You have to go back 35 years to see the last time the San Antonio Spurs were 0-3, and they weren't even in the NBA back then . . . just another team in the countdown toward the demise of the old ABA. At least the Spurs rallied as a franchise from there to become one of the fortunate four that would be invited to join the NBA in 1976.

Nonetheless, winless is where the Spurs stood after Tuesday's 17-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks at home. And if you didn't think they looked too old to compete for a title last spring when the Los Angeles Lakers sent them packing in five games, just take a look at them now.

Sure, Ginobili hasn't played yet and won't for at least another month while recovering from ankle surgery. And they collectively were relieved to find the irregular heartbeat of center Francisco Oberto wasn't enough of a problem to keep him out of Tuesday's game after missing the first two.

But this is a different Spurs team than the one that seemingly has won an NBA title every other year the past decade (actually four championships), and even when they didn't, they struck fear in the hearts of those that did.

Now, their hearts may not be the issue. That doesn't mean we can't hear the wheezing. A big part of the problem is the players on the roster that were already born when the Spurs started off that 1973-74 season 0-4. Bruce Bowen (37) and Kurt Thomas (36) were babies raising havoc and Michael Finley (35) was already sitting up. Oberto (33) and Jacque Vaughn (33) were born just before the Spurs joined the NBA and Duncan (32) had his eyes wide open as the new era began.

When you throw in Ginobili (31) and Ime Udoka, also 31, you see the portrait of a team that is beginning to look at lot like the best team at the downtown rec center, prompting the thought, "Gee, I bet those guys were great when they were younger."

Well, they were. Now, they're not.

They're offseason free agent signing was Robert Mason Jr. from the Washington Wizards, a shooting guard prone to streaks -- both good and bad -- shooting the ball. He will defend, certainly a pre-requisite for any Popovich addition. He's just limited. The same goes for Matt Bonner, a 6-10, 240-pounder who can play any of the three positions up front in mediocre fashion. He's a good 3-point shooter and plays hard.

Mason and Bonner represent the free agent additions of the past two seasons, while they actually were forced by ownership to unload Ginobili's ferocious Argentinean national teammate Luis Scola for luxury tax purposes prior to last season. Unfortunately, they dealt him to the Houston Rockets, who by anyone's viewpoint coming into the season have blown by the Spurs in the pecking order of the Southwest Division and the Western Conference.

They did retain their first round draft choice this season, and took 6-2 guard George Hill, who hurt his thumb in preseason. The read on him before he was taken out of that hybrid small school in Indianapolis -- IUPUI -- was he is a 6-2 combo guard. The problem is he's a backup for Parker, who is the youngest non-rookie on the roster at 26. He'll probably play with Parker occasionally, but it also makes them very small.

Through the first three games, the Spurs lost their first home opener since before Duncan was drafted in 1997 -- a tough five-point decision to the Phoenix Suns. Then they lost a one-point heartbreaker at Portland when Finley's baseline jumper at the buzzer caromed to the hardwood. That led them to collapse against the Mavs in front of the home folks.

Indeed, Duncan is putting up his familiar numbers of 26.0 points and 10.3 rebounds, and Parker is following suit with 26.0 points and 6.3 assists. The problem is, the rest of the team is averaging only 40.7 points combined. Bowen and Bonner have managed to put up just 18 points collectively in the first three games.

More disconcerting is they are allowing their opponents to shoot .496 from the field and getting outrebounded by 6.0 a game. These are the Spurs we're talking about. This team has been nothing over the past decade if not one that prides itself on shutdown defense and at least halving the rebounds.

Instead there is Pop on the bench, tugging on his beard as if there are answers hidden within the bristles. Is the white growth a poke at the media's contention that his team is too old to compete at the elite level anymore or simply an admission of guilt?

The good news is there are 79 games left beginning Wednesday at Minnesota against the fledgling Timberwolves.

At least that used to be good news.