Parker's 55 night underscores Spurs' void
By Mike Monroe
The Spurs said, “Merci beaucoups” to Tony Parker after he bailed them out of a loss to a mediocre Timberwolves team on Wednesday night.
Had Parker not saved the Spurs from an 0-4 start, it would have been a collective “Sacre bleu!”
Parker's 55-point, 10-assist performance pushed him past all but two legendary Spurs, David Robinson and George Gervin, on the team's single-game scoring list. He also joined legends Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only NBA players to get at least 55 points and 10 assists in a game.
Most importantly, it got them a 129-125 double overtime victory in Minnesota.
“Obviously,” said Tim Duncan after the curtain came down on Wednesday's drama at the Target Center. “Tony Parker was unbelievable. He did it all, he really did.”
That the Spurs nearly fell to 0-4, even with Parker's Louvre-worthy masterpiece, is further indication of the problems they face until Manu Ginobili returns to a roster coach Gregg Popovich acknowledges is in transition.
They will try to get their first home-court win tonight, when they meet the Miami Heat at the AT&T Center.
Popovich on Wednesday got 85 points from the two healthy members of his Big Three, with Duncan adding 30 to Parker's 55. Roger Mason, signed this summer to take some of the load from Ginobili's shoulders, scored 26, giving Popovich 111 points from what, for now, might accurately be termed thenouveau three.
The transition to a younger lineup, though, remains just that. For a while there will be more rough seas than smooth sailing.
“At the beginning of the season there are a lot of reasons you might not win every game you want to win,” Popovich said, “but Manu (being out) was certainly a significant part of that. Our team is built around those three guys (Ginobili, Duncan and Parker). Everybody else is a role player. We don't have any stars around those guys.
“Those three guys are what everything is built around. If one of them is not there, then the bench really has to pick it up, but at this stage I think we're at a little bit of transition between playing some younger guys and some other guys who have been here a while, continuing to produce as they have in the past.
“Perhaps we're at a stage where that transition is going to take a little bit of time.”
Ultimately, there will be a secondary transition, as Popovich also will have to restore Ginobili to his important role. In the meantime he welcomes the athleticism and energy he believes he can get from players such as Mason, rookie point guard George Hill, and other newcomers Desmon Farmer and Anthony Tolliver.
“Those (big) three have to be healthy to win a championship, just like most teams' great players have to be healthy,” Popovich said. “But I think we need a little bit more juice and athleticism from the bench this year to be able to win.
“So we're in that process of trying to figure out how that gets implemented and who that might be and where do the minutes get reduced in other places, if necessary. There is no rule book for it. This is by feel, and the record won't have anything to do with it. Whether we're 0-3 or 3-0, that process, we knew, was going to start this summer. We'd rather have been 3-0, but we haven't played that well defensively. That's been our problem, and that's not usually what we have a problem with.”
Months ago, Popovich knew it would take time for these Spurs to become a playoff-worthy team feared by any postseason opponent. He admits it has been difficult to manage the playing time of veterans who merit opportunity while he tries to integrate younger, newer contributors into his playing rotation.
“We've got some guys who have been here a good while, and they deserve the respect of playing time,” he said. “Other people who get playing time, it's best when they earn it. So it's a little bit of giving them a shot and a little bit of their earning it. A little of both.”
Nice article. Thanks for posting it.
Amazing game by Tony. Just a terrific performance.
I also like that Pop explains that the team is built around the Big Three. All three of them are the leaders of this team. It's not just Timmy's team anymore. It's Tim/Manu/Tony's team. And that's no disrespect to Tim at all. I just think that in order to win, you need to have your three best players playing at the highest level.
And the bench definitely needs to step up.
the problem isn't the absence of Manu. it's the absence of defense. Spurs have been playing the kind of defense even d'antoni would scoff at.
the void is in the coach's head. there wouldn't be such a scoring void if popovich didn't insist on giving major minutes to that scrub finley.
A few noticeable hints there from Pop about going less with the older guys and more with the young'un's. Many people here including me should be happy
Pop is as stubborn as they come (it took him a couple of seasons to finally let manu and tony do their stuff.) but when pop does finally come around, it often leads to great results.
Very interesting. After running those quotes through my Pop translation machine, it sounds like he's basically saying he's planning on going young but wants to take the transition slowly. Those quotes are good for players like Hill, Mahinmi and Tolliver and bad for Finley, Thomas and Vaughn.
Combine those quotes with what we've heard out of Mahinmi recently and it really sounds like Pop is on board with giving Mahinmi a good shot. Mahinmi is the only "juice and athleticism" the Spurs have at the bigman position, although I'd bet that Tolliver also gets a shot at some point.
If by the end of the season, the Spurs can transition to a rotation that looks like:
PG Tony Parker/George Hill
SG Roger Mason, Jr./Manu Ginobili
SF Bruce Bowen/Ime Udoka
PF Tim Duncan/Anthony Tolliver
C Fabricio Oberto/Ian Mahinmi
that'd be a good combination of veteran experience and lively youth. By Pop's quotes, that sounds like what he might be aiming toward.
agreed, timvp..although I think Tolliver getting a shot is an absolute lock with the way he has been hyped by Spurs management this summer..
The only thing Finley deserves is extended pine time. I just wish Pop would fall out of love with him soon. He's done nothing to warrant playing time over Mason or Udoka. In fact, he's done nothing to warrant playing time over Hairston - and he's not even on the team.
I certainly hope that is how the line-up ends up. And.... when Manu comes back, I don't care if it's Manu or Roger in the starting lineup. Manu is so good off the bench and brings so much energy into a sluggish team, that I don't think we would have won as many games last year had he been starting all year. We all know that Findog was terrible off the bench, and it was probably that fact that was a contributing factor why Pop started Finley instead of Manu. I was always a big fan of Finley when he played for Dallas and was thrilled when we got him. After last year and the beginning of this year, Now I am of the opinion that he belongs at the end of the bench with Vaughn who is useless as far as I'm concerned. His veteran experience doesn't mean jack to me. Junior should have Fins starting job right now, with Hill spelling both Parker and Junior. That may be too much to ask. I also liked KT when he first came here but so far he looks like he's not even trying very hard. I'm not a big fan of Bonner, but at least he trys and so far, IMO, is outplaying KT. I'm hoping Ian finally gets well and plays well. Udoka is out playing Bowen right now and should get a start now and again. Maybe it will help to get Bowen's head out of his ass and in to his job.
Drive for fiveoff to a slow start, but I will never give up.
"they deserve the respect of playing time,”
I don't understand Pop's idea that the older, ineffective guys whose PT produces next to nothing, deserve to be respected by giving them ... PT!
But the younger, producing, winning guys have to earn PT?
That's messed up.
Ian=waste of time. If the spurs are pinning up their hopes on this kid. Then alot of people are in for a surprise. We will have to suck it up all season and in the POs this year with this current roster. And hope for some real changes. Though its been awhile since we brought in anyone like Roger. Its still not good enough.
if you read what Pop said, he is showing Finley 'respect' in term of minutes played...The only thing Finley deserves is extended pine time. I just wish Pop would fall out of love with him soon. He's done nothing to warrant playing time over Mason or Udoka.
the excessive playing time for the old fogeys won't last...
Yeah, because Bowen is a far better scorer than Fin is.
Yeah that could be really telling info from Pop, especially conerning Mike Finley. After Mace's 26 pt "outburst," if he continues to show -- it might not be such a slow transition at the 3 spot (I hope.) Pop has talked a lot this off season about how comfortable Mace is in the system and the intelligent bball he's playing. Personally, I've never seen such quick acclimation to the Spurs offense.
If Mace takes over Fin's spot this season, it's a gain. There's no other way to look at it. The only question I have is who will be the spot up 3-point shooter? Is that trick in Mace's bag? The Spurs have always had a pure, spot up 3 pt guy.
Tonight's game is a good opportunity to put in players like Hill, Tolliver, and Farmer.
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