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Spurs Brazil
10-19-2009, 04:23 PM
http://www.nba.com/spurs/photos/tony_shaq_091019_750.jpg

Help for Tony
by Bill Schoening | October 19, 2009

This past summer was a long one for Spurs players and coaches. Too long for a team used to deep postseason runs.

One player who kept busy with basketball was point guard Tony Parker, as his French National Team participated in Eurobasket in Gdansk, Poland. Head Coach Gregg Popovich vowed to keep Tony's workload fairly light during training camp and the early preseason games since he had been so busy in August and September.

As his minutes slowly increase in the preseason, Parker is showing signs that he is ready to go for the start of the regular season. In his most extensive preseason action yet, Parker looked sharp, distributed the ball well and shot with confidence in the Spurs win last Friday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The good news for Parker is that he might not have to carry as heavy a burden as last season, with the upgrade in depth and scoring during the offseason, and the blossoming of second year guard George Hill. Hill had an extremely productive summer, working on his ballhandling, decision making, conditioning, and outside shot. Hill's development will give Pop some added flexibility in the backcourt during the season and that's good news for all the Spurs, especially Tony.

http://www.nba.com/spurs/timeout/20secondto.html

TIMMYD!
10-19-2009, 04:35 PM
Hope George has made his skills twice as good as last year.

duncan228
10-19-2009, 04:39 PM
NBA’s Sophomore Slumps and Surprises

Biggest Improvement: George Hill

Hill steadily improved over his rookie campaign and played well for the Spurs when Tony Parker went down mid-season to injury spurts. Four games into the preseason and Hill is averaging a hair over 14 points with two assists per game. Look for him to make a push for more minutes and more productivity this year.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137019

Manu-of-steel
10-20-2009, 09:39 AM
hill is definitely looking better compared to last year. i hope it could translate to a productive season. Helping tony would be huge, especially in the post season.

freemeat
10-20-2009, 10:07 AM
George Hill's 2nd season > George Hill's 1st season > Speedy Claxton > Beno Udrih > Roger Mason Jr. as a point > Van Exel

I'm so glad the Spurs drafted GH because now they don't have to worry about backing up their point position so much. It's easy to recall the days, as a spurs fan, when we never had a decent point. Avery Johnson was a leader because of his personality, not his skill...before that, we had Rod Strickland.

Tony Parker is -- hands down -- the best point the Spurs have ever had. George Hill will probably end up ranking in the top five. Sorry, Jacque Vaughn.

#2!
10-20-2009, 12:45 PM
George Hill's 2nd season > George Hill's 1st season > Speedy Claxton > Beno Udrih > Roger Mason Jr. as a point > Van Exel

I'm so glad the Spurs drafted GH because now they don't have to worry about backing up their point position so much. It's easy to recall the days, as a spurs fan, when we never had a decent point. Avery Johnson was a leader because of his personality, not his skill...before that, we had Rod Strickland.

Tony Parker is -- hands down -- the best point the Spurs have ever had. George Hill will probably end up ranking in the top five. Sorry, Jacque Vaughn.

Great optimism, but we should probably see how he does in the season before we declare it a success.

SenorSpur
10-20-2009, 05:28 PM
George Hill's 2nd season > George Hill's 1st season > Speedy Claxton > Beno Udrih > Roger Mason Jr. as a point > Van Exel

I'm so glad the Spurs drafted GH because now they don't have to worry about backing up their point position so much. It's easy to recall the days, as a spurs fan, when we never had a decent point. Avery Johnson was a leader because of his personality, not his skill...before that, we had Rod Strickland.

Tony Parker is -- hands down -- the best point the Spurs have ever had. George Hill will probably end up ranking in the top five. Sorry, Jacque Vaughn.

I totally agree on your ranking of Parker as THE best PG in Spurs history. However, right behind him, in my book, would be James Silas. Unheralded and virtually unknown to most present-day Spurs fans, Silas was one of the best PGs in the ABA, that the NBA never really saw. Despite being the 2nd banana to Gervin on those early Spurs squads, it was Silas who became known for his excellence in running the 1-4 offense and his brilliance in late game situations. Thereby, rightfully earning him the nickname, "Captain Late".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Silas