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Belgian born?
May 29, 2005
By Craig Morgan, Tribune
SAN ANTONIO - Two seasons ago, Tony Parker was Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s favorite whipping boy.
Now we know why.
While it is always difficult to overlook the contributions of Tim Duncan when the Spurs take the floor — and while Manu Ginobili has been an Argentine assassin in this series — Parker took his turn in the spotlight in Saturday’s all-but-series-clinching 102-92 San Antonio win at SBC Center.
Knowing full well the Suns planned to throw long and strong Joe Johnson at him in Game 3, Parker was in attack mode from the get-go.
The Belgian-born point guard had 12 points in the first half, four assists and ran a nearly flawless offense as the Spurs put the game on ice at halftime with a 56-39 lead.
"He’s a really tough-minded individual," Popovich said. "He can handle critiques. You tell him ‘You gotta do this, you gotta do that,’ and he doesn’t take anything personally. He just wants to get better.
"When you have an athlete who’s talented like him who really wants to get better, it’s a wonderful experience as a coach. He’s been like that since he arrived at 19 years old."
The Suns had hoped Johnson would be able to slow and rattle Parker with his length and strength, but Parker rendered Johnson a non-factor, beating him off the dribble with some help from Spurs screens and breaking down the Suns defense repeatedly with his penetration.
"I wanted to make sure that just because they put Joe on me I wouldn’t slow down," Parker said. "That’s why I attacked him, especially early in the first quarter."
With the Suns mounting something short of a rally in the fourth period — Phoenix rattled off 11 straight points to slice the Spurs’ lead to nine with 7:49 remaining — Parker calmly drilled a 17-footer, then fed Bruce Bowen for a 3-pointer to silence the Suns.
Throughout, he also played a stifling brand of defense on Suns guard Steve Nash — one that Popovich praised as the tempo setter for his team. Nash posted a season-low (for games he finished healthy) three assists.
"I think because I’m young and sometimes have a tendency to be inconsistent, Pop wants to make sure he pushes me every game to be at the level Timmy (Duncan) is," Parker said. "It shows a lot of respect. He sees a lot of good in me and I just want to pay back all the confidence he has in me."
Life is good for Parker these days. He handles the reins of the NBA’s best team, he’s got the confidence of perhaps the game’s best coach and he’s dating "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria, who made her third straight appearance of this series in support of her beau.
"Can’t complain," Parker said with a wry smile. "But at the same time I can’t be satisfied because it can all change quickly. At the end of the season maybe I can relax and say, ‘Ahh, this is good.’ "
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=42159
Belgian born?
Wasn't he born there?Belgian born?
yes he born in Belgium but if you don't say he's french it's like say TP is belgian
Well he was born in Belgium and grew up in France (and has citizenship there). But his dad is American and his mom is Dutch. So saying he is "Belgian-born" isn't a bad thing -- it's just a fact about him.
yeah, whats bad about that.
i have to give TP alot of props...to me, it's all about the playoffs, and this series and next go a long way towards telling us what we got for the money...
TP is playing above his worth right now and i hope he keeps it up all the way to champagne night and beyond...
in one of the other express news articles he mentioned how he knows he has to remain aggressive but smart and not hurried. that shows a maturation that he hasn't shown til this playoffs...finally.
i sure would like to read just ONE TP article that doesn't mention his chick though....
Until he makes a consistant run through the ENTIRE playoffs, which IMO he hasn't yet, he can't be coined as coming of age yet.
Until this year, he was not confident enough to do it, or Pop was not confident enough to let him continue when he was playing poorly. Pop had the luxury of replacing him with Speedy or someone else, when TP was struggling. This year, Pop has more or less let TP continue to play and let him work out his problems.
I feel that TP had turned the corner, and Pop and the cir stances have contributed to it.
I feel that TP had turned the corner, and Pop and the cir stances have contributed to it.
Maybe, but wern't people saying the same thing after game 2 last year vs. the Lakers?
Well, TP was awesome in those first 2 games against Fisher, who was being beaten like a stepchild up until game 3....we all know how Fish made ammends, huh?
I know many times wish tp was on their teams
name on player that has been consistant through out the playoffs this year
wade sucked first game against pistons
nash sucked last night -to much me
duncan has been once he got healthy
manu has been pretty consistant but he has been up and down a little atleast in the scoring
rasho and devin have been the most consistent! parker should take the example
I'm mainly talking his appearance/dissapearing act in prior years.
How many point guards in the league maintain a level of consistency that is expected of Tony Parker here, really? Particularly in the Playoffs?
He'll go for 25 and 8 one night, then drop to 15 and 5 the next and next thing you know 7 threads are created bemoaning his inconsistency. Forget the fact that most NBA point guards would consider 15/5 in a Playoff game a GOOD output, and are incapable of ever approaching the output Tony can achieve on his good nights.
Tony Parker has improved every season he has been here...He's had to learn something or improve on something from the previous year, every season since he was 19, and he's done it every time...The Spurs ask...and Tony does.
Tony Parker is already the best PG in Spurs history...
Last year in games 1&2 VS LA..surrounded by HOF'ers and potential HOF'ers on both teams...Parker was the best ing player on the court...
He was so unstoppable he drew the first double team of a PG, out of Phil Jackson, that I have ever seen...and they gave him a beating too...
This year Seattle tried something similar and TP overcame it...
This kid is one of the most unstoppable players in the NBA...and he's got a long and successful career ahead of him...and he'll own every team PG record in the book when he retires.
The only problem he's really got now is that he maybe looks to score a little more than he should...but that's Pop getting him to do that. Pop proclaimed him a scoring PG and so that's what he's trying to be.
Parker just gets taken for granted, I think he is the spiritual sucessor to DRob as the taken for granted Spur...listen to what Pop and the other coaches say about him and you'll get an idea of how good he really is.
I think the people that bemoan TP's inconsistency aren't very knowledgable fans...they seem to think every other player in the NBA puts up the same statline every night or something...all of them fluctuate...it drives me crazy when people make that criticism...then I realize they just aren't very knowledgable fans...ditto the ones that do it to Manu or any player...
Averages are the averages of the good and the bad...good averages mean more good than bad...I'll never understand why some people don't get it...
mmmmmm .... Waffles.
OMG I was thinking the same thing, but just didn't say it cuz I thought people might think I was stupid or something
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