With the Spurs steam-rolling opponents by playing fantastic team basketball, individual performances are sometimes overlooked, especially underwhelming ones. When a team operates at such a high level, it's OK to do so, since it's clear that the whole is better than the sum of its parts and everyone is contributing enough for the team to win.

Role players in particular get excused because match-ups determine how big an impact they have, while stars are supposed to rise above that and contribute consistently. Tony Parker was amazing in the first round, and while his production dropped, he still won his match-up in the second. Tim Duncan has been consistently the best big man in both rounds of the playoffs, gifting us with some throwback performances. The only part of the Big Three that hasn't shined yet is Manu Ginobili.

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I know most of us have probably done it before, but try to remember how you felt at the end of last season. The Grizzlies beat the Spurs, who seemed unable to overcome their limitations; small on the wings, undersized front court, lack of playmaking. Duncan looked mortal for the first time in his career, Manu couldn't catch a break from the basketball Gods health-wise, and Tony Parker was played to a draw by Mike Conley, of all people. Even during that great 61 win regular season there was doubt in our minds that the team had what it took to go all the way.

Fast forward to this post-season. Tim Duncan looks rejuvenated,Tony Parker is having the best season of his career, and Manu Ginobili managed to finally get into the playoffs healthy. The Spurs have as deep a roster as there is in the NBA with long, athletic wings and an enviable front court rotation; no match up problems in sight. They are crushing opponents with flawless execution and are primed to take the Western Conference title. What a difference a year makes.

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Fun is overrated; at least it is insofar as the idea of it being something that can provide lasting joy. In Spanish the word for fun is "diversion." We need fun stuff to allow us to not think; if we think about the things that really matter all the time, we'd go insane. Don't get me wrong, fun is fine. But at its very core it's nothing more than a fleeting distraction.

A more lasting way of enjoyment, and one that in my eyes gives meaning to a person's life, is to look for more nuanced ways of distraction; ones that don't necessarily have immediate payoff and that make us work for them. I watched The Avengers a couple of days ago and had a whole lot of fun for the two hours it lasted. it didn't change me and I didn't take anything away from it, but I was completely fine with that. All I wanted was to have fun. and I did.

We were bored out of our minds a few days ago while waiting for the Grizzlies/Clippers series to complete so that the second round could begin, and a few of us started making lists of our favorite movies and along with a few classics. I threw in Noah Baumbach's opera prima Kicking and Screaming: a movie about 4 recent college graduates, their struggles facing the real world and their search for an identity. It's a slow movie, heavy on seemingly meaningless dialogue that doesn't seem to advance the plot. Needless to say, it's not a thrill ride but something about it spoke to me in a way a summer blockbuster could never do. Does that mean that there is no place in my life for The Avengers and I have to settle for proto-mumblecore from now on? Of course not. It just means that there are different ways to enjoy things, because those things were conceived to be enjoyed differently.

So what was that extended and convoluted intro for? To address the numerous articles that keep cropping up about the Spurs being boring.

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As you probably heard, James Harden was crowned NBA's Sixth Man of the Year. It is absolutely deserved, as there was no one else that came close to playing as great off the bench as The Beard. He's a fantastic player that can do it all and this recognition is one of many to come, I'm sure.

I am genuinely happy for the guy since he's one of my favorite non-Spurs, but while I was reading the articles about Harden's excellent year, I couldn't shake the feeling that the media's treatment of the Oklahoma City Thunder's star was quite a bit different than it would have been if he'd entered the league before anyone had ever heard the name of Manu Ginobili.

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Anyone who has followed the Spurs knows that they use a pick and roll heavy offense, utilizing both Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker as ball handlers. We've already seen how Tony uses the P&R and now it's time to look at the way Manu Ginobili keys the Spurs offense's pet play .

Manu is probably the best shooting guard in the league as a pick and roll ball handler because he can both score himself or assist the screener, and he does each in a variety of ways. Right now I'll simply focus on Manu's passing using his destruction of the Utah Jazz as an example. To show Ginobili's versatility, I chose P&R sets featuring three different big men as screeners: Tim Duncan, Tiago Splitter and DeJuan Blair.

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[Editor's Note: Edg5 has gladly taken on the challenge of arguing both sides of this story. His case for the Grizzlies is here. -jrw]

The Spurs are resting while the Clippers and the Grizzlies are battling it out for the privilege of playing the good guys in the conference semifinals. The other LA team is leading 3-1 and looks like it might eliminate the team that shocked the Spurs last post season. To that, I say: bring on Lob City.

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[Editor's Note: Edg5 has gladly taken on the challenge of arguing both sides of this story. Here is his case for the Clippers. -jrw]

The Spurs are resting while the Clippers and the Grizzlies are battling it out for the privilege of playing the good guys in the conference semifinals. The other LA team is leading 3-1 and looks like it might eliminate the team that shocked the Spurs last post season. I really hope the Grizzlies rally, beat the Clips and face the Spurs in the semis.

I want revenge. There, I said it. I don't care that this is a new season, that some of the pillars of the team that beat the Spurs are either gone or hobbled. I. Want. Revenge. I want to see a rejuvenated Tim destroy Marc Gasol in the post after being pushed around last season. I want Tony to run circles around All-Star snub Mike Conley. I want Z-Bo to look confused as the ball swings from side to side before getting to Bonner for a three. Most of all I want a healthy Manu showing what a difference he would have made if he didn't get injured before the series, Tony Allen or no.

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With their 87-81 victory over the Utah Jazz, the San Antonio Spurs advanced to the Western Conference semifinals where they will face the winner of the Grizzlies-Clippers series.

It was as one sided as a sweep can be, with the Spurs dominating each game for long stretches and the Jazz looking overmatched. After all the criticism they received last season when they were eliminated by the Grizzlies, I'm sure the Spurs were looking forward to quiet the doubters with a convincing first round win over a team that, on paper, was supposed to be a tough matchup. While not really surprising, the Spurs' victory over the Jazz was impressive and conclusive. If there were still people out there with doubts about the Spurs' chances against big frontlines, this series probably changed that. Some notes on the game and the series after the jump.

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The Spurs' two-year plan is paying off

In the past I've been critical of PATFO, or at least as critical as you can be about a fantastic front office and coach. I've mentioned that they might be giving up too soon on young players, that luck played a larger part in building the dynasty than we like to acknowledge and I've had strong opinions regarding roster decisions going back to Luis Scola.

While I was nodding along to this fantastic post about the defining moments of the season I couldn't help but feel that the seeds that got us this incredible Spurs team were planted long before the Dallas game or anything that happened this season.

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As we all know, the biggest strength of the Utah Jazz is their big man rotation. They have 4 quality bigs that can rebound, block shots and score around the rim. The Spurs have good bigs but, at least physically, the Jazz seem to have the upper hand.

It will be important for the Spurs to figure out a rotation that counters the strength of the Jazz's bigs. Looking at the four match-ups between the teams this season let's see if we can figure out what that rotation should be.

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I recently posted a controversial article about the way we, as fans, rationalize the reprehensible behavior of players we like, in order to make it more palatable to our values. I used Stephen Jackson's turbulent past to draw a parallel between him and Metta World Peace, with nothing more in mind than to show that we judge them differently because Jack is "ours". There were some who felt the piece was nothing more than my latest attack on Stephen Jackson.

It makes sense, considering I wrote a pretty negative reaction post to the trade that brought Jax here. Included in it was a brief account of Jax's past and the apprehension I thought a Spurs fan should feel by having this "shady" character on the team. In reality, I wasn't at all worried about Stephen Jackson the person. It was Stephen Jackson the player I feared would not fit.

Why wasn't I worried about his character? Because of Diego Maradona.

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With the emergence of Danny Green as a big time contributor, questions about what it would take to resign him, and whether the Spurs can and should resign him have increased. There have also been rumors starting to flyabout the Spurs targeting Nicolas Batum in the off-season. With that in mind I wrote a breakdown of the Spurs projected financial figures for next season that might help clarify some doubts. Follow me after the jump for the numbers.

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As Spurs fans, most of us pride ourselves in supporting one of the classiest organizations in basketball. The Spurs represent all that is good to us and we laugh at the other franchises with their superstars that demand trades. We chuckle at the off-court shenanigans of the players who end up on TMZ, secure in the knowledge that most of San Antonio's guys go straight home after the game. We love fundamental basketball and high character players that put the team before themselves. We hate the divas that devote so much time to promoting their abysmal rapping or acting careers, instead of putting in the work to improve their craft. We firmly believe in all these things...until we don't anymore.

Our reaction to the Spurs acquisition of Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson is the latest example of the tendency of every fan: forgiving or excusing just about anything as long as we like the guy or he plays for our team.

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With their 124-89 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at the AT&T center the San Antonio Spurs have clinched the number 1 spot in the Western Conference and can still get the best record in the league. Read that sentence again. If you thought that was probable at the beginning of the season you are either supremely optimist or a psychic. If you thought that was possible after Manu Ginobili went down I would have said you were crazy. And yet here we are. The "old" Spurs are peaking at the right time and, make no mistake, the rest of the West is trembling

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In the first post of the series, we looked at some plays that worked and some that didn't. In this post I'll analyze three more instances and show how a play that didn't work could have with just a small variation in the screen, detail the versatility of the Duncan-Parker P&R attack, and see why Tony taking so many mid-range jumpers against the Lakers on Tuesday night was far from an accident.

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The Spurs dominated the Lakers last night after taking a beating the last go-around. The teams meet once more in the regular season (this Friday) and there is a chance they could also collide in the playoffs. With that in mind, I decided to take a look at how the Spurs use one of their most effective weapons, the pick and roll, against the Lakers and how the Lake Show defends it. This is pretty much applicable to any team that has one good P&R defensive big and one slow footed defender.The Lakers are just the perfect case study for it.

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Well, that went exactly as it was supposed to go. The Spurs jumped out to a double digit lead early and kept an undermanned Warriors team at bay for most of the game. The good guys didn't succumb to overconfidence by facing a team that started 4 rookies and Dorell Wright and did their job early, allowing Gregg Popovich to rest the Big Three the entire second half.

The Warriors are making it pretty clear that they are tanking to get their pick back from Utah by shutting down both of their best players, David Lee and Stephen Curry, for the rest of the season after trading Monta Ellis for an injured Andrew Bogut. Former Spur Richard Jefferson is also being held out, which leaves Golden State with an assortment of journeymen, unheralded rookies and D-Leaguers to toil away for the last half-dozen games. An elite team, such as our Spurs, should not struggle against such a squad and they didn't. After the jump some meaningless observations of a pretty insignificant game.

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[Editor's Note: This was posted over the weekend, which often means some miss it if I don't repost. Since I feel this subject is important, here it is again. -jrw]

The Spurs took advantage of buyout season in the NBA to bolster their somewhat depleted front court rotation to five legitimate NBA players. Some of us thought Boris Diaw was nothing more than injury insurance and that his days as a legitimate option for a good team were past him. In an admittedly small sample size, Boris seems to have emerged as a real alternative, making minutes in the front court scarcer. Tiago Splitter, who most of us believed would see more playing time as the playoffs drew closer, has only played a shade under 18 minutes the last four games, even though the Spurs were facing some pretty formidable front courts. The Spurs have gone 2-2 in that span even after resting their Big Three against Utah. I'm not as worried about the Spurs' front court weaknesses as some but after looking at the data I came to the conclusion that if the Spurs are to improve their big men rotation, Splitter and perhaps even Diaw have to play more. Whose minutes should they take? DeJuan Blair's.

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[Editor's Note: This is the third in the series of posts we're doing examining the weakest of the Spurs' statistical measures, and deciding what conclusions can be reasonably drawn. (The first is here, the second is here. The number for this story are current through Monday's game against the Jazz. -jrw]

In the last two posts, we've discussed the rest that the Spurs are giving their stars while other contenders are using them for extended minutes and the way the Spurs excellent offense allows the team to often coast to wins while the disparity in the quality of conferences inflates the defensive numbers of Eastern teams.

None of that means we shouldn't be worried about the defense, but it suggests that looking at the numbers without context makes the Spurs' defense seem less effective than it really is. For this post I'll focus on a stat that is often overlooked but could be one of the better predictors for team success. I'll also take a look at how the Spurs defense fairs against the West playoff teams.

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[Editor's Note: This is the second in the series of posts we're doing examining the weakest of the Spurs' statistical measures, and deciding what conclusions can be reasonably drawn. (The first is here.) Fred Silva's recap of the second Jazz game will post later this morning. -jrw]

When looking at season-encompassing stats like defensive efficiency, it's important to realize that what's being measured includes a lot of outlier games, both favoring and hurting teams, and that the way the NBA schedule is established and what conference a team plays can also affect those numbers. The Spurs have dropped games by not playing the starters and have benefited from teams on the second night of a back to back; they also have to play Western playoffs teams more than, say, the Celtics do.

This is not an attempt to do away with defensive efficiency or any other number that doesn't help present the Spurs as elite. But this is a reminder that statistics need proper context to be reliable. With that in mind, let's look at those stats to see if, with some perspective, we can get a more valid read on the Spurs' defense.

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With the Spurs playing so well recently, posting their second league-leading 11 game winning streak, and taking first place in the Western Conference from the Oklahoma City Thunder, it's pretty easy to be optimistic, and with good reason. John Hollinger currently has the Spurs at the top of his Power Rankings and Playoff Odds, both of which are pretty a good, statistically-based look at every team in the league.

But there's been a lot of talk recently about whether San Antonio's regular season success can translate into postseason glory, or whether they'll be held back by some concerning numbers, especially and specifically the Spurs' mediocre defensive rating of 13th in the league. This is the first of a series of posts we'll be doing focused on just what that statistic shows, how valid it is, and how much credence we should give it in the context of this season, how the Spurs are playing, and how the compressed schedule is affecting the team.

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Last season the Spurs became an offensive juggernaut; a big departure from their grind-it-out, 82-76 wins of yore. It wasn't an easy transition for the team, but it's been a lot worse for the fans who were used to defensive dominance and methodical play to get wins.

This season has seen the Spurs go further down the path of being a team that wins mostly with offense and saves energy to play elite defense only when it's necessary. The early results have been fantastic, but not being content with staying the course and seeing where the chips might have fallen, PATFO decided to change things up, trading Richard Jefferson for Stephen Jackson and revamping the Spurs' deep bench by signing Patty Mills and Boris Diaw. The biggest upside to those changes would be the potential improvement on defense at the expense of offense: two better defenders were splitting RJ's minutes (Leonard and Jackson) there's Mills to relieve Tony, and Diaw can take on the defensive duties on face-up PFs. The other change most were hoping for was a shift from a 3-point heavy offense into a more diversified attack. After looking at some numbers, neither view seems to be crystallizing.

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The Spurs got their 7th win in a row by defeating the Indiana Pacers while showing the difference between a real championship contender and a very good second-tier team. After a near perfect first half that saw the Spurs get a lead as large as 20 points thanks to crisp ball movement, hot shooting and solid if inconsistent defense, the Spurs relied on their potent offense to manage their lead the rest of the way.

On a battle between really deep teams, the trio of Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan made the difference, combining for 59 points, 12 assists and 17 rebounds. The starless Pacers struggled to match the Spurs' consistent offensive production even with 5 players scoring in double digits. George Hill added a solid performance for the visitors on his first game back in San Antonio, with 9 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

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A couple of days ago I stumbled upon a great article form SBNation's Milwaukee Bucks blog Brew Hoop, that caught my attention. It was about the Bogut-and-Jackson for Ellis-and-Udoh trade and it revolved around the idea that people were using advanced stats to defend Udoh (a plus/minus darling) while completely disregarding them when discussing Ellis. The author argued that you can't pick and choose when to believe in a certain metric (in that article's case it was plus/minus), just when it says something positive about a player you like but disregard it when it shows that a fan favorite might be detrimental to the team.

Spurs fans, myself included, have a different problem. We have a hard time trusting plus/minus not because it reveals something negative about a player we like, but because it seems to build up a player that we are convinced is not quite as good as the stat seems to indicate. I'm talking of course about plus/minus wizard Matt Bonner.

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Since the Richard Jefferson for Stephen Jackson trade there has been much debate on PtR as to how big of an upgrade the trade presented and if trading a starter this far into the season was worth it. Most Spurs fans are happy with the trade while some of us who didn't feel particularly optimistic about it are starting to slowly come around for various reasons.

Aside from the basketball merits of the trades, pretty much everyone agreed that it made sense from a business perspective. It doesn't take a genius to know that it clearly saves the ownership group money, but does it really benefit the Spurs' cap management and their chances of improving the team for the future? After looking at the numbers, I'm not sure that is necessarily the case.

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