San Antonio Spurs Preparing for the Playoffs

The recent dismantling of the San Antonio Spurs by the Los Angeles Lakers provided an excellent opportunity to highlight some of the ups and downs of the Silver and Black as they head into the postseason, so I had a moment to sit down and gather my thoughts on the team.

The first problem that comes to mind when I think about the Spurs is age, and I know we've been saying that about the Spurs for forever, but it's really catching up now.

Manu Ginobili is perpetually injured, and we can't be sure just how long his ankles will hold up.

Tim Duncan, meanwhile, is having a great year but the moment he goes down is the moment the Spurs abandon hope.

They've surrounded themselves with some new, younger faces though, in Roger Mason Jr., Matt Bonner and George Hill. The downside to these great offensive players is that their defense isn't always up to the task, and when they go cold they go really cold.

Mason is taking it to the hole more often but is routinely rejected, and Bonner is either on fire or entirely ice-cold.

Rebounding has been another problem, something that the Spurs hoped to address in the acquisition of Drew Gooden.

Whether he's ready in time for the playoffs remains to be seen, but he's another six fouls and the guy's got talent, but complaints about his defensive abilities can't be examined without looking at the entire team's defensive lapses.

As a whole, this is probably the worst Spurs defensive squad we've seen since the mid-90's.

Rotations still get missed, Bruce Bowen has slowed a step as has Duncan, and the new guys aren't nearly as tight and quick with their defensive rotations as Spurs teams in the past have been.

They're about middle-of-the-pack in terms of point percentage allowed, average but not in the top three spots like we're used to seeing the Spurs.

So that really leaves us with the question, is their offense good enough to win a championship?

If Manu Ginobili can catch fire and Drew Gooden can bring at least moderate help to the rebounding situation, then the best answer is still only maybe. They're going to be facing down a Lakers squad hungry for a title, and that will be hard to beat.

But the Spurs are younger, quicker and able to score in bunches they never were able to in the past.

Anytime they score over a hundred points a game they're likely to win, even if it gives their coach (and fans) a heart attack. Spurs fans can only hope Drew Gooden is that missing piece, and that Manu has one more championship season in him.