Spurs all time assists leaders

[Bruno]

After the Hornets game:

1. Avery Johnson 4474
2. Tony Parker 4468

:)

[jjktkk]

Thanks for posting Bruno.

[MI21]

Good :)

[mudyez]

Time to trade Parker! ;)

[Darkwaters]

So basically what you're saying is if Tony had gotten off his butt and tied his career assist total last night then he also would have tied Avery for the Spurs career assist total.

Slacker. Like it's HARD to get 17 assists in a game.

[Darkwaters]

In all honesty though, thats awesome. I look forward to giving him that crown in a game or two.

[TDMVPDPOY]

he wouldve gotten this record long time ago if he was a pass first pg....

[MI21]

he wouldve gotten this record long time ago if he was a pass first pg....

Spurs would have less championships and wins if he was a pass first PG.

[manufan10]

:tu

Didn't even know how close he was, tbh.

[Obstructed_View]

Both good point guards. Glad to have watched them over the years.

[FromWayDowntown]

Spurs would have less championships and wins if he was a pass first PG.

:tu

[spursfan09]

You know I thought I saw some graphic flash on the screen in last night's game. It said magic # 17 and it looked like Tony Parker. So I was wondering what that meant? Thought it could be for assists. Good for him!

[pookenstein]

So he'll most likely be #1 after the home win against the Thunder.

[lefty]

Of course


AJ didnt play his whole career in SA

lol record *

[ThaBigFundamental21]

Spurs would have less championships and wins if he was a pass first PG.

Right because distributing the ball and making the game easier on your teammates by allowing them to score easier translates to winning less. Boy Magic Johnson, you sure screwed over your teammates with your passing abilities. To think how much they could have won without you passing the rock. Oh, and screw you Oscar Robertson for sharing the ball.

[GSH]

he wouldve gotten this record long time ago if he was a pass first pg....

Parker has also scored around 7,000 more points as a Spur than Avery. He wouldn't have those if he was a pass first PG. And we would likely have less banners in the rafters.

[TimmehC]

All these arguments about pass-first point guards being better than Tony are moot in the Spurs' offense. Everyone is required to be unselfish and find the best play, not just the PG. The best play might be 3 passes removed from the PG, and that's not something you can blame Tony for.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Right because distributing the ball and making the game easier on your teammates by allowing them to score easier translates to winning less. Boy Magic Johnson, you sure screwed over your teammates with your passing abilities. To think how much they could have won without you passing the rock. Oh, and screw you Oscar Robertson for sharing the ball.

If you want to boil it down to the basics a good point guard gets his team the best shot available in a possession. If that point guard just happens to be possibly the quickest one in the league (as Parker was for a few years) that means attacking the rim.

On top of that his assist numbers are a little skewed just like Duncan's. How many wide open threes came from him passing out double teams in the post? Tons! It's the guys making the extra pass to swing the ball around to the shooter with the most room that gets the credit for the assist but the guy drawing the double team is really the most crucial aspect. Parker could get into the paint at will, unbalance a defense, and get the ball back out the perimeter without that showing on the stat sheet in his favor.

There was a real good thread in the NBA forum once upon a time (seriously, they have those there) that talked about the assist as a stat. The argument I came to agree with most is that as an individual stat they a overrated measure of a player, but great measure of a team's offensive flow. A PG who dominates the ball on every possession could get 8 assists a game without truly helping his team while a guy could run an offense that gets three starters 2-3 assists per game without garnering any praise.

Which is all just a long winded way of saying TP is a hell of player and I'm glad he'll have his name in the Spurs record books.

[Rummpd]

The difference between the two, besides Tony's better natural talent and speed, is that Tony unike AJ worked very hard on his outside shot and it has paid off. To be fair once AJ hit a key shot in a championship game but the defense almost always played off on him. David Robinson if he had had a chance to play his prime with Tony instead of AF would have won a title or two before Tim came along in my opinion.

The other thing about AJ is that even though became a coach also had some locker room incidents including one with Malik. Here is a write up about that one:

One time when he didn't like something Malik Rose was doing, Johnson confronted him. An argument in the showers turned into a naked free-for-all on the floor. A few days later on the team bus, when Johnson stood up to address his peers, most of them assumed he was going to apologize.

He did, in his own way, adding, "This is my team." http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/2005_3865568/twenty-games-into-his-head-coaching-career-avery-j.html

I for one have never been a fan of AJ either as a coach or as a player; but am a great fan of the under-ranked and under-appreciated Tony Parker - so glad it is him not AJ who will be left holding the record.

[therealtruth]

All these arguments about pass-first point guards being better than Tony are moot in the Spurs' offense. Everyone is required to be unselfish and find the best play, not just the PG. The best play might be 3 passes removed from the PG, and that's not something you can blame Tony for.

So you are saying if Chris Paul came here he would be averaging less assists? If so Pop wouldn't be making the best use of his talent and passing ability. You can't win with just a system you need the players' individual talents.

[therealtruth]

Spurs would have less championships and wins if he was a pass first PG.

That's because he's not a good passer. But you can't be saying if the Spurs had Chris Paul (a better passer) they would have won less.

[GSH]

So you are saying if Chris Paul came here he would be averaging less assists? If so Pop wouldn't be making the best use of his talent and passing ability. You can't win with just a system you need the players' individual talents.


To begin with, this was a thread about Avery Johnson and Tony Parker. Avery dished out assists at a slightly higher rate, but scored at less than half the rate. The fact that you had to resort to Chris Paul to try and prove your point says a lot. If there's a list of better PG's in the league, its a damned short one. And Avery Johnson wouldn't have been on it.

The discussion was - would we have as many titles with Avery, or a PG like him? The answer is simply, no. If some of you want to go putting together some kind of NBA Dream Team, have at it. Wast of time for those out of middle school.

[will_spurs]

So you are saying if Chris Paul came here he would be averaging less assists?

Most definitely.

Parker joined the Spurs when he was very young and Pop shaped him into the kind of player he needed at least as much as Parker blossomed into the kind of player he was meant to be.

The great luck the Spurs had all along was to have 2 great players who always acknowledged that it was Tim's team and always did what Pop wanted, even though that didn't pad their stats, didn't make for highlight reels or meant they had to go to the bench. These players bought into the system and have 3 rings to show for it. That's 3 more than many basketball players that are supposed to play better but can't take directions, act like primadonnas and can't get their priorities straight.

[DPG21920]

My prediction: TP breaks the record in spectacular fashion tonight.

[EVAY]

The difference between the two, besides Tony's better natural talent and speed, is that Tony unike AJ worked very hard on his outside shot and it has paid off. To be fair once AJ hit a key shot in a championship game but the defense almost always played off on him. David Robinson if he had had a chance to play his prime with Tony instead of AF would have won a title or two before Tim came along in my opinion.

The other thing about AJ is that even though became a coach also had some locker room incidents including one with Malik. Here is a write up about that one:

One time when he didn't like something Malik Rose was doing, Johnson confronted him. An argument in the showers turned into a naked free-for-all on the floor. A few days later on the team bus, when Johnson stood up to address his peers, most of them assumed he was going to apologize.

He did, in his own way, adding, "This is my team." http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/2005_3865568/twenty-games-into-his-head-coaching-career-avery-j.html

I for one have never been a fan of AJ either as a coach or as a player; but am a great fan of the under-ranked and under-appreciated Tony Parker - so glad it is him not AJ who will be left holding the record.


Thank You.

Tony has always been under appreciated in San Antonio because Pop's offense used TD as the main scorer AND passer for so many years. In TD's prime, the only thing to do was "geev thee ball to Teemy". Then get out of the way. Duncan would start dribbling and if he didn't get double teamed he would shoot. But if he made the basket, Tony would never get the assist because TD dribbled after he took the pass. If TD DID get double-teamed, he would pass and then IF someone made a shot, TD would get the assist, not the point guard.

Only after TD became less able to knock around in the post did Pop begin to change the offense a little bit...but the offense is Pop's not Tony's.

[ElNono]

Just goes to show the Spurs never had top of the line PGs...

[will_spurs]

Of course


AJ didnt play his whole career in SA

lol record *

AJ in SA = 4,474 (9 seasons)
AJ total = 5,846 (15 seasons)

Roughly 500 per season in SA and 230 per season elsewhere...

3 more seasons (at most) and TP will have more career assists than AJ.

[MI21]

Right because distributing the ball and making the game easier on your teammates by allowing them to score easier translates to winning less. Boy Magic Johnson, you sure screwed over your teammates with your passing abilities. To think how much they could have won without you passing the rock. Oh, and screw you Oscar Robertson for sharing the ball.

Wow, talk about comparing apples with oranges. Magic played to his strengths, those strengths which made him one of the greatest basketball players the planet has seen. Those strengths just happened to be leading one of the best offensive teams of all time with his distribution abilities. That's what the team called for, that was the dynamic. Huge difference, smh.

I agree, Tony should of been running around "setting up teammates" instead of feeding the rock to the greatest PF of all time in block, blitzing teams off the dribble in isolation and PnR plays and deferring to Manu for the good of the team. He should of been hero dribbling and trying to get his assist numbers and playing an unnatural style of game for him.

[Bruno]

After the Hornets game:

1. Avery Johnson 4474
2. Tony Parker 4468

[mathbzh]

Right because distributing the ball and making the game easier on your teammates by allowing them to score easier translates to winning less. Boy Magic Johnson, you sure screwed over your teammates with your passing abilities. To think how much they could have won without you passing the rock. Oh, and screw you Oscar Robertson for sharing the ball.

Magic was a champion 24 years ago and at 6'8 he was not exactly the typical point guard.
I can't get why people are so obsessed with pass first PG when the last NBA champion with 10+ APG is Magic.

[maverick1948]

Actually, ANY top assisting PG would have fewer assists in San Antonio. As long as you have a Manu Ginobili type SG, the PG will not have the ball in his hands all the time. The last two years, Manu has averaged 4.9 apg. Another thing, Tony starts the ball movement and it might consist of 3 or 4 passes and who ends up with the ball either Tim or Tony. It is when the passing get stagnant that the Spurs have a hard time scoring.

[tp2021]

Since i bought tickets from a friend who couldn't make it, I would love NOTHING more than to see Tony break the record today. Then I can tell my grandkids all about how back in my day, I used to watch the Spurs all-time assist leader and Finals MVP in action.

Then bring on the jersey retirement against Minny :hungry:

[007nites]

I thought Timmy would be the first to the assist record lol.

[sonic21]

he would've gotten this record long time ago if manu wasn't such a ballhog.

[Spurs Brazil]

Congrats Tony!