duncan228
04-24-2008, 12:12 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA042408.01C.Bkn_Spurs_Suns_daily.en.389932e.htm l
NBA: Parker charges full steam into Suns
Jeff McDonald
San Antonio Express-News
Phoenix guard Raja Bell left San Antonio with a message for Tony Parker.
It could be considered a threat. It could be considered an invitation.
"If he wants to go in and play amongst those big dudes, they're going to put him on the ground," Bell said. "And if he can keep getting up and doing it, God bless him."
Two games into the Spurs' Western Conference first-round series with Phoenix, Parker has been beaten and battered like a punch-drunk boxer.
The Spurs point guard has taken a knee to the head from Amare Stoudemire, one of those aforementioned big dudes. He has been flattened by Shaquille O'Neal, rendered a welterweight gnat on the Diesel's windshield.
He has hit the ground on the way to the rim — a lot. Not that Parker needs much assistance in falling down.
"Tony falls down on his own a lot," the Spurs' Brent Barry said. "We talk about that in the locker room. There's probably no other player in the league who falls down as much as he does. It's the Frenchman in him, I guess."
If Parker continues to insist on getting up afterward, the Suns might need divine intervention to survive the rest of this series. Phoenix has trudged home for Friday's Game 3 in an 0-2 hole, in part because Parker has refused to back down to bullying.
Little more than two hours after O'Neal had road-graded him during a first-half drive Tuesday, Parker walked gingerly into the Spurs' postgame locker room. He had a limp, but also a smile.
His 32 points, many of them on hiccup-quick layups, helped deliver a 102-96 Spurs victory in Game 2.
"He was trying to play physical," Parker said of O'Neal. "But that's not going to stop me."
With Parker and Manu Ginobili leading the layup parade, the Spurs have outscored the Suns 128-88 in the paint in two games.
In Game 2, they outpaced the turbo-charged Suns 24-3 on fast-break points.
Much of that came courtesy of Parker, the Spurs' one-man fast break.
In that, Barry thought he saw familiar flashes of the Parker who carried the Spurs to a title last season, and was the MVP of the NBA Finals.
"His speed and the way he handled the ball reminded me a lot of how he looked in June," Barry said.
A year ago, when the Spurs and Suns met in the conference semifinals, it was the other MVP point guard in the series who was taking the beating.
By series' end, Steve Nash had been bloodied, thanks to the unscheduled meeting of his nose with Parker's head. He had been hip-checked into the scorer's table. Worse for any red-blooded male, he had also been kneed in the groin.
This year's rematch has been easier on Nash, but it has also been harder.
The Spurs were able to keep him under wraps for long stretches of Game 1. Nash had 11 points before exploding for 14 in two overtimes.
He finished Game 2 with 23 points and 10 assists, and was 10 of 15 from the field, but stood at the epicenter of the third-quarter meltdown that ultimately cost Phoenix the game.
Nash has been good in the series so far, but not too good. Here Parker gets credit for his defense, as does Bruce Bowen.
"We are trying to put different people on Steve so he doesn't get used to (the same person) guarding him," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I feel we did as well as any human being could do to just hang with him."
Bowen, the Spurs' defensive stopper, has yet to score a point in this series. But his presence has been felt, particularly in Game 2.
It was Bowen who hounded Nash during the Phoenix guard's turnover-plagued third quarter.
Though he would never consider it such, it was a statement moment for Bowen, who earlier in the day learned he had slipped to fourth in the voting for NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Boston's Kevin Garnett won the award, making Bowen a bridesmaid again.
"Second, third, fourth — it doesn't matter," Popovich said. "There's the guy who wins it, and everybody else is a whole bunch of good defenders. (Bowen) is important to us, and that's what's meaningful to me."
Phoenix has no such answer for Parker. Unable to beat him, the Suns seem resigned to beat him up.
Where others see a threat, Parker sees an invitation.
"I'm going to be aggressive regardless," he said. "That's my mind-set right now. I'm trying to be in attack mode."
NBA: Parker charges full steam into Suns
Jeff McDonald
San Antonio Express-News
Phoenix guard Raja Bell left San Antonio with a message for Tony Parker.
It could be considered a threat. It could be considered an invitation.
"If he wants to go in and play amongst those big dudes, they're going to put him on the ground," Bell said. "And if he can keep getting up and doing it, God bless him."
Two games into the Spurs' Western Conference first-round series with Phoenix, Parker has been beaten and battered like a punch-drunk boxer.
The Spurs point guard has taken a knee to the head from Amare Stoudemire, one of those aforementioned big dudes. He has been flattened by Shaquille O'Neal, rendered a welterweight gnat on the Diesel's windshield.
He has hit the ground on the way to the rim — a lot. Not that Parker needs much assistance in falling down.
"Tony falls down on his own a lot," the Spurs' Brent Barry said. "We talk about that in the locker room. There's probably no other player in the league who falls down as much as he does. It's the Frenchman in him, I guess."
If Parker continues to insist on getting up afterward, the Suns might need divine intervention to survive the rest of this series. Phoenix has trudged home for Friday's Game 3 in an 0-2 hole, in part because Parker has refused to back down to bullying.
Little more than two hours after O'Neal had road-graded him during a first-half drive Tuesday, Parker walked gingerly into the Spurs' postgame locker room. He had a limp, but also a smile.
His 32 points, many of them on hiccup-quick layups, helped deliver a 102-96 Spurs victory in Game 2.
"He was trying to play physical," Parker said of O'Neal. "But that's not going to stop me."
With Parker and Manu Ginobili leading the layup parade, the Spurs have outscored the Suns 128-88 in the paint in two games.
In Game 2, they outpaced the turbo-charged Suns 24-3 on fast-break points.
Much of that came courtesy of Parker, the Spurs' one-man fast break.
In that, Barry thought he saw familiar flashes of the Parker who carried the Spurs to a title last season, and was the MVP of the NBA Finals.
"His speed and the way he handled the ball reminded me a lot of how he looked in June," Barry said.
A year ago, when the Spurs and Suns met in the conference semifinals, it was the other MVP point guard in the series who was taking the beating.
By series' end, Steve Nash had been bloodied, thanks to the unscheduled meeting of his nose with Parker's head. He had been hip-checked into the scorer's table. Worse for any red-blooded male, he had also been kneed in the groin.
This year's rematch has been easier on Nash, but it has also been harder.
The Spurs were able to keep him under wraps for long stretches of Game 1. Nash had 11 points before exploding for 14 in two overtimes.
He finished Game 2 with 23 points and 10 assists, and was 10 of 15 from the field, but stood at the epicenter of the third-quarter meltdown that ultimately cost Phoenix the game.
Nash has been good in the series so far, but not too good. Here Parker gets credit for his defense, as does Bruce Bowen.
"We are trying to put different people on Steve so he doesn't get used to (the same person) guarding him," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I feel we did as well as any human being could do to just hang with him."
Bowen, the Spurs' defensive stopper, has yet to score a point in this series. But his presence has been felt, particularly in Game 2.
It was Bowen who hounded Nash during the Phoenix guard's turnover-plagued third quarter.
Though he would never consider it such, it was a statement moment for Bowen, who earlier in the day learned he had slipped to fourth in the voting for NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Boston's Kevin Garnett won the award, making Bowen a bridesmaid again.
"Second, third, fourth — it doesn't matter," Popovich said. "There's the guy who wins it, and everybody else is a whole bunch of good defenders. (Bowen) is important to us, and that's what's meaningful to me."
Phoenix has no such answer for Parker. Unable to beat him, the Suns seem resigned to beat him up.
Where others see a threat, Parker sees an invitation.
"I'm going to be aggressive regardless," he said. "That's my mind-set right now. I'm trying to be in attack mode."