Mixed reviews on Tony Parker?

[#TD21MVP]

I've been a long time reader, first time poster to this site. Respect to TimVP, I didn't look at nicknames before I chose mine.

What finally prompted me to post is that I seek an answer to the question.... Why is Tony not embraced by Spurs fans?

Several other questions stemming from that in this post, feel free to answer any or all or just fire out your opinion.

Even at a time when he is having a legitimate MVP season for a top contender, I still log in here and read "Trade Tony". I know some are joking, some are floating opinion, but some have genuine venom towards the little guy. Is he too cool? Too French? Too hip-hop? Are people opposed to his brothers moving to San Antonio and setting up a business there? Is it the hollywood gossip angle? Is it th ething with Bones' wife?

I for one love the guy. I love his story, I love that Pop has basically bent him to be a perfect fit for the Spurs engine by being highly coachable. I mostly love that the thought of him winning another Finals MVP is a distinct possibility.

Lastly, what would you want in exchange if you did trade him?

J

Twitter-
@jasonperkins44

[cantthinkofanything]

Yes, he's too "hip-hop". You nailed it.

[ChumpDumper]

He is too not Manu.

[Imp23]

Hatters gonna Hate. It's just part of the game. TP for MVP

[ace3g]

Brevin Knight last night on NBATV gave Tony Parker a lot of props; saying Parker was closest to a traditional PG (said most PGs now days are more hybrid guards): Finishes well with both hands and now especially since he has increased his assist numbers.

[Gagnrath]

1. For alot of his career Parker was the 3rd or 4th best player on the spurs. At this time he was also a worse shooter than currently (% wise this doesn't bear out because he has always been able to make lay-up and floaters at a high rate.) Yet he was constantly driving into the lane into the midst of the defense often times passing up an open shooter, leading to more turnovers than needed and alot of wear and tear on the starting PG getting the crap knocked out of him.

2. The French thing, he was born in France yes, while his dad american was playing pro ball overseas, he downplays his american roots. Considering the male American dislike of most things french he gets himself in trouble. Sure he released a rap album.... In french. Its almost as though he is enjoying challenging the American Identity.

3. He married Eva Longoria and has always been known to flaunt around very good looking women in his life. He has money and fame so he pulls in very good looking women this started at a very young age as well. Then he shows them off this causes just a bit of angst in the typical American male.

4. The Erin Berry thing. Brent was known to be a good guy and teammate (in contrast to his dad) so his questionable relationship there caused some issues and reenforced the two issues above. It also re-enforced the impression that while he wasn't a terrible teammate he was a bit of a me first kind of guy.

[ElNono]

I think Tony has been gaining more and more support. The latest MVP chants are part of that, IMO.

Looking back, I think he did or said certain things that fans didn't want to know or hear, and that worked against him. The "ething with Bones wife" is probably one. His assertion along the lines of the Spurs being done, while probably frank and debatably true, during the offseason is another one.

[mudyez]

1. For alot of his career Parker was the 3rd or 4th best player on the spurs. At this time he was also a worse shooter than currently (% wise this doesn't bear out because he has always been able to make lay-up and floaters at a high rate.) Yet he was constantly driving into the lane into the midst of the defense often times passing up an open shooter, leading to more turnovers than needed and alot of wear and tear on the starting PG getting the crap knocked out of him.

2. The French thing, he was born in France yes, while his dad american was playing pro ball overseas, he downplays his american roots. Considering the male American dislike of most things french he gets himself in trouble. Sure he released a rap album.... In french. Its almost as though he is enjoying challenging the American Identity.

3. He married Eva Longoria and has always been known to flaunt around very good looking women in his life. He has money and fame so he pulls in very good looking women this started at a very young age as well. Then he shows them off this causes just a bit of angst in the typical American male.

4. The Erin Berry thing. Brent was known to be a good guy and teammate (in contrast to his dad) so his questionable relationship there caused some issues and reenforced the two issues above. It also re-enforced the impression that while he wasn't a terrible teammate he was a bit of a me first kind of guy.

good list, even though I was confused with the "Berry" thing.

after all there are 3 type of Spurs fans: The ones, that see Timmy standing above all (and who could argue?)...die ones that love Manu over TP (Manu is just to lavable) and TP-fans, which have been won over by his play alone.

The last group is probably the smallest but with his play I dont think a lot of Spurs fans dont love him! I do surely, even though I'm a Manu guy!

[hooperflash]

i used to be related to him , now i'm not but i still embrace what he has done for us. TD for MVP

[timtonymanu]

As far as I know, it's the Erin Barry situation and him proclaiming the Spurs are done. But it seems like people were still critical of him before those incidents.

I admit I like Manu more than Tony, but I don't hate Tony at all. He gets Bonner-level hate on here from certain posters *cough FkLA *cough.

[will_spurs]

He's not from a Spanish-speaking country.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I'm not ethnically diverse enough to offer the review requested. My apologies.

[Old School 44]

Fans look at CP3, DWill and Nash as top point guards because of the number of assist/game along with their scoring. TP has been known as a shoot first PG and to some, unjustly as a ball hog, because his assist were not at their level.

I think the perception is changing because his assist are up and he has emerged as the leader of this team.

[rasho8]

People who love Manu say Tony is a ball hog and we would win every game if he just always gave the ball to Manu regardless. Even though Manu straight up says thats some stupid bullshit, haters gonna hate, and the Church of Manu is rabid in their dislike of Tony Parker.

Its worse on these forums then anywhere else so take all the stuff on here with a grain of salt.

[Solid D]

Nothing is wrong with Tony. He's become a great scorer, distributor and an excellent defender within the team system. He will go down as the greatest PG in Spurs' history upon his retirement. His number 9 will hang from the rafters.

[cantthinkofanything]

Nothing is wrong with Tony. He's become a great scorer, distributor and an excellent defender within the team system. He will go down as the greatest PG in Spurs' history upon his retirement. His number 9 will hang from the rafters.

I was saying this in 2000.

[Darius Bieber]

First time poster here as well, but a regular reader and occasional Chat Room talker.

When Parker first came here, Popovich was on him like white on rice. As a youngster just starting out, many teens would quit and go back where they came from. Parker could have easily traveled back to France and made his money there. However, he stuck with the yells from Pop, and it has truly benefited him. He is now an elite Point Guard in the League. A lot of hatred comes from his apparent lethargic attitude to some games, but as a player in a harch season schedule such as in the NBA, you are naturally gonna be tired.

[Solid D]

I was saying this in 2000.

Yeah, except that 12 years ago, Tony was not a great scorer and distributor. Perhaps you meant that you saw that ability in him.

[cantthinkofanything]

Yeah, except that 12 years ago, Tony was not a great scorer and distributor.

I mean about him being the best point guard and having his jersey hang from the rafters. But it was on a different message board.

[Solid D]

Ah, okay. Yep.

[spursfan09]

It's one thing to dislike him because of inconsistent play or basketball related stuff. It's another to have personal hatred for the guy becuase of where he's from; who he dates; whose wife he texted. I mean get a life of your own people.

Either way he's the greatest Point guard to ever play for the spurs, and he will have his #9 jersey retired.

[spursfan09]

.

[EVAY]

I've been a long time reader, first time poster to this site. Respect to TimVP, I didn't look at nicknames before I chose mine.

What finally prompted me to post is that I seek an answer to the question.... Why is Tony not embraced by Spurs fans?

Several other questions stemming from that in this post, feel free to answer any or all or just fire out your opinion.

Even at a time when he is having a legitimate MVP season for a top contender, I still log in here and read "Trade Tony". I know some are joking, some are floating opinion, but some have genuine venom towards the little guy. Is he too cool? Too French? Too hip-hop? Are people opposed to his brothers moving to San Antonio and setting up a business there? Is it the hollywood gossip angle? Is it th ething with Bones' wife?

I for one love the guy. I love his story, I love that Pop has basically bent him to be a perfect fit for the Spurs engine by being highly coachable. I mostly love that the thought of him winning another Finals MVP is a distinct possibility.

Lastly, what would you want in exchange if you did trade him?

J

Twitter-
@jasonperkins44


I have wondered this for a very long time.

He came and took more grief off of Popovich than any human being should ever have to take off of any human being. Sports announcers all over the country talked about Tony being Pop's "whipping boy".

TP came in when he was 19 and not yet as accomplished a player as Tim or Manu when he showed up. (remember Manu was known as a star elsewhere and was a grown man when he got here. When Pop would scream at Manu, Manu would hold up his hand as if to say 'Talk to the hand'. He never cared what Pop said).
He was also not as well hyped and/or known as Timmy when Tim showed up.
Pop immediately made the entire team around Tim, got Robinson to take a back seat offensively to Tim, and generally made sure that everyone knew that Tim was 'the man". Tim was Pop's savior and Pop knew it/knows it.

Given the realities of the personalities and talents of Tim and Manu, Tony's only place on the team was to fit in to the offensive set that Pop wanted, which was generally "geev thee boll to Teemy", and get out of the way. So everyone in the league knew that was the Spurs offensive set. Tim got the ball from the pg, dribbled in to the low post , figured out if a double team was going to show up or not, and then depending on what he saw, he would either score or throw it out to a three point shooter. That is what the spurs did for about the first five years Tony was here. That is what Pop wanted.

Tony had little or no authority to do anything else on the floor than that. So his assist figures were never what some point guards would have been because the predominant ball handler was not the point guard...it was Tim Duncan. The offense ran through Tim, and everyone on the team accepted that. Including Tony Parker.

Pop was a point guard in his own career and so had/has VERY clear ideas about what he wants a point guard to do, and how to utilize the best that Tim has to offer.

In the early years, several times Pop would say to Tony and/or other team members "which of you is an all-star? HUH? Are you an All-Star? Are you?" So the other team members would say "No, Coach, I am not an all-star", and Pop would go on to explain why that meant that they were nothing compared to Tim, and so everyone should make sure that the team was doing what was best (i.e., giving the ball to Tim). The whole point of having three point shooters surrounding Tim was that it would open up the middle for him to operate. The guards were to either give it to Tim or drive to the paint so as to draw the defenders away from the three point shooters on the perimeter.

So, in order to keep from getting screamed at by Pop, Tony became exactly what Pop wanted...a point guard who subjugated his own preferences and talent to that of the star of the team. So his assists were never very impressive and his scoring was never very impressive compared to other point guards in the league who didn't play in the Pop/Tim system.

So, people here and elsewhere became convinced that Tony wasn't as good as most other point guards, because his stats were never as impressive as other point guards.

The fact that Tim has been much less productive in the past few years and has had to admit that he is not as dominant in the post as he was a few years ago has changed the way that the team operates. It has been hard on Tim to learn to shoot the ball when he gets it in his hand rather than hold it and dribble it and survey the field as he did for so many years, but as he has done so, and as other team members have been asked to catch and shoot from someone other than Tim, Tony's stats have looked more impressive and so people think he has gotten better.

I simply think that the man does what the team and his coach need, and always has done it. Lots of people around here don't pay enough attention to see it I think.

Also, Tony is almost the ANTI-TIM when it comes to clothes and high fashion and interest in celebrity style. There is nothing wrong with that, to me, but to a lot of folks around here, it sometimes seems to be a problem because it is not what Tim wants and what Tim wants is how everybody should act. I don't think that TIm thinks, that, but I think some of the fans do.

Tony is better than most folks around here give him credit for by a mile, but that is the way it has always been here, and I think that Pop's treatment of him started the whole approach.

The thing about Erin Barry? Remember that noone knows what any of these guys do. Or with whom they do it. I don't have any illusions about any of these folks, and I think that people who are harboring grudges about that sort of thing against the one guy who was caught are delusional to think that is the only case, or that he is the only non-faithful sports figure on the Spurs team.

[Brazil]

TP dislike begun well before the erin stuff, the rap album and the fact he has said the spurs are over.

The fact he is French doesn't help but I don't see that as a big issue.

I probably think that it is more related to the old scoring pg vs. passing first pg thing IMO. People like to watch some S. Nash averaging 12 assists per game, they feel / think this kind of pg makes other players better. In comparison, TP is perceived as being selfish looking for his own opportunity vs. making the team mates better. see for instance the fast break issue. Then the Spurs have a lot of Manu fans (for good reasons) and TP scoring is less opportunity for their favorite to shine.

[Ricky Davis]

People in SA bought into the misconception that Tony thought he was better than San Antonio and wanted to be in a bigger city.

[SPURSCHAMP]

I have wondered this for a very long time.

He came and took more grief off of Popovich than any human being should ever have to take off of any human being. Sports announcers all over the country talked about Tony being Pop's "whipping boy".

TP came in when he was 19 and not yet as accomplished a player as Tim or Manu when he showed up. (remember Manu was known as a star elsewhere and was a grown man when he got here. When Pop would scream at Manu, Manu would hold up his hand as if to say 'Talk to the hand'. He never cared what Pop said).
He was also not as well hyped and/or known as Timmy when Tim showed up.
Pop immediately made the entire team around Tim, got Robinson to take a back seat offensively to Tim, and generally made sure that everyone knew that Tim was 'the man". Tim was Pop's savior and Pop knew it/knows it.

Given the realities of the personalities and talents of Tim and Manu, Tony's only place on the team was to fit in to the offensive set that Pop wanted, which was generally "geev thee boll to Teemy", and get out of the way. So everyone in the league knew that was the Spurs offensive set. Tim got the ball from the pg, dribbled in to the low post , figured out if a double team was going to show up or not, and then depending on what he saw, he would either score or throw it out to a three point shooter. That is what the spurs did for about the first five years Tony was here. That is what Pop wanted.

Tony had little or no authority to do anything else on the floor than that. So his assist figures were never what some point guards would have been because the predominant ball handler was not the point guard...it was Tim Duncan. The offense ran through Tim, and everyone on the team accepted that. Including Tony Parker.

Pop was a point guard in his own career and so had/has VERY clear ideas about what he wants a point guard to do, and how to utilize the best that Tim has to offer.

In the early years, several times Pop would say to Tony and/or other team members "which of you is an all-star? HUH? Are you an All-Star? Are you?" So the other team members would say "No, Coach, I am not an all-star", and Pop would go on to explain why that meant that they were nothing compared to Tim, and so everyone should make sure that the team was doing what was best (i.e., giving the ball to Tim). The whole point of having three point shooters surrounding Tim was that it would open up the middle for him to operate. The guards were to either give it to Tim or drive to the paint so as to draw the defenders away from the three point shooters on the perimeter.

So, in order to keep from getting screamed at by Pop, Tony became exactly what Pop wanted...a point guard who subjugated his own preferences and talent to that of the star of the team. So his assists were never very impressive and his scoring was never very impressive compared to other point guards in the league who didn't play in the Pop/Tim system.

So, people here and elsewhere became convinced that Tony wasn't as good as most other point guards, because his stats were never as impressive as other point guards.

The fact that Tim has been much less productive in the past few years and has had to admit that he is not as dominant in the post as he was a few years ago has changed the way that the team operates. It has been hard on Tim to learn to shoot the ball when he gets it in his hand rather than hold it and dribble it and survey the field as he did for so many years, but as he has done so, and as other team members have been asked to catch and shoot from someone other than Tim, Tony's stats have looked more impressive and so people think he has gotten better.

I simply think that the man does what the team and his coach need, and always has done it. Lots of people around here don't pay enough attention to see it I think.

Also, Tony is almost the ANTI-TIM when it comes to clothes and high fashion and interest in celebrity style. There is nothing wrong with that, to me, but to a lot of folks around here, it sometimes seems to be a problem because it is not what Tim wants and what Tim wants is how everybody should act. I don't think that TIm thinks, that, but I think some of the fans do.

Tony is better than most folks around here give him credit for by a mile, but that is the way it has always been here, and I think that Pop's treatment of him started the whole approach.

The thing about Erin Barry? Remember that noone knows what any of these guys do. Or with whom they do it. I don't have any illusions about any of these folks, and I think that people who are harboring grudges about that sort of thing against the one guy who was caught are delusional to think that is the only case, or that he is the only non-faithful sports figure on the Spurs team.

:wow Best post I've read in a long time. Well said

[MI21]

1. For alot of his career Parker was the 3rd or 4th best player on the spurs. At this time he was also a worse shooter than currently (% wise this doesn't bear out because he has always been able to make lay-up and floaters at a high rate.) Yet he was constantly driving into the lane into the midst of the defense often times passing up an open shooter, leading to more turnovers than needed and alot of wear and tear on the starting PG getting the crap knocked out of him.

Lulz.

Please name the seasons Tony was the 4th best player on the Spurs? Also name the seasons he was the 3rd best player. He was not the 4th or 3rd best player for a lot of his career.

[MI21]

I was saying this in 2000.

Wow, that's amazing. Tony must of really impressed you that year while playing for Paris Basket Racing.

:lol