Spurs still searching for answers to struggles
Posted Feb 20 2010 11:35AM
PHILADELPHIA -- If you haven't figured out this year's San Antonio Spurs, you're not alone. It's not clear that they've figured themselves out.
A mediocre November (9-6) led to a terrific December (10-5), which was followed by a lousy January (8-
. February has been spent entirely on the road and isn't off to a very good start. With one game left before they return home, the Spurs are 4-3 on their rodeo road trip.
A lineup change, moving Richard Jefferson to the bench in favor of George Hill and Keith Bogans at the wings, is the latest example of Gregg Popovich searching for answers.
"I want to have a defensive presence and set a tone defensively, similar to what we did with Bruce Bowen," Popovich said of putting Bogans back in the starting lineup for the two games since the All-Star break. "He fits that role pretty well for us.
"We've got a solid group to start and, in some ways, a more explosive group offensively coming off the bench."
Neither the offense nor the defense has been a consistent problem this season. The problem has been inconsistency.
Overall, the Spurs' numbers are pretty strong. They're one of only four teams in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. They rank eighth in the league offensively, scoring 106.5 points per 100 possessions, and 10th defensively, allowing 102.0.
But poor execution in close games has the Spurs with five fewer wins than they should have according to their point differential. They're just 4-8 in games decided by six points or less. Friday's loss in Philadelphia wasn't atypical, as the Spurs turned the ball over six times in the fourth quarter, allowing the Sixers to pull off a comeback win.
Turnovers aren't the only issue of late. The Spurs are shooting just 43 percent as they've gone 7-9 over their last 16 games.
The good news is that, like last season, only one team in the Western Conference has distinguished itself from the rest of the pack.
"[The Lakers] are the class of the West, and everybody else is kind of wallowing around," Popovich said. "We're all trying to get consistent. We're all bitching and moaning at our teams, questioning what we've been doing. We're all stuck together right there."
The Spurs also have a history of post-All-Star-break excellence. In Tim Duncan's 13 seasons, they've got a .679 winning percentage before the break and a .720 winning percentage after it.
"No one thinks we've played our best ball so far," Hill said Friday. "It's going to be scary when everyone's on the same page and playing our best ball. Everyone's looking forward to that."
But it's unclear whether or not the Spurs can flip the switch this year.
The eight-game rodeo road trip comes to an end in Detroit on Sunday, but when the Spurs finally lay their heads down in their own beds late that night, they'll still have more road games (16) left to play than home games (12).
To make matters worse, Tony Parker is banged up and 21 of those 28 games are against teams who are currently .500 or better. The Spurs are just 12-15 against such teams so far. They've still got to play both the Cavs and Magic twice, and they've got eight more games against other playoff teams in the West.
To date, the Spurs are just 4-14 against other playoff teams in the West.
They've also got a pair of games against the ninth-place Rockets, who only trail San Antonio by two games in the loss column, and who upgraded their roster at the trade deadline.
Dallas, the team ahead of the Spurs in the Southwest Division, also got better with the additions of Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood. But the only deal San Antonio made at the deadline was sending Theo Ratliff to Charlotte for a future second-round pick, a move that shaved less than $1 million off the payroll. The Spurs are still about $8.5 million over the luxury tax line, and don't have the improvement in the standings to show for the extra money they've spent this season.
"Hopefully we realize that we're not much better than anybody," Manu Ginobili said, "that we've got to grind it out every single game."
The notion of the Spurs missing the playoffs for the first time in Duncan's career seems ridiculous. And with 29 games to go, it's really too early to give it any serious consideration. But while we've seen what they can do (see last week's win in Denver) when they play their best, there are also plenty of reasons to see the glass as half empty.
And the switch will not turn on by itself.
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/john_schuhmann/02/20/spurs.struggles/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1
Sujet: Spurs still searching for answer 
Dim 21 Fév - 1:03
