Kori Ellis
02-24-2005, 01:24 AM
Parker plays like All-Star in first game after break
Web Posted: 02/24/2005 12:00 AM CST
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA022405.9C.BKNspurs.parker.da1afc72.html
Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy believes leaving Spurs point guard Tony Parker off the Western Conference All-Star roster in the game played Sunday was impossible to understand, and he wanted Parker to know it wasn't his fault.
"I voted for him," said Van Gundy, whose Rockets Parker tortured in the decisive final period of the Spurs' 99-81 victory Wednesday night at SBC Center. "I don't know how that guy doesn't make it. I don't know how a lot of guys don't make it — there are just so many good payers — but Parker is on the team with the best record. I just don't know how. I think he is really, really, really good."
NBA head coaches vote for the All-Star reserves in their respective conferences after the fan voting determines the starters.
Parker, who scored six of his 22 points in the final 5:15, when the Spurs broke from a three-point lead to a blowout, wasn't about to disagree with Van Gundy.
He thinks he should have been in Denver last weekend, along with teammates Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, playing for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich's Western Conference All-Stars.
"Definitely," Parker said. "I really thought I deserved it. But I'm young, and a lot of other guys didn't make it, either, guys like Mike Bibby. I have a lot of years left to make it. My time will come, and I am going to keep playing the same way, and keep improving."
Parker said Wednesday's game wasn't about proving to the coaches who didn't vote for him had made a mistake. It was about proving the Spurs were capable of beating the Rockets, who came into the game with a 2-0 edge on the Spurs.
"We have had a hard time beating Houston," Parker said, "and tonight we got a great win, with good defense, and it feels great. It wasn't personal, but we were motivated by those other games. They beat us twice, and we don't like to lose three in a row to the same team."
Parker wowed the crowd with a steal from Rod Strickland that led to a dunk with 3:09 left in the game, but his most spectacular offensive play was a shot he banked high off the glass over Houston's 7-foot-2 shot blocking specialist, Dikembe Mutombo, with 1:30 left in the third period.
Mutombo, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, never got a hand on Parker's shot because Parker didn't give him room enough to block it.
"I saw Dikembe was right on me," Parker said, "so I just wanted to stay as close to him as I could, because if you are away from him that is when he can block your shot. I knew I had to put it up pretty high to get it over him."
Parker's offensive gems didn't impress Popovich as much as his defensive work on the perimeter.
"His defense sealed the game," Popovich said. "He played hard all night, but he was big for us on the defensive end. No one ever notices that. They only see the offense. But he was great on defense, and he set the tone for us."
Parker had five steals Wednesday, a season high, and just one shy of Ginobili's team season high.
"We were just trying to pressure them on the perimeter," Parker said. "Manu and I did a good job keeping the pressure on, and Brent Barry and Devin Brown, too. And Bruce (Bowen) and Devin (Brown) did a great job n (Tracy) McGrady."
Web Posted: 02/24/2005 12:00 AM CST
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA022405.9C.BKNspurs.parker.da1afc72.html
Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy believes leaving Spurs point guard Tony Parker off the Western Conference All-Star roster in the game played Sunday was impossible to understand, and he wanted Parker to know it wasn't his fault.
"I voted for him," said Van Gundy, whose Rockets Parker tortured in the decisive final period of the Spurs' 99-81 victory Wednesday night at SBC Center. "I don't know how that guy doesn't make it. I don't know how a lot of guys don't make it — there are just so many good payers — but Parker is on the team with the best record. I just don't know how. I think he is really, really, really good."
NBA head coaches vote for the All-Star reserves in their respective conferences after the fan voting determines the starters.
Parker, who scored six of his 22 points in the final 5:15, when the Spurs broke from a three-point lead to a blowout, wasn't about to disagree with Van Gundy.
He thinks he should have been in Denver last weekend, along with teammates Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, playing for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich's Western Conference All-Stars.
"Definitely," Parker said. "I really thought I deserved it. But I'm young, and a lot of other guys didn't make it, either, guys like Mike Bibby. I have a lot of years left to make it. My time will come, and I am going to keep playing the same way, and keep improving."
Parker said Wednesday's game wasn't about proving to the coaches who didn't vote for him had made a mistake. It was about proving the Spurs were capable of beating the Rockets, who came into the game with a 2-0 edge on the Spurs.
"We have had a hard time beating Houston," Parker said, "and tonight we got a great win, with good defense, and it feels great. It wasn't personal, but we were motivated by those other games. They beat us twice, and we don't like to lose three in a row to the same team."
Parker wowed the crowd with a steal from Rod Strickland that led to a dunk with 3:09 left in the game, but his most spectacular offensive play was a shot he banked high off the glass over Houston's 7-foot-2 shot blocking specialist, Dikembe Mutombo, with 1:30 left in the third period.
Mutombo, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, never got a hand on Parker's shot because Parker didn't give him room enough to block it.
"I saw Dikembe was right on me," Parker said, "so I just wanted to stay as close to him as I could, because if you are away from him that is when he can block your shot. I knew I had to put it up pretty high to get it over him."
Parker's offensive gems didn't impress Popovich as much as his defensive work on the perimeter.
"His defense sealed the game," Popovich said. "He played hard all night, but he was big for us on the defensive end. No one ever notices that. They only see the offense. But he was great on defense, and he set the tone for us."
Parker had five steals Wednesday, a season high, and just one shy of Ginobili's team season high.
"We were just trying to pressure them on the perimeter," Parker said. "Manu and I did a good job keeping the pressure on, and Brent Barry and Devin Brown, too. And Bruce (Bowen) and Devin (Brown) did a great job n (Tracy) McGrady."