"The Spurs just keep plugging away"

In case you forgot - amidst all the behind-the-back passes by Steve Nash and 10-game winning streaks by Dallas - the San Antonio Spurs are still in the NBA.

I know. It's almost as hard to believe as the idea of Brittany Spears with hair. But it's true. I promise.

Oh, and one other thing... they're still pretty good.

At 39-18 and riding a six-game winning streak, the Spurs are nowhere near the indomitable Mavs, who have won 12 straight games - their third 12-game winning streak this season (an NBA record - how cool!!!). But the Spurs are second in the best division in basketball - the Western Conference's Southeast Division - and if the playoffs started today, they'd be the fourth seed in the West.

I wouldn't be the least surprised if they made it to the NBA Finals. This is, after all, their year. Since 2003, the Spurs have won the title every other year. And it's too bad they couldn't come through in 2001, because then the EOY streak would extend all the way back to 1999 and the playing days of Dallas coach Avery Johnson.

Since 1999, the Spurs and Lakers have the most NBA titles with three apiece. In the past four years, the Spurs, with two, have the most

But nobody - and I mean, not a soul outside San Antonio's city lines - talks about the Spurs as title contenders this season. I’ve been fed so much Phoenix talk, I'd rather eat a cactus than hear another peep about the Suns' playoff chances. Yes, the Mavericks have earned their praise, because they certainly are the best team in basketball. But let's not forget that the Spurs were a Dirk Nowitzki three-point play away from eliminating the Mavericks a year ago in the conference semifinals. We even hear more talk about the Utah Jazz than the Spurs. And nobody, until this season, even knew Utah After Stockton & Malone existed.

The reason, apparently, no one likes to mention the Spurs at the dinner table is because they're flat-out boring. Tony Parker brings the ball downcourt. They post up Duncan. Someone throws it to him. He either shoots or kicks it out to Parker, Bruce Bowen or Manu Ginobili. Bowen shoots. Parker shoots or drives, throwing up a teardrop. Ginobili drives acrobatically to the hoop...

OK, stop. What is so boring?? It's not like they give the ball to the same guy every time downcourt (see Cleveland), or post up the same 300-plus-pounder whenever he's in the game (see Miami sans Wade), or let the same dude shoot ridiculous fadeaways 75 percent of the time (see Houston; Tracy McGrady).

Yes, San Antonio's style of play isn't as exciting as Phoenix's. But what team's is?

The Spurs are ignored, disliked, thrown under the bus (if you want to go with the cliché) because they're the Spurs. Because they are consistently good. For the past 10 years, no other team has been as consistent as San Antonio. They've made it to the second round of the playoffs or farther all but one year, they’ve reached the conference finals four times and all three times they've gotten to the finals, they've won the Larry O'Brien trophy.

In a way, the Spurs have become the Yankees of the NBA. But instead of people constantly scrutinizing them publicly, people show their hatred for the franchise by blatantly ignoring it. Regardless of what San Antonio does the rest of this season - unless Ginobili scores 100 points or something - it won't get any attention. We'll talk plenty about Phoenix and its chances of winning its first ever title. Dallas will definitely be in the news. Houston. Detroit. Miami, if D-Wade comes back. Cleveland. Washington. Chicago.

They'll all get plenty of attention from the national media. But the Spurs? Nada. Not until they methodically begin to make another push toward a championship.

And to be honest, the only team I'd take over San Antonio right now is Dallas. And just by a hair. I'd pick the Spurs over the Suns, or Jazz or Lakers. I'd take them over the Pistons in the Finals.

I know we've all forgotten, but San Antonio has the same nucleus from its 2005 championship team. Duncan, Ginobili and a now-married Tony Parker. Yeah, they're all older, but so are Steve Nash, Nowitzki and Rasheed Wallace.

The Spurs are like your '67 Firebird. You forget about it and leave it in the garage. But when your son gets his hands on the keys and decides to take Dad's car for s spin, it runs as smooth as your '07 Benz.

I can't blame people for considering the Spurs old laundry. We live in a rapidly changing world. Wasn't it yesterday that Discmans (you know, those things that play CD's that used to be considered hip) were attached to every adolescent? And I'm afraid to mention the word "cassette" around my peers for fear of unrelenting "you're old" heckling.

The point is, people love what's new - which, in the NBA, is the Phoenix Suns and their style of play (although, as any NBA historian will tell you, Phoenix is far from the first NBA franchise to employ the run-'n-gun - think Showtime; 1980s). No kids wear Tim Duncan jerseys anymore. He's way too fundamentally sound to have a good-selling jersey. Cats on the And1 Mixed Tape sell more jerseys than Duncan. Heck, ask a 13-year-old basketball player who Duncan is, and he might not even know.

It's a shame that more young players and enthusiasts don't appreciate the Spurs. If someone wanted to learn how to play basketball the right way, San Antonio would be the team to watch. They're so solid in all the fundamentals, which is one of the big reasons why Duncan has three fat rings on his fingers (although, knowing Duncan, he probably never wears them in public because he hates to show off).

That's right. You'll rarely see a SportsCenter Top 10 play provided by the Spurs. Or, for that matter, even much of a highlight of any of their games. They're rarely on national TV, despite the great record and pedigree (they get awful ratings). But come April, then May, then June, there's a good chance they'll be around, winning games like usual.

And people will ask each other, where did these guys come from?

When, as hard as it is to believe, they've been here all along.