OD: That's my Neal!

I can't remember the last year when watching the Spurs from the get-go has been such a pleasure. The perennial stalwarts on defense have been replaced by a more up-tempo and free-shooting team. Don't get me wrong, they can still lock other teams down when they need to, but clearly the philosophy has changed as the the roster has gotten significantly younger.

The usual Spurs' detractors always like to point to age, but guess what - the Lakers are now the oldest team in the NBA. With new faces like Tiago Splitter, Gary Neal, and James Anderson all putting in quality minutes and energy while learning the system, as well as sophomore-year stars like DeJuan Blair and Richard Jefferson finding their stride (although I could do without R.J.'s continual Michael Jackson-like cry of "and one" every time he goes to the rim) alongside a budding George Hill, the "Big Three" have found the support they need to make a deep run into the playoffs.

Splitter has the potential to supplant Pau Gasol at his own game, he is just really green right now and plays antsy when he gets some minutes; his progression is going to be the most important thing to watch as the playoffs approaches, as he'll probably need to take over some of Duncan's minutes to get him rested (even though Timmy is already only averaging just under 30 minutes - and they are 19-3).

The early surge is vastly important, as last years team had to struggle to even make the playoffs and force their aging crew onto the floor longer than they probably should have been. The good news this year, is that all of the Spurs' young guns that will one day be the bedrock of the franchise - DeJuan Blair, George Hill, Matt Bonner, and Tiago - have shown tremendous upside and have reinforced just how talented the Spurs' main-office has been at building toward a post-Duncan era.

Hell, Gary Neal has already proven that he is a one man team:

Spurs: A Treatise on Beards

It's pretty obvious: David Stern has found ways to make beards a marketable commodity. This occurred to me when I was sitting there watching the Spurs lax on defense and blow another lead; I wondered if the quality of beards in the NBA was any indication of the level of potential for the team it represented. It also gave me an excuse to finally blame Gregg Popovich's crazed Civil-War era beard.

Despite my loathing of Phil Jackson, he keeps a manicured powerstache - the thing just commands respect. Its street name is Diablo's Tickler. Contrary to that is Pop's unkempt nest. Its style is elusive and its color patchy. If he had a harem of feral cats living in his yard, it would not be surprising.

These varying degrees of beard can show confidence or reveal the lack of it. Clearly Ginoboli wouldn't have come back too soon and hurt himself if he had still had that confidence that rehabbing his leg would actually be better for the team; it was a confidence sapped by Pop's lack of bearded-authority. I am pretty sure the beard also stole Tony Parker's ability to understand English, and thus, his inability understand plays. Tim Duncan doesn't even keep his conditioning up because he is high as a kite thinking about those pictures of Mehmet Okur that Fabricio Oberto gave him.

Ok so sure Ginobili's health was probably compounded by him playing in the Olympics, and Timmy's health wasn't helped by the fact that they have no depth at his position or at center. What the Spurs now have waning production due to injury of one of the league's top men - one of the best in history - as well as no viable third option now that Ginobili is out.

Still, Pop could have groomed the beard. I don't expect to win the playoffs with all the injuries, but at least I wanted the team to go with some class. Pop is making a mockery of the NBA's new business model, and I had hoped the league's best beard would be our undoing.

You can't blame the NBA for hooking up with the Just for Men's ad-department. Seriously, that stuff was golden in the NFL.