Ludden: Improvement, not s om, asked of Parker

[Kori Ellis]

Improvement, not s om, asked of Parker
Web Posted: 11/09/2004 12:00 AM CST

Johnny Ludden
San Antonio Express-News

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b....3a9c2b13.html

As the Spurs prepared to take the court for their first game of the season last Wednesday, Tony Parker felt restless. In addition to the usual opening-night anxiety, he was amped up from signing a six-year, $66 million contract extension 46 hours earlier.

The agreement had come only after a turbulent week of negotiations, which had taken its toll on Parker. He blew a couple of layups, didn't earn some of the calls he usually gets and his shot was erratic. Before he knew it, he was staring at a 3-of-16 performance from the field.

"That's basketball," Parker said a few days later. "The main thing is to come back strong."

Parker did that two nights later, making his first four shots before finishing with 16 points in a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. He also helped lead Sunday's comeback in Seattle, as short-lived as it was, scoring eight-consecutive points as the Spurs slashed a 12-point deficit in half late in the third quarter.

Parker has played better, to be sure. He shared in the responsibility for the 113-94 loss to the Sonics. But Spurs coach Gregg Popovich doesn't expect greatness from his $66 million point guard every night. Just day-to-day improvement.

"This doesn't mean he has to try to be a worldbeater and prove to me and (Spurs chairman) Peter Holt and to the city of San Antonio and the world that he deserves the contract," Popovich said. "Or that he's going to instantaneously be the best point guard in the league.

"We just want him to go play. We're trying to approach him that way. Just try to get better running the team, making other people better.

"On an individual basis, he's a very good scoring guard. We want to help him turn into a decision maker and a leader and someone who understands everybody else's role on the team, so I can have a coach on the floor. That's the goal."

Popovich has spoken with Parker about not trying to live up to any unreasonable expectations his new contract might bring, a trap he thinks Malik Rose might have fallen into at times during the previous two seasons.

"Like I told him," Parker said, "I have nothing to prove. I just have to ... work on being consistent, play the same way every game. That's it. We have a lot of weapons on this team, a lot of guys who can play, so you don't have to do too much."

Popovich gradually ceded more control to Parker toward the end of last season, calling fewer plays from the sideline. He made the occasional call during Sunday's ragged performance but gave most of his instructions during timeouts.

The Spurs also might not be as dependent on Parker's scoring as they were in past seasons. Manu Ginobili is averaging 21 points, and Brent Barry has added a little more than 12 per night off the bench. Beno Udrih also has shown to be a capable backup to Parker.

Parker's poor shooting in the opener against the Kings, Popovich said, serves as evidence.

"In the past that would have probably been a game we fought hard to win or maybe even lost," Popovich said. "It's not the case at this point.

"It does take pressure off him and everybody else to just play. It doesn't matter who scores."

While Popovich was deciding whether to urge Holt to increase the Spurs' contract offer, he discussed Parker's shortcomings with his management staff. He didn't dispute that Parker's play has suffered at key moments the past two postseasons. Or that he's still an inconsistent shooter. Or that his practice habits could improve.

None of it, however, dissuaded him from thinking Parker is the right point guard for the team.

"Losing Tony," Popovich said at the time, "is not something I want to do."

The Spurs' coaches want Parker to spend additional time working on his shooting before or after practice. The other deficiencies in his game, Popovich said, should start to resolve themselves as he matures.

"It's funny to hear people talk about a breakout year for a 22-year-old," Popovich said. "You forget he's so young. I don't think this is any more special a year than next year or four years down the road. He's just going to get better and better."

Day of rest: The Spurs did not practice Monday. They apparently did not need their 3 1/2-hour flight home to put Sunday's loss behind them.

"It already is," Tim Duncan said about 20 minutes after the game. "We can't wait for the next one.

"This is going to happen sometimes. These types of games can come back and haunt you late in the season, but it's just a bad night and we ran into a team that played very well."

[timvp]

Nice article.

Parker needs to take a step back and just let the game come to him. If he doesn't force the action, he can be a 15 and 6 player easy. If/when the Spurs need him to turn it up, he has the ability to go out and get you 25 points.

He'll never be a high assist guard because of the motion offense, but he needs to concentrate on creating and keeping the tempo at a fast pace.