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 2007-01-24 14:26  #1
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Spurs smell what's ahead

Spurs smell what's ahead: Rockets, mistakes keep team from thinking too much about rodeo trip

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA012407.01C.BKNspurs.rockets.18d6f63.html

Web Posted: 01/23/2007 11:23 PM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News

For a team still working to put together two complete halves of basketball, the Spurs are wary of looking too far ahead in the schedule, or even to the next quarter.

But January is about to bleed into February, and workers have begun readying the storage barns behind the AT&T Center, and, well, there's nothing quite like the sweet scent of manure to trigger one's internal alarm clock.

"I know the rodeo trip is getting closer and closer," Manu Ginobili said. "We should be playing better at this point and looking forward to that trip. Usually, that's where we make the step."

The Spurs don't leave for their annual cross-country trek until Saturday, but they're about to take a leap in class of competition tonight, and they don't need to wait to see the red of the Houston Rockets' jerseys to know it.

The last time the Rockets visited, they handed the Spurs their worst loss of the season, beating them 97-78 to end a 17-game losing streak in San Antonio. Houston won't have Yao Ming tonight, but Tracy McGrady, who didn't take part in last month's thumping, is expected to be in uniform.

"That's a little bit of a revenge game," Tony Parker said. "And we need to try to get something going."

That won't be easy. After facing the Rockets tonight, the Spurs should get somewhat of a reprieve by playing host to Memphis on Friday. But then they hit the road for games against the Los Angeles Lakers, who have already beaten them twice; Utah, which has beaten them once; and Phoenix, which is working on its second 14-game winning streak of the season.

"Good teams, good competition," Tim Duncan said. "It's a good measuring stick for us right now."

Provided, of course, they don't get hit upside the head with it. While the Spurs have taken advantage of lesser competition, they have just two victories over notable Western Conference opponents in the past 11 weeks — Utah and Denver, which was missing Carmelo Anthony.

Since rallying from 19 points down to beat the Rockets on Nov. 14, the Spurs have gone 3-7 against the teams currently holding playoff seeds in the West.

The Spurs have picked up a little momentum, winning their past three. But those three victories came against New Orleans, Philadelphia and Boston, and in each, the Spurs nearly squandered a lead of at least 22 points.

"If we play with that same mind-set against some of these good teams," Michael Finley said, "I think it will be a blowout on the other end."

The Spurs have been fairly pleased with how they responded after each of their opponents rallied. They scored when needed and made enough stops to win.

They obviously also have played well enough to build those large leads. But it's the minutes in between that have caused concern, when the ball stops moving as freely, and the turnovers, as they did Monday in Boston, begin to come in bunches.

"The coaches are emphasizing, even in games like (Monday), that we learn from it," Finley said. "We go watch it on film, and we learn from our mistakes.

"Most of the time, we don't duplicate the same mistakes. We just create new ones. Hopefully, we can get rid of all the mistakes."

The goal, Ginobili said, is to turn those solid eight-minute stretches into quarters and those quarters into halves until they're playing consistently for much of the game. While recognizing their current struggles, the Spurs also know they historically have not hit their stride until having to clear out for the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.

"Of course, we need wins, but, at this point, it's not like we're head-to-head with Dallas and Phoenix," Ginobili said. "We need to improve."
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