duncan228
11-07-2008, 01:01 AM
Parker's 55 night underscores Spurs' void (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Parkers_55_night_underscores_Spurs_void.html)
By Mike Monroe
The Spurs said, “Merci beaucoups” to Tony Parker after he bailed them out of a loss to a mediocre Timberwolves team on Wednesday night.
Had Parker not saved the Spurs from an 0-4 start, it would have been a collective “Sacre bleu!”
Parker's 55-point, 10-assist performance pushed him past all but two legendary Spurs, David Robinson and George Gervin, on the team's single-game scoring list. He also joined legends Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only NBA players to get at least 55 points and 10 assists in a game.
Most importantly, it got them a 129-125 double overtime victory in Minnesota.
“Obviously,” said Tim Duncan after the curtain came down on Wednesday's drama at the Target Center. “Tony Parker was unbelievable. He did it all, he really did.”
That the Spurs nearly fell to 0-4, even with Parker's Louvre-worthy masterpiece, is further indication of the problems they face until Manu Ginobili returns to a roster coach Gregg Popovich acknowledges is in transition.
They will try to get their first home-court win tonight, when they meet the Miami Heat at the AT&T Center.
Popovich on Wednesday got 85 points from the two healthy members of his Big Three, with Duncan adding 30 to Parker's 55. Roger Mason, signed this summer to take some of the load from Ginobili's shoulders, scored 26, giving Popovich 111 points from what, for now, might accurately be termed thenouveau three.
The transition to a younger lineup, though, remains just that. For a while there will be more rough seas than smooth sailing.
“At the beginning of the season there are a lot of reasons you might not win every game you want to win,” Popovich said, “but Manu (being out) was certainly a significant part of that. Our team is built around those three guys (Ginobili, Duncan and Parker). Everybody else is a role player. We don't have any stars around those guys.
“Those three guys are what everything is built around. If one of them is not there, then the bench really has to pick it up, but at this stage I think we're at a little bit of transition between playing some younger guys and some other guys who have been here a while, continuing to produce as they have in the past.
“Perhaps we're at a stage where that transition is going to take a little bit of time.”
Ultimately, there will be a secondary transition, as Popovich also will have to restore Ginobili to his important role. In the meantime he welcomes the athleticism and energy he believes he can get from players such as Mason, rookie point guard George Hill, and other newcomers Desmon Farmer and Anthony Tolliver.
“Those (big) three have to be healthy to win a championship, just like most teams' great players have to be healthy,” Popovich said. “But I think we need a little bit more juice and athleticism from the bench this year to be able to win.
“So we're in that process of trying to figure out how that gets implemented and who that might be and where do the minutes get reduced in other places, if necessary. There is no rule book for it. This is by feel, and the record won't have anything to do with it. Whether we're 0-3 or 3-0, that process, we knew, was going to start this summer. We'd rather have been 3-0, but we haven't played that well defensively. That's been our problem, and that's not usually what we have a problem with.”
Months ago, Popovich knew it would take time for these Spurs to become a playoff-worthy team feared by any postseason opponent. He admits it has been difficult to manage the playing time of veterans who merit opportunity while he tries to integrate younger, newer contributors into his playing rotation.
“We've got some guys who have been here a good while, and they deserve the respect of playing time,” he said. “Other people who get playing time, it's best when they earn it. So it's a little bit of giving them a shot and a little bit of their earning it. A little of both.”
By Mike Monroe
The Spurs said, “Merci beaucoups” to Tony Parker after he bailed them out of a loss to a mediocre Timberwolves team on Wednesday night.
Had Parker not saved the Spurs from an 0-4 start, it would have been a collective “Sacre bleu!”
Parker's 55-point, 10-assist performance pushed him past all but two legendary Spurs, David Robinson and George Gervin, on the team's single-game scoring list. He also joined legends Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only NBA players to get at least 55 points and 10 assists in a game.
Most importantly, it got them a 129-125 double overtime victory in Minnesota.
“Obviously,” said Tim Duncan after the curtain came down on Wednesday's drama at the Target Center. “Tony Parker was unbelievable. He did it all, he really did.”
That the Spurs nearly fell to 0-4, even with Parker's Louvre-worthy masterpiece, is further indication of the problems they face until Manu Ginobili returns to a roster coach Gregg Popovich acknowledges is in transition.
They will try to get their first home-court win tonight, when they meet the Miami Heat at the AT&T Center.
Popovich on Wednesday got 85 points from the two healthy members of his Big Three, with Duncan adding 30 to Parker's 55. Roger Mason, signed this summer to take some of the load from Ginobili's shoulders, scored 26, giving Popovich 111 points from what, for now, might accurately be termed thenouveau three.
The transition to a younger lineup, though, remains just that. For a while there will be more rough seas than smooth sailing.
“At the beginning of the season there are a lot of reasons you might not win every game you want to win,” Popovich said, “but Manu (being out) was certainly a significant part of that. Our team is built around those three guys (Ginobili, Duncan and Parker). Everybody else is a role player. We don't have any stars around those guys.
“Those three guys are what everything is built around. If one of them is not there, then the bench really has to pick it up, but at this stage I think we're at a little bit of transition between playing some younger guys and some other guys who have been here a while, continuing to produce as they have in the past.
“Perhaps we're at a stage where that transition is going to take a little bit of time.”
Ultimately, there will be a secondary transition, as Popovich also will have to restore Ginobili to his important role. In the meantime he welcomes the athleticism and energy he believes he can get from players such as Mason, rookie point guard George Hill, and other newcomers Desmon Farmer and Anthony Tolliver.
“Those (big) three have to be healthy to win a championship, just like most teams' great players have to be healthy,” Popovich said. “But I think we need a little bit more juice and athleticism from the bench this year to be able to win.
“So we're in that process of trying to figure out how that gets implemented and who that might be and where do the minutes get reduced in other places, if necessary. There is no rule book for it. This is by feel, and the record won't have anything to do with it. Whether we're 0-3 or 3-0, that process, we knew, was going to start this summer. We'd rather have been 3-0, but we haven't played that well defensively. That's been our problem, and that's not usually what we have a problem with.”
Months ago, Popovich knew it would take time for these Spurs to become a playoff-worthy team feared by any postseason opponent. He admits it has been difficult to manage the playing time of veterans who merit opportunity while he tries to integrate younger, newer contributors into his playing rotation.
“We've got some guys who have been here a good while, and they deserve the respect of playing time,” he said. “Other people who get playing time, it's best when they earn it. So it's a little bit of giving them a shot and a little bit of their earning it. A little of both.”