So who can't we beat without Parker?

[ElNono]

Even a hobbled Parker would be a huge contributor right now. He can give you at the very least 10-15 points a night. He's got a rep with refs already plus he knows the system.
I'm not even sold he needs to come off the bench. The reality is that Tony is the master of the pick and roll, and Tim is the only big we have that really takes full advantage of that play with him. This has very little to do with Tony, and everything to do with our other bigs.
Now, I fully agree we should start our best players, then try to keep at least one of the big 3 at all times in the game.

[Manu-of-steel]

Best post on this thread. People forget that this team was starting to look better before Parker went down. when Parker got hurt, people were saying the season was lost. But now that the Spurs have gone on a run like expected, Parker is a trade asset now.

It's a cycle, dude. When TP was and TD were having good games and Manu was not playing ok, some posters here wanted to trade Manu for peanuts. Now that Manu is beasting, and TP is injured, some people here are criticizing TP.
I'm a Manu fan, but I believe that for the spurs to get to the top, we need all of them to be playing healthy. Stop the hating, we need to support ALL our players.

[TimDunkem]

yep. Parker KILLS our ball movement on offense. And he's soft on D. Facts is facts.

Tim and Manu still need to be kept fresh for the playoffs. For me, this, along with the fact that Tony is so dominate with the ball, is the reason why he should come off the bench.

[stéphane]

Wow, has been a while. That's a great bunch of re ed posts we got here.

The discussion about Tony being brought of the bench as the sixth man was interesting and had a tactical meaning behind it but then you get this thread.

Just re ed pure hate for a player that was a determining part of three Spurs les. He's been the core of this team with Tim and Manu for 3 effing chips.
Pay the guy respect at least for what he's accomplished or wait you prefer thinking he's crap just because we won 10 of 15 something games without him. Nuf said.

You are just a shame to the spurs fanbase.

[portnoy1]

TP watchin from the bench for the last few weeks might be a good thing. No doubt he feels the pressure and he probably knows that if he comes back and the Spurs start losing he will get ALL the blame. Without him the Spurs run a motion-offense and move the ball from side to side, while still running pick n rolls on some possesions. With Parker its either an isolation for Tim or the usual high pick n roll with parker. Parkers pick n roll is pretty affective, however it doesnt promote ball movement and guys like RJ thrive in a system that requires off the ball movement. For RJ to be affective he needs to get different looks on the offense. Lets say RJ takes 10shots a game, its has to be 6shots in transition and cuts (in motion basically) 2-3 spot ups and 1-2 post up plays if their is an advantage. If Parker can look for him in the open court when he leaks out of when he has a smaller player on him in the post then TP will work out just fine, cause thats really where the problem is, its between RJ and TP. Getting solid, effecient production from both of them makes these team much better.

[raspsa]

Its going to take all of the Big 3 plus help off the bench if the Spurs are to go deep into the POs. Its still a team game and it will take a team effort to get the job done. You don't ignore what good things Tony brings to the table. The challenge for Pop is to work Tony back into the flow of things as seamlessly as possible. Specially with GHill unavailable for the foreseeable future, its more important than ever that everyone carries a share of the load lest you risk burning out or injuring Timmy and Manu in particular.
Trust in the players and coaching staff guys. Its going to be a of a ride.

[Cry Havoc]

It's a cycle, dude. When TP was and TD were having good games and Manu was not playing ok, some posters here wanted to trade Manu for peanuts. Now that Manu is beasting, and TP is injured, some people here are criticizing TP.
I'm a Manu fan, but I believe that for the spurs to get to the top, we need all of them to be playing healthy. Stop the hating, we need to support ALL our players.

No way. Parker gets 10x the hate of any other Spurs player.

[jag]

No way. Parker gets 10x the hate of any other Spurs player.

It's actually kinda strange how that works. All these fans feel like Parker owes them something. The guy has been a huge part of 3 les, and people think he's a " bag" for not walking around speaking spanish.

[baseline bum]

[Macca76]

Ahh, the good old Tony Parker hate after the Spurs win a game..no stats to back up the claims, nothing..very simple-minded thinking, as usual..

Look, I'm on the bandwagon of Parker coming off the bench..I wasn't before, but I am now..it's probably a better idea..please stop bringing BS here though, please..the stats don't back up most of these claims..

-George Hill's D has been just as bad as TP's during the stretch that TP has been out..this isn't arguable, it's pretty clear..Hill was getting torched routinely up until this last week or so..it's extremely tough for perimeter players to play D and have a load on offense, especially as a PG and especially with today's rules..Hill is probably the most overrated defender on this team, although he's pretty good at times, I'm just saying..Parker's D hasn't been a liability before, it won't be now, as long as he's healthy..

-I agree that Parker playing hurt did hurt the Spurs, but you can say that about Manu and TD as well..Manu was shooting less than 40% from the field for most of the 1st half of the season and taking bad shots..Duncan was playing some horrible games up until these last few weeks..TP hurts more because he handles the ball more, but it's obvious to expect an injured player to hurt the team when he's hobbled..

-Manu's hot streak has NOOOTTTTTTHHHHHHIIIIINNNNGGGG to do with Tony being out..there's absolutely no argument for this..Ginobili struggled for the entire 1st half of the season from a scoring perspective, and this was when he was coming off the bench, so he wasn't even playing with Parker most of the time..Manu's emergence is clearly the primary reason the Spurs are so hot..if Manu was playing like this earlier, of course the Spurs would have been better, he's 1/3 of our big 3..

Manu himself admitted that he had confidence issues early on due to not playing basketball for so long..he's clearly confident and healthy now, he has been for over a month now and it's paid dividends, it has nothing to do with Parker at all..these guys have won 3 les together, I think they know how to play together..

-Jefferson is playing a lot better..this one has a little to do with TP, but not as much as you would think..RJ's assisted % has BARELY gone up since TP went out, meaning he's clearly been calling his own number offensively..he's a lot more aggressive, he's rebounding better and he's defending a lot better..this also has to do with chemistry, and it means Jefferson obviously realized he must step up in Parker's absence..

-Parker has never had a problem with touches or getting others involved..in case some people have forgotten, Tony actually SAID the Spurs need to bring in more talent, and he was one of the more excited guys about the RJ acquisition..he'll have no problems letting him get his own touches..

-Manu is old, so is Duncan..while it's always nice to have them get a lot of touches, they can't be carrying the load too much, so of course it helps to have a guy that is a top 3-5 PG in the NBA when he's healthy..these 2 aren't always going to be on their games, Parker is going to be needed to beat the better teams and exploit key mismatches..

-Parker returning means Roger Mason no longer plays..it means Bogans plays less and it means Manu doesn't have to play too many minutes, which will allow him to be fresh for 4th quarters..there have also been plenty of games where Hill has played poorly, so it obviously helps to have an all-star there in case..

-The Spurs won their last 5 games with Parker in the lineup, beating Memphis, New Orleans twice, Phoenix and OKC..the signs were starting to show before he got injured, due to the improvement and emergence of other key players..

-The Spurs 3 best lineups this season all involve Tony Parker..so while he was having an off-season until his injury, he was still valuable and there were other key guys(Manu, RJ) that were playing worse at the time..

Thanks for bringing some facts and knowledge in this stupid thread !