Column: Spurs flying under the radar again

When you turn on ESPN and there’s basketball coverage, odds are the network is talking about the Lakers, Thunder, Heat or Knicks.

It’s all Kobe Bryant this, LeBron James that.

Then they say it’s the scoreboard and the standings that matter the most.

If that’s the case, it’s about time to finally show the San Antonio Spurs some love.

Yet again, the Spurs are at the top of the Western Conference, and the NBA, with a 38-11 record and an astonishing 22-2 record at home.

But no matter where you look, they aren’t being talked about as a title
contender.

Why? Why is it that teams that aren’t even in the playoff picture are getting more coverage than the Spurs?

Maybe it’s just the lost art and lost appreciation of basketball fundamentals.
I
t’s no secret the Spurs aren’t the most exciting team to watch. Their superstars aren’t flashy, their role players don’t make any statements and their coach keeps everything as low key as he can.

But it doesn’t seem to matter who’s on the court for them — they understand the most important thing is winning.

Right now, both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, two of their three leading scorers, have been injured for some time.

Still, the Spurs are in the middle of a 10-game winning streak and have quickly jumped one and a half games ahead of the Thunder.

It’s because this team is the best coached team in the NBA, and Gregg Popovich is the most underrated coach in basketball.

How else can a team that has no superstars and no appeal be the best team in the NBA?

Every NBA team has talent, but it’s how you use that talent that matters.

Popovich has taken players such as Boris Diaw, Danny Green and Stephen Jackson, three players whose careers were going downhill, and he made them all significant parts of the team.

He’s helped scout players like Ginobili and Tony Parker, players that didn’t get much attention early in their careers.

Popovich turned them into champions.

So it’s time to show the Spurs the respect they deserve.

They have won four championships since 1999, and they were never flashy and never had a single player they had to solely rely on.

They have had the best record in basketball the last two seasons.

In addition to all of this, the Spurs have been perhaps the classiest franchise in any sport during the last 15 years, which is something to be admired.

As far as their championship chances go, who’s to say they aren’t the favorites at this point?

The defending champion, Heat, has been a terrible rebounding team all year, and as of now they’re just an average road team.

The Thunder has had a great year, but who knows how big of a difference Kevin Martin will make compared to James Harden after the two were traded for each other in the
offseason?

The Knicks, Bulls and Clippers are all question marks at this point as well.

But there isn’t a question that San Antonio has gone much more under the radar than any of these teams.

So let’s give the Spurs the respect they deserve — as title contenders.