some_user86
12-27-2007, 08:04 AM
Parker drives Spurs - Guard paces rout over Bulls with 28 points
Web Posted: 12/27/2007 12:22 AM CST
Jeff McDonald
Express-News
On a grease board in the cramped visitors' quarters at the AT&T Center, Pete Myers, Chicago's interim head coach, had scribbled a four-word pregame prescription for victory in Wednesday night's game against the Spurs:
"Drive their old legs."
As the long-reigning oldest team in the NBA, the Spurs have grown accustomed to such egregious examples of ageism.
So when the going got sticky early against the Bulls, the Spurs flipped Myers' mantra against him. They let one of their youngest sets of legs drive them.
Tony Parker, the fresh-faced 25-year-old point guard, scored 28 points — many of them during a decisive second-quarter run — to help the Spurs beat back the spiraling Bulls 94-79.
"Tony has always been a combo point guard," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We would always like him to score. That's basically who he is."
Michael Finley had 15 points while Bruce Bowen and reserves Matt Bonner and Ime Udoka each added 12 for the Spurs, who didn't even need a dominant night from Tim Duncan to prolong the Bulls' season of sorrow.
Playing for the first time since the Christmas Eve ouster of head coach Scott Skiles, and with veteran assistant Myers at the helm, the Bulls made a game of it against the defending champions for all of one quarter.
A Parker-fueled 26-9 run in the second helped the Spurs open up an 18-point lead that proved too much for the beleaguered Bulls to overcome.
Joe Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead Chicago, an Eastern Conference championship contender before the season and now a Central Division cellar dweller.
Leery that the Spurs might be ambushed by a talented Bulls bunch frothing over the loss of its coach, Popovich instituted his own four-word key to victory before the game: "No energy, no win."
With Manu Ginobili — their one-man lithium battery — sidelined with a sprained finger, the Spurs (20-7) turned first to Parker and then to their power-packed bench to find both.
Chicago (9-17) traded blows and leads with the Spurs in the first quarter before Parker, playing in just his second game since coming off the injured list with a sprained ankle, got his young legs going in the second.
In the span of less than four minutes of the second quarter, Parker tossed in a dozen of his points, lighting the fuse on the run that broke the Bulls.
"Lately, I've been trying to penetrate, look for myself and look for my teammates," said Parker, who increased his team-leading scoring average to 20.3 points per game. "It creates easy offense."
No offense came easier — or in a more vintage Parker fashion — than the final basket of his second-quarter flurry.
Loose on a fast break, Parker found only Luol Deng between him and a layup. He crossed over Deng, zipping past him like a bullet train, and then weaving in for a left-handed finish.
Myers marveled at the thoroughness of Parker's dismantling of his Bulls.
Chicago had even switched up its pick-and-roll defense, sagging a defender under the screen in hopes of forcing Parker to shoot jumpers.
More often than not, Parker created a path to the paint anyway.
"Tony Parker is a determined penetrator," said Myers, in his first and, depending upon the whims of general manager John Paxson, perhaps only game as Chicago's interim boss.
"He doesn't let any traffic slow down his path to the goal."
One of NBA's fastest point guards, slowing down has never been part of Parker's psyche.
"His first notion is to score, and I don't want to take that away from him," Popovich said. "He's good at it, and that's good for us."
Parker proved as much Wednesday.
On a team full of plodding old legs, his young legs can still carry the Spurs.
[email protected]
LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA122707.01C.BKNspurs.bulls.gamer.296ea65.html
Web Posted: 12/27/2007 12:22 AM CST
Jeff McDonald
Express-News
On a grease board in the cramped visitors' quarters at the AT&T Center, Pete Myers, Chicago's interim head coach, had scribbled a four-word pregame prescription for victory in Wednesday night's game against the Spurs:
"Drive their old legs."
As the long-reigning oldest team in the NBA, the Spurs have grown accustomed to such egregious examples of ageism.
So when the going got sticky early against the Bulls, the Spurs flipped Myers' mantra against him. They let one of their youngest sets of legs drive them.
Tony Parker, the fresh-faced 25-year-old point guard, scored 28 points — many of them during a decisive second-quarter run — to help the Spurs beat back the spiraling Bulls 94-79.
"Tony has always been a combo point guard," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We would always like him to score. That's basically who he is."
Michael Finley had 15 points while Bruce Bowen and reserves Matt Bonner and Ime Udoka each added 12 for the Spurs, who didn't even need a dominant night from Tim Duncan to prolong the Bulls' season of sorrow.
Playing for the first time since the Christmas Eve ouster of head coach Scott Skiles, and with veteran assistant Myers at the helm, the Bulls made a game of it against the defending champions for all of one quarter.
A Parker-fueled 26-9 run in the second helped the Spurs open up an 18-point lead that proved too much for the beleaguered Bulls to overcome.
Joe Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead Chicago, an Eastern Conference championship contender before the season and now a Central Division cellar dweller.
Leery that the Spurs might be ambushed by a talented Bulls bunch frothing over the loss of its coach, Popovich instituted his own four-word key to victory before the game: "No energy, no win."
With Manu Ginobili — their one-man lithium battery — sidelined with a sprained finger, the Spurs (20-7) turned first to Parker and then to their power-packed bench to find both.
Chicago (9-17) traded blows and leads with the Spurs in the first quarter before Parker, playing in just his second game since coming off the injured list with a sprained ankle, got his young legs going in the second.
In the span of less than four minutes of the second quarter, Parker tossed in a dozen of his points, lighting the fuse on the run that broke the Bulls.
"Lately, I've been trying to penetrate, look for myself and look for my teammates," said Parker, who increased his team-leading scoring average to 20.3 points per game. "It creates easy offense."
No offense came easier — or in a more vintage Parker fashion — than the final basket of his second-quarter flurry.
Loose on a fast break, Parker found only Luol Deng between him and a layup. He crossed over Deng, zipping past him like a bullet train, and then weaving in for a left-handed finish.
Myers marveled at the thoroughness of Parker's dismantling of his Bulls.
Chicago had even switched up its pick-and-roll defense, sagging a defender under the screen in hopes of forcing Parker to shoot jumpers.
More often than not, Parker created a path to the paint anyway.
"Tony Parker is a determined penetrator," said Myers, in his first and, depending upon the whims of general manager John Paxson, perhaps only game as Chicago's interim boss.
"He doesn't let any traffic slow down his path to the goal."
One of NBA's fastest point guards, slowing down has never been part of Parker's psyche.
"His first notion is to score, and I don't want to take that away from him," Popovich said. "He's good at it, and that's good for us."
Parker proved as much Wednesday.
On a team full of plodding old legs, his young legs can still carry the Spurs.
[email protected]
LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA122707.01C.BKNspurs.bulls.gamer.296ea65.html