Parker played his role well tonight, tbh..

[HarlemHeat37]

I'd rather have patty down the stretch playing pesky annoying defense than Parker playing traffic cone D. Pops to chicken to bench Tony. Doesn't want to hurt his feelings

I would rather have Manu and Mills on the floor instead of him, too, but that's not really part of my point..

[313]

I expect his hesitancy to subside as the season goes on. He's definitely making a concerted effort not to chuck and to get the ball in other guy's hands. He'll learn when to pick his spots.

The bigger problem is the defense. There is no adjustments he can make, he's old and short. I liked seeing him with the bench unit. WOuld like to see more Gino with the starting unit.

[TheGreatYacht]

He needs to gtfo or fake another injury so he can ride the bench.

Tbh I'd rather have Parker out there than Mills. Mills is just a bad PG imo. He's a good shooter but not a great playmaker.

lol scoots

[FkLA]

Decent offensively. Defense still sucks ass. Overall, some improvement from last season but that's not saying much.

[K...]

Nice thread. I can't realistically imagine mills doing any better against waiters. Maybe Ray would be big enough but he's way way away from being good enough to challenge mills for backup minutes, much less closing minutes. Other than going without a point guard I don't see how you defend better than he did.

There's this persistent myth that 6ft point guards can be elite defenders. It's way too rare a skill set to be constantly complaining about pg defense.

[sasaint]

He's a parker stan but he sounds decent so we don't need to go there.

Yep. He's talking stats. I thought we were talking game. Over and out.

[Kawhitstorm]

Pop should put him out of his misery.......maybe he will pop his achilles & call it a career

[Kawhitstorm]

Nice thread. I can't realistically imagine mills doing any better against waiters. Maybe Ray would be big enough but he's way way away from being good enough to challenge mills for backup minutes, much less closing minutes. Other than going without a point guard I don't see how you defend better than he did.

There's this persistent myth that 6ft point guards can be elite defenders. It's way too rare a skill set to be constantly complaining about pg defense.

Manu was the best guard on the team & he can guard Waiters better than Tony. Not to mention the final play would have been for him instead of Danny launching a terrible shot but Pop decided he wasn't going to play him in the 4th

[DPG21920]

Pop obviously didn't care too much..the Thunder started Roberson, one of the worst offensive players in the NBA, yet he had Parker on Westbrook, rather than hiding him..

Exactly. It was pretty clear what Pop was doing. In addition to the Spurs having a lead most of the game despite WB on TP

[HarlemHeat37]

Manu was the best guard on the team & he can guard Waiters better than Tony. Not to mention the final play would have been for him instead of Danny launching a terrible shot but Pop decided he wasn't going to play him in the 4th

I don't think Pop really cared tonight, obviously..he had Parker(one of the 5 worst defensive starters in the NBA) guarding the 2nd best PG in the league for virtually the entire game..

This thread is intended to provide a realistic view on expectations of Parker, tbh..this isn't mainstream media outlets that are always 2-3 years late in recognizing a former star's decline, nor is it a homer POV on a Spurs HOFer..

TP is a top 200 or so player in the league IMO..it appears that he's going to accept his role and pick his spots, which is all I want to see from him, rather than being Kobe or Iverson or Rondo..

[Aztecfan03]

op is a got, enrique lacking confidence?

he had no problem throwing t he game away

Kawhi doesn't even know who his crew's leader is.

[spurraider21]

i noticed this too, OP. he was picking his spots better, wasn't killing possession after possession with over-dribbling.

it won't stop FkLA from starting a new thread every time parker misses a jumper, but i think he showed good progress (from a mental aspect, he's not much better physically)

[Johnny RIngo]

I wouldn't have an issue with how he played if his contract wasn't so terrible. You have Duncan and Manu taking paycuts for the benefit of the team while TP is still on the books for the next three years on a terrible $45 mil extension. He's gives you Mario Chalmers level production(with worse defense) - he shouldn't be payed anything more than 4 or 5 million.

[spurraider21]

I wouldn't have an issue with how he played if his contract wasn't so terrible. You have Duncan and Manu taking paycuts for the benefit of the team while TP is still on the books for the next three years on a terrible $45 mil extension. He's gives you Mario Chalmers level production(with worse defense) - he shouldn't be payed anything more than 4 or 5 million.

yeah, his contract is god awful, but there's nothing we can do about it at this point. he's untradeable and you can't redo contracts in the NBA

[HarlemHeat37]

Only 3 games in, but have to give him credit, seems like his acceptance of the new role might be genuine

As JVG has said, aging ex-stars are the toughest players to coach in sports, due to lack of self-awareness and denial of deteriorating skills..good for TP, tbh..

[ducks]

I wouldn't have an issue with how he played if his contract wasn't so terrible. You have Duncan and Manu taking paycuts for the benefit of the team while TP is still on the books for the next three years on a terrible $45 mil extension. He's gives you Mario Chalmers level production(with worse defense) - he shouldn't be payed anything more than 4 or 5 million.

he can not change his contract but he can accept his role


maybe he will take less if he plays more after his contract is done
Give his contract a rest

[FkLA]

Props to Rique if he keeps accepting his Prigioni role. Srs.

Hopefully Pop follows suit and starts treating him like the role player he is. No reason why he should be closing games if all Pop is having him do is stand in the corner since he's not a threat as a spot-up shooter.

[Kool Bob Love]

Parker was under payed most of his career so posters need to shut the up about his contract. Loyalist Spur in franchise history.

[Brazil]

Only 3 games in, but have to give him credit, seems like his acceptance of the new role might be genuine

As JVG has said, aging ex-stars are the toughest players to coach in sports, due to lack of self-awareness and denial of deteriorating skills..good for TP, tbh..

So far so good, he is acting like he understood his new role... I'm sure he talked a lot with Timmy this offseason about that tbh... For all the he gets from ST his loyalty to this franchise cannot be questioned tbh...

[dabom]

So loyal he s other spur wifes.

[gilmor]

So loyal he s other spur wifes.

Man.. I guess you your neighbour's wife also..

[TDfan2007]

I love the way Tony's been playing. He's picking his spots well and deferring to Kawhi and Aldridge whenever possible. As for the D, he tries, but he's just lost too much quickness to keep up with these ridiculously talented PGs. It'd be nice if he stopped "helping" off his man and giving up open 3s as much, but he and Green have been notorious for that since 2013.

Only disappointments so far have been Danny and West. Danny should get his in gear once the starters become more cohesive, and West probably just needs more games. So far so good...

[Mikeanaro]

He is accepting the new role Spurs are gonna be fine.

[Stabula]

I love the way Tony's been playing. He's picking his spots well and deferring to Kawhi and Aldridge whenever possible. As for the D, he tries, but he's just lost too much quickness to keep up with these ridiculously talented PGs. It'd be nice if he stopped "helping" off his man and giving up open 3s as much, but he and Green have been notorious for that since 2013.

Only disappointments so far have been Danny and West. Danny should get his in gear once the starters become more cohesive, and West probably just needs more games. So far so good...

Agree with all your points

[J_Paco]

Props to Rique if he keeps accepting his Prigioni role. Srs.

Hopefully Pop follows suit and starts treating him like the role player he is. No reason why he should be closing games if all Pop is having him do is stand in the corner since he's not a threat as a spot-up shooter.

You do realize that Patty Mills is shorter than Parker (Mills is listed at a generous 6' while Parker is listed at 6'2") and just as poor defensively? Or have y'all conveniently forgotten Austin Rivers carving him up and resurrecting his NBA career last post season?

Patty is a far, far better shooting option than Tony but he brings his own set of limitations (small size, can't consistently run the offense, poor playmaker, etc.) that need to be accounted for also. In a perfect scenario we would have a young, upstart behind Tony that would be ready to take the starting position that brought outside shooting, defense and size but that player isn't on the team.

I'm glad Tony is accepting his current limitations and not forcing the issue on offense, especially with better options like LaMarcus and Kawhi on the team. I still think he needs to give the team better production (around 15 PPG & 5 APG), but getting comfortable in his new role and with new teammates takes precedence over that.