Not that we set the standards high for the San Antonio Spurs or anything, but they could be (should be?) superior to their championship team of 1999.

	Derek Anderson has excelled as a Spur, and will likely stick around in the future.

Tim Duncan is more experienced in a good way, although, come to think of it, he seemed to do OK back then. David Robinson is more experienced in a bad way, but it's not a major concern since he doesn't need to be a star like two seasons ago. Sean Elliott is better, and a better player. Where Mario Elie and Jaren Jackson once played shooting guard, Derek Anderson is a big upgrade.

But this 16-9 start (sixth in the West?) has been all wrong. Which wouldn't be so troubling except that it's tough to fall back on that "slow start" or "transition period" talk when Y2Chaos in the NBA is a week from being over and there's little sign of potential as reality. It's a long season, to be sure, so there's no rush -- unless you count the part about sending bad signals for the long term, or that the best teams from Texas so far are led by the man who will soon run the Free World (Mark Cuban) and the man who was elected to (Dubya).

The Spurs are about to finish their second full month of underachieving, offering only glimpses along the way of what could be. Will ya'll just look at this December: They lose to the Lakers, beat the Grizzlies, lose to the Kings and Knicks. In other words, all of the real challenges go bad. Next, a win over the Bulls and, more importantly, the Jazz on the road. A good note. But then they lose to the Suns. A bad note. And then the Nuggets in the Alamodome. Very bad. Denver is so amped by that, players agree it's OK to hold the next scheduled practice.

It's been that kind of stop-and-start lurching all along, most recently with victories against Phoenix, Houston and Cleveland. Turnovers have been a problem. Injuries have been a problem, with Duncan working his way back to 100 percent from knee surgery just in time for Avery Johnson to go on the injured list.

Learning on the fly has been a problem, with Anderson and key reserve Danny Ferry in their first season in San Antonio. Elliott has been anything but a problem -- inspiration is more like it -- but he is playing full-time minutes for the first time since the kidney transplant of Aug. 16, 1999.

Where do they go to get a focus transplant? Bad passes are building up. Lack of concentration is holding them down.

	“	It's been a little bit frustrating for us. It seems like we're close to being good. But we can't put it together yet. ”
		— David Robinson

"I'm talking championship concentration," Johnson said before going out. "Not playoff concentration."

We're in agreement then.

"It's been a little bit frustrating for us," Robinson said. "It seems like we're close to being good. But we can't put it together yet."

This would be a good time to do it. Starting Saturday at Charlotte, 10 of the next 16 contests are on the road, and the Spurs are just 5-7 away from the Alamodome. The break is that there are not any back-to-back sets in that stretch, and that there is time before the biggest challenge, playing at Sacramento Jan. 25 and at Utah two days later.

	Elliott

	Robinson

	Duncan

It's no time to panic, but dismissing the first two months would be an even bigger mistake. It's not a fluke, not when it goes on for this long. The championship, still a very real possibility, will have to come not with an early transition period of new players and injured players, but with a resurgence. That shouldn't be necessary for a roster founded on stability and maturity.

This is a better lineup than the one that went 15-2 in the '99 playoffs, losing only once to the Timberwolves in the first round and once to the Knicks in the Finals. Robinson has had one of his best starts in years and has gracefully accepted a diminished role on offense while still hovering around the top five in the league in blocked shots and averaging about eight rebounds a game. The inside game has been bolstered with Malik Rose's great improvements, after dropping about 20 pounds from last season and working to become a credible shooter for once. Duncan is a superstar. Terry Porter and Elliott are three-point threats, and Anderson, Steve Kerr and Ferry are also dangerous.

In other words, the Spurs have everything -- except actual production. That will come. Even better, it doesn't have to go away again.

This is not the all-or-nothing season it might appear, what with Robinson, Elliott, Anderson and Johnson, most notably, free agents in July. Gregg Popovich, the coach and general manager, certainly doesn't consider it championship or bust, and with good reason. The Spurs can keep the core together if they want, and every indication at this stage is they will.

Robinson will re-sign at a lesser salary and a big chunk of that gained cap space will go to keeping Anderson, a steal now at the $2.25 exception. Elliott almost retired after 1999-2000 ended with a first-round playoff loss, but he can't walk away after this kind of revival. And so on.

That settles it. They have a championship past and a potential-filled future of the same. Now to deal with the present, before it's too late.

Scott Howard-Cooper covers the NBA for the Sacramento Bee and is a new regular contributor to ESPN.com.