assume we don't get another big, like everybody is begging for..

we are currently 17th in the NBA in points in the paint..this is obviously skewed due to the fact that Parker and Ginobili have missed serious time, and they are by far our 2 best penetrators..

looking at the elite teams..

Boston- 16th..
Cleveland- 30th..
LA- 10th..
Orlando- 4th..

defensive rankings(slightly skewed due to injuries)..

Boston- 2nd..
Cleveland- 1st..
Orlando- 3rd..
LA- 5th..

we rank 6th in the defensive rankings..

defensive points in the paint?(which has been the main complaint from Spurs fans)..

Boston- 9th..
Cleveland- 1st..
Orlando- 6th..
LA- 10th..

we are ranked 12th in this category, but we have gotten better every month so far, and our ranking has been better with the new Kurt Thomas in the past few weeks..LAST YEAR WE RANKED 3RD, with the same players..Oberto was starting, who is worse defensively than Thomas..it'll get there..

not as big of a problem as you guys think it is..

we're low in rebounding, but we also allow some of the fewest amount of rebounds..so the differential is minimal..

now ignoring the injuries..what's the difference between our team and those teams? we score a similar amount of points in the paint, and our defense has a similar ranking..

FT rankings..

Boston- 3rd..
Cleveland- 17th..
LA- 5th..
Orlando- 6th..

the Spurs? we're 30th..

in reality, we obviously aren't the worst when we're playing playoff basketball..all our players are more aggressive in the playoffs, but regardless, we're still a below average team at getting to the line..

Cleveland is only 17th, but they're 1st defensively, and they have Lebron James, who gets to the rim at will..

the key to this Spurs team is aggressiveness..we have to get better defensively, and most importantly, get to the line more..it's not a matter of ability..it'll be a little different in the playoffs, since Duncan averages 2 free throws more on average in the playoffs..I'm sure TP and Manu do as well, but I haven't checked the numbers..regardless of that, we need to continue the aggressiveness..

that means better shot selection from Manu..TP has to play the same, and Duncan needs to be more aggressive..we also have to take advantage of George Hill's ability to get to the basket..

the fact that we shoot a lot of jumpers is irrelevant though...last year's Boston Celtics was a jump shooting team, as everybody saw..they ranked 15th in points in the paint last year..they combined the best D in the NBA with a 9th place ranking in FTA's..

we are NOT primarily a jump shooting team in the playoffs though..do you guys not remember the playoff version of Tim Duncan? Manu Ginobili?..we DO have versatility in our offense..

the Celtics ranked 12th in 3 attempts, we're 8th this year..the 2006-2007 Spurs ranked 7th in 3-point attempts, while they ranked 14th in points in the paint..there's a history here..

we were able to have a great ranking for our interior D last year, and we had the same players inside..Fab started most of these games, yet we managed to have a great ranking by the end of the season..don't worry..Duncan has gotten better defensively as the season goes on for a few years now..just be patient..

with another big man or not, there's no reason to think this team can't get better defensively..we had the same problems getting to the line in the past, but the difference was that we were always a top 3 team defensively..we are no longer a top 3 defensive team, but there's no reason we can't be in the top 5..

if our defense improves at the same rate that it has every year from December to April, like it should, we should be fine..at least that's what the stats show..obviously it will also be important to get our FTA to around 20th, but the D is most important..we've been able to get great D out of the same players, so there's no reason to believe this season will be different..

obviously a significant factor is the fact that Pop is saving Bowen for the playoffs, and he's by far our best perimeter defender..this obviously has an impact on our regular season defense..