Is it the Spurs year again?

The Spurs are playing .875 ball. They have a habit of winning championships in the odd numbered years and you have to wonder if 2011 is their year again. Their game against the Mavs today was not as big as originally projected because of the injury to Nowitzki. Coach Popovich termed it a lose-lose game because if they won, it's no big deal since Nowitzki was out and if they lose, they will have to deal with the fact that they couldn't even beat a Mavs team without Nowitzki. But the Spurs beat the Mavs anyways for an impressive 28-4 record to end 2010. They are entering 2011 as the best team in all of the NBA and they are a completely different team this season. They have de-emphasized Tim Duncan a little bit and play a more up-tempo style. They let their versatile offensive stars like Parker and Ginobli strut their stuff and they have a couple of young, athletic scorers to run and gun with them. As a consequence, their defense is not as good as it used to be, but they are scoring more than enough to win games.

Greg Popovich is one of the smartest coaches in the league. He has not won a championship since 2007 and seems to have put some thought into how to win again with this roster. His teams have always won with Timmy and defense, but father time is slowly catching up to Timmy and he has slowed down a little. More importantly, their game-plan has not been working the last couple of years and Pop has decided to switch things up. Actually, the Spurs have always had some offensive talent ever since they got Parker and Ginobli, but that was not the emphasis in Pop's world by design. He wanted the team to think defense first, Duncan in the low post second and everything else was a distant third. Now, he is unlocking the offensive potential of this team and trading off some defense and Tim Duncan in the process. And the beauty is, this is the right strategy at the right time for the Spurs given where Duncan is in his career and where the Spurs have been with respect to the rest of the league the last couple of years.

The challenge for Pop is going to be the playoffs. It would be interesting to see if the Spurs play this style or go back to basics in the playoffs. They do have Timmy available, but is it practical to turn him on and off like that? Would the rookies and the younger Spurs be able to adjust to a different style in the playoffs if Pop decides to go that route? These are interesting questions I am sure Pop is thinking about already. They did beat the Lakers the other day with Timmy having a 2 point, 4 rebound night, but that dog probably aint gonna hunt in the playoffs. Lets see if the Spurs get all the way to the finals behind this new strategy and an improved offense. In the East, the Heat are still rolling. They spanked the Lakers on Christmas day and are looking unbeatable these days. Dwayne Wade has had 2 consecutive 40 point nights to lead them over the Knicks and the Rockets. The Celtics are still the favorites in the East, but with Garnett out for a couple of weeks and with the new look Magic, the East is going to get really interesting. Great way to start 2011 in the NBA.