Revamped Spurs stumbling to meet expectations

SAN ANTONIO — Manu Ginobili swatting down a wayward bat on Halloween is one thing. But who saw this coming?

The San Antonio Spurs emerged from the offseason with some big additions, refreshed and a favorite to seriously contend for a fifth NBA championship. Instead, they are 4-6 and off to their worst start through 10 games since 1996.

``It's crazy,'' Spurs newcomer Antonio McDyess said.

Unprecedented is more like it.

Never in the Tim Duncan era had the Spurs carried a losing record at the 10-game mark until the Utah Jazz — which hadn't won a regular-season game in San Antonio since 1999 — finally beat the Spurs on their home court 90-83 on Thursday night.

The Spurs will take a three-game skid into Saturday's game against Washington, without Ginobili and possibly without Tony Parker. Ginobili is out at least a week with a strained left groin, and Parker is still trying to shake off an ankle sprain that has sidelined him in four of the last five games.

Injuries, however, don't worry the Spurs this early in the season.

Nor does their record. Yet.

``It's pretty hard to go in (the locker room) and say, 'What's up with this record? What are you guys doing around here?''' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ``I don't think that's very appropriate.''

Not when the locker room has only half the same faces from last season, according to Popovich, who is being patient with a new cast that he says is still learning the system and adjusting to playing together.

An hour before the Jazz game, an upbeat Popovich fretted more about the world's dwindling populations of honey bees and plankton than the sputtering start. And 15 minutes after the loss, he even chuckled as he said, ``and we do know what our record is. We won't forget.''

Levity aside, there are problems. San Antonio's usually solid defense has been shaky, ranked around the middle of the league (98.8 points per game) instead of its customary perch near the top. Injuries have delayed finding out what combinations work.

More Duncan has yet to be the answer, since the Spurs are 0-4 when he scores 20 points or more. The Spurs are 3-0, on the other hand, when newcomer Richard Jefferson reaches that threshold.

Jefferson has so far provided what the Spurs paid $29.2 million over the next two years to get: an athletic swingman who can create offense, particularly when the Big Three aren't around to do so. Already this season, Duncan (swollen ankle), Ginobili and Parker have missed a combined seven games.

Ginobili is of particular concern. The 32-year-old missed half of last season and the playoffs because of bad ankles, and Popovich said it would be disingenuous to say he wasn't disappointed that Ginobili is already hurt after resting all summer.

The injury is a reminder why the Spurs sought out Jefferson, who hasn't missed a game the past two seasons.

``It's a part of the league, and I believe that's why (the Spurs) brought in some more people to try and weather those storms when you do have injuries,'' Jefferson said. ``Right now, it's our job to bear down and get it right.''

History shows the Spurs usually do. San Antonio started 5-5 a year ago but was tied atop the Southwest Division by Christmas. The Spurs lumbered to an even shakier 6-8 record in 1998, only to straighten up and win their first NBA title in the strike-shortened season.

All the same, the Spurs figured they would be better than this.

``It's tough,'' McDyess said. ``When you've got a good team expecting to win a lot of games and you're not in the beginning, it's kind of disappointing.''