My colleague here at Project Spurs, Jason Rogers, recently wrote a fantastic post on Manu Ginobili and how the proverbial torch has been passed to him this season. Well, I just had to chime in with my thoughts on this topic. 

For more than a decade, the San Antonio Spurs have leaned heavily on their defense and half-court plays to win ball games. Such strategy worked wonders for the Spurs, it gave them four NBA titles. At the center of it all was Tim Duncan, the Spurs' superstar who always seemed to shy away from the spotlight.

During his prime, Duncan was a lock for 25 points and 12 rebounds every night with the Spurs' offense and defense relying on him. Now at 34, he is no longer the center of the offense as it now revolves around moving the ball more and giving more freedom to their deep backcourt to score more.

Now into his 14th season, Duncan is averaging 13.6 points and 9.4 rebounds, both career-lows, while shooting 49 percent from the field. That decline could be blamed on his 28.9 minutes per ball game, which is also at an all-time low. After 33 games the Spurs (29-4) remain on top of the NBA standings and doing so with Duncan currently the third-leading scorer behind Ginobili, and Parker.

But at this point of his career, Duncan has clearly become a supporting cast member in a Spurs' scheme dominated by guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

In fact, the Spurs' offense has gradually drifted away from Duncan since 2007 but he has accepted this and adapted on the transition while still continues to provide the things to help the team win. On most nights he seemed content on providing the Spurs some needed rebounding, interior defense and making everybody involved on offense and on some nights he can still take over, score big and lead the Spurs to victory.

Like David Robinson once did for the team, Duncan has stepped aside, recognizing his new set of limitations and finding other ways to contribute. He has taken the back-seat, but it doesn't mean the Spurs need him less. In fact come playoff time, the Spurs can’t contend for another NBA title without him.

Yes, Ginobili is making the big plays for the Spurs for the most part this season and a healthy Parker appears to be more consistent and is running the team a lot better.

However, Duncan remains one of the game’s smartest and is still the anchor of the Spurs’ defensive schemes and it's no secret the Spurs' recipe for winning four NBA championships has been always been on the defensive side of the floor.

With all things considered, I believe it is fair to ask, are the Spurs still Duncan's team? Tell us what us what you think.

The San Antonio Spurs (29-4) will look to continue their winning ways and be the first team in the NBA to reach 30 wins as they face the New York Knicks (19-14) tonight at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks come into the game minus Danilo Gallinari who will be out with a left knee sprain. However, this Knicks team is not the Knicks of old. They added Amar'e Stoudemire who has been on a tear since joining New York. Also, Raymond Felton and rookie Landry Fields have been great additions for New York. Coached by Mike D'Antoni, a familiar face for Spurs fans, the Knicks will look to run on the Spurs but this Spurs team is running more this season.

To talk about the Knicks and the matchup tonight, I turned to fellow NBA blogger here at Bloguin, LIVES from the superb Knicks Fanatics, your one-stop place for everything Knicks. In this Q&A, LIVES (yes that is the name he goes by) talks about the Knicks performance this season, Knicks' rookie Fields, New York's game plan against the Spurs and more. To read the Q&A I did with LIVES click HERE to visit Knicks Fanatics.

Jeff: OK I will admit, I did not expect this Knicks team to be this good entering the season. With the new players such as Raymond Felton, Landry Fields, and Amar'e Stoudemire, I figured it would be a while before the chemistry would set it. What do you attribute to the Knicks solid performance this season?

LIVES: Don't laugh, but it is fairly simple. They have played better than the teams they have beaten this season.  Prior to the Denver game on December 12th, the Knicks had specialized in beating teams below .500, teams they were supposed to beat if they were to be considered a serious playoff contender. The Knicks winning streak during which they won 13 of 14 games was built largely on the relentless play of the Knicks,and allowed them to gain confidence and create chemistry. The key is that the Knicks have done what most NBA teams do not, play for 45 to 48 minutes even when down by double digits. Since their victory against Denver,  the Knicks have demonstrated they can not only beat the downtrodden, but they will also beat and challenge  those playoff-bound teams that don't play persistent defense. 

Sure the Knicks are a good team but does it worry you coach D'Antoni's "7 seconds or less" style of play does not work in the playoffs (see his time with the Phoenix Suns) should the Knicks make it in? 

I would phrase it another way: "Lack of Defense does not win in the playoffs." The style of offensive play concerns me less than the sacrifice of defense and rebounding at the alter of the Offensive Gods. The Knicks are undersized and as hard as they work they will eventually feel like they are paddling upstream with ping pong paddles against the better teams. The major part of the equation that D'Antonirefuses to admit is that if your players are willing to run for you the entire game, you must manage the rotation and their time so they can do it over an entire season. His eight man rotations are bound to bite him in the arse over the length of a season as his players tire and injuries force him to his bench which has not been adequately acclimated to game situations. 

The loss of Gallinari will present a significant challenge offensively  and may provide instant proof that the rotation has been too short and it will take a couple of games for the team to adjust. However, if someone steps up defensively and can contribute a little offensively, Gallo will be missed less as chemistry develops. This is a good time for Landry Fields to really show his offensive skills, which are even better than he has demonstrated and for a Shawne Williams to show more aggressiveness on the defensive end.

What's the latest on the Knicks trying to land Carmelo Anthony? Is New York even in the mix? 

Who knows? 

Knicks fans are finally content enough, for the most part, to obtain Carmelo when the least damage can be done to this team -- during free agency when Anthony can make good on his insistence that he wants to be a Knick and we won't necessarily need to lose Chandler and Fields in the transaction.

Heading into the 2010 NBA Draft, one player I was wishing would fall to the Spurs was Fields. He has all-around skills but more importantly his basketball IQ is high. How would you assess his rookie season so far? 

Superb. He may be wearing down a bit as he gets deeper into the season and the opposition becomes tougher but he has played beyond his years. According to ESPN rankings, he is currently the second best rookie behind Blake Griffin.  Can you imagine if Blake Griffin had played last year and this was not his rookie year? Walsh must get major credit for that find.

The Spurs run more this season but can play defense when needed. Case in point the win over the Oklahoma City Thunder holding the Thunder to 74 points. What should the Knicks' game-plan be against a Spurs team that can seemingly play in any style? 

The Knicks need to do more of the same. They need to control the pace and be relentless and constantly active. They cannot allow the Spurs to rest on the defensive end. D'Antoni must figure out how to bring some rebounding balance to the game. He will need a little more size, but San Antonio needs to figure out how to stop Amar'e if they want to stop the Knicks.

Defensively, the Knicks will have their hands full with Ginobli and anyone who can hit an open three.  Raymond Felton is tenacious but has not proven fast or strong enough to stop the best guards. Although the Knicks lead the league with 6.7 blocks per game, they rank 28th in opposing points per game and they are the seventh worse team in terms of opposing field goal percentage. Ginobli may be stunned with how often he can get to the basket in transition especially if San Antonio is relentless. Gary Neal, Tiago Splitter and George Hill may be so surprised at how much room they have on the perimeter that they nervously will shoot air balls. We hope.

Which matchup would you tell Spurs and Knicks fans to keep an eye on? 

The matchups which I will pay the most attention to are Stoudemire and Rony Turiaf versus Duncan and Ginobli versus Felton. Amar'e is virtually unstoppable one on one within 10 feet of the basket. I am curious to see if Pop has the scouting report on Amar'e's weakness when he's forced to put the ball on the floor too far out from the basket. A double team from his backside once he puts the ball to the court is a turnover waiting to happen. Felton will have a difficult time guarding Ginobli, but I will cheer very loudly every time Manu's shot is blocked by Turiaf, Chandler and Stoudemire.

• Want to win a pair of free tickets to a San Antonio Spurs home game this month? Of course you do! All you have to do it follow @projectspurstiq on Twitter to enter. Easy huh?

• The Spurs will face the New York Knicks tomorrow and did Richard Jefferson give the Knicks some locker room material? Express News' Tim Griffin reports on Jefferson and his thoughts on the resurgent Knicks:

“I don’t think so. I think it’s completely pointless,” Jefferson said.  “There are too many good players and teams. You look at how great it was for Cleveland having LeBron and what it did to that community and how important it was for them. You look at what is going on now in Miami. And what’s going to on now in Oklahoma City. So to take one city and make that more important to have it back there .. it’s great for whatever city gets the benefit … but I don’t think one city is more important than another.”

Jefferson said he gets more excited about playing in Madison Square Garden than against the Knicks.

“It’s more about the building,” Jefferson said. “Whether they are good or bad or awesome. They had some great teams for a bunch of years, but they haven’t won a championship since the 1970s. This is not the Boston Celtics team or like the Lakers franchise. What was the last time they won a championship? 1973?

“So to say basketball is back in New York, what does that even mean? They are a talented, talented team. They are on the upswing and have some great young players. They are on the upswing and have some great young players.”

• Spurs guard Manu Ginobili gives a time-lapse glimpse into the Spurs practice.

• Former Spurs player Dominique Wilkins reflects on his final seasons in the NBA and how he had to adjust his play on the court against younger players:

Wilkins had no choice when he finished his career with the San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic.

“I knew I couldn’t go all out against a guy, especially athletically,” Wilkins said. “I knew I had to become more of a basketball player, doing the fundamentals. When I had to do those explosion plays, I still had those reserves in the tank where I could do that.

“I had a game in San Antonio where we’re playing against Dale Davis and Antonio Davis [of the Indiana Pacers], where I had to play the four. I had to conserve my energy to box those big guys out. And I had [16] rebounds. And those guys were relentless on the glass. Maybe you had to sacrifice a little bit of your scoring. It depends on the situation and the player you’re going against.” (source espn.com)

• Yahoo! Sports gives praise to Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich's beard:

The only coach on the list, Popovich may have as great of a career as any of the players. While some of the other players to be mentioned have had stellar careers, Popovich has built up a dynasty in San Antonio, and the 2010-11 season has definitely started off very well for the coach with 4 championship rings. More importantly (for this article's sake at least) is Pop's beard, which in its prime was the best beard for any NBA coach, with Phil Jackson being the only contender.

Love the Spurs or hate them, I think we can all agree that Gregg Popovich is one great coach and he can grow a heck of a beard.

• If you are like me then you must be loving the Los Angeles Lakers' meltdown. They recently lost to the Memphis Grizzlies and now it seems they are in a tailspin. Check out these quotes coming from the Lakers and enjoy them Spurs fans:

"We get behind early on in the third quarter on some stupid plays -- poor passing, poor transition defense -- and then Kobe has to screw up the game and start energizing the team by going one-on-one and that takes the rest of the guys out as a consequence," Jackson said. "That didn't bring us back in, but it did give us a little run, we got the game back a little bit but we couldn't sustain it and we just went right back and made the same mistakes again."

"We're not really playing for each other right now," Bynum said. "We're not playing to set the next man up and consequently that's definitely causing us problems on defense."

"Right now we got to be concerned, we have to be ... Good teams are looking at us like, 'Oh, they're soft.' We're letting everybody come in and get comfortable."

The Staples Center crowd shared its disapproval, showering the court with loud boos during several breaks in play in the second half. There was even a scant "Re-Fund! Re-Fund!" chant in the fourth quarter.

"When we're playing that bad we deserve to be booed," Matt Barnes said. (source espn.com)

According to Newsday's Alan Hahn, Knicks forward Danilo Gallinari will miss tomorrow night's Spurs vs. Knicks game.

MRI results confirmed a mild sprain suffered in Sunday's win over the Pacers that will keep him out two-to-three-weeks.

Knicks blog Posting and Toasting says the injury means Ronny Turiaf will start and the Spurs will see more of Wilson Chandler.

So, Ronny Turiaf will start and Wilson Chandler will move to small forward. Like I said, we can expect more of Shawne Williams and/or Bill Walker. Can we expect a return to action for Anthony Randolph or some other bench bro (Timofey Mozgov? Roger Mason Jr.!?) as well? Two to three weeks is a pretty long time.

Before the injury, Gallinari was averaging 15.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

The Spurs and Knicks will tipoff at 6:30 p.m. CST tomorrow in Madison Square Garden. Be sure to come back for a gameday Q&A tomorrow morning.

According to several sources, San Antonio Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich has been named the December Western Conference Coach of the Month. This is his second consecutive month winning the award.

Popovich has led the Spurs to the NBA's best record of 29-4 and a 13-2 record for the month of December.

Superman has kryptonite. Cut Samson's hair and he is weakened. Take away Ralph Hinkley's (aka The Greatest American Hero) super-suit and he is powerless. Better yet, just hide the suit's instructions for those who remember the TV show.

At the rate the San Antonio Spurs are winning this season, they appear to be almost unstoppable. Try to run on them, and they can run as well. Play a half-court game, and the Spurs can play a half-court game too.

This begs the questions: with the Spurs off to an NBA best 29-4 record, do the Spurs have any weaknesses? Let's find out.

Weakness

Size

Granted the Spurs do have Tim Duncan but after him there is a drop-off.

The Spurs currently have the smallest starting center in the NBA with DeJuan Blair. Sure Blair has the strength, and rebounding prowess but he can be exposed against bigger centers. Matt Bonner is too one-dimensional, Antonio McDyess hasn't been playing a lot but is serviceable. Still, he lacks the speed and height to contend with other younger bigs in the NBA. Think Pau Gasol.

Tiago Splitter was signed to hopefully address this weakness; however, he has not acclimated himself to the NBA style of play, let alone get the needed time on the court to develop. His progress has been at a glacial pace.

In the same vein, who can the Spurs turn to should one of their bigs go down with an injury? Basically, where is the insurance? Right now the Spurs have a 13 player roster and adding another big would come in handy.

This lack of size could be an issue against teams such as the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, or the Denver Nuggets.

Potential weaknesses

Complacency

One thing lurking when a team has been winning as much as the Spurs have been is complacency. This has popped up from time to time this season. Case in point the Spurs' loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and barely beating the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime. This Spurs team cannot take a quarter, a half, or a night off. Every game is crucial and with NBA teams using the Spurs as a measuring stick, the Spurs carry a target on their back and will get the opposing team's best effort.

Age/Health

Sure the Spurs are not an old team as in seasons past but the core of the Spurs is Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, have lots of mileage on their legs, and they are not spring chickens anymore. Duncan and Ginobili are in their 30's and Parker is 28 years old but a 28 year old with lots of mileage. 

Ginobili has been logging more minutes than he has in his NBA career. Last season he averaged 28.7 minutes per game and this season he is averaging 31.5 minutes. Duncan has obviously lost a step or two and is in his 14th season. As mentioned, Parker has lots of mileage on his legs despite his young age. Add in the mix, McDyess is in his 15th season, and Richard Jefferson is in his 10th season.

Also factor in health. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili all have dealt with individual injuries and with their age and mileage, you have to worry if their injuries will re-occur for them. Splitter has dealt with numerous nagging injuries prior to joining the Spurs and in training camp while James Anderson is recovering from a foot injury, though is said to be returning to the squad soon.

However, these weaknesses might have been remedied. The Spurs have brought in more youth such as Gary Neal, George Hill, DeJuan Blair, Tiago Splitter and James Anderson to help rest the Spurs' aging core. Also, Duncan, Parker and Ginobili rested this past summer and Duncan's minutes have been reduced during the season which would mean a fresh Duncan come the stretch run for the playoffs.

Peaking too soon

There is always the spectre of peaking too soon. At 29-4 you have to understand to play at a high level for 82 games, including the playoffs is a challenge. There will be some drop off as the season progresses and Spurs fan can only hope this team didn't peak now instead of when it really matters -- the final weeks leading up to the playoffs.

Before the Spurs ended chances of season-long speculation regarding whether or not all-star guard Tony Parker would be changing his zip code this summer, Parker and the New York Knicks were linked several times through countless rumors this offseason.

Parker ended the talk by proclaiming San Antonio was where he wanted to be loud and clear on media day and the Spurs obliged with a four-year, $50 million extension.

So when the Spurs meet the Knicks in Madison Square Garden tomorrow night, most Spurs fans are thankful Parker, who is averaging 17.7 points and 7.1 assists this season, will be suiting up in silver and black instead of wondering what he might look like in orange and blue.

Mark J. Miller of Yahoo Sports says that nightmare could've been close to becoming a reality.

Parker tells the paper that the New York Knicks were on his mind as his probable destination if the Spurs didn't bring it on his new contract. "Right now, I'm very happy with my decision," Parker said, according to the paper. "I always felt the Spurs are my family, and my first option was San Antonio, but if they didn't want to keep me, New York was definitely my first option."

With one stroke of a felt tip pen, Parker will face the New York media tomorrow night answering questions about the Spurs league-leading 29-4 record instead of the possibility of fitting in real estate scouting on the road trip.

On the first episode of the Spurscast for 2011, Jeff and I got together to talk about the last week in Spurs basketball, including their 1-0 start in 2011 over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

After our weekly recap, we go over our likes and dislikes of the past week to finish off the first half of the show.

In the second half, we talked about our topic of the week. This week we are asking if the San Antonio Spurs should now be considered the team to beat? Jeff and I offered differing opinions and welcome yours in the comments, as well as on Project Spurs if you'd like to debate the topic.

The Spurscast. The original Spurs podcast.

Intro Music: Even Flow by Pearl Jam.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

• Want to win a pair of free tickets to a San Antonio Spurs home game this month? Of course you do! All you have to do it follow @projectspurstiq on Twitter to enter. Easy huh?

• The Spurs are off to a fantastic season and some feel they might be able to get to 70 wins. However, don't say that to coach Gregg Popovich:

The question received a predictable eye roll and exasperated sigh from Gregg Popovich. Are the Spurs thinking about 70? Yes, as in 70 wins.

"No, Jesus," San Antonio's no-nonsense coach replied. "You still drunk?"

Spurs opponents are the ones often feeling flattened by a post-New Year hangover. Popovich's 15th team is off to the best start in franchise annals, owns the league's best record by a startling four games and, to be fair, is on a 72-win pace.

"I wouldn't give it a moment's thought -- now or ever," Popovich added when pressed on 70. "I just think it's a ridiculous thought." (source nba.com)

• Popovich also spoke on the Spurs winning big games:

• Express News' Tim Griffin reports on injured Spurs' rookie James Anderson who should be back in action soon:

“He’s closer to the floor than he is to the bed,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s  closer to wearing a uniform than he is to wearing civilian clothes.”

Popovich said last week that he expects Anderson to return to the Spurs playing time by the end of the month. But he won’t accompany the team on a road trip this week that will include games at New York, Boston and Indiana.

“He’ll get a lot more out of the rehab here than he will on the road trip,” Popovich said.

• The Spurs extended their lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the Southwest Division with a recent win over Dallas. However, the Mavericks were without Dirk Nowitzki who was out with a knee injury. Now add Caron Butler to Dallas' injury list and he could be out for the entire season:

Missing Dirk Nowitzki for the third consecutive game because of a sprained right knee and Shawn Marion because of a thigh injury, the Mavericks suffered another blow when starting forward Caron Butler injured his right knee in the first quarter. The extend of his injury wasn't immediately known. (source latimes.com)

Though I'm sure Spurs fans would want to see how this team does against a fully healthy Mavericks team, but these injuries only help the Spurs in the Southwest Division.

• Speaking of the Mavericks, owner Mark Cuban recently said his team is cocky and points to the Spurs as a model for his team:

Cuban’s biggest concern about his team is that the Mavs have a tendency to get "too cocky."

But Cuban doesn’t believe the Mavs, a team loaded with accomplished veterans who don’t own championship rings, have fully bought in to the concept. He points to the Spurs, the team the Mavs are chasing in the West standings, as an example of a team that has embraced that obsessive approach. (source espn.com)

• Tim Duncan speaks on the Spurs executing on the court:

(videos courtesy of woai.com)

Box Score | Advanced Stats | GameFlow

The San Antonio Spurs extended their win streak to four games on New Year's Day and start 2011 off on the right foot with a 101-74 blowout of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Spurs got out to an early lead over the Thunder with a 31-point first quarter and the Thunder found themselves playing from behind for the rest of the game.

When the Thunder tried to fight back, it didn't help that they missed countless shots at the basket and were held to to 33 percent shooting on the night.

Tim Duncan led all scorers with 21 points to go along with nine rebounds and a blocked shot. George Hill came off the bench for 16 points and Tony Parker notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists.

In Retrospect

Before the game, Jeff Garcia spoke with fellow Bloguin-ite Rob Kelley from Thunder Ballers and got his prediction on last night's game.

"The fact that the Spurs have an extra day off certainly will help them, but I feel that the Thunder are ready for their signature win of the 2010-2011 season. It comes against San Antonio tonight!"

Quoteable

“We got beat by the best team in basketball. They handed it to us pretty fare and square. They’re as good of a defensive and offensive team that we’ll face. We turned the ball over way to many times to stay in a game, against the best team.”

- Thunder coach Scott Brooks.

In Black and White

Spurs hand Kevin Durant's Thunder worst loss of season (The Oklahoman).

Like it’s 1999: Duncan, defense spell Thunder’s demise (San Antonio Express-News)

San Antonio stomps the Thunder, 101-74 (Daily Thunder).

Fantasy Focus

Tony Parker is averaging a career-high 7.1 assists per game to go along with his 17.7 points per game. That combination along with his 51 percent shooting from the field are enough to keep Parker as one of your starting guards.

Thunder forward Serge Ibaka is a player you may want to add to your watch list. He finished the game last night with 14 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. While he may not help in your points category every game, he's consistently putting up good rebound and block numbers.

Tweeting the game

"the @spurs are on FIRE right now.. destroyed the thunder, beat the lakers, mavericks, nuggets, BEST RECORD IN THE NBA omg.." - @mkhan_mvp.

"Timmy had a great shooting night. Double-double for @tp9network. #Spurs hold Thunder to lows of 36 @ half & 74 for the game. I love my team." - @Mustang44Sally.

The Four Factors