Pop thinks Parker should get more pub
Jeff McDonald
CLEVELAND — It's been nearly two years since Tony Parker raised both the Larry O'Brien Trophy and the Finals MVP trophy at Quicken Loans Arena.
That moment, in the aftermath of the Spurs' sweep of the Cavaliers in the 2007 Finals, represented Parker's national coming-out party as one of the game's top players.
Parker returns to the scene of that triumph this afternoon, when the Spurs face the NBA-leading Cavs. Two years later, with his All-Star point guard amid the best season of his career, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich thinks Parker is still underrated nationally.
“I think he gets left out of the conversation quite often,” Popovich said. “It's a mystery to me.”
Parker is averaging 21.8 points and 6.9 assists this season, both career highs, while shooting 50.2 percent from the field, and he leads the Spurs with 11 30-point games. His latest came via a 31-point effort in Friday's win at Indiana.
If his name doesn't carry quite the national cachet as that of Chris Paul or Deron Williams, Popovich doesn't know why. He suspects it is the 26-year-old Parker's old age.
“He's got three championships under his belt, he's been in the league eight years, so they kind of forget about him,” Popovich said. “They just mention those guys because they're the new, young, terrific players in the league. I think Tony should be mentioned with them.”
A vote for the vet: With the playoffs fast approaching, Popovich is still grappling with the question of who will back up Parker at the point.
Jacque Vaughn has been the first point guard off the bench in three of the past four games, as Popovich has opted to go with veteran know-how over two players (Roger Mason Jr. and George Hill) learning on the job.
“He will help us have more of a rhythm to what we're doing, since we're all over the map for the last month and a half,” Popovich said. “With Jacque, I can call any play, the whole package. I think we need that steadiness right now.”
Sister act: Matt Bonner doesn't have a favorite team left in the men's NCAA tournament. Family ties, however, have given him a favorite team in the women's Final Four.
Bonner's younger sister Becky is the director of basketball operations for the Louisville women, who face Oklahoma in the semifinals today.
She is the second member of the family to participate in a Final Four. Matt Bonner was a freshman on the 2000 Florida team that lost to Michigan State in the national championship game.
Parker is averaging 21.8 points and 6.9 assists this season, both career highs, while shooting 50.2 percent from the field, and he leads the Spurs with 11 30-point games. His latest came via a 31-point effort in Friday's win at Indiana.
If his name doesn't carry quite the national cachet as that of Chris Paul or Deron Williams, Popovich doesn't know why. He suspects it is the 26-year-old Parker's old age.
POP is right also
TP HAS A FINALS MVP AWARD CP3 and WIllliams have nothing like that
CBF told me Parker gets more than enough pub. Guess he needs to tell that to Pop.Pop thinks Parker should get more pub
Yeah, that's because 95% of the plays involve Jacque handing the ball off to the shooting guard and then going to the corner where he stands unguarded.
Mike Bud knows all the plays, too. That doesn't mean he should play
So does that mean Manu doesn't know the whole package?
I rather have him at back up pg if that's the reason.
the problem with popovich is he thinks his genius "system" is more important than the players. he's wrong.
I think he's just justifying Vaughn over Hill, not referencing Manu at all. Pop doesn't like to play Manu as the official backup point... he thinks it takes away from Manu's strengths. But Manu is still a primary ballhander when he's on the court without Tony.
That's why is so stupid to have a guy in there that can't hit a jump shot to save his life along Manu.
Not only that but Vaughn is also a liability defensively.
I just don't understand Pop this year.
Exactly. Being able to hand the ball off to Manu and then stand in the corner without a defender within 15 feet of you isn't exactly a trait that should get a player more playing time.
In Pop we "trust"
I know Hill has been up and down this season, but that still doesn't merit playing over-the-hill Vaughn. Come on, doesn't Pop remember the '03 championship team that had Ginobili, Jackson, Claxton and Rose playing major minutes over more "proven" veterans? Pop never choose Antonio Daniels or Terry Porter over Tony once he became the "default" starter his rookie season, so why can't George be given the beneift of the doubt (in a lesser role at that)?
If George Hill's confidence is hurt by all of this, and he never materializes into the type of defensive-stopper/slasher he can become, this hangs on Pop's head forever.
how about forgetting trivial like that and worrying about pop talking about vaughn being the back up pg. WHO GIVES A CRAP ABOUT THE BEST PG DEBATE.
Edit : I didn't read past your post, but it looks like everyone else below you mentioned the more important issue towards team success.
I don't understand this move by Pop. It's silly stuff. If you're going to play someone who is lacking offensively then that guy should be BRUCE BOWEN. Ever heard of him Pop?????????
Pop thinks Parker should get more pub?
Funny, because he also thinks Finley should get more minutes
in every Parker's related threads, you can bet safely that you will have the yin and the yang of the stupidity:
the blind groupie, ducks, and the usual tony's hater, a role that is shared by different members but that you seem to specially enjoy lately.
what's wrong with Pop thinking Tony should get more pub ?
We have two who PGs fully capable of standing in the corner unguarded, Vaughn and Hill. Hopefully Hill will come back next year with a consistent three. For this year there is no solution.
Last edited by picnroll; 04-05-2009 at 09:23 AM.
He'll have to leave S.A. if he wants more pub.
I'm sure he knows this wink wink
Regular season "stats" don't tell you who the better player is usually. Not when they are both pretty good anyway.
But playoff series tell you who is winning matchups. Sometimes matchups are just bad at the team level and individual player level.
With that said, TP has had playoff series against a who's-who list of PGs and has either held his own or owned for the most part. Nash, CP, Deron, AI...
I'm not saying TP is better than them, but he should do no worse than deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as them at this point.
TD and his two MVPs, 3 Finals MVPs and all-NBA HOF career says: "Welcome to SA Tony."
Yep, after Timmy hangs it up it's off to Hollywood where he'll get the publicity only the Lakers get...
Though it's been said, many times, many ways... WTF, Pop? Since when did you start worrying about publicity?
Is he worried about keeping Tony after his contract expires? Or about getting some other major player to come? I guess that if a guy like Tony can't get any attention (and therefore major endorsement contracts) with the numbers he's putting up, then nobody will get any by playing here. Ever.
With so much of what's been going on with the Spurs of late, I've wondered if Pop's beard was actually a mechanism to hide the fact that Gregg Popovich is no longer coaching the team and that some evil clone has taken over the reigns -- sort of like that Star Trek where the evil crew all have facial hair.
This quote basically cinches my theory. Had this "Popovich" been coaching the Spurs in 2004, he would have made up a boatload of numbers to prove Bowen was better than Artest. Had this "Popovich" been coaching the Spurs in 2005, Robert Horry would have been on the bench for the 4th Quarter and Overtime in Detroit in Game 5 and we'd all be talking about how great it has been to follow a team that went 3-1 in NBA Finals.
I hope the good Popovich returns soon. I miss him.
I thought I said Parker needs more pub.CBF told me Parker gets more than enough pub. Guess he needs to tell that to Pop.
Yeah, that's because 95% of the plays involve Jacque handing the ball off to the shooting guard and then going to the corner where he stands unguarded.
Mike Bud knows all the plays, too. That doesn't mean he should play
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