Monroe: Spurs' Parker carrying heavy load

Spurs' Parker carrying heavy load

Web Posted: 11/10/2007 11:01 PM CST

Mike Monroe
Express-News

As the Spurs warmed up for a preseason game against the Houston Rockets three weeks ago, one of the many NBA scouts sitting courtside, on hand to steal play calls and defensive sets, watched Tim Duncan make bank shot after bank shot.
The scout shook his head.

"It's amazing," he said. "Tim is the best big man in basketball, but he totally allows the Spurs to run their offense through Tony (Parker) because he sees the evolution of their team and understands that TP's development allows him more freedom. With teams now stopping the ball when Parker has it, Tim is even more effective and efficient in the post."

It was no coincidence, then, that Friday night when Parker took 20 shots and scored 27 points in the Spurs' 97-85 victory over the New Orleans Hornets, Duncan had his best game of the season. Facing Tyson Chandler, one of the NBA's better interior defenders, Duncan made 11 of 14 shots and scored 24 points, his season high.

Parker has played 122 minutes and attempted 54 shots the past three games as Spurs coach Gregg Popovich uses game action to renew Parker's conditioning after holding him out of much of the preseason. Rookie Darius Washington had an efficient 13 minutes, 46 seconds in Friday's game, some of it in tandem with Parker. Nevertheless, Parker figures to get more big chunks of playing time in today's game at the AT&T Center against the Milwaukee Bucks and Tuesday's game against the Lakers.

Jacque Vaughn, who finished the 2006-07 season as Parker's primary backup, may return Thursday or Friday from a training camp calf pull that prevented him from playing in any preseason games or the first six regular-season games. Until he suits up, Parker's workload likely will be heavy.

"That's the plan," Popovich said, "just to get him his rhythm. He feels good. It's just a matter of conditioning, really. We want to get his legs back. Everything else is good."

Popovich stressed the importance of Parker's willingness to shoot from the perimeter when teams go under pick-and-roll sets to keep him from getting to the basket.

"He looked tentative shooting the ball in the Houston game," Popovich said of the Spurs' lone loss. "That's why we're going to play him more minutes and get him shooting the ball. He's got to do that. He has to shoot the ball because guys go under him all the time on pick and rolls.

"If he doesn't shoot that shot, there's no offense, because everyone else is locked up. They don't have to double-team or hedge or do anything. He's got to knock down those 17-footers, and he shot them confidently and well against Miami."

Parker laughs at the notion that opponents will alter their defensive focus to limit his perimeter jumpers.

"Teams are going to go under regardless," he said, "even if I make the shot. They'd rather me make shots than penetrate for layups or dishing to people. So I have to take those shots because they're right there. If I don't take it, it's going to be a bad rhythm and you know we're not going to be in a good flow."

Popovich liked the Spurs' offensive flow against the Hornets. The team's 19 assists were a high for the season. It was a turnaround from a less-than-taut offensive performance in Wednesday's victory over a winless Heat team desperately awaiting the return of Dwyane Wade.

Duncan seemed to find his own offensive rhythm. He even pulled the trigger on a couple of shots from the top of the key, to Parker's delight.

"I think the motion was better," Parker said. "We got him a couple isolations and layups and got his confidence going. The first time I saw him take the outside shot, you saw me scream at him because I got so excited he finally took that shot.

"When Tim hits that outside shot it's so hard to stop him. I told him if you make one or two outside shots, then you can penetrate, use your pump fake, you can use all the moves you need."

LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...r.345cbf2.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pop on Parker

"That's why we're going to play him more minutes and get him shooting the ball. He's got to do that. He has to shoot the ball."

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http://www.drudgereport.com/siren.gif:nope The Church of Manu does not like such talk :nopehttp://www.drudgereport.com/siren.gif

yeah that's right... manu has to be the man in that team (beside TD)

Fire POP !! Incompetent coach who encourage a shitty, no court vision PG to shoot all the time, damn him !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

http://www.drudgereport.com/siren.gif:nope The Church of Manu does not like such talk :nopehttp://www.drudgereport.com/siren.gif

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I don't know if I've been baptized into the Church of Manu, so I can't speak for all its congregants--but we should all remember His Acts that demonstrate what Manuism is all about:


Putting the Team first--come off the bench when asked without any ego problems that ruin team unity.
Selflessness--Accepting and enjoying the success of other teammates like TP and Oberto--and even an opponent (Scola)--because you are secure in your talents and place in the larger World of Basketball.

Fierce Competitiveness: What makes Manu, Manu. A team with 15 Manus would be unbeatable.

Yea, though we Spurs fans go through rough patches occasionally, I shall not falter, for Manu is with me.

To me its quite clear that in general each player uses up a relatively equal amount of possessions in the Spurs offense. Timmy isn't even really the clear cut number one offensive option anymore. Think back to 2002-2004 when this clearly wasn't the case at all. Ideally fans wanted the guards to grow and be a larger part of the offense. Well now this is happening. Each of the big three is just as important as the other in the Spurs offense. Almost equally so at this point. (Yes Tim Duncan draws more attention in the post, but its not nearly as much of a factor as it has been in the past, because the Spurs are running a different offense with new talent).

I can't even remember many times this season where Tim Duncan had any of those passes that lead to an easy assist (aka hockey assist). That right there shows how good the Spurs can be on offense when everyone is clicking.

The only problem is Manu plays < 30mpg and Timmy and Tony don't have a huge amount of mpg either. So the offense will go dry at times. But I mean honestly, how can you say that any of these players is clearly the #1 option or taking shots away from the other is beyond me. Just look at the stats and watch the games. They are pretty close in value on offense.

Spurs system usually goes like this of who possess the ball:

Begining of the game: TP + TD
Middle: TD + Some role player.........maybe Manu or TP
End of the Game: Manu + TD + Robert Horry or whoever has the hot hand.

It depends. Where a really, really deep team. On a couple of nights, it may be Michael Finley. A night here, Oberto may put up 18, and grab 10 boards. Brent may hit a game winning shot. It's not always about Tim Tony and Manu, there just the most consistant.

parker is carrying manu also..

If we had Redick we would have a Big 4.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Complainer

parker is carrying manu also..

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:rolleyes

Parker or no one else is carrying Manu.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by E20

Spurs system usually goes like this of who possess the ball:

Begining of the game: TP + TD
Middle: TD + Some role player.........maybe Manu or TP
End of the Game: Manu + TD + Robert Horry or whoever has the hot hand.

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Do you suggest that Tony always fouls out before the 4th Q or we should use Jacque Vaughn or Darius Washington as our closer @PG spot ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weebo

:rolleyes

Parker or no one else is carrying Manu.

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Yes, Parker doesn't carry Manu, Manu doesn't carry Parker, BOTH of them are carrying the Spurs. :toast

What the fuck is up with the resurgence of Manu vs Tony threads?? I thought people were over this stupid shit!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SpursIndonesia

Do you suggest that Tony always fouls out before the 4th Q or we should use Jacque Vaughn or Darius Washington as our closer @PG spot ?

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I'm talking about possesions in which player has the ball in his hands the most and it's quite evident if you've seen Spurs games is that Tony attempts the most shots in the begining of the game and Manu towards the end of the 3rd quarter and most of the 4th quarter/crunch time. What I'm trying to say is that: Tony starts the game and Manu finishes them off; Tim Duncan is a driving force throughout the game. No where did I say anything about fouling out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by romain.star

yeah that's right... manu has to be the man in that team (beside TD)

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:wtf

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weebo

:rolleyes

Parker or no one else is carrying Manu.

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point guard carries the team
just like the play of the quarterback in football determines how many points their o will score

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MaNuMaNiAc

What the fuck is up with the resurgence of Manu vs Tony threads?? I thought people were over this stupid shit!

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Go figure ^^ :rolleyes
two wonderfull players (not counting TD)
who cares about who shines, just keep winning.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by E20

Spurs system usually goes like this of who possess the ball:

Begining of the game: TP + TD
Middle: TD + Some role player.........maybe Manu or TP
End of the Game: Manu + TD + Robert Horry or whoever has the hot hand.

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That's usually how it goes. Parker takes most of his shots in the 1st and 3rd quarters. Tim's quarters are 2nd and 4th (sometimes 3rd instead). Gino's is 2nd and beginning of 4th. From what I've noticed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MaNuMaNiAc

What the fuck is up with the resurgence of Manu vs Tony threads?? I thought people were over this stupid shit!

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Amen brother. These arguments are WACK! :rolleyes

Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili ARE BOTH AWESOME, and they are BOTH SPURS! So let's STFU with the hater threads and admire them both!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

"That's why we're going to play him more minutes and get him shooting the ball. He's got to do that. He has to shoot the ball."

http://www.drudgereport.com/siren.gif:nope The Church of Manu does not like such talk :nopehttp://www.drudgereport.com/siren.gif

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heh.

I think Pop's pretty smart in using Tony's offense against defenses. It's the optimal approach in my view.
And I'm pretty sure that quote will get the Church of Manu off Tony's back once and for all...



....and focus their attention on the real enemy.
COACH POP! :makemyday He's holding Manu back!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ducks

point guard carries the team
just like the play of the quarterback in football determines how many points their o will score

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Manu is the one quarterbacking the second unit not back up scrub point gaurd. And come crunch time, its Manu creating for everyone else.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by E20

I'm talking about possesions in which player has the ball in his hands the most and it's quite evident if you've seen Spurs games is that Tony attempts the most shots in the begining of the game and Manu towards the end of the 3rd quarter and most of the 4th quarter/crunch time. What I'm trying to say is that: Tony starts the game and Manu finishes them off; Tim Duncan is a driving force throughout the game. No where did I say anything about fouling out.

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That would be understandable, i get your point. Nonetheless, i think Parker will slowly get more and more responsibility toward becoming a player the Spurs can count on in the crunch time -OTOH, Manu is and as long is still in peak, will be our main closer in the 4th, he just got balls of steel, you know.
:toast

Manu has balls of an unobtainium-adamantium alloy.

parker played better then duncan tonight

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ducks

parker played better then duncan tonight

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hmmm quite a few people played better than Tim tonight ducks...

seriously, are you going to start arguing that Tony is better than Tim now? Has your Parker love driven you this far now??

Having said that, Tony played out of his damn mind today! Best I've seen him play in a long long time. Crisp passes, lightning fast drives to the paint. The best part was, when he drove to the basket and found himself unable to finish, he managed to find an open teammate practically EVERY time! This is a good development

best game tonight this season
knew he would come around

now only if tim does they will repeat

Bruce Bowen is better than both of them anyway.

:)