The wild shootout in the Western Conference continued all through February. The New Orleans Hornets, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers all spent time perched at the top. When the calendar turned over to March though, it was a familiar name sitting in the number one seed. Do not forget about us, the San Antonio Spurs seems to be saying with their recent play on the court.

No doubt the Southwest Division ranks as the toughest in the league. Four teams have winning percentages greater than .650, and only one win separates the Spurs from the Houston Rockets, fourth in the division. Only the lottery-bound Memphis Grizzlies fail to cast a long shadow of doubt when an opposing team suits up to play one of these teams.

A 98-90 loss to the Boston Celtics on the road was the only blemish as the Spurs went 10-1 in February. They started the month on an Eastern Conference road trip then returned home for four of five games. Wins against New Orleans on February 23rd and Dallas on February 28th gave notice to the other contending teams that the four-time champions will not be relinquishing their throne easily as they try to be back-to-back champions for the first time.

What keeps the Spurs from penetrating the hearts of the general public? It cannot be about success, because the Spurs can bring that in spades. Their low water mark for wins in a season this decade is 53, during the 1999-2000 season. They have won their four titles by staying among the elite while turning over their roster when necessary. That first title team in 1999 had Avery Johnson and Mario Elie forming the back-court tandem. After ceding to the Los Angeles Lakers during their three-peat, the Spurs returned to the winner’s circle with Tony Parker, then just a second year player. Last season, Parker won the Finals MVP award.

Negative publicity certainly grabs the headlines. For some reason, scandals involving the likes of Roger Clemens or Michael Vick ignite a media frenzy, and while no deed goes unpunished, they do not necessarily get noticed either. One would think that the Spurs would be commended for being such a professional outfit, focused only on the common goal. Instead they are portrayed as plodding and boring, lacking the obvious emotion that would excite an average fan.

Fans perhaps look at the Spurs because they are forced to, but perhaps they fail to actually see them. Take the case of Tim Duncan. This is a ten-time all-star, a back-to-back MVP three-time Finals MVP. Duncan makes the All-Defense first or second team every year. Yet, people limit his place in history by debating whether he is the best power forward of all-time. With these credentials, Duncan deserves mention on the short list of the best, all-time, period. A quick brainstorm yields only the name of Michael Jordan when thinking of a player who dominated both ends of the floor on the way to multiple championships. Still, fans picture Duncan whining to the referees more than giving him his due props.

As “the Big Fundamental” enters the second half of his career, his numbers suggest that for the second verse, it will be just like the first. Through the beginning of March, Duncan is averaging 20.1 ppg and 11.6 rpg, pretty much right on his career averages. As usual he shoots above 50% from the field, but as an added bonus to fantasy owners, he has been shooting 72% from the free-throw line. Able to be the focal point of the offense without feeling like he over-dominates the ball, Duncan has been dishing 3.3 assists per game this year, slightly higher than his career average. As always, he remains a dangerous shot-blocking presence (1.9 blocks per game). The Spurs can win while Duncan only plays about 33-35 minutes per game; Duncan does not flame out in the playoffs like other players might, and the extra rest is one reason why.

Arguably, Tim Duncan plays the role of second banana on the team now. Manu Ginobili has emerged to be perhaps the second best shooting guard in the league, behind Kobe Bryant. Ginobili, not Duncan, leads the team in scoring. Along with his 20.5 ppg scoring, Manu has shot better than 41% from three-point land. He contributes off the glass (about five rebounds a game), and acts as a handy second floor general (4.7 assists per game, second o the team). An international superstar, Ginobili led Argentina to a good medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Together with Ginobili, again one has to wonder why the Spurs do not generate more buzz around the world. They lack that “x-factor.” Sure, everyone knows they are an excellent team, but try to find a Spurs fan outside of San Antonio. Take your time; you will be looking for a while.

Perhaps plain old jealousy of Tony Parker keeps NBA fans from doling out the love. Parker already has three rings when hall of fame players like John Stockton never received even one. The pros and cons of being married to a beautiful television starlet will always play out for Parker. To his credit, Parker does his talking on the basketball floor. He missed three weeks of play due to an ankle injury, but the Spurs only dropped two games in his absence. They won the first three games after he returned to the lineup. Parker would have garnered all-star attention had he not gotten injured. A model of consistency over the last few years, Parker has averaged 18.4 ppg and 5.9 assists per game this year. Fantasy owners led him slide in drafts because of his lack of three-pointers and steals. Where it matters, Parker stirs the Spurs’ drink to near-perfection. He turns only 26-years-old this May.

After watching the Lakers land Pau Gasol, the Suns trade for Shaq and the Mavericks finally completing a deal that brought Jason Kidd back to the franchise that drafted him, the Spurs have made some smaller scale moves, but their additions should have them ready to defend their crown. Near the trade deadline, the Spurs acquired Kurt Thomas from the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Brent Barry, Franciso Elson and a 2009 first-round draft pick. Thomas brings some size to complement Duncan in the front court; he is battle tested and should fit right in. Brent Barry received calls from reportedly teams like Phoenix, Boston, Dallas and Houston after being bought out, but it has been reported that Barry will re-sign with the Spurs. He will not be able to finalize a deal until 30 days after the trade was made due to an NBA rule that prevents a just traded player from being bought out and immediately returning to his original team.

Michael Finley joined the starting lineup when injuries to Parker and Ginobili pressed him into service, but he has returned to the bench and provides the Spurs solid secondary scoring. A former all-star as a Dallas Maverick, Finely scored over 20 ppg from 1997-98 through 2001-02. Dallas chose not the re-sign him after the 2005 season, he landed with the Spurs and he received his first championship ring last season. One wonders whether he would have made a difference when the Mavericks played the Heat two years ago in the Finals.

Bruce Bowen defines the player his team mates love, but opponents hate. Hometown fans and league insiders appreciate his play and recognize how invaluable he is, while everyone else squawks at how dirty he plays. He provides the Spurs with an immeasurably tough presence on defense. He frees up Ginobili by taking on the tough assignments. His repeated battles with stars like Ray Allen have been well documented, but in the end, Bowen is another piece to the puzzle, while all-stars like Allen strive to get into the Finals for the first time. Should the Finals feature the Celtics against the Spurs, the Allen vs. Bowen match-up will be worth tuning in for, alone. Of course, Duncan versus Garnett will not be too shabby, either.

Everyone else on the team knows the role they play. Matt Bonner can shoot from outside, and he provides energy in limited minutes. Fabricio Oberto quietly rebounds. Remember the name, Ime Udoka; depending on the playoff match-up, Udoka could play a valuable role. Finally, Damon Stoudamire was signed to back up Parker after he was bought out by the Memphis Grizzlies. Stoudamire seems to have put his troubled past behind him. In his first eleven games with the team, he has averaged about five points and two assists in over 18 minutes.

Surely the Spurs would like to have home-court advantage in the playoffs, but they will not break the bank to get the top seed like New Orleans or Phoenix might. The Spurs, Hornets and Mavericks will run neck in neck down to the wire. Imagine a scenario where the Spurs finish just a couple of games behind, and wind up sixth in the conference. That would be a tough break for a team like Utah, who has played well and won their division outright, but now gets the defending champions in the first round.

The Spurs face a busy schedule in March, and from March 6th to the 12th, they play five games in seven days. They start off this stretch with a home date against the Indiana Pacers. Jermaine O’Neal remains out of action, and Jamaal Tinsley has also missed a lot of games. The Pacers have progressively fallen off the pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race, and won only four games last month. They showed some gusto in upsetting the Toronto Raptors, but they were run over by the Spurs back on February 5th. The Spurs put up 116 points en route to an easy win. Tim Duncan should be able to dominate the middle once again against the likes of Jeff Foster and Troy Murphy.

The following night, the Spurs travel to Denver to play the Nuggets. The Nuggets posted an 8-5 record in February, and have the opportunity to better their position within the conference by stepping up and taking care of business against the class of the West. They stand a good chance to steal the March 2nd game in Houston as the Rockets must play the rest of the season without Yao Ming. Yao suffered a stress fracture in his foot, and now his participation in the Olympic games is up in the air, much to the chagrin of Chinese officials. The Nuggets play host to the Phoenix Suns on March 5th before taking on the Spurs two nights later. They two teams last played on January 3rd and the Spurs won a low-scoring affair at home, 80-77. The Nuggets rank as the fourth highest scoring team, while the Spurs employ the third stingiest defense. The unstoppable force should yield to the immovable object this time around; watch for the Spurs to step up when it counts in the second half and leave Denver with a win.

Circle the game on March 9th because it is bound to cause a stir again. In a nationally televised game, the Spurs visit Phoenix in an afternoon game. The Suns lost three of their first five games with Shaquille O’Neal in the lineup, including their fourth straight loss at the hands of Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets. The way things are shaping up, the Suns will have to edge Lakers for the division crown to secure a top four seed. Amazingly one of those two teams, plus two of the Spurs, Hornets and Dallas Mavericks will start the playoffs on the road. The glaring sign that the West stand far superior to the Eastern Conference is illustrated by the fact that the Sacramento Kings and their 26-32 record is good enough for seventh in the East.

At the current pace, the seventh and eighth seed in the wins will end up with about 35-37 wins. Denver and Portland should finish with at least 45 wins. One wonders whether the league can do anything to help fix this discrepancy should it happen again in the future. Denver would be ranked fourth in the East, based on their record, and Portland would be sixth, just behind Toronto and Cleveland.

Funny enough, the NBA could take a page out of the Canadian Football League. The CFL consists of nine teams, four in the “East” and five in the “West.” Each division gets a first round bye in the playoffs, and the second-place finisher hosts the third-place team. However, should the fourth place team in the other division finish with a better record than the third seed in the weaker division, that team gets to cross-over and make the playoffs in the other division’s bracket. Thus, if in any one year, one division clearly outclasses the other, this rule ensures that the most deserving teams make the playoffs.

The NBA will never let the top sixteen teams, regardless of geography and divisional boundaries, make the playoffs. Sure, it would make sense in that the top seed would play the worst playoff team. However, television considerations and travel would make it a logistical nightmare. Yet, in a season like the current one where three teams outside the playoff picture in the West would merit consideration in the East by just looking at their winning percentages, a modified version of the CFL’s cross-over playoff system would work. The top eight teams in the West would earn the advantage of staying within the left coast, limiting travel issues. But good teams like Denver and Portland would make the playoffs as well and would be seeded in the other conference based on their record. Under this system, the first round match-ups in the Eastern Conference would look like this: Boston versus Washington, Detroit versus Portland, Orlando versus Cleveland, and Denver versus Toronto. The Pistons-Blazers pairing in particular stands out as a significant improvement over whatever first round fodder they end up playing in reality. Teams like New Jersey, Philadelphia and Atlanta would end up in the lottery, where they deserve to be based on their mediocre play this season.

For now, changing the league’s playoff structure makes only for good debate. It seems unlikely that the NBA head office views this as a pressing issue. When game #82 is played, two of Houston, Golden State, Denver and Portland will be counting ping pong balls instead of studying for play against a first-round opponent. It is a bad deal all around, and the sobering fact is that even a team as great as the Spurs are only four losses away from being out of the playoff picture (Golden State currently sits eighth with a 35-22 record, 4.5 games behind the Spurs). Granted no one considers the Spurs as a team in jeopardy, but this parity of superiority exhibited by the Western Conference has rarely been seen in any sport.

After the big game against Phoenix, the Spurs travel home to play the Nuggets on February 10th. The Spurs play like a fine-tuned and cagey unit; should the Nuggets somehow find a way to win the first game, Coach Gregg Popovich and his staff will definitely make the necessary adjustments to prevent the Nuggets from gaining two games on them.

Finally, on February 12th, the Spurs play and important divisional game against the New Orleans Hornets. In February, the Hornets lost ground as both the Spurs (seven games) and the Rockets (14 games, albeit now without Yao), went on major winning streaks. Their 7-5 record in February does not stand out, but the month did include wins against Dallas, Phoenix and Utah. The Hornets rank as a top ten offensive team and a top five defensive team, which makes for a winning combination any way you slice it. The Spurs beat the Hornets in early November, but David West scored 32 points and the Hornets trounced the Spurs when they met again in January. They last played on February 23rd and the Spurs won relatively easily, 98-89. The Hornets need this game in case any tie-breakers are needed to declare a division champion. With Tony Parker back in action, his point guard match-up against Chris Paul will be key to this game.

The Spurs do not play their other divisional rival, the Dallas Mavericks, until later in March. The Mavericks are still feeling things out with Jason Kidd now at the helm. The schedule looks pretty friendly when stacking it up against San Antonio’s. This week, they start a five game home stand against Houston on February 6th; should the Rockets still be streaking, the Mavericks will put an end to that here. The Mavericks then face very winnable games against the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Charlotte Bobcats and Indiana Pacers. It says here that by the middle of March, the Mavericks will be the fifth team in the last month to sit atop the conference.

Whatever happens, it will be great to watch so stay tuned.