This is the fifth installment of the State of the Spurs series, and this is going to be the most difficult one to write. It's very easy to analyze what's going on with teams when they are losing, but it's much more difficult to point out what exactly is going right once they start winning- especially to be able to do so without sounding like an absolute homer.

The truth, though, is that we have reason to dance, and if you don't dance, well, you're no friend of mine.

They dance when they want to, they leave the world behind...
via spursworld.files.wordpress.com

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This edition of "State of the Spurs" was originally the second half of the last one, but I decided it deserved a post of it's own. Unlike the previous editions, this one is actually more closely related to my studies in political philosophy (and one of my favorite memes.)

While it has already been written about a couple of different times, and seems a bit like ancient news already, I thought I'd weigh in on Pop's reliance on the bench, specifically in the Dallas game. This is a trend that, from what I can remember, started after Phoenix swept us out of the playoffs a couple years ago - in large part because their bench outplayed ours. During that offseason, it's been reported that Pop went to RC Buford and said that he needed a bench. Last season, there were several times our bench kept us in games that in previous years we would have had to rely on our starters more.

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Welcome to installment number three of The State of the Spurs. This week, I've got a few different things I want to talk about, and brevity will be my friend.

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This is the second installment of my weekly series looking at the State of the Spurs. I like to write about trends I see, statistics, make predictions, and say all sorts of things that make sense to me that you may or may not disagree with.

My theme for this week:

Tim Duncan cannot move to the David Robinson role, and neither Tiago Splitter nor Dejuan Blair are going to be the new Tim Duncan.

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In DrumsInTheDeep's most recent (and most excellent) Pop Culture Lesson, a conversation began in the comments about what would happen if Pop ever lost "the team in Sloan-like fashion." This query caught my eye and made me put down some thoughts that have occurred to me over the last several months.

Like I'm even anywhere near to being done with this league.
via blog.mysanantonio.com

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Mountain Experts

Take the hard-working approach of Skynyrd on both sides of the floor, combine it with the way DeJuan Blair keeps pressure on his man to chase him as he begins every offensive possession sprinting down the court for the chance at an easy bucket, added to the way Mean Joe Green never takes a play off (or even PART of a play) - it seems to all be working toward creating a new identity for this squad, which is just what's needed.

It's not like the team's sense of self is in trouble without Manu. We see Parker and Duncan still playing nightly, and occasionally teaming up with sparkling efforts like they did did against Houston and Phoenix. But for anyone who has hasn't been able to watch every game, there's an ever-increasing amount of time being played without any member of the Big Three on the court.

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Welcome to the first installment of my very own, JRW-mandated PtR series "Coach Pop Culture Lessons," where I comment on things wonderful and terrible in the world of entertainment, and desperately attempt to connect it to our beloved Spurs.

Maintaining a franchise is a tricky thing. You have to meet diehard fans' ridiculously high expectations, while keeping things fresh enough that casual fans don't lose interest. Those of us old enough to remember the good times are forever comparing each new iteration to the established "gold standard," and we wonder if we can ever get back there. We survey change with distrust, while simultaneously viewing the status quo with frustration.

I'm talking, of course, about the new Legend of Zelda game, Skyward Sword.

Tiago on the Ultimate Quest--can he match the achievements of his forebears?

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Earlier today, we got the news that the Spurs have made an offer to Josh Howard (AKA The Big Bug). This hardly comes as a shock considering the Spurs have been reported to be interested in every single small forward free agent out there. First it was Caron Butler, then Shane Battier, then Grant Hill, you get the idea: if they could play SF, the Spurs were interested in them. At first I thought that it was because of the seemingly impending release of Richard Jefferson via amnesty, but with RJ in training camp, the Spurs' fascination with small forwards could be deemed a bit of a head-scratcher.

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