my RIP thread made wonders on his karma... let's hope this thread won't jinx him
Tony is playing a pretty sound basketball right now... I haven't checked his stats since the beginning of the year but after last night game I was interested to see per 36 what his stat looked like and was quite amazed to see that Parker production is actually ing solid... He could have a case of MIP, after being a bottom 20 last year you can argue for him being this year a top 20,30 whatever but improvement is quite astonishing.
I mentionned top 20 to be a bit provocative but let's call that player with solid above average production.
Now I'm aware, Spurs record and production is helping him to get some nice metrics in particular on defense as this team is historically good at D but there was a time when team was fine and TP struggled on those metrics.
The pros:
- 4th in FG%, 1st guard of the list
- 5th in TS% (Kawhi 6th)
- 11th in Offensive rating at 119 (best of his career) - Kawhi is 7th at 121
- 15th in Defensive rating(Danny 10th, Tim 3rd, Kawhi 2th)... Parker is playing much better defense than recent years but his 15th rank is more the product of Spurs destroying opponent with Kawhi and Tim than his production but still
- 6th Win Shares per 48 but also 15th Win Shares
The cons:
- lowest mpg and usage of his career
- his VROP and BPM are average compared to the league but his actual BPM is best of his career except 06-07 and 12-13
- Assist per game at 4,9 is quite low like last year even though he is number 2 in hockey assist
to name some stats and lines... At the end I'm pretty sure you can find 20 names you would rather have (not considering potential just production after 25 games) but coming from one worst starter of the league to being top 20 of the league on key metrics would probably deserve some MIP consideration tbh fwiw
my RIP thread made wonders on his karma... let's hope this thread won't jinx him
Good thread, so before it turns into a Porker thread, I'd also add that his midrange shooting percentages must be some of the best in the NBA. Haven't checked the numbers, just going with the eye test. His defensive rating is also very well deserved, albeit bumped up by the team defense, but he's been really really good and locked in more than ever at this point of the season. Perhaps him not having to penetrate in order to initiate the Spurs offense is saving him more energy for the defensive end, but he's been good, consistent and improving in this area as the season progresses.
He seems to have fully accepted the grizzled vet role and is not pushing the issue at all, but he's also been able to find his spots and be more aggressive when the team have needed, for example at the begining of the Hawks game. He's been as good as anyone could have realistically expected him to be. My only concern is that by playoff time the team might need him to go back to attacking the rim more often and I hope he'll be able to do it when it matters. At least 7/8 times per game. This would be a great weapon.
Can only hope he can take this resurgence into the playoffs.
Yes Parker has played solid all year, and if you haven't seen any games this season you could simply tell how great Parker is playing by the complete meltdown in this forum. The player fan crew has no idea how to react.
You knew before you posted this that no amount of statistics or observations would change the responses you're going to get.
Yes, there are more than 20 players in the league that I would select (most people would select) before Parker, if for no other reason than they're young. There's still the question of whether Tony can keep this level of play up for a whole season. But the way he's playing right now, and with his knowledge of the system and the other players? There aren't many players who would be better for THIS team right now.
IMO he is the best PG in the NBA right now, and I'm 200% convinced he will be even better in the playoffs
I think Tony has been great. Both in his production when used and in accepting his slightly changed role. It's a mature player indeed who can do what he's doing, and almost Duncan-ian on how he has retooled his game around his changing body.
Major props to Tony. And to answer the OP's question, he's just on the cusp of Top 20 now. That shooting percentage is fantastic. (Wasn't there some troll on here who did a poll asking to predict Parker's shooting percentage, and didn't allow for an answer over 39%? Guess TP proved him wrong. )
Not top 20, but I think every Spurs fan has to be thrilled with how much better he's looked this season compared to last. He's taking less shots (9.3 FGA per game) and when he does shoot, he's being extremely efficient. Career low in TOs, and career high in TS%. As for his assists, the raw numbers look a bit low, but per 36 they're about in line with his career averages, which is fine.
But honestly, the biggest surprise has to be his defense. The past couple of years he was a complete liability on that end and I cringed every time he was guarding someone with the ball. This year though he's actually been incredibly solid (at least by Parker standards) defensively. Obviously it helps when you have Green/Kawhi/Aldridge/Duncan behind you helping out, but regardless, he deserves credit for making strides on that end.
I have doubts about him keeping this up all season, but if he can at least keep up the defensive effort without completely falling apart efficiency-wise (55-57 TS% would be good enough), I'll be ecstatic.
Top 20, not sure. But top 21, for sure!
Well said.
The parts i agree with.
On "cons" why do you have "lowest mpg"?
MIP player is another media award that alwayswhen a player wins due to his suckage the year before.
No Parker should not win.
Yes it's extremely encouraging to see him putting team above self.
As I mentionned and others stated too, his defense metrics have to be taken with a grain of salt... He is playing with Tim who is having a DPOT contender kind of year and overall a starting five with ridiculous defensive numbers lead by Kawhi. Nevertheless Pop mentionned he was more than happy with his effort and it is quite visible he is defending his ass off down there.
I believe two factors are explaining this ressurgence:
1. He understood with his reduced role offensively he cannot afford the luxury to be a dead weight defensively tbh... low usage and offensive production coupled with blackhole in defense would mean bench and less playing time imo
2. I have no doubt in my mind that playing lowest minutes of his career plus a decreased work load offensively is saving his legs for defending
Question is obviously now if he can keep up the rest of the season but also POs... Pop cannot do a better job to put all chances in our side by limiting his minutes (blowing off teams is also helping) and resting him when needed.
cons in a sense of being or not top 20... with a low level of mpg and usage your production has obviously less impact on team overall results. Depending of the rest of the team performance but all things being considered equal you can argue it is better to have .500 FG% on 15 FGAs than .570 on 9 FGAs.
You wrote:
In Parkers case it is better to have .510 on 9 FGAs then .390 on 15 FGAs.I mentionned top 20 to be a bit provocative but let's call that player with solid above average production.
You are right tbh... As I said top 20 is a bit to provoke a tad that's not what matters, what matters is you can argue a bit around that: top 20, 30 whatever... last year discussion was bottom 20,30... this gap is what matters.
Now I'm also aware Parker last year in November was looking pretty good too but offensively he was certainly less efficient and his defense was nowhere close to this year. You add the fact Parker almost did not play in December last year (he missed 14 games) and you start to like what's going on for him right now compared to last year.
Is .390 league average ? that sounds very low
In Parker case he never had a .390 on 15 FGAs so that's a moot point. My point is the number of minutes a player is capable to play per game is important obviously and it is a criteria to define a ranking... you have dudes with crazy metrics but that are seeing the floor 5 mpg, you don't consider them in that kind of conversation.
.363 vs Clippers in 7 game playoff.
We are all in agreement that this years Parker is wayy better so far.
Exactly. Manu is probably still a top 15-20 player when he's on the court, but considering he plays less than 20 mpg at this point, it'd be hard to make an argument for him over some guys who might be slightly worse but play 30+ mpg.
Tony is playing better defense and has a great fg% so far this year. I definately think that tony has proved a lot of his haters wrong so far this year.
Who cares? As long as he keeps playing like he has been I'll be happy.
I can't argue with that. The difference between this year and last is pretty significant.
I do think part of it may be related to Duncan's reduced offensive numbers, and the fact that Aldridge has a mid-range game. The Spurs' offense has opened a little bit more space in the paint for him to operate. Maybe Tony has lost a step, but he's still pretty damned good as long as the defense isn't able to totally pack the paint against him? So maybe part of this resurgence is him being healthy, and part is Pop doing some tweaking.
I know some people have been ing that Kawhi isn't getting enough post-ups. But think what that does for Tony, having him pull the other team's best defender away from the paint.
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