Limping In

Well the NBA season is winding down. Most teams have only about 6 games to go and there were no games this evening due to the NCAA Men's National Championship game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Tar Heels of North Carolina (Carolina won the game).

The thing is, the NBA playoffs start in a little over a week I believe it is and right now the team that I will be rooting for is limping into these playoffs. The Spurs seem to be having a spot of difficulty right now, which isn't good at this point in the season. This is the time of year that if you are a playoff team you want to be gelling and really hitting your stride as a team, not tweaking the line up to find the best fit.

They call the Spurs a "veteran" team, but really that's just code for old. Look at the team: Tim Duncan is in his 12th year (and has been in the playoffs every single season and won 4 championships) and is dealing with sore knees that tend to keep him from playing on back-to-back nights; Tony Parker is in his 7th season and is only 26, but can he bear all the load in the playoffs?; it was discovered today that Manu Ginobili has a fracture in his right ankle and is out for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs; Michael Finley is still a good player, but he is getting old and playing heavy minutes in his earlier years seems to have extracted some kind of toll on him; Bruce Bowen is a great defender and three point shooter, but the guy can't make a free throw usually for anything. Roger Mason has had a fantastic season, but he has been something of a journeyman in his NBA career, so he is an unknown as far as the playoffs go.

When you add up all the parts what you seem to get is a team that is good and can still compete for a fifth title this summer based on experience alone, and yet they are limping in. They have dropped from the number two seed in the West to the number 3 or possibly worse (depends on how these last 6 games shake out). Teams in the conference are getting younger and adding talent to their rosters. The Spurs, to their credit, don't get to make lottery picks in the draft (consequences of always being in the playoffs). In fact the last time that the Spurs picked in the Lottery, they got Tim Duncan (they haven't picked that high since then). They make it work with foreign players and former lottery picks from other teams. It is amazing that they are able to do what they do. They have never failed to win a Finals series that they reached.

That is why it is so hard to see them more or less limping in to the playoffs this season. I love the Spurs-they are possibly my favorite team of all time regardless of the sport-and I am hoping for them to get it done once again. I will say this for them however: no matter how hard it seems right now, no matter how many bumps there are in the road in to the playoffs, Thank God, that at the very least they are not the Dallas Mavericks. Peace and Love y'all.