Jan 16, 2011; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs players Tim Duncan (left) and Tony Parker (9), and Manu Ginobili (20) watch on the bench in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the AT

When you’ve got a chance, take it and make it. You don’t know when the opportunity will knock on your door again.

This phrase is true, not just in the NBA but also in everyday life. After all, San Antonio steamrolled through the regular season and led 2-0 in the Western Conference Finals before the Oklahoma City Thunder won four consecutive games.

As always, credit should be given to Oklahoma City as they leveraged their athleticism effectively and Scott Brooks for making a few strategic adjustments, namely defending the pick-and-roll aggressively and defending Tony Parker with Thabo Sefolosha.

By re-signing Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw, Danny Green and Patty Mills while also adding Nando De Colo, the Spurs kept their core in tact, in the event that familiarity will get them over the hump. But around the league the tenor has changed dramatically; the Los Angeles Lakers added Steve Nash, Dwight Howard and Antawn Jamison, who will help shore up their depth.

The Thunder return all their core players, with the benefit of more experience. Miami is tailoring their roster around LeBron James — and his unique build and ability allow for a bunch of complementary pieces, as Ray Allen, James Jones and Mike Miller will be among the 3-point shooters that will give him ample space to operate.

The influx of talent converging on the elite teams shouldn’t take away from this pressing question: Will the Spurs contend for a title by simply hoping familiarity and internal development are enough?

With a lot of mileage in the the respective odometers of Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, there isn’t a copious amount of time before Father Time collectively severs their careers altogether. The Spurs will surely look more than ever to Green, Mills, Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter to help them breeze through the regular season — which shouldn’t be difficult because Gregg Popovich excels at managing minutes.

If you watched the Spurs in Vegas, you probably saw that Leonard can handle more of the scoring duty next season. And from what I can see, he seems just fine and will do a good job. With Mills, San Antonio would like to witness his scoring gifts, and his transient bursts of passing ability, to come to full fruition.

Here’s where it gets tricky: even after factoring the internal development, we can’t forget that the Spurs’ Big Three is regressing and the weaknesses, namely interior girth and deficient athleticism, are still weaknesses.

But isn’t this plan a lot better than tearing up a successful roster? At least this way fans will retain some semblance of hope.

July 22, 2012; Barcelona, SPAIN; USA forward LeBron James (6) drives against Argentina player Federico Kammerichs (15) during the second half of an exhibition game in preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games at Palau Sant Jordi. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

The most interesting match in the semifinals (Spurs fans can agree on this, right?) will pit Argentina’s Golden Generation against the ultra talented collection of scorers from Team USA.

If we delve deeper, this Argentinian team is lot like San Antonio. They will go as far as their Big Three can take them. Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni will have to play perfect — by not committing turnovers and attacking the paint because they stand little chance of pulling off an upset otherwise.

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The other guard from Argentina, Pablo Prigioni, has to do a great job protecting the ball. Carlos Delfino is tasked with shooting to space the floor; he’s done so adequately, as he’s shooting 36.8% from behind the arc. His shooting benefits Argentina in two ways: They take advantage of the ultimate equalizer and the pick-and-roll gains even more effectiveness.

As for Team USA, they will continue to play their game — whether that be by forcing opponents into strenuous situations to create turnovers, scoring from any area on the floor and closing the paint area quickly because their perimeter defense allows them a ton of leeway.

Although it’s been one crazy ride, Argentina’s golden generation, with quite a few great moments to show for their Olympic tenure, this looks like it will be the end of the road as USA will once again ride their talented roster. At this moment, they simply have too much fire power.

But, then again, that fact hasn’t deterred Argentina before.