Parker press conference: Spurs done as a contender.

[baseline bum]

I heard Minny is trying to trade there 2nd pick for veteran help

Parker for Flynn and the number 2 pick and draft Williams

The Spurs aren't blowing the team up.

[mountainballer]

to me this interview sounds a little bit like: "I know Pop wouldn't trade me, but I wouldn't be offended if they think about it". it's not that he demands a trade, but it's also a bit different to the "I wish not to get traded, after all that I have done for this team".
Tony knows he is the only asset the Spurs can use in a premium trade. be it to start the rebuilding process, be it to get the team one more shot by trying to bring in a quality big man for him.
I think Tony wouldn't mind to spend the last 3 good years of his career on a contender and/or a more fancy place like LA or NY.

NY might even be a very interesting option, when thinking about a restart scenario. let's guess the Knicks do want Tony.
I'm not totally sure if this would work that way, but the contract of Billups is only 3.7 million guaranteed next season, if he is waived within 5 days after season end. a package of Tony+RJ for Billups+Turiaf+Douglas+Fields works.
if the Spurs waive Billups, they save more than 60 million $ in that move.
they get back two decent talents in Douglas and Fields, not star material, but very useful role player. Douglas might be a copy of Hill, but any team can use more than one player of the kind.
in 2012 the Spurs would be far under the cap (depending on new signings and the new CBA it could be about 25 million $), they might have a good pick 2012 (even a lottery pick?), which will be a far better draft class than this year.
Hill-Douglas-Neal-Anderson-Fields-Blair-Splitter....this lacks star power, but it looks like a very nice pool of decent NBA talent for a future team. the star needs to be found via draft or FA. not easy, but not impossible.

ps. I also call the Howard to Minny trade BS.

[Spurs7794]

I just want to say...I love TP and want him to stay a Spur unless the perfect trade comes along. With that said...he played awful the first 4 or so games. People are saying "his numbers weren't way off". Go back and watch game 3 where he could not bring the ing ball up the court without misdribbling it or getting it knocked away. He was freakin Beno all over again and he's been playing for 10 years! Or game 4 where his shot came back but he had 7 turnovers and 1 assist.

Good TP showed up in game 5 and 6 but if he had played like the TP since 2006 the entire series, we woulda won the series.

[Brazil]

I just want to say...I love TP and want him to stay a Spur unless the perfect trade comes along. With that said...he played awful the first 4 or so games. People are saying "his numbers weren't way off". Go back and watch game 3 where he could not bring the ing ball up the court without misdribbling it or getting it knocked away. He was freakin Beno all over again and he's been playing for 10 years! Or game 4 where his shot came back but he had 7 turnovers and 1 assist.

Good TP showed up in game 5 and 6 but if he had played like the TP since 2006 the entire series, we woulda won the series.

I think some of you are delusional to think the Grizz was not the better team. I'm sorry they are, there are no excuses, 0. It's not like they have been exposed and swept by OKC, they gave 7 games effort on round 2. If they stick together and continue to be serious and unite, next year with Gay, they are going to be scary good.

Randolph has been the superstar of the serie, an effort ala Tim dominant Duncan.

DPG thought it was TP time to shine like TP could be a franchise player capable to dominate a serie against a good team (the Grizz are not an #8 seed) with a dominant big. I always said he is not this kind of player which is fine because his salary is not a super star salary. He is a role player a damn good role player but still a role player like, Manu BTW. Our franchise 20 MUSD player is Tim Duncan and Tim cannot do it anymore. Thats all, no need to go through if, if, if

[hater]

I think some of you are delusional to think the Grizz was not the better team. I'm sorry they are, there are no excuses, 0. It's not like they have been exposed and swept by OKC, they gave 7 games effort on round 2. If they stick together and continue to be serious and unite, next year with Gay, they are going to be scary good.

Randolph has been the superstar of the serie, an effort ala Tim dominant Duncan.

DPG thought it was TP time to shine like TP could be a franchise player capable to dominate a serie against a good team (the Grizz are not an #8 seed) with a dominant big. I always said he is not this kind of player which is fine because his salary is not a super star salary. He is a role player a damn good role player but still a role player like, Manu BTW. Our franchise 20 MUSD player is Tim Duncan and Tim cannot do it anymore. Thats all, no need to go through if, if, if

I think you are delusional on TP's ty play impact on the series. He was complete the first 4 games. And the game he was needed most, game 1 he shot a pathetic 25%. He really laid an egg and is the main reason along with Jefferson that the Spurs were done.

Regardless of the Memphis bigs if regular season Parker had showed up we would have won this series easily.

[Spurs7794]

I think some of you are delusional to think the Grizz was not the better team. I'm sorry they are, there are no excuses, 0. It's not like they have been exposed and swept by OKC, they gave 7 games effort on round 2. If they stick together and continue to be serious and unite, next year with Gay, they are going to be scary good.

Why did you quote me? I never said anything about this . I think the Spurs are a better team but memphis played much better and harder and tougher than us. I still stand by the idea that if Parker played better in games 1, 3 , or 4, we woulda won at least one of those games. Game 3...my god, thats the first time in 10 years that I've been worried when Tony brought the ball up the court.

I also think he carried us in game 5's ot so its not like I'm needlessly trashing him.

[Interrohater]

Trade him. I'm a Parker fan but he does seem like a prima donna. The biggest thing to me, though, is that teams have won championships with inferior point guards, as evidenced by the last few. We don't need an all-star point, we just need a capable distributor that can hit a mid range jumper and run the pick and roll. If we can get a couple of valuable pieces for TP, why not do it? We've had TP and it's obvious that he's a great player, but our weaknesses are elsewhere.

Then again, what would our team look like without the slash and kick out that we've seen for so long?

[Brazil]

I think you are delusional on TP's ty play impact on the series. He was complete the first 4 games. And the game he was needed most, game 1 he shot a pathetic 25%. He really laid an egg and is the main reason along with Jefferson that the Spurs were done.

Regardless of the Memphis bigs if regular season Parker had showed up we would have won this series easily.

where did I say TP played good this serie ? TP sucked this serie, he has been dominated by MC. I just stated TP sucking is a sum of elements and not just TP struggling with his own game and one of these elements is Memphis frontcourt destroyed us in O and D.

if RS Parker had showed up ? what does that mean ? I'm not sure but I think his performances against Grizz were not stellar either.

wake up this Grizz team is better than us: stronger, faster, younger, hungrier, better coached... only teams we could have beat in first round: hornets and denver.

[Brazil]

Why did you quote me? I never said anything about this . I think the Spurs are a better team but memphis played much better and harder and tougher than us. I still stand by the idea that if Parker played better in games 1, 3 , or 4, we woulda won at least one of those games. Game 3...my god, thats the first time in 10 years that I've been worried when Tony brought the ball up the court.

I also think he carried us in game 5's ot so its not like I'm needlessly trashing him.

see? this is why I quote you. No the spurs are not the better team. Our backcourt has been dominated, our frontcourt has been dominated, our coach has been dominated... what other proof do you need?

With this plan game, this rotation, this mileage, this coach, these players but everybody healthy (no manu issue, TP not head in a bag) the Grizz still beat us.

[Spurs7794]

see? this is why I quote you. No the spurs are not the better team. Our backcourt has been dominated, our frontcourt has been dominated, our coach has been dominated... what other proof do you need?

With this plan game, this rotation, this mileage, this coach, these players but everybody healthy (no manu issue, TP not head in a bag) the Grizz still beat us.

Well you quoted me before I said anything like that...

But I disagree with you...I think the Spurs proved they are a better team in the regular season. BUT, memphis was physically tougher, mentally tougher, more confident, played more loose, played more physical, (basically every possible intangible) in the playoffs. The Spurs inexplicably tightened up like crazy and didn't play sharp or confident at all. This is why they beat the us. I think if we had gotten 1 good game out of Parker out of games 1 or 3, we would have won the game, our confidence would come back and Memphis would actually have a reason to be on their heels.

[rjv]

I think you are delusional on TP's ty play impact on the series. He was complete the first 4 games. And the game he was needed most, game 1 he shot a pathetic 25%. He really laid an egg and is the main reason along with Jefferson that the Spurs were done.

Regardless of the Memphis bigs if regular season Parker had showed up we would have won this series easily.

if manu had been available for game 1 we would have won the series

[yavozerb]

if manu had been available for game 1 we would have won the series

The fact is the spurs still lost 3 games with Manu playing, not so sure I would be so confident about that comment rjv..

[rmt]

TP was beyond atrocious until game 4 - so bad that for the first time I thought he couldn't bring the ball up the court - he was so far off his "usual" self. It's almost like MEM's defense stymied/confused him and when he couldn't penetrate, his confidence was shot.

Combined with TP's poor play, the major reason why SA lost is that they were dominated in the paint. This is mostly Pop's fault for thinking that Bonner/Blair/Dice was enough and not integrating Splitter. TD held his own for the first 3 games and after that I thought he resigned himself to losing (I won't say - "gave up" but things weren't looking good with TP's play and Manu's injury).

Overall, MEM played above their standard and SA played below theirs. I don't think TP should be traded - can't get enough value and TP can carry the offensive load in the regular season. I love the idea of Varejao for Dice, Blair and 1st round pick. Integrate Splitter, develop Anderson and emphasize defense next year.

[DrSteffo]

Parker is not my favourite player but he is the youngest of the big 3. If we trade him we need to get another PG and will not get anyone as good. And we will have two aging stars. I guess we will do close to nothing and be slightly worse next season.

[ducks]

manu a star Please

[Mel_13]

to me this interview sounds a little bit like: "I know Pop wouldn't trade me, but I wouldn't be offended if they think about it". it's not that he demands a trade, but it's also a bit different to the "I wish not to get traded, after all that I have done for this team".
Tony knows he is the only asset the Spurs can use in a premium trade. be it to start the rebuilding process, be it to get the team one more shot by trying to bring in a quality big man for him.
I think Tony wouldn't mind to spend the last 3 good years of his career on a contender and/or a more fancy place like LA or NY.

NY might even be a very interesting option, when thinking about a restart scenario. let's guess the Knicks do want Tony.
I'm not totally sure if this would work that way, but the contract of Billups is only 3.7 million guaranteed next season, if he is waived within 5 days after season end. a package of Tony+RJ for Billups+Turiaf+Douglas+Fields works.
if the Spurs waive Billups, they save more than 60 million $ in that move.
they get back two decent talents in Douglas and Fields, not star material, but very useful role player. Douglas might be a copy of Hill, but any team can use more than one player of the kind.
in 2012 the Spurs would be far under the cap (depending on new signings and the new CBA it could be about 25 million $), they might have a good pick 2012 (even a lottery pick?), which will be a far better draft class than this year.
Hill-Douglas-Neal-Anderson-Fields-Blair-Splitter....this lacks star power, but it looks like a very nice pool of decent NBA talent for a future team. the star needs to be found via draft or FA. not easy, but not impossible.

ps. I also call the Howard to Minny trade BS.

Knicks have picked up Chauncey's option, so he's on the payroll for the full 14.2M, the five day deadline was from the end of New York's season, not the NBA season.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/sp.../28knicks.html

They picked up his option so that they will have a large enough contract to trade at the deadline for Howard or Paul. If they can't get one of those two, they may look at Parker at that time and even be willing to eat RJ's deal, but they're not doing that trade before June 30th.

[Mel_13]

manu a star Please

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/110203_reserves.html

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/ginobili_allnba_110512

[rjv]

The fact is the spurs still lost 3 games with Manu playing, not so sure I would be so confident about that comment rjv..

they lost 3 road games. with manu they win game 1 and take it to 7. the grizz were not going to win a game 7 on the road.

i have no less reason to feign confidence than you in this regard. it's purely subjective either way, with no substantial quan ative difference.

[DrSteffo]

So do you guys think Manu and Duncan will get better next season?

[ducks]

So do you guys think Manu and Duncan will get better next season?

manu should play 20 minutes a game to the allstar break
duncan and splitter should play together 20 minutes a game

[DrSteffo]

Yes ducks but of those three only Splitter should be a better player in the POs next season. I'm not saying let's blow up this team I'm just saying we are not really contenders with this team.

[Brazil]

Well you quoted me before I said anything like that...

Good TP showed up in game 5 and 6 but if he had played like the TP since 2006 the entire series, we woulda won the series.

no previous to that you said we woulda won the series, so you do think spurs is the better team well I don't.

But I disagree with you...I think the Spurs proved they are a better team in the regular season. BUT, memphis was physically tougher, mentally tougher, more confident, played more loose, played more physical, (basically every possible intangible) in the playoffs. The Spurs inexplicably tightened up like crazy and didn't play sharp or confident at all. This is why they beat the us. I think if we had gotten 1 good game out of Parker out of games 1 or 3, we would have won the game, our confidence would come back and Memphis would actually have a reason to be on their heels.

The bold part is useless, who cares if the spurs was the better team in the RS ? only counts POs and once again we didn't dominate the Grizzlies in the RS.

We lost confidence because Gasol scored more than 20 pts against us with 70% FG (In 80 RS games he scored more than 20 pts twice ), because Randolph scored at will, because they outplayed from 1 to 5... and for that we have no excuses neither TP or Manu not playing or playing injured.

Anyway thats useless debate look at the POs (a team like Chicago will just embarass us, asik in our team would be immediately our second best big, Kurt too BTW) right now we don't belong there anymore.

Blame who the you want for that, I blame the coaching staff for relying on Bonner BS, for letting Blair becoming a fat ass, for not trying to develop Tiago, for not kicking every damn minute RJ ass, for abandonning D.

[Mhak]

no previous to that you said we woulda won the series, so you do think spurs is the better team well I don't.

Anyway thats useless debate look at the POs (a team like Chicago will just embarass us, asik in our team would be immediately our second best big, Kurt too BTW) right now we don't belong there anymore.

Blame who the you want for that, I blame the coaching staff for relying on Bonner BS, for letting Blair becoming a fat ass, for not trying to develop Tiago, for not kicking every damn minute RJ ass, for abandonning D.

This

[Killakobe81]

LOL Parker calling out OKC and Dallas ...

I don't think the spurs are done as contenders, but the word is relative. Like I said all season, tough to see how adding Neal and Splitter (who barely played) would vault the Spurs from a sweep at the hand of the suns to a le contender in one year. That is NOT impossible, but highly improbable. Western contender they still are, le contender no they are not.

Lakers face similar issues. I am not saying Lakers or spurs need to blow up their teams, but if there is not a key team shifting type addition, neither one will be "ringing" come next June (if we have a season) ...and for teams with Duncan and Kobe, that is all that matters. Both teams could win 50 easy maybe go one round further than this year ..but if they aint winning it all with duncan and kobe aging ...does it matter?

Saving grace for Lakers they are only 1 year removed from a le while spurs are 4 ... but Lakers could be in the sameboat as spurs in two years if they just standby while the core ages ...

[Spurs7794]

no previous to that you said we woulda won the series, so you do think spurs is the better team well I don't.



The bold part is useless, who cares if the spurs was the better team in the RS ? only counts POs and once again we didn't dominate the Grizzlies in the RS.

We lost confidence because Gasol scored more than 20 pts against us with 70% FG (In 80 RS games he scored more than 20 pts twice ), because Randolph scored at will, because they outplayed from 1 to 5... and for that we have no excuses neither TP or Manu not playing or playing injured.

Anyway thats useless debate look at the POs (a team like Chicago will just embarass us, asik in our team would be immediately our second best big, Kurt too BTW) right now we don't belong there anymore.

Blame who the you want for that, I blame the coaching staff for relying on Bonner BS, for letting Blair becoming a fat ass, for not trying to develop Tiago, for not kicking every damn minute RJ ass, for abandonning D.

I don't necessarily think the best team wins every 7 game series. I think we were better than Dallas in 06, Detroit was better than us in 05, Boston was better than LA last year, Dallas was better than GS in 07...etc. I think the Spurs were better than Memphis this year. I think if Parker played like Parker can, we win games 1 or 3 and take some of their swagger away. Memphis was riding high because they were crazy confident, huge inside, and our team played like pussies.

And Pop not playing Splitter.