Subtle Spurs

San Antonio quietly puts together stellar season

At 19-4, the Spurs are among the best teams in the league, and their nine-game winning streak is currently the NBA's longest. So why don't they get the publicity and respect the 18-3 Lakers or 19-8 Kings do?

First, they play in San Antonio, one of the smallest markets in the league, and on top of that, their two star players -- Tim Duncan and David Robinson -- are really low-key. They don't seek the spotlight, so they don't get it very often.

While that may hurt their marketing department a bit, it doesn't hurt their reputation in basketball circles. Duncan is a great player. He's like an artist in the way he goes about his business, and, outside of Shaq, he'd be the player to build a team around.

In fact, Duncan does have some good players around him -- the acquisitions of Steve Smith and rookie Tony Parker have really improved their starting five, and Charles Smith has had some really good games off the bench.

Unfortunately for Spurs fans, though, until their team wins a championship -- in a full season -- they're not going to get much attention.

Underachieving Raptors could learn from the Wizards

Toronto has lost six of its past eight games and is tied with Indiana for third place in the Central -- not exactly what Raptors fans had in mind for the season.

The main problem the team has is consistency. They're too streaky during the course of a game -- they'll score 12 consecutive points then give up 14. Vince Carter could do something about that, though, if he took a lesson from Michael Jordan. The components of the Raptors are solid, so Carter should back off scoring a little bit and save it for the fourth quarter.

If the Raptors do manage to get it together, they could win the wide-open East, and it might not stop there. Toronto is one of the few Eastern teams that could give the Lakers a good run, because they have three centers in Hakeem Olajuwon, Antonio Davis and Keon Clark. That's a lot of fouls.

Team-spirited Clippers could be legit contenders

The Clippers, along with the Lakers and Kings, lead the league in home wins, with 13. But they didn't get their first road win until Tuesday in Phoenix, when they came from behind to stun the Suns 96-92. That victory went a long way toward making them a legitimate playoff contender.

But now that they've started building their confidence, the Clippers may face another dilemma -- they may actually be overly talented. While it's certainly a nice problem to be too deep, head coach Alvin Gentry is going to have his work cut out for him as these young guys develop.

Keyon Dooling is injured, but when he comes back, they'll have three point guards, including Earl Boykins and Jeff McInnis. And Quentin Richardson is one of the premier two-guards in the NBA, but they can play him only 20 to 25 minutes a game. If he got normal starting minutes, he'd score 20 a night. Going down the roster, they probably have the best backup five in the league.

The bottom line in L.A. is, if they can stay enthusiastic and confident, the Clippers will be a legitimate player in the West.

Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. He appears each Sunday on CNN/SI's This Week in the NBA.

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