duncan228
10-04-2009, 12:04 AM
Spurs evolve into Tony's team (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_evolve_into_Tonys_team.html)
Jeff McDonald
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/temp/parkerld.jpg
By every statistical measure, Tony Parker enjoyed the finest season of his career in 2008-09.
The Spurs point guard set personal bests in scoring and assists, made his third All-Star appearance and, at season's end, earned his first All-NBA mention.
He didn't enjoy any of it.
Parker averaged 22 points and 6.9 assists — and 28.6 and 6.8 in the playoffs — but the Spurs' postseason ended in the first round against Dallas.
“It doesn't mean anything to score 30 or 40 if you lose in the first round of the playoffs,” Parker said. “That's no fun.”
If Gregg Popovich has his way, Parker is poised to enjoy the best of both worlds.
After the emergence of his point guard as a consistent scoring option last season, Popovich is now prepared to make the Spurs' offense even more Parker-friendly in the season to come.
“I'm really trying to make an effort to call fewer and fewer plays, and let Tony run the show, and let the flow of the motion and the reads he makes dictate most of the offense,” Popovich said.
In short, the Spurs are likely to run more, freelance more and settle into a half-court set less. All of those things would play to Parker's churn-and-burn style.
Once upon a time, Parker would have had to pry the keys to the Spurs' offense out of his coach's cold, dead hand. Now, Popovich simply flips them to Parker and says, “Just bring it back in one piece.”
Parker, entering his ninth NBA season at age 27, is eager to justify Popovich's faith in him.
“Since the championship in 2007, Pop has given me more and more freedom,” Parker said. “He's just letting me run the offense, basically.”
It was almost by default last season that Parker became the centerpiece of the Spurs' attack. With Manu Ginobili in and out of the lineup, and with Duncan battling creaky knees for the latter half of the season, Parker had no choice but shoulder more of the scoring burden.
A one-man wrecking crew at times, Parker topped 30 points on 13 occasions. His piece de resistance was a 55-point, 10-assist, seven-rebound effort in a November victory at Minnesota.
Quickly and quietly, the Spurs became Tony's team.
“We can all score here and there, but Tony is probably our go-to guy now,” Ginobili said. “We all accept that.”
That represents quite a change from the Spurs' philosophy for most of the past two decades, namely, “just give the ball to the tall man in the middle, and get out of the way.”
For years, first David Robinson and then Tim Duncan was the scoring star around which the Spurs' offense revolved. Just as Robinson eventually had to relinquish the mantle of “go-to guy” to Duncan, Duncan will now hand it over to Parker.
The man Popovich calls “The Franchise” has voiced no qualms about playing second fiddle to a point guard. In fact, with the return of Ginobili and the offseason arrival of scoring swingman Richard Jefferson, Duncan wouldn't mind being third or fourth fiddle.
“I'm just along for the ride,” Duncan said, with an overdose of humility. “I hope those guys can carry me.”
Popovich cites three factors in the decision to fashion the offense in Parker's image.
The first is Parker's maturity and growing understanding of how to run a team. The second is the trust Popovich has that the returning Spurs will be able to adapt to the reads Parker might make on the fly.
The third is the unprecedented number of new faces in training camp, many of whom could struggle to learn all the complicated nuances of Popovich's thick playbook.
“All those things come together and tell me it's time to cut it back,” Popovich said. “Let them play more basketball, instead of having things orchestrated for them.”
After an offseason influx of scoring help, Parker doesn't figure to top his scoring numbers from last season. If all goes to plan, however, he should at least have a lot more fun.
“I don't need to score 30 or 40 or 50 every night, because we've got a lot more weapons,” Parker said. “At the same time, I'm still going to do my thing.”
Jeff McDonald
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/temp/parkerld.jpg
By every statistical measure, Tony Parker enjoyed the finest season of his career in 2008-09.
The Spurs point guard set personal bests in scoring and assists, made his third All-Star appearance and, at season's end, earned his first All-NBA mention.
He didn't enjoy any of it.
Parker averaged 22 points and 6.9 assists — and 28.6 and 6.8 in the playoffs — but the Spurs' postseason ended in the first round against Dallas.
“It doesn't mean anything to score 30 or 40 if you lose in the first round of the playoffs,” Parker said. “That's no fun.”
If Gregg Popovich has his way, Parker is poised to enjoy the best of both worlds.
After the emergence of his point guard as a consistent scoring option last season, Popovich is now prepared to make the Spurs' offense even more Parker-friendly in the season to come.
“I'm really trying to make an effort to call fewer and fewer plays, and let Tony run the show, and let the flow of the motion and the reads he makes dictate most of the offense,” Popovich said.
In short, the Spurs are likely to run more, freelance more and settle into a half-court set less. All of those things would play to Parker's churn-and-burn style.
Once upon a time, Parker would have had to pry the keys to the Spurs' offense out of his coach's cold, dead hand. Now, Popovich simply flips them to Parker and says, “Just bring it back in one piece.”
Parker, entering his ninth NBA season at age 27, is eager to justify Popovich's faith in him.
“Since the championship in 2007, Pop has given me more and more freedom,” Parker said. “He's just letting me run the offense, basically.”
It was almost by default last season that Parker became the centerpiece of the Spurs' attack. With Manu Ginobili in and out of the lineup, and with Duncan battling creaky knees for the latter half of the season, Parker had no choice but shoulder more of the scoring burden.
A one-man wrecking crew at times, Parker topped 30 points on 13 occasions. His piece de resistance was a 55-point, 10-assist, seven-rebound effort in a November victory at Minnesota.
Quickly and quietly, the Spurs became Tony's team.
“We can all score here and there, but Tony is probably our go-to guy now,” Ginobili said. “We all accept that.”
That represents quite a change from the Spurs' philosophy for most of the past two decades, namely, “just give the ball to the tall man in the middle, and get out of the way.”
For years, first David Robinson and then Tim Duncan was the scoring star around which the Spurs' offense revolved. Just as Robinson eventually had to relinquish the mantle of “go-to guy” to Duncan, Duncan will now hand it over to Parker.
The man Popovich calls “The Franchise” has voiced no qualms about playing second fiddle to a point guard. In fact, with the return of Ginobili and the offseason arrival of scoring swingman Richard Jefferson, Duncan wouldn't mind being third or fourth fiddle.
“I'm just along for the ride,” Duncan said, with an overdose of humility. “I hope those guys can carry me.”
Popovich cites three factors in the decision to fashion the offense in Parker's image.
The first is Parker's maturity and growing understanding of how to run a team. The second is the trust Popovich has that the returning Spurs will be able to adapt to the reads Parker might make on the fly.
The third is the unprecedented number of new faces in training camp, many of whom could struggle to learn all the complicated nuances of Popovich's thick playbook.
“All those things come together and tell me it's time to cut it back,” Popovich said. “Let them play more basketball, instead of having things orchestrated for them.”
After an offseason influx of scoring help, Parker doesn't figure to top his scoring numbers from last season. If all goes to plan, however, he should at least have a lot more fun.
“I don't need to score 30 or 40 or 50 every night, because we've got a lot more weapons,” Parker said. “At the same time, I'm still going to do my thing.”