This Year's Love Had Better Last

Did I slip through some wormhole at midnight and fall back to 2005? Last night's win was a downright throwback. All of the big 3 dominated, our role players played their roles to perfection, and our defense was fierce. And I know that The Heat are not an elite team (though over .500 for now), and they were playing the second game of a back to back, and blah blah blah, but anytime you beat a team by 30 and completely shut them down like that, it's a good win.

A win like that sort of makes the heart warm and reminds us why we love the Spurs so much. So with that in mind, here's a list of why I love the Spurs, subject to change at a moment's notice:

--I love Duncan's continued dominance and his refusal to go quietly into the night as he quietly has one of the better seasons of his career.

--I love Ginobili rediscovering his mastery. Ginobili's importance to us can not be defined by one thing (scoring, playmaking, defense), but rather by the collection of his skills executed with an artist's touch.

--I love that Parker is starting to find his groove and learning how to run the team with balance and power.

--I love that we're running a bit more on offense, opening up easy scoring options for our suddenly athletic squad.

--I love watching Richard Jefferson dunk. I also love that he's slowly finding his role on the team and starting to play some aggressive defense.

--I love Blair's steep learning curve. You can see tangible improvement in his game week to week, game to game.

--I love Mason, Jr.'s jump shot and the continued expansion of his game.

--I love McDyess's 18 foot jump shot.

--I love George Hill's long armed, sticky defense.

--I love Bogans defensive tenacity and his stealthy offensive game.

--I love Bonner's unorthodox 3-ball and his love of sandwiches.

--I love that Theo Ratliff can still block just about anybody's shot.

--I love Michael Finley's jumpshot coming off a screen and curl. It's our go-to out of bounds play, and seems to work about 90% of the time.

--Finally, I love just about everything about Pop. More than just a great coach, I wish I could be his friend.

Now, if we lose in Washington or Toronto, this love can all disappear. But really, it never will. There's a certain line you cross with fandom, and once you cross that line, the team and the players become more like family, and you almost have to love them unconditionally. So in the spirit of the holiday season and the New Year and new decade, let's give thanks that we all root for a very lovable and very good team, and remember exactly why it is that we love the Spurs so much.

Happy New Year!