This season's Tony Parker

[SA210]

This is the Tony Parker I've been waiting years for. The pass first & get teammates involved but also find time to score his efficient 18-20 pts on 50+% shooting. I have nothing bad to say about this version of TP.

Have one on me, Tony Parker.

[maddnezz]

I smell some bull here, I'm not buying that its all just guys 'making shots'. There's no way last year's Parker makes that fast-break drop pass to Blair.

What I think is going on here, is Tony Parker has finally realized how much more effective he can be as a point guard by using that blazing speed & quickness to also create opportunites for others instead of all for himself.

THIS x100!

[silverblk mystix]

If Bogans, Mason and Bonner were playing...TP's assists would be a lot lower.

When Bonner returns and becomes the momentum killer-as he surely will-I hope Tony doesn't just say it and start over-dribbling and over-shooting.

[Kent_in_Atlanta]

Tony will be whatever the Spurs need him to be. I think we'll see more of his scoring prowess as the season progresses. But 21 pts & 9 assists last night... we're seeing a great balance, I think.

[ElNono]

I didn't think TP's decision-making when attacking the basket this season has been the best we've seen from him, but last night he came out aggressive and definitely played his best game of the season, IMO. Hope he keeps it up.

[Brazil]

This is absurd. Parker has defenitely altered his game somewhat, you guys are ing blind.

Parker is averaging 8.4 assists this year as opposed to last year's 5.7. Big difference there, almost 3 assists per contest.

Spurs as a team have taken 62-146 (.425), as opposed to last year's (.358). Applying last year's % to this year yields 52-146.

So basically your claiming those 10 more made 3's (oh, and the "faster tempo"... as if Parker ever went slow) accounts for all of his added assists?

I don't think so.

First, I did say in other threads he made some adjustments, he is taking less shots and he is letting the hot hands play (mainly RJ and Manu). You are taking about alteration and I'm saying adjustments.

Second you are blind if you don't understand that the pace of the team is faster than the previous years (we are 4th in ppg ! and that is a key factor for the number of assists.

It's a mix of things but he didn't fundamentally change what he is.

Once again the sample is too small it's only 7 games against some really crappy defenses and some assists friendly team, we played twice the clipps last year TP averaged something like 10 apg against them too.

Oh and remember I'm a TP homer

[Nathan89]

Exactly, TP passing ability is not that different compared to previous years. The faster pace and the fact the 3 pts guys are making their shoot (passing for the open 3 guy is the fundation of his passing stat) are explaining the improvement in this area more than an evolution of his playmaking book.

For me there are two major changes:

- his willingness to go after steals, he is stealing 2,3 balls per game the double of his career high (1,2 in 2005).
- his early high level Defense (normally he keeps this D insenty for the PO). I think the team is concentrated a lot more on the RS than the previous years, it's a change for TP but also for the others.

A nice little improvement is his FTs shooting 84% (career high).

The negatives now:

- He is not shooting the ball at his 50% standard, 46,6% so far. This is the most significant flaw so far, with the team shooting well the ball, his shot selection could have been better and we could have expected a better efficiency.
- He is not getting a lot of FTs only 3,6 per game which is very low.

Of course it is too way too soon (7 games) to get a clear picture, for the moment spurs only played two tough defensive team he did pretty well against Charlotte but was not so good against NO.

This is absurd. Parker has definitely altered his game somewhat, you guys are ing blind.

Parker is averaging 8.4 assists this year as opposed to last year's 5.7. Big difference there, almost 3 assists per contest.

Spurs as a team have taken 62-146 (.425), as opposed to last year's (.358). Applying last year's % to this year yields 52-146.

So basically your claiming those 10 more made 3's (oh, and the "faster tempo"... as if Parker ever went slow) accounts for all of his added assists?

I don't think so.

These comments are basically the same.

[Ghjkll]

I think that the increased pace definitely helps him a bit, but he seems to be in perfect balance of assistings and scoring. Of course, Manu and RJ are making their shots. Look at Manu´s advanced stats. He is posting career highs in both TS and EFG at .633 and .576. Just for make a comparison, Kobe Bryant is at .568 and .479... And if we take RJ numbers... Of course it´s still early in the season and we´ve beaten bad teams so far, but Tony has been fantastic up to this point. I fe we can improve our D, this team is 2nd in the West.

[TJastal]

First, I did say in other threads he made some adjustments, he is taking less shots and he is letting the hot hands play (mainly RJ and Manu). You are taking about alteration and I'm saying adjustments.

So you're saying the only reason he's logging his career high in assists is because Manu & Richard are "hot" right now, and once they cool off the spurs won't need him to do all this "passing" the ball stuff anymore.

Second you are blind if you don't understand that the pace of the team is faster than the previous years (we are 4th in ppg ! and that is a key factor for the number of assists.

I haven't seen much difference, honestly, I think the PPG increase is because the spurs are just shooting better. To be sure, I crunched the numbers and this year's team is averaging a whopping 2 more shot attempts per game and a stupendous 1 free throw attempt more a game than last year's team. TBH, I don't think your theory is holding water.

It's a mix of things but he didn't fundamentally change what he is.
But he has. And really, with the compe ion at point guard better than ever before (Rondo, Rose, CP3, Williams, etc) he really has to step up his playmaking for the spurs to remain contenders.

Once again the sample is too small it's only 7 games against some really crappy defenses and some assists friendly team, we played twice the clipps last year TP averaged something like 10 apg against them too.
Okay, we'll talk again after the next 7-8 games

Oh and remember I'm a TP homer
It's all cool. I like homers.

[Kent_in_Atlanta]

I think that the increased pace definitely helps him a bit, but he seems to be in perfect balance of assistings and scoring. Of course, Manu and RJ are making their shots. Look at Manu´s advanced stats. He is posting career highs in both TS and EFG at .633 and .576. Just for make a comparison, Kobe Bryant is at .568 and .479... And if we take RJ numbers... Of course it´s still early in the season and we´ve beaten bad teams so far, but Tony has been fantastic up to this point. I fe we can improve our D, this team is 2nd in the West.

If this team can significantly strengthen its defense and become much more consistent on that end of the floor... they have a realistic chance of being FIRST in the west and/or edging the Lakers in the playoffs.

Won't be easy, but I'm becoming increasingly convinced that, if healthy, this team has the tools to compete for a le.

[Spurs Brazil]

TP with a great start, I hope he can keep his game at this level

[Kent_in_Atlanta]

TP with a great start, I hope he can keep his game at this level

He's been at this level, when healthy, or several years now... so no doubts there. Just has to stay healthy... and taking the summer off - not playing for France - helps the odds a great deal.

[duncan228]

Parker refines pass-or-score balancing act
by Jeff McDonald

...It’s a fine line Parker admits he hasn’t always walked with ease.

“That’s always the tough part, since I’ve been here,” Parker said. “When to shoot, when to pass. Every year, I try to get better at it.”

Through the first seven games of his 10th NBA season, Parker has tiptoed that tightrope with a skillfulness fit for both Barnum & Bailey.


...“Tony has done the best job that he’s ever done here, as far as playing that role between scorer and passer,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “He has shown great leadership running the show, distributing the basketball and scoring when it’s appropriate for him.”

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...balancing-act/

[PDXSpursFan]

I definitively like this year's version of TP. With Manu in the starting lineup and RJ scoring, we don't need him to core 20 PPG like before.

[Blackjack]

The evolution of Tony Parker
Kurt Helin

The Tony Parker that kept opposing coaches up at night because of his scoring is still out there. He can still hit the accelerator coming around a high pick, be in the lane in a flash and even though your help defender recognized it in time he is helpless as Parker puts up a pretty teardrop floater in right over the top. It is one of the prettiest shots in the game.

However, we see less of that Parker now. The scoring machine Parker is evolving into more of a pass-first Parker. A balance is being struck as Parker’s game matures.

Through seven games, Parker is assisting on 30 percent of his team’s baskets when he is on the court. That’s up from 24.5 percent last season, 23.5 percent the season before that. Or if you prefer the old-school numbers, Parker is averaging 8.4 assists per game this season, up from 5.7 last season.

Gregg Popovich noticed it, as he told the Express-News:

“Tony has done the best job that he’s ever done here, as far as playing that role between scorer and passer,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “He has shown great leadership running the show, distributing the basketball and scoring when it’s appropriate for him.”

“He came as a scoring guard, and we’ve tried to move him the other direction a bit,” Popovich said of the three-time All-Star. “Not too much, because we don’t want to lose his scoring.”

Parker is adjusting to leading as a point guard — the Spurs now have more young guns in the rotation now than ever. But that leadership is another part of Parker’s evolution.

“As a point guard it’s tough because I’m calling plays and they are getting lost and stuff like that, so of course we have to be patient,” Parker said after the Spurs beat the Clippers recently.

Right now the Spurs are 6-1 with the fourth rated offense in the league. The team is evolving, and following Parkers lead in that direction.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

I was trying to find a shot chart for Tony this season, but can't find a site to find one that's updated. The NBA.com one I found only has last season. Can anybody help me out?

[duncan228]

I was trying to find a shot chart for Tony this season, but can't find a site to find one that's updated. The NBA.com one I found only has last season. Can anybody help me out?

This one seems to be current, shot charts for all games so far. Surprised NBA.com isn't updated.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/s...-antonio-spurs

[Mel_13]

In the debate over the source of Tony's increased assist numbers it may be worthwhile to refer to an undisputed expert on this subject:

"Richard has been great," said Parker. "He helps me a lot. He's making a lot of shots, lots of threes. I've been finding him a lot at the beginning of the season. I'm just trying to do my job, run the team. I think Manu starting helps too cause he's a good shooter. I think the combination of Manu and Richard playing well is why my assists are up."

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17885

[duncan_21]

This is absurd. Parker has defenitely altered his game somewhat, you guys are ing blind.

Parker is averaging 8.4 assists this year as opposed to last year's 5.7. Big difference there, almost 3 assists per contest.

Spurs as a team have taken 62-146 (.425), as opposed to last year's (.358). Applying last year's % to this year yields 52-146.

So basically your claiming those 10 more made 3's (oh, and the "faster tempo"... as if Parker ever went slow) accounts for all of his added assists?

I don't think so.

I would say it accounts for most of it. Also the fact that he's healthy and the team is healthy unlike most of last year accounts for more assists. It's not like tp is in his 2nd year and he's gonna drastically improve. If you go one step farther assuming we're hitting 3s at a better clip go ahead and assume teams can't leave the guys alone behind the 3 pt line which leads to more open looks for the bigs by the hoop. Also it's not like the spurs have played world beaters. So if we are to assume tp is soooo much better this year based on playing vs bad teams and improved shooting which leads to more assists is borderline re ed.

I'm not even sure you can even make the assumption he has altered his game a little bit based on a small sample size, a drastic change on how the offense works, tps health, and the team's health. My advice would be to enjoy how the spurs have played and watch how they play the better teams later this year. This is the best the team has looked in quite awhile, enjoy it.

[Obstructed_View]

This is absurd. Parker has defenitely altered his game somewhat, you guys are ing blind.

Parker is averaging 8.4 assists this year as opposed to last year's 5.7. Big difference there, almost 3 assists per contest.

Spurs as a team have taken 62-146 (.425), as opposed to last year's (.358). Applying last year's % to this year yields 52-146.

So basically your claiming those 10 more made 3's (oh, and the "faster tempo"... as if Parker ever went slow) accounts for all of his added assists?

I don't think so.

Looks like with the current increase in pace, the Spurs are shooting two extra shots per game, both of which are three pointers, so there's an extra 14 attempts before you even factor in the percentage. The best way to find out would be to check the field goal percentage of the guys who play the most time with Parker, which I don't want to do. With RJ shooting the way he's shooting, one would expect a point guard's assist numbers to go up.

Parker's gone through stretches over the last several years where he puts up assist numbers like he is now. We know he can do it. The hope is that he keeps it up. I haven't seen any fundamental change in his game. He's clearly been given the green light to go back to trying for deflections to start the running game back up, but he's done that in previous years.

[Bambililos]

I agree, the "new" Parker is just a result of the new Spurs: faster pace, better shooters, more assists.

[Brazil]

I agree, the "new" Parker is just a result of the new Spurs: faster pace, better shooters, more assists.

pretty much

TP is adapting fast to this new spurs and he is changing things: regular season defense intensity and steals.

The room to improvement is his shot selectionm with a more efficient team he should be back to his old 50% FG

[Lady M]

pretty much

TP is adapting fast to this new spurs and he is changing things: regular season defense intensity and steals.

The room to improvement is his shot selectionm with a more efficient team he should be back to his old 50% FG

if he make the lay ups, he go back to 50%

[ChuckD]

This is the Tony Parker I've been waiting years for. The pass first & get teammates involved but also find time to score his efficient 18-20 pts on 50+% shooting. I have nothing bad to say about this version of TP.

Have one on me, Tony Parker.

16.7 points on 46% shooting. Talk about strawmen...

[Brazil]

For me the best TP game so far, in 28 mn 24 pts at 10/13, 4/5 FTs 2 reb 8 assists 3 steals and only 1 TO. He has literally schooled Jrue and dominates the 2 and half quarter he played.

Most important he has scored a bunch of easy lay-up by his quickness.