Spurs' Aldridge: 'We don't feel good' despite 9-game win streak
At 14-3 the San Antonio Spurs are one of the premiere teams in the NBA, yet again. Ho hum.
They're quietly on a nine-game winning streak - and a perfect 10-0 on the road - thanks mostly to their experience, and predicated on ball movement and efficient scoring.
Despite the success, the team isn't satisfied. The Spurs have a middle-of-pack defense and have been uncharacteristically shaky at AT&T Center, where they're only a game over .500.
"We're still not playing to the level we want to," LaMarcus Aldridge told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. "Defensively, we've had a lot of breakdowns. Offensively, we're not running certain plays right. We're still learning. We don't feel good yet."
You'd have to think Gregg Popovich's squad will figure it out. It's adjusting to some personnel changes, having added seven new players, including Pau Gasol, who replaced the recently retired Tim Duncan.
All things considered, they're in a pretty good spot - second in the West, to be precise - and on pace to surpass the 60-win mark for the second straight year.
Manu Ginobili points out that the club has beaten opponents in different ways, whether it be on the defensive end or getting everyone involved offensively and taking care of the ball. He's confident that as the season wears on, he and his teammates will be more consistent in their execution.
"I think our advantage so far has been we've got good players with a high basketball IQ and we know each other very well," the veteran said. "But I feel like we've got a huge margin for improvement. That's a good thing - we can get better."
The Spurs will try to get better at home Tuesday when they host the Orlando Magic.