Elite Spurs Succeed Without All the Fanfare

It's time for the annual public service announcement.

Every year at this time, we get caught up in the wondrous exploits of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade, or in how awesome it was to watch the Suns and Wizards zoom up and down the floor. We've seen the annual Heat-Lakers Christmas confab, saw Agent Zero drop 60, and watched 'Melo practice his hitand-run skills. So by this time, every year, we've completely forgotten about the league's most prominent franchise.

But lurking beneath the radar, you'll find the San Antonio Spurs merrily ripping off victory after victory while the shiny objects in the foreground divert everyone's attention. They've become so reliably, methodically good that it's become difficult to get anyone interested in their story. They're currently 24–11, have the league's best point differential, and are playing as well offensively as they have at any time in their team's glorious history — and somehow, absolutely nobody is talking about them.

People really should, because it's a remarkable story. Not only have the Spurs won three championships, they've done it with three completely different lineups, and each time rebuilding the surrounding roster on the fly while managing to remain among the league's elite. Since Tim Duncan joined the team in 1997–98 the Spurs have the best record in basketball, at 525–216. Pro-rating the lockout year of 1998–99, that's nearly a decade of performance in which they've averaged 58 wins per season.

In that same time period, 19 of the league's 30 teams have failed even once to win 58 games — including both local teams. In other words, an average season for the Spurs would be an anomalous, once-a-decade feat for two-thirds of the league's teams. They've had a winning road record for nine straight seasons, and are gunning for number 10. In fact, San Antonio's record in road games only equates to 49 wins per season, which would very nearly be the best season by either of the local teams in the past decade.

So if they're so amazingly, consistently good, why doesn't this get more attention? Certainly, their small market status doesn't help. San Antonio may not technically be the league's smallest market, but it's sure as heck the sleepiest — move two blocks in any direction from the Riverwalk and you might as well be in Schenectady — and with one notable, Desperate exception, it's not a place where the rich and famous tend to congregate.

What's more, their best player is perhaps the game's least marketable superstar. Tim Duncan may be an exemplary role model, a fundamentally impressive player, and the game's most down-toearth superstar, but his glaring lack of highlight film material and bulletin board-worthy quotes have made him the forgotten man among the league's elite. In the past week alone, I've seen several analysts post lists of MVP candidates that omitted him entirely, despite the fact that he remains one of the league's elite and plays for what is arguably its best team.

What's more, San Antonio's style isn't always conducive to high TV ratings. Yes, the Spurs have two dynamic offensive players in Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, but the core of their system has been the defense. Among the game's superstars, Duncan is almost certainly the best defender; rather unusually for high-scoring perimeter players, Ginobili and Parker are also quality defenders. Pair them with the sticky defense of stopper Bruce Bowen and a cast of role players selected mainly for their defensive ability (Robert Horry, Jacque Vaughn, Francisco Elson), and the Spurs are suffocating.

To see just how suffocating they are, consider the trend in San Antonio's defensive stats. The Spurs have been in the top 3 in scoring defense every year since Duncan arrived, and they fare even better if one looks at Defensive Efficiency, my measure of a team's points allowed per 100 opponent possessions. San Antonio ranks second in this category this season — and they're mad as hell about it. They should be, because they've been no. 1 for five of the past six seasons. So a second-place finish, by their standards, is a crushing disappointment.

Obviously, this is an incredible credit to their coach, Gregg Popovich. Popovich has achieved two extremely difficult feats for an NBA coach: first, getting his players to buy into his system and give a full effort, and second, keeping the message fresh even in his 9th season at the helm of a roster that's seen fairly little turnover.

But even more, it's a credit to the organization — which again points back to Popovich. In his role as team president, he's proved better at balancing the short and long term than almost any other coachpresident you can name. Usually when a coach wears both hats he makes horrible long-term sacrifices for tenuous short-term gains (review Pat Riley's first tour in Miami for a shining example). Popovich has been unusually resilient in avoiding the temptation to sacrifice tomorrow for today.

As a result, one might describe the Spurs as the Yankees of basketball — only they're better. San Antonio has won 70.9% of its games in the Duncan era — the best mark in all of sports — the Bronx Bombers mustered only 61.1%.

But the comparison with the Yanks also brings up one more notable contrast: money. The Spurs have done all this winning without paying a cent of luxury tax (though they may end up paying this year if they can't drop a contract by the trade deadline), by making tough, business-like decisions with an eye toward fiscal prudence.

During this past off-season, for instance, they let both regular centers leave, signed two other centers who make far less (including ex-Knick Jackie Butler), and promoted a bench player. Thus far, they've seemed none the worse for it; the promoted bench player, Fabricio Oberto, and one of the free agents (Francisco Elson) have matched the output of the departed. Meanwhile, the money saved allows them to afford the likes of Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker.

So for the next few months, keep oohing and ahhing over Kobe and LeBron, and gasping in wonder at the frenetic pace in Phoenix and Washington. Just keep one thing in the back of your mind as you're doing it: When May and June come around, those overlooked Spurs will still be standing long after most of those guys in the SportsCenter highlights are gone. They always are.

jhollinger@nysun.com