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Tony's midrange pull-up jumper looks great. I didn't even realize he had a mid-range pull-up jumper.
He looked really good in these games from what little scattered highlights I saw. I think we'll see TP in his prime the next couple of years.
They just need to make the tournament longer. Make it 4-3 weeks instead of 2-3. Space the games a bit. I have no problem with the number of teams, but the schedule is brutal.
Tony's midrange pull-up jumper looks great. I didn't even realize he had a mid-range pull-up jumper.
He looked really good in these games from what little scattered highlights I saw. I think we'll see TP in his prime the next couple of years.
Tony's mid-range jumper was one of his strongest weapons during his breakout year in 09-10. IMO, that weapon separates his game from being just a quality point-guard, and being one of the elites. When Parker is getting into the lane AND hitting from outside, he becomes nearly unguardable. I thought he actually regressed with his shooting last season; not terribly, but he wasn't hitting them with the same ease or confidence than he was the season before.
I actually said that in jest...sorry, forgot the blue. It seemed like last year he got away from his mid-range game quite a bit. In these highlights and others from the tournament it appears he uses some strength and elevation in shooting that mid-range jumper while being guarded close, not just shooting it when his defender backs off guarding the lane.
Pretty impressive stuff.
I actually said that in jest...sorry, forgot the blue. It seemed like last year he got away from his mid-range game quite a bit. In these highlights and others from the tournament it appears he uses some strength and elevation in shooting that mid-range jumper while being guarded close, not just shooting it when his defender backs off guarding the lane.
Pretty impressive stuff.Yeah, the blue would've helped. Totally missed the sarcasm.
And I agree, last season it seemed like Tony backed off his jumper once he started having problems with it. I'm no shooting coach either, but it also looked like he started reverting back to his bad form. When he came into the League, he used to have a very quick flick release and his hand seemed to come around the side of the ball. After re-working his shot, he seemed to get better elevation and had a nice, solid followthrough going straight into his shots. It seemed like toward the end of the season, he was going back to his old habits.
Fortunately, in this latest footage his form looks solid and the results show it, so maybe it is something he is aware of and focusing on.
It looks like he needs to be 100% physically to shoot like that. His jumper has not been the same since he took a hit against Italy.I actually said that in jest...sorry, forgot the blue. It seemed like last year he got away from his mid-range game quite a bit. In these highlights and others from the tournament it appears he uses some strength and elevation in shooting that mid-range jumper while being guarded close, not just shooting it when his defender backs off guarding the lane.
Pretty impressive stuff.
I was thinking all along that Greece was going to do us in all over again, and kept wondering why Noah was alone in the post while Borousis was raping us. Fortunately Flo Pietrus set that right in the 3rd, what a difference-maker he was. Then Tony got hot, Noah showed his fire, and it was done. Monclar was so right to say that even a small need was enough to turn the whole game around: as soon as they lost the lead, the Greeks started to play rushed, and with pressure on their shoulders for once, and only scored off fouls.
2 more games!
Now just one win away from direct qualification.
One win away from direct qualification AND from a nice medal too (gold would be better, but silver would already be quite an achievement).
Greece is for me the prototypical team that will struggle against other "Euroleague" NTs, because they are just not gifted enough at the moment, but will be tough for "NBA" NTs, because they are simply perfect at getting fouls in a FIBA settings, and NBA players are a bit "naive" in this regard. The disparity in FTs shows that Greece managed it very well (with referees doing a good job).
Also, the more I watch FIBA games, the more I prefer the way fouls are handled than in the NBA, where superstars always get "and-1s" way too easily (compared to the difficulty of scoring a 3-pointer).
Tony Parker : «On ne fait pas notre meilleur match, ce n'était pas beau à voir mais on arrive à gagner. Je suis fier de cette victoire parce que les années précédentes on n'aurait pas gagné ce match-là. Les Grecs sont forts quand même. On savait qu'ils joueraient à deux à l'heure et pourtant ils ont réussi à nous la faire et à nous endormir. Ils nous sont rentrés dedans dès le début du match. On était un peu frustrés, on avait tellement envie de bien faire qu'on n'arrivait pas à installer notre jeu. Mais on n'a pas douté. C'est une bonne victoire mais il faudra sortir un grand match demain (vendredi en demi-finale). Ca sera beaucoup plus offensif.»
Spurs style
It was a good win for France. I gotta say that I was not really impressed with Tony in this game. He hit some shots late in the game, but he forced a lot of really bad shots. De Colo was huge in the first half and I feel he definitely should have gotten more looks in the second half.
Pietrus really did make a difference in the third. Batum made the biggest shots in the second half and the fourth quarter.
France was fortunate to get this win. They don't play team ball often enough. They show glimpses but then Tony reverts to a one man game and everyone else follows suit.
No matter the sport, Monclar is clearly the best consultant out there. Listening to him is a pure joy
I have a different view re: Parker, although I agree that he tried some bad shots at times and that the team wasn't playing enough like a team.
However the first issue is that France has no offensive post presence for most of the game (basically all the time except when Traoré was in), and this is a real problem for a player like Tony, because he shines when surrounded with some legitimate threats, either in the post or the perimeter. Noah being a non-factor offensively (at least today) and Diaw refusing to take ANY shot, no matter how good it was, was a problem in this regard.
The second aspect relates to team basketball. Nobody was moving, and apart from Noah nobody was even trying to set screens. As useful as Batum was to nail some key shots (especially the two 3-pointers in the 4th), he took what... one really tough shot in the whole game? All his other shots were open shots. That's a lot easier for him than for Tony, who always ended up with the ball in his hands and 5 seconds left on the clock, because every other player either refused to shoot (see, Diaw) or couldn't create their own shot.
The one time when Tony kinda reverted to "one man game" was indeed at the end when he seemed to be on a hot streak and tried a couple of ill-advised shots. He stopped quickly when he realized he had cooled down, though.
I'd say there's no way France wins this game without him, especially since he scored the 2 back-to-back shots that gave France its first lead of the game... they tied a couple of times but never managed to go ahead. As soon as Greece was behind the pressure started to show, they turned the ball over, took some bad shots, etc. So that was a key moment as far as I'm concerned.
Fair assessment but it also points to the fact that Tony is not a true leader. He didn't tell people where to be or get onto them for not moving or taking shots. He has to run the team and not settle for contested mid range jump shots. Just my opinion.
Nando has really been the one to settle this team and allowed Tony to get hot once France had the lead. Without Nando, I believe Tony keeps forcing and France loses the game against Lithuania and against Greece. Once again, just my opinion.
Nando was non existent in all other games, but he sure did step up when France needed him most.
Tony Parker is a GREAT player. I just expect more of him in these pressure games. 18 points on 18 shots is not going to cut it.
Saying he is not a true leader is an unfair statement. This game was very nervous as expected against Greece. The guys had a lot of pressure after all the previous good games and on top of that French don't like to be the favorites. So it's true he scored 18 pts on 18 shoots but he was one of the few to have the corones to take the shoots during the whole game: Diaw refused to shoot, Batum shot only when he was wide open etc... At one point the offense must end with a shoot. Besides he has been clutch so globally he took his responsabilities, on that he has been the leader of the team.
BTW we are under evaluating the importance of Diaw in the French system, when he is passive like today, it complicates the life of the whole team.
Another absolutely fair rebuttal. I am judging Tony on an extremely critical scale. It might not be fair to ask Tony to get after his teammates and not allow them to be passive. Maybe that is an impossible task. I would at least like to see him try. Tony is the leader of this squad, just not the type of emotional leader I guess I am asking for. I want to see passion that teammates thrive off of.
I do believe Nando should have been more involved in the offense in the second half. I don't know if that was Tony's fault or not that he wasn't.
You make also fair points, but remember that Diaw is the captain of the French NT, not Parker. I know it's only a le, and I'm sure Parker contributes a lot to his teammates' motivation, but Collet obviously thought that making Parker the captain was really putting too much on his shoulders. However when Diaw is globally passive as he was today, things become a bit more complicated. I also thought Parker was shouting at his teammates and pointing to what they should be doing, but Greece D is what it is.
Not sure what happened with De Colo. He was certainly a key player against Lithuania and Greece. He's streaky as , though. From what he says, he has to be involved early in the game to get his confidence going. So far so good.
Looking forward, I have no idea what are the strengths of the Russian team, so not sure how France matches up with them. One thing is sure, though, if Spain and France meet in the final game, I don't see how France can defend the post. Noah is too raw, Seraphin too young, Traoré too prone to mistakes... only Flo Pietrus can help and he's going to rack up fouls really fast.
tight game so far vs Russia 33-29 for France
3pt by TP! France playing pretty good in the 2nd quarter!
39-34 at half time for Les Bleus
I almost added to my critique of Parker yesterday that he should stop shooting three pointers. 2/2 so far today.
He has regained his shooting touch today and played some pretty good defense.
Nando still needs more looks. Made one extremely lazy pass but he has looked good otherwise.
These commentators like to trash on Parker when they can:
"He even missed an open shot." Lol wtf. I guess he should be shooting 100% or something..
Man... I can smell paella
Bring Noah back please
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