Spurs' Parker Steps Into The Spotlight

[duncan228]

Spurs' Parker steps into the spotlight (http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/04/21/0421golden.html)
Cedric Golden

SAN ANTONIO — The NBA playoffs are also known as big boy basketball, but the little guys are the ones putting up the big numbers.

San Antonio's little guy Tony Parker was overshadowed in the opener by Dallas' J.J. Barea, but he reclaimed his swagger Monday night and thrust his bigger teammates on his slender shoulders.

The 105-84 decision wasn't as important as how the Spurs got there. Parker became the latest NBA point guard to top the 30-point mark in these playoffs and his eight assists were the cherry on top of a had-to-have-it Monday night at the AT&T Center. With 38 points, he has comfortably taken over Tim Duncan's old role as the team's main point producer, a shift in philosophy from the old days when Spurs guards would throw the ball in to Timmy and David Robinson and run the offense through them.

With 62 points in the first two games of this Western Conference opener, it's easy to see that this is Parker's team and the Spurs will go only as far as he can take them.

After the 105-97 loss in Game 1, Parker sent a message early that if the Spurs were going into an 0-2 hole, they would do so with him firing away. The result? Twenty-seven points in the first half, an easy win, and a 1-1 deadlock going into Thursday's Game 3 in Dallas.

"I was just trying to be aggressive,'' Parker said. "We didn't panic (after the first game). We just went in made some adjustments and Game 2 was better for us."

The Mavericks threw every warm body at Parker they could find. They started with Antoine Wright, a 6-7 big guard with long arms. Parker scored five quick points and Wright picked up two quicker fouls. Next? Jason Terry, the most hated Spurs opponent not named Kobe Bryant. Terry was never a defensive stopper and Parker's eight points at his expense came quickly. Jason Kidd took a brief turn, followed by Barea.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban would have taken his shot at Parker had the refs allowed, but he had to settle for a night of frustration behind his team's bench. Parker averaged 31 points against Dallas during the regular season so this uprising wasn't a surprise.

"He's one of the best point guards I've ever seen,'' said Barea.

Parker's eruption — he scored 33 of the Spurs' first 69 points — came in the framework of the offense, which at this point could best be described as "Get it to Tony and get out of the way." Funny thing about Parker: It doesn't appear that he is scorching the opposition, then you look up and he has 30 points. The reason could be that unlike Chicago's Ben Gordon and Boston's Ray Allen, perimeter types who scored 42 and 30 points in an Eastern Conference duel earlier Monday, Parker gets most of his points in the paint.

Even a couple of hard fouls from Erick Dampier and Josh Howard didn't deter Parker, who knows he must show relentlessness if his team is to win this series.

Parker "didn't drift or take anything for granted,'' said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "He was focused the whole game."

Little men scoring big points. It's where the NBA is going. In an era where Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams represent a dying breed (the pure point guard), Parker is what this team needs for success. If he was a Bob Cousy type — the traditional point guard who thinks, "pass first, score second" — the Spurs would not have won 54 games this season.

The NBA is fast becoming a guard's league and with the erosion of the true center in today's game, players like Parker represent a switch in philosophy from the days of yesteryear, when championship teams rode the backs of centers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon and, of late, Shaquille O'Neal.

With Manu Ginobili (aka the 3 in the Big 3) out for playoffs with a stress fracture and Duncan running around on suspect knees, the Spurs will need their point guard to continue to channel his inner Allen Iverson — minus the selfishness and corn rows— with the hope that the supporting cast will do enough to keep this thing moving.

[hater]

dammit!!!!!

imagine if Manu was healthy. :pctoss

[duncan228]

Dallas Mavericks can’t stop Spurs’ Parker (http://www.star-telegram.com/mavericks/story/1328648.html)
By Eddie Sefco

SAN ANTONIO -- After another Tony Parker bucket, this one just beating the third-quarter buzzer, the San Antonio Spurs point guard went to the bench, where he was greeted by an arm around his neck and a knuckle rub to his scalp by Tim Duncan.

It was a lot friendlier than what the Spurs did to the Dallas Mavericks’ head, which was nothing less than a battering.

Game 2 was a thorough knockout as the Mavericks fell behind by 21 points in the first half and never gave themselves a chance in the second, finally getting drop-kicked 105-84 Monday night at AT&T Center.

They looked perfectly content to take their San Antonio split and go home, where the next two games will be contested at American Airlines Center.

They were mangled by Parker, who finished with 38 points. He got enough help from Tim Duncan’s double-double to reverse the momentum back to the Spurs’ side after the Mavericks’ gritty Game 1 win.

“This was pretty much a must-win for them,’’ said Jason Terry, who had 16 points. “Give them credit. Now it’s the same way for us going home.’’

Terry dismissed any notion that the Mavericks' mental state might be dented with the lopsided loss.

“Whether it’s by one or 30, it’s just one game,’’ he said.

For that, the Mavericks can be thankful.

Between now and Thursday in Game 3, they will have to figure out a way to slow down Parker, whose 19-point first quarter set the tone for the night.

“We definitely have to get a hold of Parker,’’ Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said. “It was like a layup drill out there. He was fantastic.’’

For the second game in a row, Nowitzki was neutralized by a San Antonio defense geared to shut him down. He also suffered minor ankle and thumb injuries in the second half, but shook them off.

The Mavericks were adamant after the blowout that their outlook on the series remains good.

“I guess a split in San Antonio in a tough building is not bad,’’ Nowitzki said. “But when you get that first one, you want to find a way to get the second one, too.’’

The Spurs were diplomatic after their dominance.

“They did their job,’’ Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich said. “They came here and won a game and they’re in great shape.’’

Perhaps, but Monday’s disappointing showing proved that the Mavericks didn’t get greedy and take a second win that would have put them in control of the series. The Spurs had something to do with that. They made adjustments, but mostly, they just executed a lot better than in Game 1 and they were far more aggressive.

What changed most was the Spurs’ aggressiveness, especially in the rebounding department. In Game 1, the Mavericks won the rebounding battle and had 21 second-chance points to eight for the Spurs.

In the first quarter, the Mavericks had zero offensive rebounds and only four on the defensive end.

They had a grand total of two second-chance points in the first half, in which they trailed by as much as 21 before creeping back to 57-46 at halftime. The Mavericks made a brief push early in the third quarter, creeping within 61-52. But the Spurs scored the next 13 points to blow it open.

“I thought we were playing hard,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “They just took it to another level and we weren’t able to meet that level of intensity.’’

[dogzofwar]

"With 62 points in the first two games of this Western Conference opener, it's easy to see that this is Parker's team and the Spurs will go only as far as he can take them."

:nope Not buying that one yet. Parker may be the hot scorer right now but the team still lives and dies by Timmy. Tim's numbers were very misleading last night....he played a very dominant game especially protecting the rim.