AUS/FRA/CAN – Competition fierce among Spurs guards

SAN ANTONIO (NBA) - Pat Mills, Nando De Colo and Cory Joseph all have a couple of things in common.

Each is a vital part of his country's National Team, with Australia's Mills and France's De Colo having recently competed at the Olympics while Joseph is likely to do so in the future with Canada

Every single one of those players is likely to feature at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

What else?

Mills, De Colo and Joseph are in a healthy fight for minutes as San Antonio Spurs players.

Each is looking to earn a spot in the rotation as the back-up point guard to French veteran Tony Parker.

Mills, who had a breakthrough season after joining the Spurs during the lockout-shortened campaign of 2011-12, carried the momentum into the London Games and was easily one of the best players in the tournament.

In one game against hosts Great Britain, a come-from-behind 106-75 triumph for the Boomers, Mills erupted for 39 points.

In the very next outing, Mills drilled a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to hand Russia their first defeat of the summer.

But he is taking nothing for granted in San Antonio where De Colo has been the source of daily praise by teammates and the media.

Joseph, who is still only 21 years of age, is also playing to rave reviews.

“What Nando’s brought to our team is exactly what he’s good at and what he’s been great at playing internationally,” Mills said.

“He’s got great vision.

"He sets up the team really well.

"His passing is unbelievable, which he’s shown the past few games.

"And he can shoot, as well."

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, in fact, recently paid De Colo a compliment by nicknaming him "Mini-Manu" since Spurs great Manu Ginobili is a terrific passer.

As for Joseph, Mills said: "Cory’s come a long way from last year.

"He had a big summer. I think of all the stuff he did individually in the weight room and individually with the coaches.

"He got after it a lot, and you can see the stuff he put in (on) the court.

"He’s becoming a real point guard.”

The Spurs seem to have good camaraderie because the competition for places in some squads could lead to division in the team.

That's not the case for San Antonio.

“The great thing about this environment is we’ve got a number of point guards that are really good, really solid," Mills said in the San Antonio media.

"If nothing else, it’s going to make every one of us even better, the more we push ourselves.”

FIBA