Thoughts on Parker

[Perry Mason]

I'm curious what some of the vets here think of Tony's obvious struggles. Is it more than fatigue?

Last night was a winnable game; Spurs had their two superstars on the court, Parker and Timmy. Last year Parker would likely have gone off at the end of the game, notwithstanding the scrub supporting cast, and would have run the motion offense with persistent speed and precision.

So what has happened? Parker looked inept out there, and the offense plodded like an embodiment of Matt Bonner. It seems as if the last 2 years of his growth into a near-superstar are being lost. His defensive execution has also suffered, but that has been true of the whole team.


PS - Why is Ayres so bad? He barely contests on the pick-in-roll, which is the whole reason Pop has him out there due to his theoretical mobility and athleticism.

[Brazil]

Parker is struggling and it was "expected". Dude is gassed, he will have some good stretches here and there but overall he is paying the price of a long season and a long summer with FNT. Not gonna improve unless he can rest.

No excuses just a constatation.

He played terrific with NT, he didn't loose his basketball between October and now. I don't see anything else other than fatigue.

Considering this factor and all the injuries of the team, he is just keeping what he has for the O end imho this is why he is particularly ugly on D this year.

[Sigz]

He's done.

[024]

Parker is not a superstar. He can't carry a team by himself. He never could and never had the potential to do so. He already exceeded his potential by becoming an all NBA player (as opposed to just a regular all star). Parker is a great player who worked hard to exceed his potential of being an above average player. But to expect anything more from him would be foolish.

For Popovich to keep the roster relatively the same as last year is perplexing. This team didn't work last year, even with a surprisingly large amount of luck. At the very best, the Spurs would stay at the same level. But the league is always improving (see Durant) and staying the same means getting worse. At the very worst, the Spurs' age and injuries catch up to them, which is currently happening. The fact that this team is struggling is the fault of the management, not the fault of Parker.

[Phenomanul]

Parker is not a superstar. He can't carry a team by himself. He never could and never had the potential to do so. He already exceeded his potential by becoming an all NBA player (as opposed to just a regular all star). Parker is a great player who worked hard to exceed his potential of being an above average player. But to expect anything more from him would be foolish.

For Popovich to keep the roster relatively the same as last year is perplexing. This team didn't work last year, even with a surprisingly large amount of luck. At the very best, the Spurs would stay at the same level. But the league is always improving (see Durant) and staying the same means getting worse. At the very worst, the Spurs' age and injuries catch up to them, which is currently happening. The fact that this team is struggling is the fault of the management, not the fault of Parker.

Parker just led France to the Euro Championship...

I agree with Brazil, Parker simply needs to be rested. Unfortunately, with the short roster he may not be given that chance [particularly if he ends up attending the All-Star Game festivities]...

[Bruno]

He is tired and the shin injury has bothered him for a few weeks.

Parker has said numerous time that his goal this season was to be at 100% for the playoffs. I'm fine with him having that good but not great regular season as long as he is able to step up for the playoffs. If he isn't able to raise his level during the postseason, Spurs will have a big issue and Parker will deserved to be call out.

Wait and see...

[EVAY]

I agree with Brazil that Parker is using up his energy on O this year, and the extent to which his racing around during our offensive sets means he is gonna have less energy on the other end. Part of his problem on D is our poor pick and roll defense, which includes both Parker and whichever of our bigs is guarding the other guys' screen setter. But a large part of his problem in general is his fatigue level.

He not only played with his national team to a championship this off-season, he did it after going through a 7 NBA finals games.

Both of these things play into the greater impact that any injury, however slight, has on his ability to 'finish' for us as he did so often last year. Last year he was the MVP of our team for sure, and he was in fact the go-to guy at the end of close games. And his leadership took us to the finals. Then, when he hurt his hamstring in the what - third game? (can't remember exactly), he did okay for a game or two after that because they had more than one day in between games. But by the time the fifth game was over you could see that hamstring really bothering him, and it definitely affected his lift during the last two games.

He runs so fast and so far in order to run the offensive sets that the Spurs have, any time he is overly fatigued it is gonna show. The fatigue also makes it harder for him to avoid injuries and harder for him to play through the injuries once he gets him. His latest shin bruise and shooting-hand finger jams are cases in point.
He always wants to keep laying through the injuries, but I honestly think if they would sit him for two weeks he and the team would ultimately be better off.

The shin bruise obviously impacts his ability to run as fast as normal or to get the lift he needs for his shots, but he keeps doing it and I don't think it is useful. In fact, I think it is counter-productive for all the reasons people notice here. He is still SUPPOSED to be the go-to guy at the end of games like he was last year…problem is that he can't pull off the role when he is even minimally banged up in his legs or shooting hand, as we have seen lately.

[MultiTroll]

He is tired and the shin injury has bothered him for a few weeks.

Parker has said numerous time that his goal this season was to be at 100% for the playoffs. I'm fine with him having that good but not great regular season as long as he is able to step up for the playoffs. If he isn't able to raise his level during the postseason, Spurs will have a big issue and Parker will deserved to be call out.

Wait and see...

Leads the team in minutes per game.
Rest?

[Brazil]

Leads the team in minutes per game.
Rest?

even if he is leading team in minutes, he is not even in the top 40 of minutes played per game in the nba.
Difficult for Pop to play him less especially with all the injuries, Pop is whatever you think he is but there is nobody better than him to manage minutes of his players.

Problem is not mpg but time to rest without playing at all. I'd rather see Spurs shut him down for a while before and after ASG for instance but how do you manage a rotation without manu, parker, green, leonard, splitter ? Duncan is another one we should all be concerned, with lack of O and holes in D, grand pa' is trying to carry O and D the best he can but at what price ?

this season sucks health wise, let's hope we can have everybody on board somewhere in March and build from there. With the league full of bad teams or in tanking mode maybe we could still be positionned to get home court for first round of POs at that moment.

[superjames1992]

6-16, 4 assists, 2 turnovers.

[TheGoldStandard]

Won't look good until April

[Baam]

even if he is leading team in minutes, he is not even in the top 40 of minutes played per game in the nba.
Difficult for Pop to play him less especially with all the injuries, Pop is whatever you think he is but there is nobody better than him to manage minutes of his players.

Problem is not mpg but time to rest without playing at all. I'd rather see Spurs shut him down for a while before and after ASG for instance but how do you manage a rotation without manu, parker, green, leonard, splitter ? Duncan is another one we should all be concerned, with lack of O and holes in D, grand pa' is trying to carry O and D the best he can but at what price ?

this season sucks health wise, let's hope we can have everybody on board somewhere in March and build from there. With the league full of bad teams or in tanking mode maybe we could still be positionned to get home court for first round of POs at that moment.

Pop has said that he doesn't think that TP is tired for the record...

[Brazil]

Pop has said that he doesn't think that TP is tired for the record...

pop is managing communication as he wants, don't know why he said that, maybe a way to tell TP stfu and play or a way to say you choose to play NT bb this summer so you take it... but it is pretty obvious that 15 months of playing elite basketball is gonna tire you up.

[ElNono]

If he's taking it easy, I think he needs to start picking it up soon... it's not as much about "it's not worth it now because we're missing guys", it's mostly because the ramping up has to be progressive.

Because he's young though, he has the benefit of the doubt. Nothing else really matter is Tony can't be the guy he's been the last couple of seasons. This is his team now, if he's not 100%, we don't have a shot.

[Brazil]

If he's taking it easy, I think he needs to start picking it up soon... it's not as much about "it's not worth it now because we're missing guys", it's mostly because the ramping up has to be progressive.

Because he's young though, he has the benefit of the doubt. Nothing else really matter is Tony can't be the guy he's been the last couple of seasons. This is his team now, if he's not 100%, we don't have a shot.

don't think he is taking easy, just think he has no legs right now... I don't believe in the coasting...

[dbestpro]

TP needs to rest, but too many rotational players are injured to allow for him to rest. My take is a little different. I don't think he is as physically tired as he is mentally tired. Thus, why sometimes he can go off, and other times he just makes bad decisions. He does not trust anyone other than himself and TD when he on the floor. Too often, it looks like 2 on 5. Passing to the open man is becoming a lost art on the Spurs.

[hooperflash]

When we were down four, he needed to force the issue and get to the paint . Instead, he felt he could knock down some 18-foot jumpers even when he was gassed . I hope he's learning for future games.

[lefty]

He has been "tired" for a while

[Johnny RIngo]

He prioritized international ball over the Spurs and now he wants rest. How about actually earning your paycheck and resting in the appropriate time(offseason)

[Godbama]

Parker just led France to the Euro Championship...

Oh boy!

[apalisoc_9]

I don't want to get banned.

[Brazil]

now he wants rest

link ?

[Brazil]

I don't want to get banned.

let me help you out....

Parker sucks, fatigue is not an excuse to refuse to pass the ball to Leonard. er is jealous and wants all the glory, enrique ing selfish wanker

you're welcome

[Johnny RIngo]

train wreck of a season for Tony.

[r0drig0lac]