Spurs' Parker: I've got to be myself
Mike Monroe
After a few games in which he had tried to be a pass-first point guard, Tony Parker decided there was a better way to run the Spurs offense: His old way.
“At the end of the day I just have be myself and be aggressive,” said the three-time All-Star. “The last few games I was trying to pass. Then the coach tells me, no, you have to be aggressive. So it's back like my rookie year: No, pass ... no, shoot.”
In just 26:33 minutes of Monday's 103-87 blowout victory over the Clippers, Parker took only 11 shots, but they produced a team-high 19 points. He made seven shots and got to the foul line for seven free throws, making five.
It was his highest output in six games, and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was thrilled.
“For us to be as good as we can be, Tony's got to be at the top of his game,” Popovich said. “It's always been that way, and it always will be.
“I thought Tony looked fresher and more aggressive. He was more communicative tonight and did a good job running the show.”
Parker's attempt to re-discover his inner aggressor had begun in Saturday's game against the Indiana Pacers. What he failed to re-discover then was his shooting stroke. He made only 4-of-17 shots, scoring 15.
“Tonight I felt a lot better,” he said. “Even last game, although I didn't shoot the ball well, at least I was aggressive. That's what I have to do. Pop wanted me to be more aggressive and pointed out I was not being myself and not playing well enough. I always respond.
“It's always better to be yourself when you play, so I'm definitely going to be more aggressive and you're going to be seeing more of the old Tony Parker now.”
Bonner update: Center-forward Matt Bonner on Monday got another X-ray of the fractured fourth metacarpal on his right hand and the photos showed only a small crack in the bone.
Dr. David Schmidt, one of the team's physicians, said the timetable for Bonner's return remains “about four weeks.”
“It's early in the season,” Schmidt said, “so there's no reason to change that. The X-ray today showed it is, literally, just a crack.”
Worth noting: Parker's game-high 19 points snapped a streak of four consecutive games in which Tim Duncan had led the Spurs in scoring. Duncan played only 24 minutes and 56 seconds and took only eight shots. He made five and scored 13 points ... Roger Mason Jr. continued to show off his Parker-like game going to the basket. The Spurs' top 3-point shooter last season, Mason missed his only long-range attempt against the Clippers, but scored on two slick drives that required getting the ball over either 7-footer Chris Kaman or 6-11 Marcus Camby, a former Defensive Player of the Year.
We're toast. Parker being himself means to with the rest of the team. RJ may never have another good game as a Spur. He can get away with that against a team like the Clippers. Also, I guess he was being a pass first guard when he went 3-17 against Indiana.
There's nothing wrong with Tony being himself, IMHO... I would just play Mason instead of RJ on the starting lineup and bring RJ off the bench...
You've got to give him credit for making the attempt but at this point in his carreer on a team laden with new faces with a 3rd of the season nearly gone probably isn't the best time to reinvent your game. Today he played instinctively and he seemed to be flowing and in control. He had a few nice passes, rediscovered his offense and ran the team prettty well.
I don't know what Roger Mason ate before the game, but he was slicing and dicing to the basket like crazy. He pulled off some crazy acrobatic lay-ups as well. Hopefully Mase can keep it up...
I take absolutely nothing away from Tony's performance tonight; good or bad.
There probably isn't a team in the league that Tony's floor-game ever looks better against and, quite honestly, this effort wasn't even up to his usual Clippers standard.
Tony needs to be aggressive and he needs to score the ball, there's no arguing that. But as the guy who has his hands on the ball more than any other player, it's kinda the nature of a point guard, he's got to find a happy medium; even if it's a 60-40 or 70-30 ratio.
The guy's too good of a player to be completely deferential or overcome with tunnel-vision; I hope I never see him miss or choose to take the lower percentage shot like he did on the break with RJ the other night. That's flat-out unacceptable for a point guard, even one of the score-first variety. Teammates remember things like that.
Couldn't agree more. As one of the guys who ed and moaned the loudest about a roster makeover (and rightfully so), I would think HE would been the first one who would've been willing to sacrific part of his game to help fast track the integration of RJ and others. If that means scoring a little less and settup up his new teammates more, so be it.
As the PG, Parker IS the one player how Pop who can affect the games of all these new additions, in a positive or negative fashion.
Lmao...Parker talks like he has no choice but to be one or the other.
As Blackjack and SenorSpur have indicated, Parker has to find balance. It's no longer the Parker/Duncan show with everyone standing around watching at the 3pt line. Even if the Spurs were to bring RJ off the bench, Parker still has to figure out how to involve him because in late game situations and in the playoffs he will probably still spend extended minutes playing with him.
Point guards like Nash and Paul are not worrying about being one or the other. They simply play the game and take what is given to them. Furthermore, the best offensive opportunities are still going to be opened up by good ball movement that forces the opposing team to rotate defensively...and not by Parker dribbling out the shot clock trying to find a way to the basket.
Parker needs to stop overthinking things and just be point guard.
He was averaging more assists when he was focusiing more on scoring. On his way to the basket to score he might just find someone to pass to.
Tony looked good. I like it when he is got his rhythm going and frustrating defense with his penetration and range of shots. Teams start to get rattled, and then Tony starts dishing every 2nd or 3rd shot. Then the assists build up. Tony looked good last night by being himself.
Now Mason was going nuts out there! His ball handling, passing ability, and defense have all improved IMHO. I used to cringe when he had to put it on the floor, but he is proving to be a lot better.
Looking forward to the Portland game which will be the better test of these skills.
A bit of a shot at Pop there by Tony if you read between the lines.....
That's what I want, the old Tony“It's always better to be yourself when you play, so I'm definitely going to be more aggressive and you're going to be seeing more of the old Tony Parker now.”
In the end, he is still going to be the old Tony Parker. The last few games trying to mold himself into a better PG is wasted.
I wonder if Pop and Tony have the same definition for "aggressive"?
To me it's clear for Tony, although he has a hard time just out right saying it...
it means "shoot the ball".
The chemestry on this year's team seems all out of whack. That's what happens when you're not winning and people's true colors shine.
They have the 5th best record in the West... Not bad for a team that's "not winning"... The team is starting to gel... And I like Blair/Duncan combo as well as Dice/Ratliff combo... having a shot blocker on the floor at all times can only help SA's defense...
It sounds like Parker was buckling under the pressure to be a point guard that passes the ball, which to me makes clear that this direction was coming from Pop and not something he would ever willingly force upon himself.
I don't know, his statement about passing just doesn't sound like what a leader of a team should be saying, especially a point guard. If he plays better by being more aggressive (not distributing the ball) and his game finally improves to previous levels then it will be good for the team to some degree. But if he's not able to dominate people off the dribble and make his short jumpers then this sounds like a real mess.
This sounds like a turning point in the season. I'm very interested to see how things go from here.
ppl making a huge deal of Parker starting the season slow
So Parker plays well and the people are unhappy.
You people are some miserable s.
I don't get the point of trying to take away the strongest point of one of our best players in Tony Parker. Tony Parker is still 2nd best player on the team, and we need him to do what he does best. I think if he gets going; the more attention the defense will give him and that can help RJ or RM get more touches. It needs to be all natural and not forced.
cia tony
he was playing bad on purpose, now he can be a selfish ballhog again with pop blessing.
I always cringe a little when 5 guys run down the court and only one guy touches the ball for the entire possession. I personally wouldn't want to be one of those 4 very often.
Where Is Little Stevie Franchise now?
If that means he is going to shoot every ball we have a problem.
TP's problem this year wasn't to score more points.He had to limit his TO's and to improve a lot the defense.
He played well tonight but was he trying to pass the ball against the Pacers (3-17)?
we won the last 2 championships with Parker being Parker. Don't you mofos realize the last 2 years were NOT Parker's fault.
Yeah, he is starting slow, but so is RJ, Manu. the other big guns.
yeah, let's go ahead and single out Parker
The old Parker is unstoppable, but it can't come at the cost of the rest of the guys "rotting on the vine," so to speak. And as PG, it's TP's job to get these guys going early.
And Tony's point production also needs to be accompanied by some D to be effective. We traded baskets with too many teams last season, with Tony scoring and then the other team scoring, and we all saw how that worked out. This team is not built to have to fight for 48 minutes over 82 games. We need some blowouts.
Quite honestly, it is not fun for me to watch Tony score at will, while the rest of our guys watch. It's damn sure no fun watching Tony turn it over against teams with strong interior D. If I had faith that Tony would not force it in those situations, I might be a little more comfortable with Tony's words here...but Tony is not a guy who changes gears well. When I first read this, my honest thought was " , , fuggity ."
Being a fan throught the 80's and 90's, I came to value the world-class defense that Pop made this team's calling card; I don't care to see Phoenix Suns brand basketball. I hope Tony gets a good mix going...team ball is the only way we can win the le...it's the way we always did.
Last edited by Parker2112; 12-22-2009 at 12:05 PM.
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