(My Sportsbook) - Through the first six games of the season, Malik Rose was averaging 13.8 points and 9.7 rebounds and seemed poised for a breakout campaign.

However, Rose has virtually disappeared since.

The 28-year-old has scored in double figures just twice since his fast start and has collected double-digits in rebounds only once.

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich apparently decided to take the team in a different direction shortly into the season and decreased Rose's minutes. Popovich cited lack of defensive intensity as the reason for holding back Rose and began giving Kevin Willis more time on the court.

Over his last five games, Rose has averaged just 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds in 13.8 minutes. But Willis hasn't faired much better, averaging 6.0 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.2 minutes during the same span.

Rose's minimized role seems especially odd considering the Spurs signed the forward to a seven-year deal worth around $42 million prior to the season. Last year, Rose played in all 82 regular season games for the Spurs and averaged career-bests of 9.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

The Drexel product had just two points and one board in nine minutes in the Spurs' 91-79 setback to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. San Antonio had a two-game winning streak stopped and lost for the fourth straight time on the road.

Tim Duncan scored 32 points on 16-of-29 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who shot just 41 percent from the floor and missed all nine of their three-point attempts.

Tony Parker (12) and David Robinson (10) were the only other San Antonio players to score in double figures. Parker shot just 5-of-16 from the field and committed five turnovers.

The Clippers used two 15-3 runs to take control of the contest.

"We started the game pretty well and the energy level was good," Robinson said. "But we got really sloppy with turnovers -- traveling, three-second violations, a lot of them in a row. It was just bad, sloppy basketball. This is the NBA, and if you make 10 mistakes in a row, you're going to go from up 6 to down 10."

Maybe Popovich should aim the Spurs in another direction.

The Spurs play road games against Seattle and Sacramento before coming home for two games at the SBC Center.