Manu20
05-22-2006, 10:38 AM
Buck Harvey: Wait two more years? Parker does enough now
Web Posted: 05/22/2006 12:05 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA052206.1D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.cf1a3ed.html
San Antonio Express-News
Time for Ginobili to rise up. For Duncan to post up. For Horry to show up.
Game 7.
Isn't this their time? It was a year ago against Detroit.
But don't overlook what is also vital tonight for the Spurs when Jason Terry comes back. Then, Tony Parker comes back, too.
Parker had extra days to rest his sore hip, as well as time to get over an awful Game 6. The Spurs don't need heroics from him, only the kind of fast-start syndrome that has thus far defined his career.
The Spurs will need Parker, because they will need everything tonight. This series — as tight and even as any in Spurs history — isn't over just because the Spurs are at home.
The Mavericks have often looked faster and deeper than the Spurs in this series. And the return of Terry does more than give the Mavericks another shooter. Just as his absence helped create a Game 7, his return creates something else. The Mavericks, this way, can rationalize blowing a 3-1 lead.
It's still rationalization. Just as Jerry Stackhouse botched the end of Game 1, Dirk Nowitzki botched the end of Game 6. Meanwhile Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili showed again the qualities that go deeper than stats.
As for Robert Horry: Wouldn't it be just like him to check in about now?
The Clippers' Sam Cassell saw the same. Asked about this matchup earlier this month, Cassell told the Dallas Morning News: "(The Mavericks) are playing good basketball. But who is going to make shots late in the game besides Dirk? That's the question Dallas has to answer."
It's what every franchise has to answer to win a title. "A team is not going to allow you your first option with two minutes to go in the game," Cassell continued. "The Spurs have guys more than willing to take that shot."
Cassell listed one of them as Parker, which concerns Clippers coaches. If the Spurs and Clippers advance to meet in the Western Conference finals, Cassell will be ordered to watch video.
That's the image of Parker, at least, and these playoffs have reinforced that even when he's been sensational. He led the elimination of Sacramento, for example, with 31 points in the finale. But his game-changing run came in the third quarter, and the Spurs were already leading then.
The same pattern followed against the Mavericks. He went for 16 points in the first quarter of Game 4, and, because of his injury, had only 15 points in the first quarter in the next game.
His fourth quarters weren't nearly as lively. And Friday, when the basketball once slipped out of his hands on a jumper, it looked as if Parker would digress further. After three quarters, he had about as many turnovers (three) as points (four), and his jumper summed it up. He was 2 for 13 entering the fourth.
With about three minutes left, and the Spurs behind by a point, a signature moment came. Then, Parker, left again by a sagging Dallas defense, threw in a 20-footer for the lead.
Would a younger Parker have done the same?
He wonders. "I was pretty confident with every shot I took last game," Parker said Sunday. "Not like last year."
Now he says he understands the technique he needs to use, which is why he also thinks his free-throw tic of the past is over. He watched film of his shooting Sunday morning, then joined the Spurs' assistant, Chip Engelland, immediately after practice for an adjustment.
Sunday's tip: Follow through.
Parker has won two titles, as well as All-Star recognition. But he knows he's not close to what he wants to be. Someday, he wants Gregg Popovich to trust him at the end of games the way Popovich trusts Ginobili. The development of his shooting stroke is key to that.
When will that be complete? Engelland has told Parker this process will require two more years.
So 2008 is set. But not tonight. Now, the Spurs merely need Parker to come out revved up again, with his hip warm, and match the Dallas scorers.
That makes Parker a set-up man. And long ago — before the Mavericks even existed — this worked for the Spurs. Then, George Gervin would shoot cool finger rolls for three quarters, and James Silas would finish.
That's why both got appropriate nicknames. Iceman and Captain Late.
So before it's time for Ginobili and Duncan and Horry, the Spurs need Parker to be something special. They need Parker, again, to be himself.
Web Posted: 05/22/2006 12:05 AM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA052206.1D.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.cf1a3ed.html
San Antonio Express-News
Time for Ginobili to rise up. For Duncan to post up. For Horry to show up.
Game 7.
Isn't this their time? It was a year ago against Detroit.
But don't overlook what is also vital tonight for the Spurs when Jason Terry comes back. Then, Tony Parker comes back, too.
Parker had extra days to rest his sore hip, as well as time to get over an awful Game 6. The Spurs don't need heroics from him, only the kind of fast-start syndrome that has thus far defined his career.
The Spurs will need Parker, because they will need everything tonight. This series — as tight and even as any in Spurs history — isn't over just because the Spurs are at home.
The Mavericks have often looked faster and deeper than the Spurs in this series. And the return of Terry does more than give the Mavericks another shooter. Just as his absence helped create a Game 7, his return creates something else. The Mavericks, this way, can rationalize blowing a 3-1 lead.
It's still rationalization. Just as Jerry Stackhouse botched the end of Game 1, Dirk Nowitzki botched the end of Game 6. Meanwhile Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili showed again the qualities that go deeper than stats.
As for Robert Horry: Wouldn't it be just like him to check in about now?
The Clippers' Sam Cassell saw the same. Asked about this matchup earlier this month, Cassell told the Dallas Morning News: "(The Mavericks) are playing good basketball. But who is going to make shots late in the game besides Dirk? That's the question Dallas has to answer."
It's what every franchise has to answer to win a title. "A team is not going to allow you your first option with two minutes to go in the game," Cassell continued. "The Spurs have guys more than willing to take that shot."
Cassell listed one of them as Parker, which concerns Clippers coaches. If the Spurs and Clippers advance to meet in the Western Conference finals, Cassell will be ordered to watch video.
That's the image of Parker, at least, and these playoffs have reinforced that even when he's been sensational. He led the elimination of Sacramento, for example, with 31 points in the finale. But his game-changing run came in the third quarter, and the Spurs were already leading then.
The same pattern followed against the Mavericks. He went for 16 points in the first quarter of Game 4, and, because of his injury, had only 15 points in the first quarter in the next game.
His fourth quarters weren't nearly as lively. And Friday, when the basketball once slipped out of his hands on a jumper, it looked as if Parker would digress further. After three quarters, he had about as many turnovers (three) as points (four), and his jumper summed it up. He was 2 for 13 entering the fourth.
With about three minutes left, and the Spurs behind by a point, a signature moment came. Then, Parker, left again by a sagging Dallas defense, threw in a 20-footer for the lead.
Would a younger Parker have done the same?
He wonders. "I was pretty confident with every shot I took last game," Parker said Sunday. "Not like last year."
Now he says he understands the technique he needs to use, which is why he also thinks his free-throw tic of the past is over. He watched film of his shooting Sunday morning, then joined the Spurs' assistant, Chip Engelland, immediately after practice for an adjustment.
Sunday's tip: Follow through.
Parker has won two titles, as well as All-Star recognition. But he knows he's not close to what he wants to be. Someday, he wants Gregg Popovich to trust him at the end of games the way Popovich trusts Ginobili. The development of his shooting stroke is key to that.
When will that be complete? Engelland has told Parker this process will require two more years.
So 2008 is set. But not tonight. Now, the Spurs merely need Parker to come out revved up again, with his hip warm, and match the Dallas scorers.
That makes Parker a set-up man. And long ago — before the Mavericks even existed — this worked for the Spurs. Then, George Gervin would shoot cool finger rolls for three quarters, and James Silas would finish.
That's why both got appropriate nicknames. Iceman and Captain Late.
So before it's time for Ginobili and Duncan and Horry, the Spurs need Parker to be something special. They need Parker, again, to be himself.