-- not to mention an adjusted ERA that ranked alongsi

CHICAGO -- San Antonio Spurs center Pau Gasol walked down the hall at the United Center, headed straight toward the wrong locker room before his teams 95-91 loss?to the Bulls on Thursday night.For Gasol, who played two seasons in Chicago, and the rest of his San Antonio teammates, thats the type of night the Spurs endured Thursday. Their effort drew the ire of coach Gregg Popovich, who called out some of his underperforming players, saying guys get a lot of money to be ready to play.Asked whether it was his job to make sure the Spurs were ready to play, Popovich said, I dont remember playing tonight. No Knute Rockne speeches. Its your job. If youre a plumber and you dont do your job, you dont get any work. I dont think a plumber needs a pep talk. A doctor botches operations, and hes not a doctor anymore. If youre a basketball player, you come ready. Its called maturity. Its your job.The Spurs entered the contest with an 814-815 record all time on the road -- including a 13-0 mark this season -- and blew an opportunity to become the only NBA franchise with a .500 road record all time, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. Had the Spurs defeated the Bulls, San Antonio would have tied Golden States record last season for consecutive road wins (14) to start a season.Dating to Nov. 25, the Spurs trailed by double digits in seven of their past eight outings, yet they found a way to win in all but two of those contests, including Thursdays loss. The Bulls led by 13 at the half and increased their lead to 18 points in the third quarter.San Antonio couldnt chop Chicagos lead to fewer than six points until there was 4:04 left to play.We played 24 minutes again, as we have for about the last 10 games, Popovich said. We go through the motions in the first half. I think we shot one free throw in the first half. We shot four or so the second half. But we played harder in the second half. I dont know if we played much smarter. Our opponents have outplayed us physically and execution-wise in most first halves for most of the season. So now we pull it together in the second half and played harder and smarter and got it to [a] four[-point deficit].Thats the disappointing part: Were not a very consistent team, and we havent learned as a group that the game is 48 minutes. We also have some people playing very poorly. You have to participate in your own recovery. Some players have to play better.The Spurs havent conducted an actual practice since Nov. 7 in part because of their demanding schedule, and the club sporadically conducts pregame shootarounds. But none of the players blamed the lack of workout time for the teams recent struggles, as Popovich traditionally chooses rest time over grueling practices.Its been happening to us in most of the games that we come out not with the same edge, Gasol said. That we come out in the second half, and because of the talent and quality of play, were able to make up ground in the second half against teams and weve ended up winning most of them. Weve got to be able to play for 48 minutes the same way, and thats something that really hasnt happened yet for us.Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 24 points, but LaMarcus Aldridge struggled, hitting 5-of-15 for 10 points; he is shooting 8-of-23 in his past two outings.Gasol contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Manu Ginobili finished 0-of-9 from the field and failed to score.I dont know whats going on, said point guard Tony Parker, who returned to the lineup from a bruised knee after missing the clubs Dec. 6 win over Minnesota. Its been almost the whole season. I dont know why we have slow starts. We just have to respond, everybody, individually, and make sure we play for 48 minutes. Everybody has to do more to make sure we have good starts, make sure we bring more energy, more juice, and we have to get excited. Youve got to want it at least the same as the other team.For almost a month, that has been the narrative in San Antonio. Yet the team hasnt found a way to remedy the issues. In fact, Popovich mentioned it wont all be fixed, adding that playing harder is the part that bothers me, the lack of fiber, of grunt.Popovich has called Parker a steadying influence. The coach admitted that with Parker missing eight games because of injury and franchise stalwart Tim Duncan no longer in the picture, its tougher for the other guys to find their place and get as organized as we were in the past.Several Spurs players said Popovich scolded the team after the game for what he perceived as a lack of effort.Like any coach, he wanted us to play harder, Leonard said of Popovich. He felt like we only played hard for 24 minutes in the game. Weve just got to bring energy. We just want to play better, play hard, smart. Its not gonna just happen. Theres gonna [have to] be some carryover going into two, three, four, five games, and then gradually it becomes second nature. Authentic Soccer Jerseys . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Custom Soccer Jerseys . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. https://www.fakesoccerjerseys.com/ . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. Cheap Soccer Jerseys China . Rousey will put her perfect 8-0 record and hardware on the line against another undefeated fighter, 7-0 Sara McMann in the main event of UFC 170, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Nevada on February 22nd. Cyber Monday Soccer Jerseys . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. Already thinking about spring and real games? Youre not alone. We asked David Schoenfield, Sam Miller and Dan Szymborski to talk about their thoughts about how the 2017 races are already shaping up.David Schoenfield: Weve had big deals and controversial deals, and we had the Diamondbacks signing Fernando Rodney. The offseason isnt complete, but who is your team to beat right now?Sam Miller: This is normally when I ask Dan what ZiPS says and defer. I think theres a good case that the Dodgers and the Cubs are close to equal, but any argument against the Cubs feels cheap. They lose Dexter Fowler and two months of Aroldis Chapman, gain Kyle Schwarber and Wade Davis and Koji Uehara, from one of the best teams weve seen in 15 years.Dan Szymborski: Cubs. Even with the Nationals being aggressive, still Cubs. Theyre still the obvious favorite until they prove they dont deserve the label. I live in constant fear that theyll do something seemingly silly like pick up Ubaldo Jimenez for the fifth starter job but then he goes out and wins the NL Cy Young. Because Cubs.Miller: Whats the least-troll-y argument we could make against the Cubs? The rotation loses Jason Hammel, Kyle Hendricks is a regression candidate, Jake Arrieta is already regressing, so are they an injury or two from the pitching staff being a problem?Schoenfield: Plus, all the starters were healthy all season. Yes, the defense will help cover soome of that, but it would be reasonable to expect that all four starters will be worse and the fifth starter will be worse than Jason Hammel was.dddddddddddd. In fact, look what happened to the Cardinals: After posting a 2.99 rotation ERA in 2015 -- not to mention an adjusted ERA that ranked alongside the 1990s Braves -- they fell into mediocrity in 2016, dropping to a 4.33 rotation ERA. On the other hand, Theo said hes looking to upgrade his eighth through 10th starters, so I guess hes not too concerned.Szymborski: Jason Heyward could be done. Their fifth starter is probably weaker than theyd like in the end. Maybe Schwarbers defense cancels out his offense.Miller: Heyward couldnt possibly be much worse than last year, though.Szymborski: Who would have bet on his bad 2016 before it happened? A whole bunch of things could go wrong for the Cubs, and they still end up winning 95 games.Miller: There was a theory going around late in the season that, with Rich Hill and Josh Reddick added and Clayton Kershaw back and healthy, the Dodgers were actually a better team going forward than the Cubs. Now Reddicks gone, and Im not sure I believed that theory in the first place, but the Dodgers rotation right now might have more upside and depth than anything weve seen in some years ' ' '