Many up and coming teams in the NBA's Western Conference are playing dominant basketball to ring in the New Year.

But the established powers are struggling.

The reigning champion San Antonio Spurs seem to be out of gas, out of ammunition, or simply out of sync. The Phoenix Suns are just not “having as much fun as last year,” according to point guard Steve Nash in a TNT interview last night.

Everyone is asking for changes and asking what is going wrong this year with these dominant teams.

Over the past ten games, the Spurs have barely kept themselves above 500, and with a loss to Detroit last night went to 5-5 over that ten game stretch. With teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, New Orleans Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers on the rise, and the Boston Celtics dominating over in the East, everyone is questioning whether the Spurs have it in them to get back on the horse and return to prominence this season.

Let’s not forget that until two games ago, the last time the Spurs' Big Three—Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili, arguably the best trio in basketball—played together was November 30th. With their offense anemic of late, the Spurs haven’t given themselves a chance to win ball games.

But offense comes and goes with streaks; defense is the constant for the Spurs. And even great teams like the Spurs go through stretches when they are out of sync and ill-prepared during the regular season.

That's part of what makes them a great team: They can view their regular season faults and fix all their problems before they get to the post-season.

The Suns have also been on a slope of late, with recent injuries to Grant Hill and Shawn Marion. Phoenix fans are getting restless, as the championship-less were expected to dominate the regular season.

The Suns aren't playing to their awesome potential. The Suns should be even better than they were last year with the addition of Grant Hill, but some have declared this Suns team dysfunctional and unable to win in the post-season when January isn’t even half complete.

No, Phoenix isn't as dominant as a year ago, but they should take advantage of their poor play like the Spurs do: by recognizing how not to play later on. Maybe the Suns have become a more mature team and are getting their kinks out of the way like their adversary Spurs.

All is not lost for the Spurs and Suns. These are mid-season doubts about good teams, and are unfounded.

The best teams get their glitches out of the way before the post-season.

Let’s wait until April to begin casting doubts on good teams like the Spurs and Suns who have proved themselves in the past.