"We're in a rebuild mode," Spurs chairman Peter Holt said Wednesday. "Our goal is to stay a winning team through a rebuild mode, and that's not always easy obviously."

After starting 20-4 on a soft schedule, the Spurs have gone 16-16 and are clinging to fifth seed, writes Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express News.  The Spurs changed out nine players from the championship contender they had last year.  

The team has not suffered from overly high expectations from themselves -- they know who they are -- but have suffered from unrealistic expectations from outside.  And that has hurt the team: "You can't worry about expectations and I think we may have gotten caught up in that a little bit," Robinson said.  The Spurs have run hot and cold and need to find some consistency if they are to genuinely compete in the playoffs.