Tom_Foolery
06-22-2005, 11:05 PM
The upside on this kid is tremendous and he has great speed, but to be honest I haven't seen him "progress" all that much in the last 3 Post Seasons.
The last time we won the championship in 2003, alot of credit should go to our bench. Manu had taken over games when Jax couldn't get it going and Speedy Claxton continuously saved Parker in both the Suns & Nets series. Matter of fact, Pop took out Parker in the 4th of the last game of the 2003 finals and I specifically remember Speedy & Manu both finishing that series off with both Bowen & Parker benched.
My biggest worry is Parker's maturity and inconsistency. Maybe we are being a bit hard on the guy, but regardless of age, I haven't seen him dramatically progress his entire game in the playoffs. Usually you will see a difference in players in their post season play. Parker has been good, and has been bad. Game 6, he started the game erratic and carelessly. I knew we were in trouble in the 1st quarter because of Parker's play. Some games he plays exceptionally well, but what I've noticed in the last 3 years of every series is that Parker will start off the series good the first couple of games and the rest of the series is all downhill full of inconsistency. I have yet to ever see Parker play an ENTIRE SERIES up to his potential. Someone can correct me on this, but I think I'm pretty sure that Parker has usually started a series off well and then goes downhill from there(with the exception of the Suns series in 2003 where he eventually gained his confidence).
The player I am most concerned with tomorrow is Tony Parker. After listening to his press conference, you get the feeling that not only does he not know why he's playing bad, but he has lost alot of confidence in himself to play better.
If Tony Parker does not play well, the Spurs will lose. The reason why we won the Championship in 2003 was because of our bench play and our depth at both guard positions. Time & time again, Claxton had to be put in rough situations that Parker was not able to handle and Speedy exceled and answered the bell, something Parker does not do very well. We don't have Speedy...we have a rookie in Beno who also plays careless, which is why he hasn't played at all in game 5 and sparingly in game 6.
If Parker plays well, we win. If he doesn't, we will lose. I think the Pistons know this and they will also force everyone to play man-to-man and make it hard on the Spurs to find their "go-to" guy.
What I've noticed in the series after game 2 is the Spurs are playing too much "one-on-one". Even Duncan is playing "one-on-one" and that isn't how we should be playing.
Pistons lost games 1 & 2 because they played "one-on-one", the exact same reason why the Spurs lost games 3,4 and 6.
I'm hoping Parker can mature and come through, but I'll be honest, I don't know for sure if he will. I can lie and call myself a fan, but I'm not going to lie to myself and say, "I know we will win tomorrow" because I just don't know if we will. I just don't know if Parker has matured all that much from the last couple of post-seasons. Sure, his regular season averages are up, but his post-season play has been the exact same as the last several years...just inconsistent.
I don't know how many years Pop has to continue to treat Parker like a "5yr old" and yell at him to get any results. It just doesn't register with Parker for some reason. It's like he "expects" to be yelled at, yet he doesn't learn from his mistakes. I just don't see the seriousness in his game. I don't think he honestly understands that some players will never ever win the championship and doesn't value this opportunity with the respect he should have.
Of course it's not all Parker's fault, but out of Parker, Manu and Duncan, Parker is the most inconsistent and hasn't elevated his game in the Post-Season like Duncan and Manu have.
The last time we won the championship in 2003, alot of credit should go to our bench. Manu had taken over games when Jax couldn't get it going and Speedy Claxton continuously saved Parker in both the Suns & Nets series. Matter of fact, Pop took out Parker in the 4th of the last game of the 2003 finals and I specifically remember Speedy & Manu both finishing that series off with both Bowen & Parker benched.
My biggest worry is Parker's maturity and inconsistency. Maybe we are being a bit hard on the guy, but regardless of age, I haven't seen him dramatically progress his entire game in the playoffs. Usually you will see a difference in players in their post season play. Parker has been good, and has been bad. Game 6, he started the game erratic and carelessly. I knew we were in trouble in the 1st quarter because of Parker's play. Some games he plays exceptionally well, but what I've noticed in the last 3 years of every series is that Parker will start off the series good the first couple of games and the rest of the series is all downhill full of inconsistency. I have yet to ever see Parker play an ENTIRE SERIES up to his potential. Someone can correct me on this, but I think I'm pretty sure that Parker has usually started a series off well and then goes downhill from there(with the exception of the Suns series in 2003 where he eventually gained his confidence).
The player I am most concerned with tomorrow is Tony Parker. After listening to his press conference, you get the feeling that not only does he not know why he's playing bad, but he has lost alot of confidence in himself to play better.
If Tony Parker does not play well, the Spurs will lose. The reason why we won the Championship in 2003 was because of our bench play and our depth at both guard positions. Time & time again, Claxton had to be put in rough situations that Parker was not able to handle and Speedy exceled and answered the bell, something Parker does not do very well. We don't have Speedy...we have a rookie in Beno who also plays careless, which is why he hasn't played at all in game 5 and sparingly in game 6.
If Parker plays well, we win. If he doesn't, we will lose. I think the Pistons know this and they will also force everyone to play man-to-man and make it hard on the Spurs to find their "go-to" guy.
What I've noticed in the series after game 2 is the Spurs are playing too much "one-on-one". Even Duncan is playing "one-on-one" and that isn't how we should be playing.
Pistons lost games 1 & 2 because they played "one-on-one", the exact same reason why the Spurs lost games 3,4 and 6.
I'm hoping Parker can mature and come through, but I'll be honest, I don't know for sure if he will. I can lie and call myself a fan, but I'm not going to lie to myself and say, "I know we will win tomorrow" because I just don't know if we will. I just don't know if Parker has matured all that much from the last couple of post-seasons. Sure, his regular season averages are up, but his post-season play has been the exact same as the last several years...just inconsistent.
I don't know how many years Pop has to continue to treat Parker like a "5yr old" and yell at him to get any results. It just doesn't register with Parker for some reason. It's like he "expects" to be yelled at, yet he doesn't learn from his mistakes. I just don't see the seriousness in his game. I don't think he honestly understands that some players will never ever win the championship and doesn't value this opportunity with the respect he should have.
Of course it's not all Parker's fault, but out of Parker, Manu and Duncan, Parker is the most inconsistent and hasn't elevated his game in the Post-Season like Duncan and Manu have.