Parker will be fit for EuroBasket

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There's no good reason for not supporting Tony for playing for France.

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Yeah, it's not like he needs to be in SA working with the coach we hired largely to help him improve his woefully inconsistent jumper.

And it's not like he's not sporting tendinitis serious enough to have him sit out practice in August.

The tendinitis thing alone is pretty maddening, dude needs to be resting.

And spare me all the French pride on this thread. Like I said, the last time Tony represented his country in qualifying was a complete charlie foxtrot (c.f.).

Until those guys over there figure out how to play like a team, I'd rather not see Tony over there risking his season (we are going to be paying him just under 10 mil this coming season) for a team that doesn't know how to play like one.

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Originally Posted by Aggie Hoopsfan

Yeah, it's not like he needs to be in SA working with the coach we hired largely to help him improve his woefully inconsistent jumper.

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you gotta live with it dude...
keep whining, he'll play just because representing your country > everything
see the good things in it. keep searching, i bet you'll find a couple... even your little brain will... ;)

I wonder what Parker would give up first $66 million or representing his country?

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Originally Posted by Aggie Hoopsfan

Yeah, it's not like he needs to be in SA working with the coach we hired largely to help him improve his woefully inconsistent jumper.

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Parker says he will work his jumpshot with the french coach

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Originally Posted by Aggie Hoopsfan

And it's not like he's not sporting tendinitis serious enough to have him sit out practice in August.

The tendinitis thing alone is pretty maddening, dude needs to be resting.

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That's why he get some resting time in August. French coach take care of him.

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Originally Posted by Aggie Hoopsfan

And spare me all the French pride on this thread. Like I said, the last time Tony represented his country in qualifying was a complete charlie foxtrot (c.f.).

Until those guys over there figure out how to play like a team, I'd rather not see Tony over there risking his season (we are going to be paying him just under 10 mil this coming season) for a team that doesn't know how to play like one.

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You don't know the french team.
It's difficult to play like a team when Moiso and TAW belong to it.
Now they are gone and rigaudeau is back, France will maybe not win but it's a real team this year.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

Parker says he will work his jumpshot with the french coach

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Great because outside shooting is such a strength of the French team. Now his shot will be really fucked up.

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Originally Posted by picnroll

Great because outside shooting is such a strength of the French team. Now his shot will be really fucked up.

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When you don't know, say nothing please.
Do you know Fred Fauthoux or Antoine Rigaudeau ?
The weakness of the french team is the lack of big PF/C.

The Spurs don't OWN tony! they just are paying for his services during the season. What he does during the off season is his business. If the Spurs didn't want him to play ball during the off season for his country, they should've stated that in his contract. Tony is a grown man, he can do whatever he wants to do. I see representing ones country in any form as a honorable thing to do. I wish more American all star players would step up and represent America. This, coming from an American military member. It's only a GAME! if he get's injured, so what! He will heal. Getting shot at and seeing friends die in Iraq make worrying about Tony's knee meaningless. Americans place athletes as gods and are untouchable. They're humans, just like you and I. If I were in his shoes, I'd play BASKETBALL for my country with pride. I'll have comfort knowing that I wouldn't have to live in a tent, get shot at, see people around me soaked in blood because that was my job. Playing BASKETBALL for ones country is just a pleasure. I hope I put some perspective on this subject!

Pietrus, Diaw, Parker are NBA players who have all yet to develop anywhere near consistent NBA outside shots. We saw Rigaudeau play for Dallas, well for five minutes anyways.European players coming to the NBA are noted for their shooting, but not French players to date. Sorry but I'd rather have Chip working with Parker than some French coach and then Chip having to undo what this Frecnh coach has spent the summer doing.

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The Spurs don't OWN tony! they just are paying for his services during the season. What he does during the off season is his business.

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In terms of playing basketball, skiing, hang gliding, riding a motorcycle and various other activities I suspect that Parker's activities are contractually "owned" by the Spurs. Spurs likely gave him permission to play for France.

The French have better backspin on their tires than they do on their jumpshots.

:smokin

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Originally Posted by picnroll

Pietrus, Diaw, Parker are NBA players who have all yet to develop anywhere near consistent NBA outside shots. We saw Rigaudeau play for Dallas, well for five minutes anyways.European players coming to the NBA are noted for their shooting, but not French players to date. Sorry but I'd rather have Chip working with Parker than some French coach and then Chip having to undo what this Frecnh coach has spent the summer doing.

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French Basketball is not only 3 players.
Rigaudeau carreer is not five minute with Dallas.
You don't know the french coach.
When you don't know, don't speak.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

When you don't know, don't speak.

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Thanks for the advice but how about you gfy instead. :spin

I agree with most of the French posters here. Its not only about playing basketball but also about representing your way of life (family, ideology, etc.). Unfortunately, most USA born players, as do some people here, don't see it that way. I really do think that its a condemnation on our own way of life when players like KG or Shaq refuse to represent us in sport. I hope Tony is not seriously injured and plays well for his country. He, like Timmy and Manu, have proven that there is more to their careers than getting paid.

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Originally Posted by weebo

I agree with most of the French posters here. Its not only about playing basketball but also about representing your way of life (family, ideology, etc.). Unfortunately, most USA born players, as do some people here, don't see it that way. I really do think that its a condemnation on our own way of life when players like KG or Shaq refuse to represent us in sport. I hope Tony is not seriously injured and plays well for his country. He, like Timmy and Manu, have proven that there is more to their careers than getting paid.

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I DO agree with you, this is a controversial issue ... but also a cultural difference among countries, mostly of the world see "playing for the National Team" as an unique opportunity to represent its country just for the honor not for $$$. :angel

Anyway I hope TP doesn't get hurt, play well and I am interested in watching him playing against Beno :blah

http://www.tp9.net/en/itw.php?id=80
Taking my time
Tony, how is going with the national team ?

With a sore knee, I have been resting for a while. I finally got to practice yesterday morning. I must be careful, hence taking my time. I only trained for 20 minutes or so. I need to get back in the rhythm slowly, without speeding things up. I managed to work some cardio in order to get back in shape.

When do you foresee being fit to play ?

I think in four or five days. As the European championships are in more than a month (September 16-25), I am being patient. The preparation is extremely long and I have some time ahead of me to get back to my peak.

How did address this with the coach Claude Bergeaud ?

It went very simply as I have nothing to hide. Claude knows that Gregg Popovich (San Antonio’s head coach) did not want me to participate in the Euro 2005. At the end of July, « Pop » told me that I’d better pass on the Euro and rest in order to work on my knee tendonitis. Personally, this was out of the question. We thus found a compromise. I will rest and slowly get back into training in the upcoming weeks.

You had never talked about this injury before…

What purpose would this serve ? It is not me to complain in the press. I took the pain during many weekends last season even if the pain was at some point extremely hard. Following with the double OT win at Golden State in April I was telling you that my knees were whistling… The pain dates back to that moment and with the frequency of the games it was not better with time. I have had some treatment for a good month now and with rest, I know that all will get back in order.

How would you describe the atmosphere with team France ?

Excellent as we are all getting along. Frankly, I am extremely happy to get back with the team. We are all motivated with a lot of envy. Regarding Antoine (Rigaudeau), I am not worried we will work together with our eyes closed. He knows how to play basketball and he understands the game extremely well. It will be a great challenge to play together.

The life with the national team must be a change from what you know in the NBA…

It is bizarre ! (Laughs) To the opposite of the NBA, we are taking all our lunches together. We have a few mandatory meetings during the day and one must on time all the time. There are a lot of little things that make for some good changes compared to the NBA.

Will you on the court next week against Belgium ?

I think I will play on game two on Tuesday. You won’t see me more than 10 or 15 minutes but chances are you will see me.

Spurs better have a good backup PG this year.

It doesn't sound so bad to me. Pop wanted him to rest. He didn't want to skip the tourney. So he's going to play limited games and limited minutes.

Well see. The French coaches won't give two craps about Parker's knee if the games are on the line.

Well, at least he's willing to compromise with Pop. How many other players in the league are that flexible and that close with their coach that they heed their advice?

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Originally Posted by T Park

Nothing like having one of the big 3 get hurt this summer.

Damnt Tony sit it out for god's sake.

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These guys (TD, Manu and TP) just don't get it. You're being paid millions to play for the Spurs. The NBA season is not conducive to playing serious b-ball year round. Rest your damn bodies, guys, so we can finally have a repeat title team so people will start using the "D" word along with the Celtics ad Lakers.

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Bit of national pride...

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Truly, sports fans (and sports personalities) are so ignorant of global politics and what the hell is seriously going on in the world, as evident by the pathetic jingoism shown whenever this topic of playing for one's country comes up.

actually, I'm a harsh critic of parker but I respect him more for playing for his national team, especially because the french team sucks. Its not like hes doing it for fun or glory!

and what the hell does what is "seriously going on in the world" and "global politics" have to do with being proud to represent you country? Shit, if the players (or us for that matter) were concerned with that there would be no such thing as sports.

If those of you complaining are seriously concerned with the health of professional basketball players you should be directing your complaints at Stern for promoting expansion and having a ridiculously long 82 game season wherein players play as many as 5-6 games a week.

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Parker says he will work his jumpshot with the french coach

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Considering the shooting prowess of French players to date, that doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

And spare me the Rigaudeau talk, the guy was a money shooter BEFORE he joined Team France.

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With a sore knee, I have been resting for a while. I finally got to practice yesterday morning. I must be careful, hence taking my time. I only trained for 20 minutes or so. I need to get back in the rhythm slowly, without speeding things up. I managed to work some cardio in order to get back in shape.

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So he's out of shape, has a sore knee going back nearly six months, and is going to be seeing the bulk of his PT less than a month before the season starts.

Greaaaaaat. I hope Barry is ready to see some time at point this year. :depressed

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Originally Posted by Aggie Hoopsfan

Considering the shooting prowess of French players to date, that doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

And spare me the Rigaudeau talk, the guy was a money shooter BEFORE he joined Team France.

So he's out of shape, has a sore knee going back nearly six months, and is going to be seeing the bulk of his PT less than a month before the season starts.

Greaaaaaat. I hope Barry is ready to see some time at point this year. :depressed

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You don't improve your jumpshot in one month. Tony spent last summer in SA and he works his jumpshot : does he improve his jumpshot early this year ? No on contrary, he was awful in the first months of this season.

Tony knows the motion he must do for a jumpshot. He try to do it but it doesn't work because you must not think of your motion when you do a jumpshot. During the second half of the season, he forget what he has learned and slighty improve his jumpshot.

To improve his jumpshot, Tony need a lot of practice and time.

The european championship, it's only 10 days in september and some games before where tony won't have a lot of PT if he is not enough healthy.

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You don't improve your jumpshot in one month.

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August + September = two months...

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Tony spent last summer in SA and he works his jumpshot

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And Chip was there too, right?

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Tony knows the motion he must do for a jumpshot. He try to do it but it doesn't work because you must not think of your motion when you do a jumpshot.

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Yeah, and shooting 500 shots a day with Chip obviously wouldn't have helped him as much as having to worry about practice and games over there.

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where tony won't have a lot of PT if he is not enough healthy.

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Again, the coaches in Europe could GAF about the NBA, particularly for a team that is feeling the heat for its abysmal attempt at making the Olympics in '04. They'll run Tony 40 minutes a night if they think that's what it takes to pull this out.