McDonald: Parker, Spurs look sharp in rout

**duncan228** · 10-09-2009

Parker, Spurs look sharp in rout
Jeff McDonald

It was just another preseason game, another score-doesn't-matter exhibition that would be played and forgotten in a matter of hours.

For Tony Parker, it was something more.

“Now I can take my revenge,” Parker said.

Parker said this to the scorer's table early in the first quarter of what became a 107-89 victory over traditional Greek power Olympiacos at the AT&T Center, and he said it with a knowing smile.

Nothing that happened Friday night would make up for Parker's lackluster performance against the Greeks with the French national team in EuroBasket compe ion last month, especially considering three of Olympiacos' stars are American.

Instead, Parker had to be content with what he got Friday night: a dominating victory for the team that pays his bills, a wire-to-wire triumph that showcased all the new-look Spurs can become this season.

In his first appearance of the preseason, Parker made hummus out of the Greeks, scoring 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting 15 minutes. Tim Duncan, Parker's longtime pick-and-roll partner, made his debut as well and looked sharp on his way to 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Spurs raced to a 20-point lead in the first half, scoring many of their baskets on a well-timed array of pick-and-rolls and back cuts and precision ball movement. From his spot on the bench, and later the thick of the action, guard George Hill couldn't help but marvel.

“We're still trying to learn each other,” said Hill, who finished with 17 points and earned another heaping helping of praise from coach Gregg Popovich. “It's going to be scary with everybody is on the same page.”

Indeed, the Spurs are still early into this chemistry experiment called the preseason, still working and melding together a roster full of old and new faces.

Manu Ginobili is still working his way back into shape. He logged 20 minutes Friday, and looked alternately good (weaving between defenders for a silky second-quarter layup) and not-so-good (airballing a mid-range jumper in the first).

Ginobili finished with seven points on 3-of-8 shooting, but made a Hallmark moment just by stepping on the floor. When he checked into the game with 7:10 left in the first quarter, joining Parker and Duncan, it marked the first time the Spurs' Big Three had been together on an NBA floor since April 5.

“I was not very satisfied with the way I played, but I'm out of rhythm,” Ginobili said. “I just need to play more.”

There were other moments that reminded the 17,677 in attendance that this was, after all, the preseason.

One came courtesy of the replacement officials, who missed a fairly easy goaltending call when Olympiacos' Josh Childress grabbed one of Hill's layups off the rim.

Another came from two of the more experienced Spurs. Late in the second quarter, the Spurs had possession of the ball with the shot-clock off and Popovich screaming for Parker to hold for the last shot.

Parker instead shuffled the ball ahead to Ginobili, who promptly fired it out of bounds. At this point, Popovich was in regular-season form, unloading on both of his star guards at the next timeout.

Those moments, the Spurs believe, will get fewer and far between as the regular season draws near.

“We're coming along, but it's going to take a little while,” Duncan said. “It's going to take these seven preseason games, and 20 or so regular-season games, to really get where we're real comfortable with each other.”

Parker was like a comet Friday, his appearance brief but spectacular.

“TP is going to be great,” Duncan said. “He's already in season form and ready go.”

And perhaps that was the lesson of Friday. For Parker, playing well was the best revenge.

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Slideshow.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/slidesho...piacos_89.html

**ducks** · 10-10-2009