The end of the Spurs as we know it.

The ship might have sailed on this topic, but my interest was sparked a little when I was browsing through ESPN and read an article quoting Spurs point guard Tony Parker, saying that his team were "no longer title contenders".

San Antonio had a flying start to the season, and by the turn of the new year, their record stood at 28-4.  At one point, it seemed like they would challenge the 72-win mark set by the 1995/96 Chicago Bulls.  They were balling hard on offense and defense, and no team could quite figure them out.  For a team that was often described as "aging", their game belied the description.

After the All-Star break, they stumbled through the remainder of the regular season, finishing with a 15-11 record; highlighted by a 6 game losing streak through March, in which they gave up an average of 108 points per game.  Somehow, they still managed to cling on to the #1 seed in the Western Conference.

In the first round of the playoffs, San Antonio were stunned by the Memphis Grizzlies; a team that had yet to win a playoff game, let alone an entire series.  Back in 2004, San Antonio (then defending champions) swept a Memphis team that was making its first playoff appearance.  Memphis came full circle, making the Spurs the 3rd top-seeded team to be eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs (1995 Seattle Supersonics and 2007 Dallas Mavericks are the other two).

Just going by what Tony Parker said, it seems like it will be a while before we can pair the words "San Antonio" and "Title Contender" in the same sentence.  They seemed to be on a tear before the age and injuries caught up with them.  This is now the third straight season since 2008 (when they were the defending champions) that San Antonio has failed to advance past the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Since the end of the "Jordan Era", San Antonio and Los Angeles have dominated the Western Conference, combining to win 9 of the last 12 NBA titles; with either team featuring in 11 of the last 12 NBA finals, including 7 straight appearance from 1999 to 2005.  During this period, the Spurs and Lakers squared off 6 times, including 4 straight meetings between 2001-2004, with the Lakers holding a 4-2 advantage.

In the same period that San Antonio and Los Angeles emerged as the superpowers in the Western Conference, 9 different teams have represented the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.  Out of the 9 teams, only 4 - New Jersey, Detroit, Miami and Boston - were able to make a second trip to the finals.

Will the Spurs still be a contender without Duncan (c)?

San Antonio's success has been a combination of stability at the head coaching position (Greg Popovich has been at the helm since 1996), and the presence of core players like Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili.  This has helped them out in free agency, attracting key veterans looking for one at least one last shot at a championship before calling it a career.

Players signing with title contenders is nothing new in the league.  With the Western conference dominating the scene in the last decade, San Antonio has proven to be one of two popular destinations (the other being Los Angeles) for veteran players willing to accept a lesser role on a team just to get a piece of the pie.

Steve Smith, Kevin Willis, Michael Finley and Brent Barry are just a few of the names that come to mind.  Smith and Willis were teammates in Atlanta, but were in their prime at a time when the Jordan-led Bulls were running the scene.  Finley starred in Dallas for several years, while Brent Barry bounced around with a few teams before landing in San Antonio.

Will McDyess & Jefferson be part of a rebuilding process?

In 2009, Antonio McDyess and Richard Jefferson (even though Jefferson was acquired via a trade) became just the latest wave of players to join the trend.  McDyess has re-invented himself as a dependable role player after injuries robbed of him of explosive ability.  Jefferson was a key player for the Nets during their successful years before being traded to Milwaukee and eventually to San Antonio.  Ironically, both McDyess (with Detroit, in 2005) and Jefferson (with New Jersey, in 2003) would have had a championship by now had it not been for the Spurs.  If you can't beat them, join them?

Tim Duncan, whose production has steadily been in decline, hasn't had a player that could complement him they way he complemented David Robinson.  To be fair, there haven't been that many "elite" big men in the mold of Duncan or "The Admiral" in recent drafts.  The lack of a dominant presence in the paint is one the main reasons the Memphis duo of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol were able to impose their will on the Spurs in the playoffs.

For the Spurs to become a title contender again, they'll need to make major moves either through trades or free agency, as Parker and Ginobili will only be able to carry them so far.  All good things come to an end eventually, and if this is it for the Spurs, it's been one great ride.

The team was never known for its flash, but rather for its fundamentally sound style of play.  At the end of the day, they got the job done and that is all that matters.