Spurs21Fan4Ever
06-05-2012, 07:42 PM
Well, there are multiple reasons, but here is what I believe the main reason to me.
People have talked a lot about the role players for both teams and how the role players on OKC have outplayed the role players on SA by a mile, but IMO, role players go as far as their star leads them. The two stars are obviously Kevin Durant and Tony Parker. There are other players that are considered stars, but those are the main stars and leaders of their teams.
Now anyone with eyes can see Kevin Durant has outplayed Parker and it really isn't even close. But it goes farther than that to me. Kevin Durant has been a far better facilitator and teammate this series.
Let me just give one brief example for each. Last night Cook made two big threes in a row in the corner, do you remember who passed the ball to him to make that shot? Kevin Durant. Now in both situations, KD was being guarded one on one, and got the step on the defender. That drew Parker away from Cook, but even with Parker coming to help the guy defending Cook, KD still could've pulled off an elbow jumper that he probably would've made, but instead he passed it to Cook. When Cook sees this, he must be thinking, "Wow, the best player on this team and the three time scoring champ is passing me the ball when he probably could score? Well if he's that confident that I'll make this shot than I am too".
Now for Parker, he's done the opposite. Multiple times this series I've seen him look right at wide open teammates, but instead of passing them the ball, he proceeds to drive into the lane and get blocked or pull off a contested and off-balance shot. One example, last night, on a fast break, Tim Duncan outran the OKC bigs and was wide open for an easy dunk. Parker looked right him, and instead of getting the easy assist, he drove and ended up getting blocked by Perkins. This isn't a random role player he is intentionally ignoring, this is Tim freakin Duncan! Why would SA's role players have confidence in themselves when their star doesn't have confidence in them?
This to me is the biggest reason OKC is winning this series, because Kevin Durant is a far better player, leader, and teammate than Parker. There is an outside chance Parker can change and play like a true star tomorrow, but I doubt it.
It's so frustrating to see this from Parker, because he's done this so many times in the past, but I thought he finally matured and outgrew this type of selfish play. But here we are once again and when teams stop Tony, Tony allows that to stop the entire team. Very disappointing to see this from Parker.
People have talked a lot about the role players for both teams and how the role players on OKC have outplayed the role players on SA by a mile, but IMO, role players go as far as their star leads them. The two stars are obviously Kevin Durant and Tony Parker. There are other players that are considered stars, but those are the main stars and leaders of their teams.
Now anyone with eyes can see Kevin Durant has outplayed Parker and it really isn't even close. But it goes farther than that to me. Kevin Durant has been a far better facilitator and teammate this series.
Let me just give one brief example for each. Last night Cook made two big threes in a row in the corner, do you remember who passed the ball to him to make that shot? Kevin Durant. Now in both situations, KD was being guarded one on one, and got the step on the defender. That drew Parker away from Cook, but even with Parker coming to help the guy defending Cook, KD still could've pulled off an elbow jumper that he probably would've made, but instead he passed it to Cook. When Cook sees this, he must be thinking, "Wow, the best player on this team and the three time scoring champ is passing me the ball when he probably could score? Well if he's that confident that I'll make this shot than I am too".
Now for Parker, he's done the opposite. Multiple times this series I've seen him look right at wide open teammates, but instead of passing them the ball, he proceeds to drive into the lane and get blocked or pull off a contested and off-balance shot. One example, last night, on a fast break, Tim Duncan outran the OKC bigs and was wide open for an easy dunk. Parker looked right him, and instead of getting the easy assist, he drove and ended up getting blocked by Perkins. This isn't a random role player he is intentionally ignoring, this is Tim freakin Duncan! Why would SA's role players have confidence in themselves when their star doesn't have confidence in them?
This to me is the biggest reason OKC is winning this series, because Kevin Durant is a far better player, leader, and teammate than Parker. There is an outside chance Parker can change and play like a true star tomorrow, but I doubt it.
It's so frustrating to see this from Parker, because he's done this so many times in the past, but I thought he finally matured and outgrew this type of selfish play. But here we are once again and when teams stop Tony, Tony allows that to stop the entire team. Very disappointing to see this from Parker.