Kori Ellis
05-20-2006, 04:04 AM
Spurs' Parker adds intensity in second half
Web Posted: 05/20/2006 01:26 AM CDT
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052006.4C.BKNspurs.parker.3462501.html
DALLAS — The Spurs trudged off to their locker room at halftime of Game 6 of their NBA Western Conference semifinal series against the Dallas Mavericks, trailing by six and in need of a spark. So coach Gregg Popovich went to the Spur who was struggling more than any other.
As he has on many occasions in the past, Popovich told point guard Tony Parker to get back to being aggressive.
It took Parker a while to apply Popovich's advice, but in the fourth quarter, Parker made one of the biggest shots of the playoffs and two free throws that iced the game.
After his poorest shooting game of the series, it was great consolation to the player who had led the Spurs in scoring in the regular season.
"Is it fair to say I struggle in the first half?" Parker said, grinning. "Oh, yeah. I was on fire."
Parker had scored 60 points in the previous two games, but in the first half Friday he missed 8 of 10 shots and committed three turnovers.
That's why Popovich put his arm around him at halftime and urged him to be the aggressive player who had become an All-Star this season for the first time.
"I was really proud of him," Popovich said. "I talked to him at halftime about how important it was for him to get into that game into the second half. We needed him to be aggressive, both for himself and for his teammates."
Parker believed he had been aggressive enough in the first half, no matter how ineffective.
"I kept shooting," Parker said. "They just didn't go in."
Parker's struggles continued into the third period, when he missed all three of his shots.
Though Popovich had been using his backup, Nick Van Exel, only at the start of the second quarter and fourth quarter in each of the previous five games of the series, he sat Parker with 1:03 left in the third and put Van Exel into the game.
That turned out to be as good a move as encouraging Parker to regain his aggression.
"I thought Nick was really solid while Tony was struggling," Popovich said. "He came in and didn't turn the ball over; moved the ball and got people in position. He got the ball to Timmy (Duncan) the way we needed to get it done.
"He played good defense, was really solid for us. I thought that was huge."
Van Exel had his best game since Game 1 of the first round against Sacramento. Though he scored only two points and had only one assist and two rebounds, he directed the Spurs' half-court offense well, and when he turned things back over to Parker, with 5:04 remaining in the game, the Spurs had an 80-77 lead.
Just one minute, 39 seconds later, Parker drained a 19-foot jumper that gave the Spurs an 82-81 lead, and they never trailed thereafter.
Parker also made two free throws with five-and-a-half seconds left, sealing the Spurs' 91-86 victory.
"I had to just keep being aggressive and hope it would turn around," Parker said. "It was just one of those nights. Nothing is going your way. I was just coming off from two strong games, but tonight was just not my night tonight."
Web Posted: 05/20/2006 01:26 AM CDT
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA052006.4C.BKNspurs.parker.3462501.html
DALLAS — The Spurs trudged off to their locker room at halftime of Game 6 of their NBA Western Conference semifinal series against the Dallas Mavericks, trailing by six and in need of a spark. So coach Gregg Popovich went to the Spur who was struggling more than any other.
As he has on many occasions in the past, Popovich told point guard Tony Parker to get back to being aggressive.
It took Parker a while to apply Popovich's advice, but in the fourth quarter, Parker made one of the biggest shots of the playoffs and two free throws that iced the game.
After his poorest shooting game of the series, it was great consolation to the player who had led the Spurs in scoring in the regular season.
"Is it fair to say I struggle in the first half?" Parker said, grinning. "Oh, yeah. I was on fire."
Parker had scored 60 points in the previous two games, but in the first half Friday he missed 8 of 10 shots and committed three turnovers.
That's why Popovich put his arm around him at halftime and urged him to be the aggressive player who had become an All-Star this season for the first time.
"I was really proud of him," Popovich said. "I talked to him at halftime about how important it was for him to get into that game into the second half. We needed him to be aggressive, both for himself and for his teammates."
Parker believed he had been aggressive enough in the first half, no matter how ineffective.
"I kept shooting," Parker said. "They just didn't go in."
Parker's struggles continued into the third period, when he missed all three of his shots.
Though Popovich had been using his backup, Nick Van Exel, only at the start of the second quarter and fourth quarter in each of the previous five games of the series, he sat Parker with 1:03 left in the third and put Van Exel into the game.
That turned out to be as good a move as encouraging Parker to regain his aggression.
"I thought Nick was really solid while Tony was struggling," Popovich said. "He came in and didn't turn the ball over; moved the ball and got people in position. He got the ball to Timmy (Duncan) the way we needed to get it done.
"He played good defense, was really solid for us. I thought that was huge."
Van Exel had his best game since Game 1 of the first round against Sacramento. Though he scored only two points and had only one assist and two rebounds, he directed the Spurs' half-court offense well, and when he turned things back over to Parker, with 5:04 remaining in the game, the Spurs had an 80-77 lead.
Just one minute, 39 seconds later, Parker drained a 19-foot jumper that gave the Spurs an 82-81 lead, and they never trailed thereafter.
Parker also made two free throws with five-and-a-half seconds left, sealing the Spurs' 91-86 victory.
"I had to just keep being aggressive and hope it would turn around," Parker said. "It was just one of those nights. Nothing is going your way. I was just coming off from two strong games, but tonight was just not my night tonight."