French evolution

[Spurs Brazil]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/78...-espn-magazine

French evolution
Tony Parker is leading the Spurs after transformative overseas play
Originally Published: May 2, 2012
By Ric Bucher | ESPN The Magazine

This story appears in the May 14 Money Issue of ESPN The Magazine. Subscribe today!

WHEN SPURS COACH Gregg Popovich saw how Tony Parker, his starting point guard, led Team France last summer to its best EuroBasket finish in 60 years, he had only one question: Why doesn't he play that way for us?

Parker's answer: All you had to do was ask. That Pop did ask may be the biggest reason the Spurs are le contenders (again), even though 36-year-old Tim Duncan is dragging his left leg, Manu Ginobili has missed nearly half the season and five new faces are in the rotation.

Parker has long been part of the Spurs' Big Three, with Duncan and Ginobili, but he's tended to carry himself like the slight, sensitive 19-year-old who arrived 10 years ago. Popovich treated him accordingly, perhaps thinking it was simply Parker's nature to defer -- until he saw that refuse-to-lose drive last summer.

"With the national team, it's always been my team," Parker says. "I just tried to fit in here. Pop told me, 'This year, you need to lead, and Timmy and Manu will follow.' Only Pop could say that. I felt it was time too, but to me, it's always been Timmy's team."

Parker's role in earning France a EuroBasket silver medal irked Popovich, given Parker's tepid playoff showing less than five months earlier, when the top-seeded Spurs were upset by the eighth-seeded Grizzlies. Popovich's staff spliced together clips showing Parker leading all EuroBasket scorers with big shots and relentless defense and contrasted them with Memphis series lowlights, in which opposing point guard Mike Conley kept blowing by him and stripping him of the ball. "It gave me great fodder," Popovich says.

French teammate and recent Spurs acquisition Boris Diaw wasn't around for the Memphis playoff loss and didn't see Popovich's video mashup, so it's telling that to him, the 2012 Spurs' Parker and les Bleus' Parker are identical. "It's the way he's playing," Diaw says, "and what he demands from the other players."

Case in point: In a 120-99 late-season win over the Warriors, Spurs center DeJuan Blair picked off a pass but had his fast-break layup foiled by a tripping foul. Parker then confronted the 6'7" Blair about his forced shot over 6'11" Mickell Gladness two possessions earlier, reminding Blair how much he liked being fed the ball and of the need to reciprocate. At one time, Parker might have left that duty to Duncan, who at that moment stood to one side, silently observing. "This is more his team now," Duncan says. "You can see him turning it up."

Primarily by not turning it over. Parker, 29, has had better shooting and scoring seasons, but through April 24 he averaged a career high 7.7 assists and an assists-to-turnovers ratio of 2.96 -- signs that he has evolved from a terrific pick-and-roll scorer to a complete point guard.

"His decisions have been so much better," Popovich says. "He recognizes score, situation and time. He came back with a lot of confidence and a lot of purpose, and it has carried over. He's calling off a play I wanted because he sees something else."

Or, as Parker might put it, because Pop asked.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/78...-espn-magazine

[EVAY]

The most relevant and important information in that article to me was the statement from Tony that "I always tried to fit in here", implicitly acknowledging that it was always Tim's team. Which it was.

Then, the follow up quote from Pop (if it really happened) that said: "This year, you need to lead and Tim and Manu will follow".

That is the sea-change that we have all seen all year.

It is now Tony's team. Lots of folks on here seem to enjoy finding things to quibble about with Tony's play on any given night, but the fact is that he is the leader of the team in every single way, and if we DO go all the way, it will be with Tony leading.

If we don't go all the way, you can count on Tony getting the blame, so we might as well recognize that as a team we will only go as far as Tony can take us.

And even then, some folks will find fault that, for example, on a night when he ended up shooting 10 for 17 from the field (or almost 60%), there was a period of time when he didn't make his shots at an over 50% clip and thus he played poorly for that time, resulting in a less-than-accomplished game.

[tesseractive]

The most relevant and important information in that article to me was the statement from Tony that "I always tried to fit in here", implicitly acknowledging that it was always Tim's team. Which it was.

Then, the follow up quote from Pop (if it really happened) that said: "This year, you need to lead and Tim and Manu will follow".

That is the sea-change that we have all seen all year.

It is now Tony's team. Lots of folks on here seem to enjoy finding things to quibble about with Tony's play on any given night, but the fact is that he is the leader of the team in every single way, and if we DO go all the way, it will be with Tony leading.

If we don't go all the way, you can count on Tony getting the blame, so we might as well recognize that as a team we will only go as far as Tony can take us.

And even then, some folks will find fault that, for example, on a night when he ended up shooting 10 for 17 from the field (or almost 60%), there was a period of time when he didn't make his shots at an over 50% clip and thus he played poorly for that time, resulting in a less-than-accomplished game.

I used to find a lot of faults with Tony, personally. This year's Tony? This is the guy I always hoped he would be. I feel great about this year's team, and Tony is the biggest reason.

[Pauleta14]

And even then, some folks will find fault that, for example, on a night when he ended up shooting 10 for 17 from the field (or almost 60%), there was a period of time when he didn't make his shots at an over 50% clip and thus he played poorly for that time, resulting in a less-than-accomplished game.

B+

[Limguogolo]

I think Popovich don't appreciate the right value of Parker... in his own team. In the French national team, Parker is terrible. Yes, France got a medal, but hey, this is just gross with TP running all the actions. France won thanks to the emergence of players like Seraphin, Batum, the presence of Batum, De Colo and Noah.

Popovich used what he's seen to use it and ask what he wanted. But he didn't want a Parker team. He wanted a more involved Parker. The right, and the better, value of Parker and any players in this team for 4 or 5 years, is their ability to play unselfish. That is the success of the Spurs. No Tony Parker. Parker can think he's the franchise player, he loves it. But actually, the Spurs play like a European team (and Parker don't in FNT), without a franchise player. That's why they're so efficient. Don't know if Pop dit it on purpose, but it's been a success, so far.

Pop won't say to Diaw to play like he plays in FNT... He's useless.

[Venti Quattro]

France is pretty stacked as compared to before. I don't see the point of Parker running rings around the court.

Why is Mickael Pietrus and Turiaf not in the roster anymore? Mahinmi could be useful too.

[Limguogolo]

Why is Mickael Pietrus and Turiaf not in the roster anymore? Mahinmi could be useful too.

Turiaf is in the team. Pietrus is not, because he's not Parker's friend. If you want to be part of the team, you need to be a Parker sucker. This is the same for the coaches and persons in charge. They know his power in the future agency, in the future organization, so they say ok to all he wants. Parker doesn't want Pietrus or Petro, so they are not. Something is rotten in the state of FNT. The boss is a player, it can't be good.

About Ian, Parker prefer Traoré. More useful in offense, I must admit he's right.