yards and three TDs, while largely ignoring Funchess.Funchess couldnt take advantage of seeing mostly single coverage. Neither he nor Benjamin recorded a catch in Carolinas 22-10 loss to Minnesota.We just knew where Benjamin was the whole time, Munnerlyn said. Funchess, we werent worried about him. It was Kelvin Benjamin. Im just going to be honest. Me personally, I dont think he is that good, No. 17 (Funchess). So we werent really worried about him.Funchess was unavailable for comment after the game.After a solid training camp and preseason, Funchess has struggled this season with only three catches for 28 yards and one touchdown.The Panthers opened the game in a three-receiver set on Sunday that did not include Funchess. Ted Ginn Jr. and Philly Brown started alongside Benjamin. Ginn had three catches for 62 yards and Brown four grabs for 57 yards.NEWTON FINE: Cam Newton said hes fine after Vikings defensive tackle Linval Joseph landed on his leg while chasing him out of the pocket.Newton sat out a play then returned and finished the game.The leagues MVP has a chance to get back in a rhythm next Sunday when the Panthers play their first NFC South game against the Falcons, who surrendered four TD passes to the Bucs Jameis Winston in Week One and three to the Raiders Derek Carr in Week Two.BRADFORD COMFORTABLE: Minnesota quarterback Sam Bradford is now 2-0 as the Vikings starter, despite getting off to a slow start against the Panthers.Bradford was 4 of 11 for 26 yards passing over the first two quarters. But in the second half, he went 14 of 17 for 145 yards and a touchdown , a 15-yarder to Kyle Rudolph in the third quarter that put Minnesota in the lead.We just never really found the rhythm, in the first half, Bradford said.While not as impressive as his debut -- 286 yards and two touchdowns in beating the Green Bay Packers last week -- Zimmer is ready to say that Bradfford now knows the Vikings offense heading into their matchup against the New York Giants.ddddddddddddI think we probably need to put the whole `learning the offense thing away. Hes good to go with all that stuff, Zimmer said.VIKINGS GROUND GAME: The Vikings are winning despite not having much of a ground game.They came in ranked 32nd in the league in rushing and only had 58 yards rushing against the Panthers without Adrian Peterson. Third-year pro Jerick McKinnon finished with 16 carries for 45 yards. Matt Asiata started but had just 15 yards on six carries.Those guys ran the ball pretty good today, Zimmer said. We stuck to it a little bit more in the second half. It helps take some of the pressure off of the pass rush when you can do those things.SAFETY STREAK: Minnesota defensive end Danielle Hunters first-quarter sack on Newton gave the Vikings their first defensive safety in nearly five years. Hunter brought Newton down from behind for a five-yard loss with 1:44 remaining in the first quarter for the safety, Minnesotas first since Dec. 4, 2011, during a 35-32 loss to the Denver Broncos.That safety that Danielle Hunter got was a big turning point in the game, Zimmer said as it cut Carolinas lead to 10-2.WINNING SPECIAL TEAMS: After struggling through the first two weeks of the season, Minnesota punter Jeff Locke found his range against the Panthers. Entering Sundays game averaging a league-worst 38.6 yards per punt, Locke averaged 48.4 yards per on his seven punts, including a season-best 62-yarder in the first quarter.Locke twice pinned the Panthers inside their own five-yard line with long kicks, both of which led to Vikings scores. The 62-yarder set up Hunters sack and safety, and a 58-yarder in the second quarter pinned Carolina at its own 2 in the second quarter.Meanwhile, Carolina gave up a 54-yard punt return for a touchdown to Marcus Sherels and Graham Gano missed a 54-yard field goal.---Freelance Writer Bill Kiser contributed to this report.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '